Think I'm Newly Diagnosed

[naiyve]

Been lurking around here for past two weeks reading and learning! I have found some really great info here and it has really helped me reading everyone's experiences!

I'm a 49 yr old RN, i am currently engaged to a wonderful man and planning a wedding! I have two young adult daughters, a sun conure and a yorkie named Elvis!

About a yr ago I had some issues with loss of vision in one eye, facial numbness, dizziness, etc etc etc... It took me about a yr, frequent falling and problems with cognition and speech before I finally saw some one! The GP ordered an MRI of my brain that showed 4 lesions that were suspicious for demylinating disease.

I went to a VERY young neurologist who very cockily told me he doubted very seriously I had MS. He basically told me that I was an older overweight depressed female, but he would do the lumbar puncture anyway. Don't get me started on how the medical profession views women!

So long story long, lol, he called me this morning to say all my results are in and I have O bands in my LP and he went over my symptoms again and said I have MS. So he wants to make an appt for 2 weeks to discuss meds.

Needless to say I'm finding an MS specialist. Anyway, I can't tell you all how much it has helped me reading all of your experiences! I have come to realize my symptoms have been there for about 15 yrs I just didnt realize what they were!

Sorry it's long just needed to get that out lol!
Needless to say going to a

[Seasha]

Welcome to MSWorld, naiyve! Really glad you came here to get information and equally glad you're going to see a specialist. (Don't think you need to be discussing anything with the young neuro!)

We are all here to help you navigate through this new stage in your life and I hope you find friendships along the way. We also have many nurses living with MS here. You may find the Healthcare Professional forum useful to you http://www.msworld.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Take care and good luck with your new neuro

[naiyve]

Thank you! I really can't begin to tell you how helpful this board is! I hope I can help someone along the way as well! Going to check out the healthcare professional board as well! Thank you again!

[Plynn]

Hello naiyve
I am also an RN (retired now) and was diagnosed at age 50. My (female) neurologist haughtily told me that I was too old to have MS. Sigh. They also told me that hearing loss was not a symptom. Double sigh.

Anyway I am also new to the boards but have lurked for awhile. Welcome to the journey. Sharing really helps.

[sunandmoonschild]

Relieved

I have to admit that seeing the amount of RNs and medical professionals that are involved in this board has brought me a bountiful wealth of comfort. Not because of your medical insight, though helpful; it's because of your ability to be just as insecure, upset, unsure and scared and full of questions as the rest of us.

That might sound awful but it's meant to be complimentary. I think your presence here makes it a lot easier for new people to feel better about being so unsure about this awful disease.

Thank you to all the medical personnel here on this board. You have all made it easier for me to feel ok about all the awfulness going on with me. You've made it easier for me to feel like I don't have to have a constant apology on hand for not being able to do everything as I used to do. And you've made it easier for me to feel like I'm not as abnormal as the "normal kids" around me would like me to believe.

Thank you each and all!

[Mable]

Excellent post, and nice to meet you, Naiyve.

I'm a normal weight and my doctors often dismissed my complaints because you could see that I was a healthy 50-year-old female. Go home and stop worrying about nothing.

By the time I was diagnosed, I had more than a dozen lesions and 8 oligoclonal bands. Lucky for me, I came down with a symptom that's almost always MS (double vision with nystagmus).

That said, both of my sisters are obese, as was my mother. When they started struggling with complicated medical conditions (not MS), we talked a lot about what they went through, and it was alarming. Doctors don't take them seriously, give up easily, and send them home with lots of antidepressants and sleeping pills.

This isn't the place for it, but I wish there were more ways to raise awareness of what heavy women go through.

[Themen1985]

Welcome to the boards naiyve! We're here to support you

[PeterPaulMary]

I too was recently diagnosed at 49.
And I had symptoms for over 10 yrs. My neurologist didn't stop testing until he figured out what was wrong. I recently completed a round of sol u Medryl and will be starting copaxiane soon. I've always feared MS since my cousin had it bad for over30 yrs. I am staying positive though. Hoping the new treatments help.

[popie]

The medical docs have been able to put themselves up in this ivory tower as a group that everyone else has to bow down to because they have the power of life and death for us. They come out of medical school with an attitude that they know it all and don't need us telling them what the problem is.

My experience has been, at least when it come to ms, they can't make a diagnosis until it is so apparent that the office janitor has it pegged. Most docs don't have the ability to diagnose anything more serious than the flu. When you throw something like ms at them, there trying to make the latest virus' symptoms that are going around to fit your symptoms.

We really haven't advanced in the medical area (for doctors) much since the 1800s. They just have done a good PR job for themselves. So my advice, keep looking, there are good ones out there, but they are one in a 100.

** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **

[naiyve]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!! I love reading everyone's experiences and getting insight!

I'm hoping that the doc that I see Wednesday will listen to me, but I hate to admit that I'm afraid she'll tell me it's nothing too! This is why I think most people avoid drs!