Been lurking this site for a while now. I figured I would join and talk to other people dealing with the same issues.
Obviously, I have multiple sclerosis. I was dx in June 2012. D day as I like to call it, lol was May 31 2012. My wife and 2 daughters had gone out of town to visit her grandmother. Since I work on Sundays I had to stay behind.
So I'm at home plotting my bachelor night. We had just recently acquired an English bulldog pup so I took her outside and when we came back in it was time for her to eat.
While she was busy with her feast, I decided to use the potty myself. When I was done, I zipped my pants and noticed a stiff feeling in my right hand. Kind of like when you carry something heavy for too long or when you turn a screw driver for a long amount of time.
Like any man plotting his night on the town I had an open beer that needed to be tended to. I went to the kitchen to get my beer off the counter, as I picked it up I noticed the same feeling in my right hand along with some coordination loss.
I have always been an anxious/ slightly paranoid individual. So now I'm concerned. In the past I have had a few panic attacks so I'm pretty good at talking myself down but this was too much. Over the course of about 20 min it progressively got worse.
At this point I'm convinced I'm having a stroke. My whole right side is next to impossible to control and my speech is beginning to slur. Luckily I live very close to a few hospitals. However dumb it was I drove myself to the er.
They take me back and start the tests. Ct scan shows nothing so doc says it may be a mini stroke, and if we don't act fast effects could be permanent. I give the go ahead and they give me a high dose of blood thinner.
Believe it or not after about 15 min I could wiggle my toes and move my arm. Doc decides to send me down to stroke center for tests. Next morning I have my very first MRI.
I knew by the way the nurse was talking to me that they had found something. The next couple hours are a little blurry. I was not happy in that machine so nurse spiked my iv with something lol.
I barely remember the Neuro coming in to tell me they found what appeared to be ms lesions on my brain. They were torn between mini strokes and ms. They checked my spine next and it was clear.
After four days, they send me home with a Neuro follow up the next week. He orders the works, blood work all the way around spinal tap, and yet another ct scan to check blood vessels in my brain.
When I left the hospital I was getting around pretty good. Not 100% but good. 2days after I got home I'm full blown relapse. I couldn't use a fork let alone walk. If it wasn't for my wife and family I would have been dead.
So Neuro give me a dose pack and over the course of two weeks I come back. After all the test rrms is what they go with.
Since then I've started rebif and tried to go on with my life.
I try to be positive and physically I'm good. But mentally I struggle. I feel like I'm constantly trying to control my body, it feels like any minute my hands are going to just start shaking. I get vertigo at least 3 times a week, depression, and its very hard to get out of bed in the mornings.
I know my issues are minor compared to a lot of people. I have been a very strong and somewhat imposing figure in my life and to feel the way I do is totally foreign to me.
Well that's my ms story, I look forward to talking with some of you and learning your strengths. In dealing with this disease
Obviously, I have multiple sclerosis. I was dx in June 2012. D day as I like to call it, lol was May 31 2012. My wife and 2 daughters had gone out of town to visit her grandmother. Since I work on Sundays I had to stay behind.
So I'm at home plotting my bachelor night. We had just recently acquired an English bulldog pup so I took her outside and when we came back in it was time for her to eat.
While she was busy with her feast, I decided to use the potty myself. When I was done, I zipped my pants and noticed a stiff feeling in my right hand. Kind of like when you carry something heavy for too long or when you turn a screw driver for a long amount of time.
Like any man plotting his night on the town I had an open beer that needed to be tended to. I went to the kitchen to get my beer off the counter, as I picked it up I noticed the same feeling in my right hand along with some coordination loss.
I have always been an anxious/ slightly paranoid individual. So now I'm concerned. In the past I have had a few panic attacks so I'm pretty good at talking myself down but this was too much. Over the course of about 20 min it progressively got worse.
At this point I'm convinced I'm having a stroke. My whole right side is next to impossible to control and my speech is beginning to slur. Luckily I live very close to a few hospitals. However dumb it was I drove myself to the er.
They take me back and start the tests. Ct scan shows nothing so doc says it may be a mini stroke, and if we don't act fast effects could be permanent. I give the go ahead and they give me a high dose of blood thinner.
Believe it or not after about 15 min I could wiggle my toes and move my arm. Doc decides to send me down to stroke center for tests. Next morning I have my very first MRI.
I knew by the way the nurse was talking to me that they had found something. The next couple hours are a little blurry. I was not happy in that machine so nurse spiked my iv with something lol.
I barely remember the Neuro coming in to tell me they found what appeared to be ms lesions on my brain. They were torn between mini strokes and ms. They checked my spine next and it was clear.
After four days, they send me home with a Neuro follow up the next week. He orders the works, blood work all the way around spinal tap, and yet another ct scan to check blood vessels in my brain.
When I left the hospital I was getting around pretty good. Not 100% but good. 2days after I got home I'm full blown relapse. I couldn't use a fork let alone walk. If it wasn't for my wife and family I would have been dead.
So Neuro give me a dose pack and over the course of two weeks I come back. After all the test rrms is what they go with.
Since then I've started rebif and tried to go on with my life.
I try to be positive and physically I'm good. But mentally I struggle. I feel like I'm constantly trying to control my body, it feels like any minute my hands are going to just start shaking. I get vertigo at least 3 times a week, depression, and its very hard to get out of bed in the mornings.
I know my issues are minor compared to a lot of people. I have been a very strong and somewhat imposing figure in my life and to feel the way I do is totally foreign to me.
Well that's my ms story, I look forward to talking with some of you and learning your strengths. In dealing with this disease
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