For years, my wife has been experiencing problems with what we thought to be some rather strange medical ailments. things from random pains to limbs falling asleep for no apparent reason. On one occasion while walking, her leg went numb, making it difficult to feel where she was walking.
We had been to many doctors and several specialists with these issues. Our regular G.P., back doctors, neck doctors, neurological doctors, all giving some reason and even treatments for the problems. My favorite one was when she went in for fatigue. The doctor told her that she had 3 kids, of course she was fatigued!
The latest problems came on while I was in Oman this last hitch. Numbness that started in her lower legs and reached up to her midriff. This was again a new thing, and she went to the back doctor to see if there was further damage to her L3 and L4 that was discovered last year. She went for X-rays of her back and back to the doctor for the results. He told her that everything looked fine, no further deterioration of the spine, etc. If things were so fine, how come she had no feeling from the waist down? The doctor told her that another series of injections (an Epidural) should fix her right up. This would have been the second time in about 2 years to have this done. Insurance denied the procedure and for the next month we went round and round with the insurance company, getting a health advocate involved. New forms were filled out and submitted by the doctor. Denied. No headway from the health advocate.
Finally after being denied a third time, and out of anger and frustration, my wife stated researching the conditions on the web (what a wonderful resource when you know how to use it) and found what looked to be a reason for all the problems. Multiple Sclerosis. She made an appointment with a neurologist and told him what she had found and why she thought this might be what she had. He agreed and ordered up an MRI of her brain. Finally! Someone that was listening! Although it’s somewhat frightening to think that you (or the woman you’ve searched for, and finally found), may have a disease that can not be cured. The doctor called today to let us know that it’s been diagnosed finally. It is Multiple Sclerosis. There were several lesions on her brain, to many to not be MS. The doctor wants to meet with both of us Friday to discuss the course of treatment.
Time to research what this disease is and treatment options. As you can imagine, spirits are not high, but finally we have a name for the problems she has had in the past. The more we read about MS, the more we realize that she has had this for many years, maybe close to 20 years.
A little knowledge…