Saving now, for later.

I'm just going to start this off by saying I am NOT a financial advisor and to be honest most days I could probably spend my money a little more wisely....especially when it comes to craft supplies.

But, I do have a friend who loves to learn about finances and all things money related!! Dave is one of those guys that is always learning something new and recently he took some courses on life insurance and setting up investments (RRSP's, RESP's , RDSP's....) in between his 2 day jobs. One of his day jobs is working with Trevor doing stone masonry and of course while working him and Trevor got talking about life insurance and whether or not I have any savings for the future.....

Now, Dave has come to me with A LOT of different ideas over the years, and if I'm being honest I only met with him about it all so he would stop talking about it...shhh, don't tell him that. 

Trevor and I did have previous life insurance/investment plan but once we got looking into it more it wasn't really what we were needing. After talking with Dave and going over some numbers I agreed to apply with the new life insurance company. I expected to be turned down or to have to pay a crazy amount to be insured. I was pleasantly surprised to learn though that I was only at a level 2 , meaning I wasn't a big risk to insure!!

Once the insurance was all done it was time to move on to my savings/investments. Now, I'm sure RDSP's (registered Disability Savings Plan) were mentioned to me shortly after being diagnosed with MS but like most things that were explained to me around that time I don't really remember. It was more than likely something I didn't want to talk about because it had the word "disability" in it.....

Before I jumped on board I did some research about what I was agreeing to. While googling I came across the RDSP calculator on the Government of Canada website. On the website you will read about all of the grants and bonds that you can also apply for.

Now, I know you can register for these accounts through most banks, I however prefer the ease of someone coming to me and discussing things in my home. I knew that I wasn't about to get talked in to things I didn't need going this way (line's of credit, credit cards....you know the typical things banks try to sell)

Anyways, Dave got me all registered with my RDSP, and I've made my first deposit (I opted to not do monthly payments, but rather contribute by cheque when I have extra funds) Since making my first deposit my account has more than tripled due to the grants, bonds, and interest!

I know I can't touch this money for about 10 years, but knowing that there is money put away and that I won't be a complete drain on my husband financially is a huge relief.

Like I said from the start I am not a financial advisor, but if you would like to learn more about what we've done to help our family for the future I'd be happy to point you in Dave's direction for some support.

Yearly Neurologist Visit

Today I had my annual neurologist appointment.....it was definitely interesting!! When I first arrived at the hospital (the MS clinic is inside the hospital) I thought I was going to to be late for my appointment, the lot I normally park in was full so I needed to park in the parkade. This wouldn't normally be too much of an issue other than the fact that I only had 30 minutes to get to my appointment.....parking in the parkade means farther for me to walk, and I am not good at walking quickly. 

Anyways....I made it to the hospital doors only to find a line up of people waiting to get in, I though for sure I would be late now!! Luckily the line moved quickly and I was able to will my legs to walk at a decent pace once I got through the COVID-19 screening. I made it to my appointment with 5 minutes to spare, YAY me! My feet and legs were on fire but I wasn't late!!

I was feeling pretty confident going in to my appointment in regards to my progression (I knew I needed to talk to her about bladder issues but that wasn't really anything new, I had just put it off), I don't really notice if I've gotten weaker or things like that, I do my best to just go about my days the best I can and try not to focus on that stuff too much. Well, today I learned that I am substantially more weak than I was a year ago, and my balance is atrocious.

One of my main concerns going into this appointment was about having to change my DMT from Copaxone to Galtect.....I know they are similar to each other but it still makes me nervous! I learned today that I am NOT being switched right now. Don't get to excited for me though, I'm not staying on it for the reasons you might think. I'm being kept on Copaxone until I can have another set of MRI's done. My Dr. is concerned that I may have new lesions or may be having/have had another relapse.

Basically she is concerned that my wonderful new symptom of night tremors could be a sign that something is happening in my brain and spine again. These tremors aren't like having the coffee shakes...these feel like there is an earthquake inside my body.  The first time it happened it woke me from my sleep, it was awful! This has been going on for about 4 weeks now, and according to my Dr. it is concerning and need to be looked at

I also finally mentioned my bladder issues....basically my brain and bladder don't get along. My problems are worse at night or when I am tired. My bladder often feels the need to go even though I actually don't need to empty my bladder....I can go to the bathroom 4-5 times in an hour and most of those times I don't actually need to empty my bladder. During the day this isn't really a huge issue, I can manage that fairly easily. At night however, it is really affecting my sleep.....and if you know anything about MS you know that rest is crucial. I finally decided it was time to ask for help with this issue because dealing with tremors and a crappy bladder was getting to be too much.

Today is also the very first time that I actually seen any of my MRI's! I've always known that I have 2 lesions in my upper spine, but I have never been told how many I have in my brain. My Dr. explained that they basically stop counting after 3....well she pulled them up to look at together, I stopped counting after 10!! 10 is a HUGE number when talking about flaws in my brain.....I may have been better off not knowing that number!

On the bright side of this rather dreary appointment I was given the go ahead to go camping with extended family as long as I'm smart about it. No hugs/kisses, no sharing of food, lots of hand washing, and sanitizing high touch surfaces often, as well as physical distancing.