My MS Story

Hello! I'm Angie. I'm 36 years old, I've been married 9 years and have no children. In fact, my husband and I have had fertility issues for 7 years. We're gearing up to see a new Reproductive Endocrinologist at the end of June.

I am one month in to my MS diagnosis and I feel nothing but blessed and thankful. It only took 2 months to get a diagnosis (and 2 months felt SUPER LONG as it was!!)- Over the past couple of years I have had a couple of isolated bouts of Migraine headaches with aura. I chalked those up to stress/dehydration/grinding my teeth in my sleep.

One morning in early March 2014 I woke up with numbness through my entire right leg. It ended up traveling to my left knee, which is now still numb, but my right leg gained all sensation back. My vision in my left eye became saturated/spotty after the numbness occurred, and after seeing my primary physician, a neurologist (I will leave out the details of how horrible that first neurologist was), and my ophthalmologist twice, the oph. referred me to a retinal specialist who diagnosed me with optic neuritis.

From there I saw a NEW, IMPROVED neurologist who took immediate action and sent me same day for MRIs. My MRI tech told me he saw something, which he's TOTALLY not supposed to do, but I was really glad he told me, because I think it was then, inside the "dog house" (the MRI tube), that I closed my eyes, took deep breaths, and accepted it. Within a few days my husband and I were in the neurologist's office receiving the news that I had already prepared to hear. I am thankful that I had time to suspect it's what it was. It was nice not to feel shocked and/or unprepared. And from there I've had nothing but amazing support and people telling me how manageable MS is these days. And it's very true.

I lucked out and got in to the best doc at USC. He put me on a 5 day IV of steroids (Solumedrol) which KNOCKED me out- I was horribly fatigued and couldn't get to work. Luckily my boss has been nothing but supportive of me too. So I read a lot about Tecfidera and spent a lot of time on the phone with the prescribing pharmacy and financial assistance. At one point I was told I'd have to pay $1400 for a 30 day supply of Tecfidera! But I qualified for a $0 copay somehow. Thank the LORD!!!! So now I'm on day 6 of Tecfidera. The only side effects I've had so far is a little tingling in the face on the first 2 days. But I always take it after a meal and I was told that 8 out of 10 patients don't have any problems with it. Whether that's true or not, it was a huge relief to hear and helped me to relax about it.

Good luck to all of you. We didn't choose this route for our lives, but like it or not, it's the road we are on. I'm choosing to approach it with grace, with strength funneled to me from my loving friends and family, with my faith, and even this community here on the interwebs. I'm thankful to be alive, and I'm thankful to have such hope. LOVE and LIGHT to you ALL!!!!