Being Diagnosed with MS

Hello everyone,

Today is May 27, 2010

In May 2008 I needed surgery on my right knee, but experienced numbness in my right thigh and the right side of my lower back. My doctor sent me to a back specialist to check me out. He decided I was fine and sent me back to the knee doctor. The knee doctor then sent me to a neurologist. He said I was okay to have the knee surgery.

In February 2009, I was at work when my right side started getting numb. By the time I got to the minor emergency, my whole right side was numb, from my head to my ankle - front and back. They immediately checked to see if I had a stroke, then told me to drive across the street to the emergency room at the hospital. They took the whole day and checked me out for life-threatening issues, and found that I was not going to die. They advised me to see my regular doctor.

A week later, my regular doctor said he thought I had MS, but this had to be diagnosed by a specialist. He asked me if I knew a neurologist. I told him about the doctor I had seen the in May 2008.

In April 2009, after about two months of going through every test in the book, including a spinal tap, all test were inconclusive. My symptoms also included dizziness, muscle spasms and blurred vision. My doctor said he could not label me as having MS unless he was 100% positive. He advised me to wait one year and have the same MRI on the same machine as I just took. He asked me to promise to call him immediately if I had more symptoms or if I got a lot worse.

In 2010, a year later I got my MRI. My appointment to see the doctor for my results was on May 5. I expected to go in and get told that nothing has changed and to come back in a year. Instead, he said he put 2009 and 2010's results side-by-side on the computer monitor. He said see this picture on the left of 2009? Now see the same view of the 2010? See those three little black dots? That is MS. He explained that it was a mild case but we needed to discuss treatment.

He explained the treatment was a shot everyday for the rest of my life. He said once I started the treatment I could not stop. He said that I could wait to start treatment. He said if I was his wife or daughter, he would advise me to wait and have another MRI next year. I was in shock. I told him I would like to wait. He said I had to promise to call him if I started having new symptoms - especially if I started seeing double.