The Beginning

So it all started with a balance problem in October of 2008. Wasn't sure what to make of it other than I needed something to lean against so I didn't fall down. What seemed so minor got worse, . . . eventually I started feeling more sick. It ultimately resulted in a supposed diagnosis from the emergency room at the hospital, my regular doctor and a free clinic that I had "double inner ear infections". Symptoms were imbalance, severe vertigo, loss of hearing in left ear, tinnitus in right ear, whole left side of face numb, loss of appetite, and extreme fatigue. This lasted for about 2.5 months into the new year 2009 and then went away.

The next symptoms that occurred began in early May, it began with numbness in my left foot. . . . . slowly it worked its way up to my left shin and calve, then thigh, then left arm and hand. It was a strange sensation of numbness, not pins and needles as if the whole left side of my body had fallen asleep; I could feel pressure but my reflexes were non-responsive and my whole left side was weak.

So my doctor referred me to a neurologist. I'm not sure how to even start such a shocking topic, . . . . but I was diagnosed on June 10th, 2009 with Multiple Sclerosis. It is a life long disease and there is no cure. I will have to partake in treatment for the rest of my life. It's just so strange when your doctor refers you to a neurologist, and your neurologist opens with "Your spinal cord is in good condition, . . . however we found an abundance of plaque in your brain MRI". Plaque is scarring in the brain from MS relapses, aka the abundance of symptoms that I have experienced. So now I have been referred to another doctor, but this guy should help me the most. Not just give me the run around b/c he doesn't know whats wrong with me like so many of the other doctors.

My diagnosis was determined due to the 6 MRI's i had done and the impressive list of blood work that my neurologist asked of me to do. I was in the MRI tube for 2.5 hours, and if you've never had one and you are uncomfortable in small spaces, . . . you wouldn't like it.

All in all though there is always an upside to the downside of things. I finally got an answer for what has been wrong with me for what feels like forever, and I have to just accept the things I can not change. One day at a time.