Diagnosis

My Diagnosis Process

I guess that I'm lucky, my diagnosis process was not complicated at all, in fact I got a diagnosis within a week after my first attack.

My first attack on the other hand was quite something.

I woke up one day paralyzed on the whole right side of my body. I thought I had a stroke. I went to the hospital and they immediately ran a CT scan and saw something that was either a Brain Tumor or Multiple Sclerosis. I was hoping for a brain tumor.

After the CT scan I was transferred to another hospital that had an MRI machine. There, they immediately hooked me up to an IV Steroid called solumedrol. The following day they gave me the MRI test and they also did a lumbar puncture to test the fluids in my spinal cord.

My fourth day at the hospital I received the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. All of the tests came back positive.

I was devastated to say the least, as I worked in a Nursing Home and have seen patients with the worst cases of MS and thought that was going to happen to me.

I could not walk, I could barely talk and my arm didn't want to cooperate either. The hospital then wanted to transfer me to an inpatient rehabilitation center, but since I was scared, I asked to be placed in the very nursing home that I worked in, for my physical therapy. After finessing with the Insurance carriers, etc. I got the OK.

I was in the nursing home for almost a month. There I received physical therapy and occupational therapy. I even tried keeping myself busy with some paperwork from my office.

The therapy went well and I was back up and taking care of myself again in a matter of no time, I even returned to work. I never was able to return full duty and about a year went by and I couldn't work anymore.

My symptoms were getting in the way of my work. The worst symptom is the fatigue. It's not a regular fatigue that "normal" people might feel, it's something worse.

Besides the fatigue, I was and still am having flare ups every few months. I have lost count of how many flare ups I've had in the last two years. With each flare up comes the IV steroids. They're great in the sense that they stop the flare ups, but with the steroids comes weight gain with me and I've never been able to get it off. Another thing I have to worry about now with all the steroids is my bone density, guess you have to weigh the good with the bad before you decide what's best for yourself and I've decided that doing the steroids is the best course of action for me.

Music is Kid Rocks, "Only God Knows Why"

art created by geminigal72


	My Diagnosis Process I guess that I'm lucky, my diagnosis process was not complicated at all, in fact I got a diagnosis within a week after my first attack. My first attack on the other hand was quite something. I woke up one day paralyzed on the whole right side of my body. I thought I had a stroke. I went to the hospital and they immediately ran a CT scan and saw something that was either a Brain Tumor or Multiple Sclerosis. I was hoping for a brain tumor. After the CT scan I was transferred to another hospital that had an MRI machine. There, they immediately hooked me up to an IV Steroid called solumedrol. The following day they gave me the MRI test and they also did a lumbar puncture to test the fluids in my spinal cord. My fourth day at the hospital I received the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. All of the tests came back positive. I was devastated to say the least, as I worked in a Nursing Home and have seen patients with the worst cases of MS and thought that was going to happen to me. I could not walk, I could barely talk and my arm didn't want to cooperate either. The hospital then wanted to transfer me to an inpatient rehabilitation center, but since I was scared, I asked to be placed in the very nursing home that I worked in, for my physical therapy. After finessing with the Insurance carriers, etc. I got the OK. I was in the nursing home for almost a month. There I received physical therapy and occupational therapy. I even tried keeping myself busy with some paperwork from my office. The therapy went well and I was back up and taking care of myself again in a matter of no time, I even returned to work. I never was able to return full duty and about a year went by and I couldn't work anymore. My symptoms were getting in the way of my work. The worst symptom is the fatigue. It's not a regular fatigue that "normal" people might feel, it's something worse. Besides the fatigue, I was and still am having flare ups every few months. I have lost count of how many flare ups I've had in the last two years. With each flare up comes the IV steroids. They're great in the sense that they stop the flare ups, but with the steroids comes weight gain with me and I've never been able to get it off. Another thing I have to worry about now with all the steroids is my bone density, guess you have to weigh the good with the bad before you decide what's best for yourself and I've decided that doing the steroids is the best course of action for me. About Me \| What is Multiple Sclerosis? \| Poems \| Awards \| Diagnosis \| Gifts/Awards \| Gifts from Christa \| Links \| Webrings \| Symptoms \| Diagnostic Tests Music is Kid Rocks, "Only God Knows Why" art created by geminigal72