You have certainly been through a lot! I just wanted to tell you I can understand your concern.
I wanted to tell you about what has happened with me. I had a UTI at one point and I felt awful for weeks. A lot of symptoms came back and I was really getting discouraged. Good news is, it took longer than usual, but I did go back to my new normal. I have had several small illnesses which have negatively afffected me. I asked Dake about it and he found most of his patients had worsening of symptoms with infections, viruses, and even with vaccinations.
Here's what he said:
Take it slow and try not to worry. I know it's hard:) Take extra good care of yourself.In terms of the increase in symptoms when you have a cold or virus, it may be related to a general stimulation of your immune system by the infectious process that effects the intensity of the immune reaction of cells that participate in the reaction to brain antigens released as part of the MS. I hear about similar patient experiences from our group after immunizations, flu, surgery, etc.