A Warm Hello

[Sunny329]

A warm hello to the group!

I wanted to introduce myself and officially join the community. I came here as a visitor searching for information and found a lot of great advice for people at all stages of diagnosis and treatment.

For me, I'm entering my 4th year in limbo land. Finances and pre-existing condition exclusions made that period longer than it needed to be, but I'm getting closer to a diagnosis now. The worst optic neuritis I've ever dealt with along with some new motor and vestibular issues made me return to my neurologist last month. My evoked potentials and visual field tests were abnormal, though my MRI still isn't positive for lesions. Next step is a lumbar puncture in January, so maybe those results can (at last) support a concrete diagnosis.

I'm not hanging hope on finding anything definitive any time soon--I've treated too many appointments as finish lines, and I've been sorely disappointed every time. I've learned to live with this probability and navigate the unpredictable stew of various issues that comes up periodically. Some symptoms are harder to deal with than others, but nothing has been quite as difficult to deal with as the uncertainty. It takes daily attention, but at this point, I've accepted the uncertainty for what it is, and I do my best to stay with the present moment.

I'm currently finishing my doctorate in psychology, specializing in neurological and medical issues. I'm mentioning this only to give some context to where I'm coming from, as I certainly won't be posting here as a professional; I'm just here as a partner on this path, to give and receive all of the support I can.

~Mel

[NHE]

Welcome to ThisIsMS!

[jimmylegs]

hi mel and welcome

[amberfer]

A warm hello to the group!
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/posting.p ... 0&p=219542
I wanted to introduce myself and officially join the community. I came here as a visitor searching for information and found a lot of great advice for people at all stages of diagnosis and treatment.

For me, I'm entering my 4th year in limbo land. Finances and pre-existing condition exclusions made that period longer than it needed to be, but I'm getting closer to a diagnosis now. The worst optic neuritis I've ever dealt with along with some new motor and vestibular issues made me return to my neurologist last month. My evoked potentials and visual field tests were abnormal, though my MRI still isn't positive for lesions. Next step is a lumbar puncture in January, so maybe those results can (at last) support a concrete diagnosis.

I'm not hanging hope on finding anything definitive any time soon--I've treated too many appointments as finish lines, and I've been sorely disappointed every time. I've learned to live with this probability and navigate the unpredictable stew of various issues that comes up periodically. Some symptoms are harder to deal with than others, but nothing has been quite as difficult to deal with as the uncertainty. It takes daily attention, but at this point, I've accepted the uncertainty for what it is, and I do my best to stay with the present moment.

I'm currently finishing my doctorate in psychology, specializing in neurological and medical issues. I'm mentioning this only to give some context to where I'm coming from, as I certainly won't be posting here as a professional; I'm just here as a partner on this path, to give and receive all of the support I can.

~Mel

Nice to meet you and thanks for giving us some of your story! Oh, how I hope you get a diagnosis soon of something!! I was "lucky" that my symptoms weren't alarming enough until a few months ago, and that's when I got my dx, so I didn't have to live in limbo for very long.

Wow! Psychology! I see a psychiatrist for depression and bipolar disorder, and she asked how I'd been doing and I said "my depression is so bad I can hardly walk at all!" and she was like "Um, that is not depression." She was the first person to suggest I see a neurologist and get tested for MS! I was diagnosed about a month later. I love to analyze my thoughts, figure out how my own emotions and stress affects the MS, decide how I want to address the topic with others (Humorous? Blasé? Sorrowful?) and how to deal with other peoples' grief for me, when I'm feeling so positive much of the time. I made a thread about how my husband is reacting to all this - he's actually taking it worse than me. Maybe you would find that interesting? Link to the topic below.

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... 23928.html