Hi everyone. I'm new here. I've spent a few days sort of browsing through some of your posts, and I decided I should probably join. I stumbled upon the boards when I was trying to find an answer to a question I had (I ended up finding out what I needed.)
I should start by apologizing. I am a writer, so I tend to get long-winded.
My name is Colleen; I am 27 years old. I received my official diagnosis two days after my 27th birthday.
I actually was clued in about my MS in a rather strange way. I was at a Padres game in San Diego. I had been drinking (but not any more than normal) and suddenly I got sick. My friend walked me to the bathroom where I proceeded to, basically, pass out on the bathroom floor. I retained every audio memory of the night, but I have absolutely no visual memories left after the 7th inning. From there, my optic neuritis progressed into almost total blindness in my left eye.
Five days after the baseball incident I went to the hospital. The first hospital that I went to tried telling me I was having a migraine without the headache. I've had migraines since I was 13; this was not normal. I had to go out of town two days later, so I had to live with what they said.
By the time I got home (10 days after the original incident) I was almost completely blind. After seeing an ophthalmologist, I was instructed that I needed an MRI and it couldn't wait. The next day my mom and I spent 15 hours in the ER. At 2 a.m. we were finally told what we pretty much assumed was already coming- they thought it was MS. Personally, I was just glad it wasn't the brain tumor they originally thought it was.
My f/u MRI showed no changes. They were sure it was MS, but wanted a spinal tap because my neurologist is "overly cautious." I had to respect that. The day before my birthday I had my spinal tap, and they called with the results three days later.
I don't know the number of lesions I have, because I lost count somewhere around 15-20. My neuro gave me the option to start treatment or wait for my next attack. Based on the old lesions indicating silent attacks, I decided I wanted to fight hard and early. I wasn't going to wait another year or three just to find out I had a handful of silent attacks while we waited.
I am now finishing my third week of Rebif. I have had virtually no side effects. I've gotten nauseous twice, but I have Zofran for that. I have some bruising from the injections and that's it. I feel pretty lucky, actually.
Like I said, I write a lot. And I'm a super open person about everything.
I should start by apologizing. I am a writer, so I tend to get long-winded.
My name is Colleen; I am 27 years old. I received my official diagnosis two days after my 27th birthday.
I actually was clued in about my MS in a rather strange way. I was at a Padres game in San Diego. I had been drinking (but not any more than normal) and suddenly I got sick. My friend walked me to the bathroom where I proceeded to, basically, pass out on the bathroom floor. I retained every audio memory of the night, but I have absolutely no visual memories left after the 7th inning. From there, my optic neuritis progressed into almost total blindness in my left eye.
Five days after the baseball incident I went to the hospital. The first hospital that I went to tried telling me I was having a migraine without the headache. I've had migraines since I was 13; this was not normal. I had to go out of town two days later, so I had to live with what they said.
By the time I got home (10 days after the original incident) I was almost completely blind. After seeing an ophthalmologist, I was instructed that I needed an MRI and it couldn't wait. The next day my mom and I spent 15 hours in the ER. At 2 a.m. we were finally told what we pretty much assumed was already coming- they thought it was MS. Personally, I was just glad it wasn't the brain tumor they originally thought it was.
My f/u MRI showed no changes. They were sure it was MS, but wanted a spinal tap because my neurologist is "overly cautious." I had to respect that. The day before my birthday I had my spinal tap, and they called with the results three days later.
I don't know the number of lesions I have, because I lost count somewhere around 15-20. My neuro gave me the option to start treatment or wait for my next attack. Based on the old lesions indicating silent attacks, I decided I wanted to fight hard and early. I wasn't going to wait another year or three just to find out I had a handful of silent attacks while we waited.
I am now finishing my third week of Rebif. I have had virtually no side effects. I've gotten nauseous twice, but I have Zofran for that. I have some bruising from the injections and that's it. I feel pretty lucky, actually.
Like I said, I write a lot. And I'm a super open person about everything.
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