Newbie

[cheekus]

Hi all! I am a newly diagnosed MS patient. And I was blind sided by the dx. At the end of Nov, I had a bit of mild numbness on my left side... It went away and I just forgot about it... 2 weeks later I had some blurriness in my right eye, and 2 days later had no vision in that eye.. I went straight to my eye dr, having no clue what was going on, She sent me to another eye specialist, and I was told I needed to have some tests done to rule out MS.

The next day I had an MRI, followed by a scheduled admission, where I was told it was in fact, MS. I had another MRI of my spine, and spinal tap.. I was told that I have several lesions in my brain, and one on my spine... I did 5 days of IV SM. Followed up with my neurologist last week, and because of continued tingling on my right side was put on a 12 day course of oral steroids (prednisone).

I, along with my dr, have decided to start copaxone... Auto-injector arrived last week, and now just currently waiting on meds to come, and then I guess the training will start...

I am still in a bit of shock over this dx... I had no clue this was coming... there is no family history.... People who found out, have been looking at me like i'm dying, which scares me more than the dx itself.... I am very nervous about the injections...

I am struggling with the fatigue that appeared out of nowhere... I live a very busy life, with a very busy 6 year old high functioning autistic son, so I need to be able to gain control of this, and make it part of my life... not it control mine...

I am trying to learn all I can, and looking for any advice and info I can get!

Looking forward to learning all I can from you guys!

[gomer]

WELCOME........Cheekus

You have found a GREAT place for support and information. Just sorry for what brought you here.
We have a very wide range of experience here, so if one person can't answer a question or concern, there is bound to be someone who can help.

Knowledge is power, so learn all you can.

Keep in mind, there are many things worse than MS.

Every week or so we start a new thread for newbies called newbies lounge, please check in and join us.

again WELCOME!


Gomer Sir Falls-a-lot, even on FLAT LEVEL surfaces.
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[FourPaws]

Wow. What a quick way to be thrust into the thick of things without any time to adjust. Glad that you're being treated though I'm sorry that you have to be. It's a good place to be because the people that know this the best are the people with it.

Hugs!

[dart12]

Just wanted to say hi, I started coming here few weeks ago, diagnosed in October (mine was also a fairly rapid diagnosis so I have struggled to come to terms with it in a short space of time). The people on this forum are an amazing source of support and knowledge. I am truly grateful for that and hope you will find the same. Best of luck :-)

[22cyclist]

Glad you came. Check out all of the boards from Q and As, to the medication boards, and don't forget about the chat rooms. All can be a great form of support. Welcome to the club...you know, the one nobody really wants a membership to even though it is free.

Take care
Lisa

[suziq38]

Doctors Have Conflicting Ideas About What to Do.

In early September, I was very weak from walking a lot during my European vacation. When I came home, I could barely walk for a couple of days. I gradually got better, but my legs were weak.
The neurologist took an MRI of cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar spine. T -spine and L-spine were O.K., but C-spine showed my entire neck in shambles, and the CSF cord was almost completely blocked. There were signal changes, which means that my leg weakness may not improve, it may get worse, the longer I wait to let the surgeon do the surgery.
My LP was very clear. My brain scan showed two tiny particles, that the original neuro and radiologist said was not M.S.

My blood tests were negative for trans. myelitis and M.S.

The surgeon said he wanted me to wait to see the neuro radiologist. This took 2 months!! I just aw him last friday and he wants me to wait until the MS neuro says that I don't have M.S.
The neuro examined me, took my medical history and ordered another bunch of blood tests.
He said that he wanted to repeat the MRI of the brain.
For the brain MRI, he wants me to wait until March!
That is another 2 months.
Meanwhile, I am wondering if my legs are getting progressively weaker because of my spinal cord blockage.

While I hesitate to do surgery, I clearly need it.
If there are so many medical tests for seeing if I have MS, why do we have to do another MRI of the brain???
If we do this one in early March, the old one was done in September.

The M.S. doctor said that he needs to compare the two brain scans.

Should I wait for the surgery to see if I have M.S., or should I interview yet another surgeon at a different teaching hospital to see what she says?

Not sure If I want or need to wait until March. That could mean that I would not have my surgery until April.

[HellsBells1]

As far as my research has led me to believe, there are no tests to determine whether you have MS.

For sure, there are no blood tests. The tests that they are running are not to check if you have MS, but to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms - checking for other diseases that can be checked with bloodworm.

An MRI can show lesions on the brain, which can be caused by other things besides MS, although as I understand it, MS lesions like to target certain areas more than others (although no part of the brain or spinal cord are immune) and MS lesions also have a typically characteristic ovoid shape.

They can do a Lumbar Puncture to check your spinal fluid which can confirm a dx of MS along with other findings such as clinical symptoms, history, MRI findings, etc. although if they find oligloconal bands and increased white blood cells - although other diseases can also have these findings in the CS fluid.

If the doc wants another MRI, he is surely still concerned about a MS or another type of brain-attacking illness - which would not be fixed by surgery. Express your concerns to the doctor, and allow him to explain why he won't proceed with surgery.