Diagnosed today
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:01 pm
Hi all,
As per the subject title, I was diagnosed with MS today and have joined the board in order to read others stories, share stories, and enlighten myself on MS and the treatments available.
In 2009, I had woken up one morning and felt that I was going blind. My vision was blurry in both eyes. If I was to use my peripheral vision, or to turn my head to the left, my right eye would lag for several seconds before it followed my other eye. This would also occur with my left eye if I was to turn my head to the right. I had visited an optometrist who advised that I had 6/6/ (20/20) vision and recommended that I go to hospital for a further check up. An MRI, spinal tap and evoked potentials test later, the Neurologist advised that he couldn't see any symptoms of MS and advised that I was free to go and report back to the hospital if I had another relapse. In 2003, I had Testicular Cancer and I'll never forget receiving a phone call from my Neurologist (Whilst I was at the Cinemas) in 2009 (after the MRI / spinal tap results were in) to advise me that they'd found 'a mass' in my brain and wanted to see me urgently. Understandable, I had thought the worst and assumed that Cancer had returned. It wasn't until I got into the hospital that I was advised that it was inflammation - *phew*
Fast forward 5 years, four weeks ago, I had traveled to New York and Hawaii (from Australia) as a good friend of mine was getting married in Hawaii. My fiance and I decided to spend 5 days in New York before meeting everyone in Hawaii for the wedding. This is where I had proposed to her and where my second episode of blurry vision had begun.
I had put up with it for about 10 nights as I wanted to come back home before being treated. Once again, I had visited an optometrist, was given a referral to see the same neurologist, had an MRI test done and the rest is history. As of only a few hours ago, I have been diagnosed with MS.
When comparing the most recent MRI film with that of 2009, the neurologist didn't see much of a difference in terms of inflammation. There was a single spec on the left side of my brain that hadn't been noted in 2009. My Neurologist believes that this could be what's been causing my (latest symptom) sensory issues for the last 5 days. In short, these last 5 days, the right hand side of my body has started to feel numb / tingling; almost as if it's paralysed. It lasts for about 20 seconds and then goes away. It happens at least 20 times a day and causes a little discomfort, but it's by no means painful.
I'll be back in hospital tomorrow (Friday), Monday and Tuesday as I'll be given Methylprednisolone to assist with the symptoms / inflammation. My Neurologist had briefly talked me through various treatments that I can take after the Methylprednisolone (it feels awkward abbreviating that word to 'meth') and has left me with a lot of literature. He had recommended Gilenya (Fingolimod) but advised me to read up on all treatments to see what I feel will be best suited.
In the last few weeks, I've been playing 'Google Doctor' and had diagnosed myself with MS before the Neurologist did - so I was well prepared for the outcome. I've also been lurking on this forum reading many of stories and it's great to see how big the community is and how helpful forum members are.
*Drops suitcases*
I guess I'll be here for a while and I'm looking forward to reading a whole lot more.
As per the subject title, I was diagnosed with MS today and have joined the board in order to read others stories, share stories, and enlighten myself on MS and the treatments available.
In 2009, I had woken up one morning and felt that I was going blind. My vision was blurry in both eyes. If I was to use my peripheral vision, or to turn my head to the left, my right eye would lag for several seconds before it followed my other eye. This would also occur with my left eye if I was to turn my head to the right. I had visited an optometrist who advised that I had 6/6/ (20/20) vision and recommended that I go to hospital for a further check up. An MRI, spinal tap and evoked potentials test later, the Neurologist advised that he couldn't see any symptoms of MS and advised that I was free to go and report back to the hospital if I had another relapse. In 2003, I had Testicular Cancer and I'll never forget receiving a phone call from my Neurologist (Whilst I was at the Cinemas) in 2009 (after the MRI / spinal tap results were in) to advise me that they'd found 'a mass' in my brain and wanted to see me urgently. Understandable, I had thought the worst and assumed that Cancer had returned. It wasn't until I got into the hospital that I was advised that it was inflammation - *phew*
Fast forward 5 years, four weeks ago, I had traveled to New York and Hawaii (from Australia) as a good friend of mine was getting married in Hawaii. My fiance and I decided to spend 5 days in New York before meeting everyone in Hawaii for the wedding. This is where I had proposed to her and where my second episode of blurry vision had begun.
I had put up with it for about 10 nights as I wanted to come back home before being treated. Once again, I had visited an optometrist, was given a referral to see the same neurologist, had an MRI test done and the rest is history. As of only a few hours ago, I have been diagnosed with MS.
When comparing the most recent MRI film with that of 2009, the neurologist didn't see much of a difference in terms of inflammation. There was a single spec on the left side of my brain that hadn't been noted in 2009. My Neurologist believes that this could be what's been causing my (latest symptom) sensory issues for the last 5 days. In short, these last 5 days, the right hand side of my body has started to feel numb / tingling; almost as if it's paralysed. It lasts for about 20 seconds and then goes away. It happens at least 20 times a day and causes a little discomfort, but it's by no means painful.
I'll be back in hospital tomorrow (Friday), Monday and Tuesday as I'll be given Methylprednisolone to assist with the symptoms / inflammation. My Neurologist had briefly talked me through various treatments that I can take after the Methylprednisolone (it feels awkward abbreviating that word to 'meth') and has left me with a lot of literature. He had recommended Gilenya (Fingolimod) but advised me to read up on all treatments to see what I feel will be best suited.
In the last few weeks, I've been playing 'Google Doctor' and had diagnosed myself with MS before the Neurologist did - so I was well prepared for the outcome. I've also been lurking on this forum reading many of stories and it's great to see how big the community is and how helpful forum members are.
*Drops suitcases*
I guess I'll be here for a while and I'm looking forward to reading a whole lot more.