This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hey guys,
This is the first time I have used a forum, so here goes. I am a college student, and just been starting to deal with what I have been hiding in the back of my mind for all of my life. My dad has MS. He was diagnosed around 20 years ago. He is doing fine and on Copaxone. He does not have any noticeable physical symptoms, or any others that he has told me. What makes me unique is that my dad has two other siblings with MS. He came from a large family, but even so, 3/11 siblings having MS is strange. The eldest one with MS died when I was young; I remember visiting him once when he was in a nursing home. The other sibling, my aunt, is still living, but is in a wheelchair and stutters. My problems are not that I am afraid of getting MS. I am just afraid for my dad. When I visit my aunt, I cannot help but see her and then think of my dad-that is probably him in 10-20 years time. I have told a handful of people that my dad has MS and only really talked to one person in depth.
The other major thing that happened to me was when I was a senior in High School. My US Government teacher showed West Wing-specifically one class he showed the episode where President Bartlett had his major MS Flare-up. It was somewhat traumatizing-I hadn't thought about my dad having MS in years. Again, I had the thought of, "that's my dad in 10-20 years."
The other thing is that my mom is not necessarily healthy either. She is a breast cancer survivor. My grandfather and her sister both died from cancer. I have been keeping this inside of me all my life. I was just wondering if you guys have any suggestions for me dealing with this.

I have ms in my family, (my aunt passed from it) now I have it too.
I'm glad to hear your dad is doing ok, the best advice I can give you is don't worry about the future as we don't know with all the advancements in stem cells and new drugs if Ms will eventually be reversible. I would imagine and hope that by the time your dad starts to have difficulties there will be better options to help him.

My aunt died when there were no options....we have more options now that have really helped a lot of MSers but hopefully in the future there will be even more (especially for progressive Ms)

L x

I am sure this must be hard for you but I think you must remember that the course of MS (and other autoimune diseases) is different in every patient as are the symptoms. That is exactly why I didn't want to go to MS society in my town, I just didn't want to see people with advanced MS because I know I wouls think about that all the time and just stress myself out and that would do no good.

There are things you can do to prevent MS. Let Dr. Bergman explain it. Follow his advice and you should not be concerned about MS.

Thanks for posting link, I do all that stuff but good to hear another advocate!!

Maybe your dad could try some of the suggestions too

Sometimes I think my diagnosis is more difficult on my family than it is on me!

It is so sweet for you to be worried about your mom and dad...and I am sorry that they both have these scary medical problems. Here are two ideas since you asked for them; hope they help!

• MS is not a death sentence, especially with the great new medications coming out all the time.
• Your dad is your best resource for dealing with emotions. Ask him how he is feeling, what his fears are; tell him your fears and your worry for him. It will absolutely bless him.