How is MS Diagnosed?
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There is no laboratory test, symptom, or physical finding which, when present or positive, always means a person has MS. Some of the symptoms of MS could also be caused by other diseases. Consequently, the diagnosis of MS must be made by a careful process which demonstrates findings that are consistent with MS and that also rules out other possible causes.
Read More29th May is World MS Day
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Multiple Sclerosis has its own day to spread awareness of this silent disease!
Not many people are aware of MS like they are for other causes like cancer, autism, depression and even the Daniel Morcombe Foundation for child safety. All fundraisers I see that are being done by individuals are predominantly for cancer research, I haven't seen any for MS Research.
Read MoreI just need to talk...
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Never underestimate the power of just talking. I don't mean gossiping with your bestie or chatting about who was up for elimination on the biggest loser but really talking about things like how your feeling. I've since learnt that saying that I was ok wasn't hiding the fact that I really was not ok. Pretending like nothing had changed when in actual fact everything has changed wasn't helping me deal with and accept my diagnosis. Talking about how I was feeling was made difficult because I didn't even know how I was feeling. My mind was like a washing machine of emotions, so if you could imagine every emotion just rolling around in there everyday, that was how I was feeling.
Read MoreFirst Hospital Stay - Part Two
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Waking up at 6am after only a few hours sleep I was surprisingly alert, so I had a shower because there really wasn't anything else to do. After breakfast the nurse wanted to start my steroid infusion earlier so I could hopefully sleep better that night. About 20 minutes into my infusion there was a knock at the door and my favourite surgeon was standing there asking if he could come in. What a nice surprise! I couldn't go far with my little IV friend attached so he came over for a hug and stayed a short while for a chat to check on how I was going. When he left I told the nurse that my arm was really starting to hurt - my cannula had tissued (most likely from the position it was placed) so they had to stop my infusion and call the cannulation nurse to re-site my cannula.
Read MoreFirst Hospital Stay - Part One
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Apart from being born in a hospital I've never actually been admitted as a patient. I do come to work in this hospital 5 days a week but standing in the 'Admissions' line was a totally new experience . I do now have a new appreciation of what patients have to go through filling out the paperwork, answering questions and signing different bits of paperwork. After all of that was done and I was officially admitted a lovely volunteer appeared to help us find the ward.
Read MoreFirst Neurologist Appointment
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Sitting and waiting to see the Neurologist, fidgeting and wondering what he'll say or what happens next. What feels like hours of anxious waiting its now my turn to go through those doors and into his office.
Read More"You have MS."
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Those are words I never imagined would be aimed at me, but there they were. A phrase that I will never forget. A phrase that changed my life. A phrase that made me feel disabled, like I would never live a 'normal' life. Here I am, 27 years old being given a diagnosis of MS, a progressive disease that is unpredictable and the same for no two people. Being a Registered Nurse and having some knowledge of MS, brain lesions and demyelination, my world felt like it had come crashing down.
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