Mandatory Rest Period

On August 13th,2004 I woke up not feeling right. I actually thought I had Vertigo again. I went to work anyways but left around noon. I went to a drop in clinic on my way home to see if it was Vertigo and he said yes. Take these pills and it will go away.

The next day something told me this wasen't Vertigo. I've had it before and it went away fast after I took the medication. My vision was all whacked out. I couldn't focus on anything and I was seeing double images and feeling sick from all the motion. So, Saturday night I asked my husband to take me to the hospital. They fast tracked me at Emerg... I guess I had symptoms similar to a stroke. I seemed to have less vision in my left eye and crazy double vision in my right eye. They did a CATscan and thus started my mandatory rest period.

They scanned me to see if I had a brain tumour. That was a scary thing to hear from a doctor while your sitting in a gown in an emergency ward. Turns out I didn't have a brain tumour. They actually couldn't tell me what was wrong though which seemed more daunting than knowing I didn't have a brain tumour. But they said to go to my family doctor on Monday and let him explore what's wrong.

So we did that. Family doctor forwarded me to an Opthamologist. That jerk (clearly, he skipped the bed side manner class in schoool) told me I have Sixth Nerve palsy. Then forwarded me to a Neuro-Opthamologist. This doctor (jackass number two) confirmed that and also added partial Seventh Nerve Palsy.

Okay, so I have this paralysis in my eye muscle and the muscles in my face that control facial expressions. But none of these doctors can tell me why. Only that these are symtoms of something else. And no, he won't give me a list of what it could be. He wouldn't even entertain the conversation and told me not to go surfing on the web either. He ordered an MRI of my brain. In the lovely city of Vancouver... this is a 2 month wait list. I'm already into 3 weeks of this double vision crap and still don't know why and the only thing I can do is sit at home, don't drive my car and no working. I was literally crawling the walls!!

So, after some quick research I found 4 MRI clinics that I could go to and pay to have my MRI done with only a one day waiting period. Easy decision right? 750.00 dollars later and literally a one day wait and the MRI was done. Back to the specialist again and he says that I'm a possible to probably candidate for Multiple Sclerosis. He forwards me to the MS clinic which also has about a 4 week wait.

October 26th. I was confirmed to have MS. They were positive with me that I have Benign Remitting Relapsing MS, the best kind to get. I'm thinking no kind would be better, but thanks I guess after living for over 2 months without a diagnosis this is one I can swallow.

So thats been my journey to date. I'm still off work with the eye stuff going on. I don't know when I'm going to be "ready" to go back to work (everyone keeps asking) but you can bet it'll be as soon as I can! I miss having a place to be everyday other than a doctors office. Even if my job isn't my dream job, it'd still be nice to be capable enough to do it again.

- posted by Anonymous @ 7:51 PM - Link @ 7:51 PM - Link to this post - Comments (0)

			Hi, I’m Kim! This site provides a little insight to my journey of being diagnosised with Remitting Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis on October 26th 2004. I review books and documentaries, post MS-related news, and share my photos. Subscribe (RSS) My bloglines Archives Current November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 September 2010 November 2011

	Wednesday, November 24, 2004 *My Mandatory Rest Period* On August 13th,2004 I woke up not feeling right. I actually thought I had Vertigo again. I went to work anyways but left around noon. I went to a drop in clinic on my way home to see if it was Vertigo and he said yes. Take these pills and it will go away. The next day something told me this wasen't Vertigo. I've had it before and it went away fast after I took the medication. My vision was all whacked out. I couldn't focus on anything and I was seeing double images and feeling sick from all the motion. So, Saturday night I asked my husband to take me to the hospital. They fast tracked me at Emerg... I guess I had symptoms similar to a stroke. I seemed to have less vision in my left eye and crazy double vision in my right eye. They did a CATscan and thus started my mandatory rest period. They scanned me to see if I had a brain tumour. That was a scary thing to hear from a doctor while your sitting in a gown in an emergency ward. Turns out I didn't have a brain tumour. They actually couldn't tell me what was wrong though which seemed more daunting than knowing I didn't have a brain tumour. But they said to go to my family doctor on Monday and let him explore what's wrong. So we did that. Family doctor forwarded me to an Opthamologist. That jerk (clearly, he skipped the bed side manner class in schoool) told me I have Sixth Nerve palsy. Then forwarded me to a Neuro-Opthamologist. This doctor (jackass number two) confirmed that and also added partial Seventh Nerve Palsy. Okay, so I have this paralysis in my eye muscle and the muscles in my face that control facial expressions. But none of these doctors can tell me why. Only that these are symtoms of something else. And no, he won't give me a list of what it could be. He wouldn't even entertain the conversation and told me not to go surfing on the web either. He ordered an MRI of my brain. In the lovely city of Vancouver... this is a 2 month wait list. I'm already into 3 weeks of this double vision crap and still don't know why and the only thing I can do is sit at home, don't drive my car and no working. I was literally crawling the walls!! So, after some quick research I found 4 MRI clinics that I could go to and pay to have my MRI done with only a one day waiting period. Easy decision right? 750.00 dollars later and literally a one day wait and the MRI was done. Back to the specialist again and he says that I'm a possible to probably candidate for Multiple Sclerosis. He forwards me to the MS clinic which also has about a 4 week wait. October 26th. I was confirmed to have MS. They were positive with me that I have Benign Remitting Relapsing MS, the best kind to get. I'm thinking no kind would be better, but thanks I guess after living for over 2 months without a diagnosis this is one I can swallow. So thats been my journey to date. I'm still off work with the eye stuff going on. I don't know when I'm going to be "ready" to go back to work (everyone keeps asking) but you can bet it'll be as soon as I can! I miss having a place to be everyday other than a doctors office. Even if my job isn't my dream job, it'd still be nice to be capable enough to do it again. - posted by Anonymous @ 7:51 PM - Link @ 7:51 PM - Link to this post - Comments (0)