Hi, thanks so much for taking a moment to read my story.
I am a 31 year-old, mother of two boys; ages 12 and 4. Our first son was conceived without incidence, however we faced two years of infertility, before conceiving our second son. Upon conception, the pregnancy was full term without complications. He reached all of his milestones, until around eighteen months when he began to lose language and eventually stopped speaking all together. By age 3, he was diagnosed with Autism and continues to struggle with language, as well as numerous other pervasive issues. We have since conceived three additional times, without fail, yet each of the pregnancies failed to progress beyond 6-10 weeks.
My health has progressively deteriorated throughout the last two years. I was ultimately hospitalized in December 09, with my third incidence of pneumonia within the year. Unfortunately, I have yet to recover my health since the hospitalization. I assumed the fatigue and exhaustion to be lasting effects of the illness, however it has only worsened since that time. My sleep patterns have continued to increase to the point of incidences of up to 30 hours, without awakening once. Even upon waking up and getting out of bed, after eighteen hours of sleep, I struggle to maintain wakefulness within moments of sitting on my couch. While I eventually become somewhat alert, I find it very challenging to maintain an upright position. With standing or sitting upright, I find I must be leaning against something or holding my head up with my arms. Just walking across the room takes much concentration, as I feel the need to consciously tell my legs to make another step. Typical self help skills are also met with challenges, as my arms maintain the same weakness. Within moments of physical activity, I'm breathing hard and must rest almost continuously.
In addition, I found it increasingly difficult to focus my thoughts abstractly. Anything involving process thinking, continues to feel unreachable. I get almost overwhelmed with just the thought of needing to focus my thoughts on something complex. It’s as if my thoughts are trapped within a constant fog that doesn’t allow me to reach them. Often times, I must make a quick note when I’m able to remember something important, otherwise it’s unlikely it will cross my mind again for a while.
A short time following the apparent physical weaknesses, I began having issues with my eyes. They often felt dry, as well as a feeling of a substance causing blurriness. I began having episodes of vision impairments that would only subside if I closed one eye. Months went by before episodes intense pressure behind my eyes and double vision began appearing. After occurring a handful of times, I mentioned it to my physician in a routine office visit. He referred me to an eye doctor, who diagnosed it as possible "fourth nerve palsy" and prescribed corrective (prism) lenses; which work wonderfully. He also indicated the need to see a neurologist to have an mri of the brain.
That brings me to my present status in this process. I was able to have the mri preformed, however my appointment to see the physician is weeks away. I was able to obtain the report last week, but still pretty confused about what to make of it. The report reads:
“There are multiple non-enhancing deep white matter lesions. Given the patients age, possibilities do include demyelination including MS but other demyelination. The largest lesion is 5mm in greatest dimensions and the midline structures and brainstem are spared.”
I’m not sure whether to just assume they’re MS lesions, or consider the possibility of other disease origins. Of course after doing research, I'm 90% sure it is MS. I just want more than anything to figure out what's wrong with me. I want SO much to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
I am a 31 year-old, mother of two boys; ages 12 and 4. Our first son was conceived without incidence, however we faced two years of infertility, before conceiving our second son. Upon conception, the pregnancy was full term without complications. He reached all of his milestones, until around eighteen months when he began to lose language and eventually stopped speaking all together. By age 3, he was diagnosed with Autism and continues to struggle with language, as well as numerous other pervasive issues. We have since conceived three additional times, without fail, yet each of the pregnancies failed to progress beyond 6-10 weeks.
My health has progressively deteriorated throughout the last two years. I was ultimately hospitalized in December 09, with my third incidence of pneumonia within the year. Unfortunately, I have yet to recover my health since the hospitalization. I assumed the fatigue and exhaustion to be lasting effects of the illness, however it has only worsened since that time. My sleep patterns have continued to increase to the point of incidences of up to 30 hours, without awakening once. Even upon waking up and getting out of bed, after eighteen hours of sleep, I struggle to maintain wakefulness within moments of sitting on my couch. While I eventually become somewhat alert, I find it very challenging to maintain an upright position. With standing or sitting upright, I find I must be leaning against something or holding my head up with my arms. Just walking across the room takes much concentration, as I feel the need to consciously tell my legs to make another step. Typical self help skills are also met with challenges, as my arms maintain the same weakness. Within moments of physical activity, I'm breathing hard and must rest almost continuously.
In addition, I found it increasingly difficult to focus my thoughts abstractly. Anything involving process thinking, continues to feel unreachable. I get almost overwhelmed with just the thought of needing to focus my thoughts on something complex. It’s as if my thoughts are trapped within a constant fog that doesn’t allow me to reach them. Often times, I must make a quick note when I’m able to remember something important, otherwise it’s unlikely it will cross my mind again for a while.
A short time following the apparent physical weaknesses, I began having issues with my eyes. They often felt dry, as well as a feeling of a substance causing blurriness. I began having episodes of vision impairments that would only subside if I closed one eye. Months went by before episodes intense pressure behind my eyes and double vision began appearing. After occurring a handful of times, I mentioned it to my physician in a routine office visit. He referred me to an eye doctor, who diagnosed it as possible "fourth nerve palsy" and prescribed corrective (prism) lenses; which work wonderfully. He also indicated the need to see a neurologist to have an mri of the brain.
That brings me to my present status in this process. I was able to have the mri preformed, however my appointment to see the physician is weeks away. I was able to obtain the report last week, but still pretty confused about what to make of it. The report reads:
“There are multiple non-enhancing deep white matter lesions. Given the patients age, possibilities do include demyelination including MS but other demyelination. The largest lesion is 5mm in greatest dimensions and the midline structures and brainstem are spared.”
I’m not sure whether to just assume they’re MS lesions, or consider the possibility of other disease origins. Of course after doing research, I'm 90% sure it is MS. I just want more than anything to figure out what's wrong with me. I want SO much to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
good luck.
I can attempt to explain my issues to my family and friends all day long, yet I never feel fully understood. However, after reading many of the postings from other members of this site, I truly feel I'm not alone in this battle.
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