My Friday Looked Differently

Well, it was Friday, and I had to go to an office meeting in the hospital where I worked. It was July, so it was very hot outside and hot inside. I was sweating profusely, but I was so glad to get to the meeting because they had good air conditioning. When the meeting was over, I began my way back to my desk down the hallway as I was walking my left leg began to get heavy.

My symptoms only escalated

I was dragging it in the middle of the hallway down to my office. Then it got so bad that I stopped in the hallway and called my office to let them know that I didn't feel good and asked if someone could get me in a wheelchair. Well, my girlfriend in the office came with the wheelchair and took me back to the office. When I got there, I could not see anything. Everything was cloudy. I heard voices in the hall, and I think I knew who was in the hall.

They thought it was something else at first

I saw one of our doctors, and he asked me if I could see his hand. I told him no. He said "Go straight to the ER. I will call them and let them know you're coming. I think you're having a stroke." So off I went. I got to the ER. They were ready for me and injected me with something. I didn't know what it was, but I think it was supposed to be something to help with the possible stroke. After that ER visit, I went to St. Joseph to see the doctor about the stroke and the doctor said, "Well, you're speaking, and it doesn't look like you had a stroke. Nothing on your face is looking contorted." They treated me for this joke anyway, and then as I was recovering the next day, I had to walk around the perimeter of the clinic at St. Joseph. I did that pretty well, and the doctors told me there was something else going on because the numbers did not add up when he gave me the test for the stroke. He came back later he said, "We're going to run a test and I'm going to give you an MRI", which he did, and "we should learn more about what happened."

I finally got my answers

Well, it was a couple of days later when he came back, and he told me it looks from the test here and the MRI that you have multiple sclerosis. That was 10 years ago. I'm still trying to get used to not being able to walk correctly on a walker and sometimes having to use a wheelchair, depending on how weak my leg feels. I'm able to move my left leg but not able to walk to the mailbox, which is my goal. I continue with my medications with the beta seron injections.