I have recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It wasn't really a shock to me because I had known for quite some time that SOMETHING was wrong, I just didn't know what. MS is a strange disease and I am still just learning about it so please bear with me as I attempt to find out everything I can and to let you know what I find.

My symptoms began right after the birth of my third child, my daughter Cassidy. I first began to have a numbness in my left hand and arm. Then, I started waking up in extreme pain in the mornings. It was really strange, sometimes the bad pain would be in my arm and then the next time it would be in my neck. The pain would begin to ease after I got up and started moving around. I went to a rheumatologist and he diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I accepted that diagnosis and took over the counter pain releivers when I was having a "flare up". The symptoms would come and go so I never really questioned that I might have something else. When I was feeling bad I just figured that my FM was flaring up and that it would go away soon. This was in 1993 so this has been going on for quite some time.

What really got my attention though was the tremor in my foot. I was going to an ENT for sinus problems and mentioned that I was extremely tired and that I had noticed a tremor in my foot and wondered if he might know what was going on. My dad had been sick with cancer and I had been worried about him and was really stressed out so I just figured that my extreme fatigue was due to stress. The doctor wanted me to have an MRI "just to make sure nothing else is wrong, I don't expect to find anything". When I went for the MRI, I got really concerned because the MRI tech did the first scan then said he wanted to do one with contrast so he put me back in the machine again. A few days later, my ENT called me and said "Mrs. Hooper, we got your MRI back and it was extremely abnormal and I want you to see a neurologist as soon as possible." Well of course that scared me to death! I thought that I must have a brain tumor or something so my MS diagnosis was actually a relief! My doctor told me that I have never had fibromyalgia, that I had the beginings of Multiple Sclerosis 7 years ago when I first started noticing my symptoms.

I think that the worst part of the MS for me has been the extreme fatigue. When I was having the flare up it is almost impossible to describe how tired I felt. I wanted to sleep all the time. My dad died in November and some things happened that really bothered me. One thing was that I almost fell asleep at my dad's funeral. You can never imagine how terrible I felt about that. This was my Daddy and he was in the casket and I was about to fall asleep! Oh, it was awful! Another thing that happened was that after the funeral when we all went to my Mom's house, I stumbled on the porch and my uncle made a joke about me not being able to stand up or something. Of course he didn't know and neither did I but I felt bad anyway because it was embarrasing.

I also had been real self-concious about the way I was walking. It seemed that my left leg would "drop" sometimes when I walked and also it seemed that my knee would "lock up" making it look like I was limping. The only way I can describe it is that felt that I was walking "all floppy". I was also having dizzy spells and stumbling a lot. I walk a lot at the school where I work so it was embarrasing to be walking funny and stumbling all the time. I had people ask me "why are you limping"? or "what's wrong with your leg"? At the time I didn't know.

I was right in the middle of my worst flare-up or exacerbation as they are called when I was diagnosed. I was walking funny and so tired that when I got home from work I would have to lie down and take a nap before I could even cook supper. I was also having the tremor in my foot a lot. My kids could not believe it, they would say "Mama, you're just doing that" when they would see my whole leg shake. It would only happen when I set my foot down a certain way.

When I went to the neurologist he sent me for some tests to confirm my diagnosis. I had a somatasensory and Evoked Potentials test. The Evoked Potentials test involved getting hooked up to these monitors and getting little electrical shocks on your feet, legs, hands and arms. Well, believe it or not, I actually fell asleep while they were shocking me! The lady who did the test said "that just goes to show you that something is wrong if you go to sleep while you're being shocked, I don't think I've ever had anybody do that!". Of course the results of those tests and the results of a lumbar puncture that I had confirmed that I have MS. The doctor told me that I am already in the progressive stage.

I recently had my first treatment with Solumedrol and I can't describe how much better I have felt. I am also taking Copaxone shots every day. I am walking better, I have more energy and I just feel better overall. The doctor had decided to try the Solumedrol treatment because I was having such a bad flare up and I had gotten to where I couldn't lift my left arm. This treatment involves having a home health nurse come to your house and give you the medicine through an IV for three days in a row. It was a hassle to do but it was well worth it.

I plan to find lots of information on MS and pass it on to you. I will also have links to other places that might be of interest to anyone with MS or someone who cares for a person with MS.