MS THE NEVER ENDING BATTLE!!

I was diagnosed on April 1,2011 after fighting through 10 years of tests, MRIs, LPs and several neurologists. I was so worn out from all the above I quit going to doctors except for my PCP, who was convinced I had MS, and was doing a great job treating my symptoms.
Two years after giving up on neurologists I ran an errand to the hardware store where I had an overwhelming attack of vertigo. I guess you know how that ended but in case you haven't figured it out I ended up flat on my back right I the middle of crawfish boiling pots and other cooking utensils. Not only did it make one heck of a noise but I was more than embarrassed. After finally getting my wits together I went home and broke the news to my dear wife. This took place on a Sunday.

Monday morning I was in the office of my PCP who referred me to a neurologist he knew. Later that week I was with the neurologist and after spending about one hour with him he diagnosed me with MS. A follow up MRI confirmed his diagnosis.

The main symptoms I suffer with are pain in my legs, spasticity, and balance. I also have the usual pins and needles and numbness but they are not as prevalent as my main symptoms.

I stayed with this Neurologist for 4 years. I sought a second opinion after I had gone through almost every DMT known to mankind and none of them were working. I went to the VA MS Center of Excellence and ended up with a great Neurologist. She confirmed to diagnosis and started me back on Avonex. Avonex was the very first DMT I was on when I was diagnosed.

So I am now back on a DMT and immediately had a flare. I went trough the usual 3 day 1000mg of steroids and quiet down the flare.

The only constant with MS is you will wake up in a different world every day. Some days I wake up in horrible pain some days not. Some days my legs are so stiff I can't bend them some days not. But it's a battle we have to continue to fight. I'm sure we all have days when we feel like just quitting and let nature take its course but we can't do that. It's a battle we have to continue to fight.

There are days when we want to pull the covers over our head and just sleep but we can't do that. I know our bodies our telling us that's what we need to do but sometime we have to fight our body.

I could go on and on and on but the fact is MS is the battle we have to continue to fight. Some fights we win, some fights we loose. But the important thing is we fight the battle. It's a battle most people do not understand but how can we expect them to understand something that we ourselves don't always understand. What we do understand is the pain, bad balance, bad memory, numbness and tingling, burning sensation and so on and so on. Though we live with those things plus more we don't always understand them so how can we expect our friends and family to understand. I think what we are looking for is compassion.

MS the never ending battle. this is a battle we will all fight until we draw our last breath.