Calling all Canadians

[puffinstar]

Hi Valdine,

Yeah, really sorry I missed the 50th reunion, a lot of my friends from school did make it though and filled me in.

So Dr. Rich is still around, he comes across as a big, gruff guy, but he's sort of a gentle giant type.

One time when our cat swallowed a sewing needle, he came over after work, sat on my living room floor, put her to sleep, removed the needle,then sat and held her until she came to again.... and peed on him! The only payment he would take was a homemade pie.

With all the stores you listed, Thompson has become a real "urban center". A road to Nunavut would be a great bonus too.

What did your Dad to at TGH? I'm in my late 50's, so just wondering if I knew your parents.

Sometimes it really is a small world, isn't it?

Alexa

[valdine]

Rich's office is actually in the professional building I work in... he's got his followers for sure. He still does the house calls too. I think he's up for retirement soon but who knows when he'll actually be done.

Dad was a RN at TGH... worked in nearly every ward over the years but ended up leaving in a messy whistle blower situation. He didnt move up until 86... but after that he was the big, male nurse around.

Yeah just think - if you had gone to the reunion... I would have called you shortly after to do a visitor survey

[littlebelle]

I must say I am so happy are new little place on the board is going so well. It has grown a lot in less than a month. So nice to be able to ask questions regarding our medical needs in Canada.

Thanks again MSworld forums for adding a Canada spot to the boards

[haikums]

Niagara Region here

Hi - diagnosed in Nov. 2000 but symptoms from the mid '70's. Latest relapse since Dec. 2006. Not sure how to make use of this message board, but will try to adapt.

[Brenda77]

Guess I need to post here since I am canadian eh! I live in Alberta, anyone else in this provence? I have yet to get an diagnosis but my spmptoms sure match MS. Glad to have found all of you.

[Deborah Ann]

Hello Fellow Canadians

I am in southern ontario near hamilton.my neuro is there .Been diagnosed for 4 years in december.Have to change my drugs when i go back to him in september.Might try the new one tysabrai if i can.I want something new and it is only once a month.Is ther anyone in my area?

[Hoping4acure]

I am in southern ontario near hamilton.my neuro is there .Been diagnosed for 4 years in december.Have to change my drugs when i go back to him in september.Might try the new one tysabrai if i can.I want something new and it is only once a month.Is ther anyone in my area?

Hi Deborah I am from St.Catharines! Nice to see you here.

[Blackcross]

It figures, I stay away for a couple months and Canada takes over the boards

It's Aboot time :P

33 and a rarity {male with MS}
Born in Toronto, now living in Barrie {I think there's a Barrie MS conspiracy afoot, or abrain}

on Antegren/Tysabri {one of the guinea pigs} until next month, and a regular of the St Mike's MS clinic

more than a little worried about the months to come {bet I can guess what I'll be "getting" for christmas} but I lucked out in the years on the study

James

[prairiegirl]

Hi Everyone, I just showed up about a week or so ago. I was born and raised in Winnipeg, MB and am now in BC, near Vancouver.

I am in the process of going through the diagnosis rigamarole, still waiting on a date for an MRI. Currently, I am on gamapentin (did I get that right?) but so far I can't tell that it's made any difference. *sigh*

I posted elsewhere on the forum because I didn't see this section at first. Good to know there are some northerners here so if I have questions that are Canadian specific, I can ask.

For those of you who are diagnosed, how did you get through the torture of waiting and not knowing? I am having anxiety and some days I am on the edge of tears from the stress. And mood swings-don't even get me started! This current round of pain and numbness (among other things) has been going on for 7 weeks now and it's beginning to wear me thin.

Anyway, nice to meet you all.

[Mamabug]

PrairieGirl

Welcome. I wish I had a good answer for you, about how to cope.

Several times, I was misdiagnosed. So, I thought I had a dx, or, at least a "probable" diagnosis. At first, they said it was a stroke. When they realized it wasn't, because of new and different symptoms, it was only a few months before we went to Mayo Clinic. They diagnosed it as "probable Central Nervous System Lupus", but they didn't rule out the possibility, still, of MS.

So, I just went along believing it was what they said. I sort of, though, lived pretty much in denial during much of that time, because I was in a relapse. And, although I could find lots of information about Lupus in general, I could find almost nothing about CNS Lupus.

So, I don't have a great answer. My coping mechanisms were denial and misdiagoses, while I was waiting for an accurate diagnosis.

After I was diagnosed, I was on Betaseron within about 2 weeks. I found it much easier to cope with the truth than the unknown.

Hope you get some answers soon.

~ Faith

[Carol]

Hi prairiegirl and welcome!

My mom is from the prairies (Fort Qu'Appelle, Sk) and I have quite a few cousins in Winnipeg. I was born on Vancouver Island and am still here.

My mom started gabapentin a couple of months ago and it's really helping with her arm pain. Maybe your Dr. needs to up your dose?

My diagnosis was pretty straightforward so there wasn't too much coping needed. Once I knew it wasn't a brain tumour (very long week that was) it was all good in my opinion! I did have to wait six years between first & second flares but didn't have much in the way of symptoms so was perfectly willing to believe it was a one time thing.

Hang in there!

C

[prairiegirl]

*waves hello*
Thanks Carol & Mamabug. I am just trying to buck up as much as I can and get through the waiting part. It would help if my neuro's office would hurry up and BOOK the MRI. It's taking forever.

I think the thing that is hard is that most of the people in my life don't know I am being tested for MS. Not wanting to be drama queen, I haven't wanted to say anything in case it's not MS. (Though I doubt it.) I don't want to get everyone in a flap over "nothing"-know what I mean? And yet, by not telling folks (aside from a few close friends) I feel pretty alone. It's a catch 22.

Anyway, I am just glad I found this forum while I wait.

[StormySkies]

Hi prairiegirl!! *waves*

I started my journey about 2 years ago, and if I'm lucky, I may get my answers in the next couple of weeks.
I, like you, didn't tell anyone in my family I was being tested for MS, for exactly the same reasons as you. But it became necessary to let my family in on everything going on when my throat stopped working, and I realized that due to this (and all the medicals saying it COULD get worse) I should let my family know what was going on, incase I ended up in the hospital.
Fortunately I have an amazingly supportive and helpful husband, so I'm not totally alone in this.
I hope you get your MRI booked soon. The waiting for that is terrible.
I should mention that part of the reason it took me so long is because my first doctor (back on the coast) absolutely would not take me seriously.
Now that I've moved out here, and got a great family doc, things have gone much much faster (I've only been out here for 5 months).

Christine

[prairiegirl]

Hi Christine! My immediate family knows-husband son and mil. ALso a small handful of good friends. I finally decided to tell them because they kept asking how I was. (I had a bad fall 7 weeks ago and we thought the problems I was having were a result of the fall till things got so funky.)

I am glad you are close to having a diagnosis. The waiting is so darn hard. Doesn't it just shock you how quick docs are to pat women on the head? Makes me crazy! From what I can tell, my first symptoms probably started with a bad fall when I was 30. (I'm 36 now.)

Anyway, I am trying to hang in there.

[Mamabug]

Correction

. . . So, I just went along believing it was what they said. I sort of, though, lived pretty much in denial during much of that time, because I was in a relapse.

Oops. Should read "because I was in remission".

PrairieGirl -- Some people don't want others to know anything. And, that's OK. But, it sounds like keeping that inside is difficult for you. If you decide to say something, but don't want to say the "MS" word, you could just try telling them about your symptoms, and that doctors are looking for something neurological.

~ Faith