98.6F 37C

This is a continuation and an update to MS #30.

Two days ago I went to practice at the studio for the first time since April 26. That was five months ago, two days before surgery to remove my prostrate due to cancer. I did not expect it to take this long before I returned to studio practice.

I have been practicing at home for approximately two months in a temperature about six degrees cooler than at the studio. That may not sound like a lot but it makes a big difference, especially now. I have been concerned about returning to the studio because of that one reason – heat.

I have posted previously about how heat affects my body because of MS. It is something that has gradually become worse over the years. Heat speeds up fatigue and weakens my legs at at accelerated rate. This has become much worse since my surgery and cancer is not the reason.

This is not a story about cancer but a story about sepsis and MS. I was recovering, I thought, pretty good after cancer surgery. I was actually quite surprised about how well things were going. And then I got an infection that developed quickly into sepsis.

Sepsis raised my body temperature to 41.3 degrees Celsius and has had long term affects on my MS and also my psyche. My ability to walk is much worse because of this and heat has become a bigger concern than it used to be.

I feel fortunate to be alive and I know that sounds a bit dramatic but I’ve come to realize and I have had time to process that this health condition almost killed me. I thought that cancer was enough to process but the immediate nature of how sepsis affected my health and how my thoughts about simple things like body temperature now worry me. For a while I kept a thermometer in my bathroom drawer and would get up in the middle of the night and check my temperature. It’s a bit neurotic but I was in fear of my body temperature going up and MS played a role in that fear.

Sepsis is hard to forget as its effects are still with me. It’s like a switch that could be turned on at any time. I’m constantly concerned about an infection causing a fever that could put me right back in danger. This is not irrational is it? – don’t answer that question – ha.

My prostate was removed and as far as I know all the cancer went with it. I know cancer can come back but it’s not something that I waste to much time thinking about. Sepsis on the other hand has had a residual effect.

When you layer sepsis on top of MS, heat worries me. I have had conversations with my neurologist about heat and she assures me that from a MS perspective heat can cause an increase in symptoms but they eventually go away. And that has been my experience – it’s temporary.

But lately I’ve worried about will I be able to walk out of a heat situation. It’s kinda weird to put it that way but it’s a real concern – sepsis lit that match. It has happened before where I got too hot and had trouble walking. Going to the studio is at the top of a lot of stairs and is about 25 – 26 degrees Celsius and has become what I now call hot – I used to call it warm.

But I did ok. I was able to make it through half primary and the assists were very much welcomed. Maybe practicing at a higher temperature is something I can get used to again but lately I’ve been thinking about why.

Take care

Couple of facts that I googled:
“Sepsis is a life threatening health condition. It is a serious challenge for patients and health care providers in Canada and globally. According to a recent global report published in the journal Lancet, an estimated 75,000 cases of sepsis occur in Canada every year, likely causing 18,000 deaths.Jul 23, 2020”

“Each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 1.7 million adults in the U.S. develop sepsis, and nearly 270,000 die as a result. 2021”