Six Years Later - Part 2

The Bad News: 

1. The weakness on my left side (arm and leg) has gotten much worse, meaning that I can't walk at all without a cane or poles, and even then only short distances. Stairs are becoming a real hassle, since it's getting really difficult to lift my left leg. Due to my poor walking and the icy conditions, Mary has taken to driving in front of the apartment building to pick me up, which means I haven't driven the car since last fall.
2. My footdrop continues to get worse, to the point that when I'm tired or have had a few drinks I end up just dragging my left leg behind me.
3. While I'm not as fatigued as before my liberation treatment (having to lay down, completely fagged out, four times a day at its worst) I am now having to have a nap after lunch... sometimes lasting a couple of hours or more. Strangely, if I have something particularly interesting to do, I don't feel the need for a nap.
4. Ever since my spinal surgery a year and a half ago, the arthritis in my lower back has gotten much worse. This means that I regularily have lower back pain to the point that I feel nauseated. As well, the arthritic back, perhaps rubbing against my demylinated spots on my spinal chord, causes my left leg to spasm, sticking straight out for a few seconds after I get up out of a chair or out of bed or even resisting bending my left knee when I'm laying on my back and want to draw my leg in. It feels like my quads are turning on at the same time as my hamstrings. My physiotherapist has learned that stretching the quads reduces that reaction, at least for a few cycles of exercise.
5. I seem to get stomach upsets fairly often, perhaps related to back pain and/or the very light flu-like symptoms I seem to feel every once in a while. When I get those symptoms (once every few weeks, lasting a few days), my eyes burn, my head feels stuffed up and my MS weakness gets worse.
6. While my balance is still a bit better than before my treatment, it has gotten much worse in the last year or so. Of course, it's often hard to tell how much of that is due to lost balance and how much is because of a barely responsive back leg.
7. I've had bad left hip pain and sciatic pain for many years (as my left leg and glue atrophied prior to and after my back surgery), but since the back surgery and my physiotherapy to bring back strength to my legs and glutes, most of the sciatic pain and some hip pain is gone. 
8. My last MRI was not encouraging. I've got two new lesions on (in?) my brain, and my cerebellum is beginning to atrophy. At least now I have an excuse for my increasingly bad memory. 

That's the main part of my bad news. In my next part I'll talk about what I do to cope with these difficulties.