PatientsLikeMe ™

my adventure began way before dx'd for ms ... in oct. 1987 i was lifting something sorta heavy and POP, i herniated 2 discs in my lower spine .. i was having focus issues, foggy head and in the past had mono, pneumonia, jaundice , epps/barr, chronic fatigue, extra aches and pains , but none were attributed to ms, cause we weren't looking for it ... i then went on to battle chronic fatigue and the loss of feeling in fingertips .. and while at one job i popped a disc in my neck and it caused a lot of problems .. headaches, stiffness and so PT, meds and surgury were the options.

Sory, left this out .. while at work, I was reaching very hard for something and twisted my body and neck to try to squeeze between a tight spot .. I heard that familiar POP and the next day I had to go to emrgency room room , as I could not move my upper body, shoulders & neck .. they discovered 2 disc issues, 1 herniated the other buldging ..

skip forward after learning to cope with all my symptoms , april 8, 2000, we were rearended at a red light .. the impact lifted our truck up and onto the median .. i felt my whole body lurch forward and heard a familiar pop in my neck and my back was frozen .. emergency room xrays of both my haed and neck and lower back alerted the emergency room doctor to problems and i was referred to a neuro, who did an MRI on my cervical spine and lower lumbar ..

of course the old injuries showed up along with new bulging discs , 2 more ...  1 in neck and the other in lower spine .. so it was PT or surgery and only PT as i had gone thru this before , i thought it was the same ... however my my vision was off, my gait of course was off  and i was in ALOT of pain .. two weeks rest and it was back to work .. i just kept telling myself that i can work thru the discomfort ...

1 year later May 5th 2001 was when i had my first encounter with MS .. the second was exactly 1 week later .. the doc ordered MRI's of the brain .. report came in as probable MS .. so my doc refered me to a neuro right there and off we go !!!!

after a battery of tests to rule out MS, it was detrmined that i was having strokes , going way back ? this did not sit well with me as i had tingling and numbness from head to toe .. QUIT SMOKING, that was the advice i was given ... so in tears we left there w/two week respite from work, no lifting, driving etc.... okay ...

within a week , my speech slurred, gait got worse and i began having panic attacks as well as depression....i had depression as far back as 1970's, so back to my doc and off to a neuro who first saw me in April of 2000 from the accident ... he ordered one test, lumbar puncture , and determined a mild case of rrms .. now what ?

It would be too long a story to get us up to date , but here i am, pain and all .. and am now ready to demand a real "label" as to what form of MS and i want a full MRI from the head down ... as i now understand that while most lesions show up in the Thorax. spine , i never really had a full spinal MRI ..

the last MRI was over 1 year ago in Nov. of 06, as i thought i had a relapse, off my feet for days , and when symptoms i have worsened i knew it was time , so this neuro orders an MRI of the brain .. i asked if she could do the cervical spine as well, which i have no clue that the entire spine should have been done .. the lesions on my spine , she says is arthritis from the three discs .. now i question even that ..

my new neuro , i will be seeing again , gotta make an appt., but we discussed doing a full spine and head MRI , and see what is happening , as her report showed that out of the five lesions, the newer had shrunk a bit, BUT the largest had grown "deeper" ..

what was effected is now worse .. so he may want me to start injections and i am armed with my charts and graphs and history and films .. together he said , let's see if we can make me more comfortable at all .. i will update this as i go .. i like to change my bio, so it is up to date as well ...

It is now Feb. '08 .. the second neuro. was a dud .. my PCP has ordered fresh MRI's of my brain, c-spine, t-spine & l-spine ... i am approved for an appt. (which it is hard to get) at the MS Clinic @ U of NM ... my butt hurts so i have to get up now .. will be back for updates and spelling corrections .. giggle ... yowza !