About my MS journey.
If you took a few minutes out to read this out, I thank you! As I did my research into Multiple aka MS, I found that my story is very similar to many others that have been affected by this strange disease that has a symptom list that is too numerous to count. Since MS is a neurological disease and affects nerves and the brain, put your imagination to the test and you have pretty good odds of being able to align it with MS. Well I can laugh at it now, it defiantly has had its moments. I do refer to my self as a brain damaged IV drug user. My doctors do like that one, since it is true!
About I will say about 9-10 years ago I began to have numbness in my mid section that wrapped around into my back, not to serious even to my doctor. I was told well that I pretty benign and that it would go away, which it did, remember that part! Time went on and that did indeed come and go. I had a few back problems and went and saw a chiropractor and he did advise me to get an MRI of my lower back. I went and looked at that machine and suddenly it did not hurt that bad. The pain came back and I finally went in and had MRI number one of my lower spine. They found a slightly compressed disc and sent me off to physical therapy. It was getting better the suddenly my symptoms had switched from my left side to now my right and when I asked my PT about that the response was that is kinda weird. That is a statement that completely goes hand and hand with MS.
In August 2018, things again did get better. Suddenly things began to “flare up” I would get down on the floor and do my excersises and get some relief. Then my right leg began to have numbness in it, not super bad but affecting my gait. Again not super worried, I thought it was all tied to my disc problem. We went on a trip to Florida and I could walk with some issues and had my first fall in the house there. When we came home, more PT with limited improvement along. A visit to an orthopedic doctor and he thought that I wanted an operation, that was not on my list, I stared to deal with what I had not bad, not great. In September we adopted Sable, our old soul sweet dog.
Things went along and in late October more things began to hit me in addition to the numbness in my legs and mid section, I also was beginning to have symptoms in my right shoulder and slowly in my right hand. MRI number 2 with valium! With one exception, the valium did not really kick in until I got back home. However the test was not so conclusive as apparently the images were not that good and I was told to go see a neurologist. Dana was out of town for the weekend and I went to a party and when I left there, I drove home and decided that I should not drive any longer until I got this sorted out. I was working from home and Dana came home and saw the prescription bottle on the floor form one of my BP meds. Sable had consumed ten of my pills and Dana took her to the vet and called poison control, she had her stomach pumped and a 24 hour stay at two vets for observation. Sable came home and was just fine yea!
With Sable home and okay, I told Dana to take me to the ER. She asked if I was sure and that I was. I could not hold a pen or walk very well, I was having more and more issues. I really thought that I had a brain tumor but I was first checked for a stroke, nope not that either! Again to the MRI, this time for a brain and cervical spine. After two plus hours in the MRI, I came out looking like Jack Nicholson in “One Flew Over the Coco’s Nest”. Just as a side note here, an MRI just has to be your friend the you have MS, UGH! At this point in my journey there are more pictures of my brain than pictures of me! Next day hen the meeting with the neurologist that oddly enough, I had an office appoint with later that morning, but now in the hospital. He told me that he believed that I had MS and asked me If I knew what that was and I responded with “Sounds like something that you have a fund raiser for.”. Well I did get that one right, that is why I now do the MS Walk!
I still had one more test to go after they took a vials of blood from me and magnetized me to death, the drum roll please, a lumbar puncture. A spot on you lower back is numbed and needle is inserted to draw out some spinal fluid to send off to a fancy lab to look for a higher level of certain proteins, in other words to see if your immune system has plenty of food to keep eating itself. This is one of those tests that you are not supposed to feel, but I did at one point during the procedure I felt like I had hundreds of needles poking me down my leg, it was corrected quickly, but it still happened. After 2 hours flat on my back so that I did not get a spinal headache and my fluid sent off to the lab and tested, diagnosis confirmed.
After 5 days of a heavy duty steroid that kept me up for right around 22 out of 24 hours out of the day to break my flair, I was sent home where several friends took turns taking me to my PT appointments (what a great bunch!) so that I could regain some of my balance and walk reasonably well, as well as regain regular use of my hands. After a month or so of all of that I finally had the big day where I put my contacts in for the first time in two months, shortly after I began to drive again, pretty scary at first but that too got much better. After another week or so I finally started to see clients again and slowly i started to find my new normal.
Research on drugs to treat MS has brought some pretty amazing things to us types that need that sort of thing. In January of 2019, I was started in a drug named Ocrevus. It is a twice a year drug administered via an IV, hence, I am a brain damaged IV drug user! I am five years diagnosed, and totally look forward to each and every day! So why not donate to my walk?