MS Runs in My Family

In June of 2000 my older sister was diagnosed with MS. She was having trouble seeing though her left eye. That same year I had lasik surgery on my eyes so I didn't have to wear glasses anymore. The same week she was having trouble seeing, I was having trouble with my eye sight in my left eye too.

Neurologist told me MS doesn't necessarily run in families

I went to a neurologist to see what was wrong with my eye. I told the neurologist that my sister was diagnosed with MS, so she desided to test me for MS. Now my sister and I are not twins we are close in age about fifteen months to be exact. While her doctor was diagnosing her with MS, my Doctor was diagnosing me with intercranial hypertention. My neurologist also tested for MS by way of spinal tap. She didn't find any signs of MS. I was relieved to hear that I didn't have MS. Also my neurologist told me just because my sister was diagnosed with MS didn't mean I was going to come down with it. She told me it doesn't work that way.

Numbness in my arm

So fast foward to 2009, I start having numbness in my arm. I tell my orthepedic doctor, to which I am seeing him for a pinch nerve in my back, I tell him I'm having numbness in my right arm. He told me I have arthritis in my back and two rupture disks and the numbness in my arm, well "It always runs in twos" he said, meaning arthritis. So my orthepedic doctor treats me for my back and I go on my way.

Symptoms exacerbated after a car wreck

Now two years later I'm coming home from work it's 10:35 at night. I can see my house, I'm amost in my drive way. Wait a minute what is that, a car. Oh my GOD that car is going to hit me. Yes I was in a car accident with a drunk driver on Febuary 1, 2011. Now this accident has nothing to with MS, but two days later on Febuary 3, 2011 I had my first sign that something was wrong. It was bad. I was having numbness from my cheek all the way down to my foot on my right side. The same side I had numbness before when I saw my orthepedic doctor two years before. The numbness was so bad it was painful. Lots of burning with the numbness.

An MRI of my back and neck

So I'm back at my orthepedic doctor and he wants me to have and MRI of my back and neck, he said he's worried I might have whiplash. I said ok and off I go to get an MRI of my back and neck. I get my MRI's done and I'm about to leave and the lady who did my MRI's wants me to come and do another MRI on my neck only this time with dye contrast. She tells me my doctor is asking for an MRI with dye contrast. Now I'm thinking oh my GOD they found something. I get my MRI's an take them back to my orthepedic doctor and he tells me in one spot it looks like whiplash, but between C-4 an C-5 of my cervical spine there is a lesion of some unknow orgin. He called it demylination in nature. Now to people who don't know what this means it sounds pretty scary. But to me my mind is racing, and I say in my mind "Oh my GOD I have MS".

Nerve damage and ANOTHER spinal tap

I knew what he was talking about. My sister and I spend a year researching what MS was and how it affects you body the year she was diagnosed. He then tells me I need to go back to my primary care doctor to have an MRI on my brain to see if I have lesions in my brain. So I get an MRI of my brain and no lesion are in there. Thats good but now I'm off to see a neurologist to see what his findings are. He does a nerve study an finds nerve damage on my right side. Then he tells me I need to have a spinal tap to be sure it's MS. Now the last time I had a spinal tap by a neurologist it was in 2000, she did it in her office. She punctured my spinal cored and it made me sick for six days with headaches and vomiting. So when my other neurologist is talking about a sinal tap I'm in tears.

Test was positive for MS

But I need to know if I do have MS so I agree to have it done. My doctor gets my results back and I come in to talk to him. He tells me I that I have MS, that my test was positive for MS. I stare at him as if he told me I have cancer and my mind is racing. Ok what now I asked? He said we need to start treatments. So he started me on Avonex. I've been on Avonex for two and half years and it works fine for me.

Some days are great and some days are not. I try to keep positive no negetive thoughts. I try to live the best way I can sometimes it's hard, but I keep trying and so should all of you. Don't let MS get you down, work with it, live with it and keep going as long as you can.

Good luck and God bless you of all.