So, you have had all the factual information to give you an idea what MS is and how it affects people, so now I am going to tell you my story.
How did my MS journey start?
Back in October 2013, I started to get pains in my left arm, it was very painful and felt like sharp shooting pains and the sensation in my arm was not as strong as the sensation in my right arm. It felt very weird and the pain made it hard to drive and do other things.
I had no idea what it was - the pain came and went but was pretty much there 80% of the time. What was weird though was during that time I was getting some prayer ministry from a friend and every time she prayed for me the pain in my arm got really bad - we were mystified by this. I don't think it was my friends prayers as she has prayed for me since and no extra pain came my way!
I was also getting sharp shooting pain down one of the nerves on the left hand side of my neck. At times it felt like someone stuck a knife in me and was twisting it around.
I was scheduled to travel to Peru in November to see my friends in Arequipa. Off I went on the planes, long long journey and included a 10 hour wait in JFK. During the plane ride, the pain was unbearable, but for the two weeks I was in Peru the pain was hardly noticeable, only really occurring during the night. Again on the journey back home the pain was back and continued when I landed in the emerald isle. My conclusion on this is that heat is good for pain!! Bad for me, since I live in a cold country!
My friend advised me to go to the doctor since it was hurting too much (think she was fed up with me complaining!!) so I went to the doctor and was advised it was a trapped nerve in my neck (hence the shooting pain) and I had tennis elbow and golf elbow as well (weird since don't play golf or tennis!!)
I was given pain relief in the form of Naproxen and referred to a physio (I was told this referral would take 3 weeks, but didn't actually get my appointment until 17th January, so it was really two months).
Little did I know that these pains would then end up with me being diagnosed with MS. This wasn't the only symptom I was suffering from from October. I also was very tired and spent most of the time in Peru sleeping, which made my Cuban hosts laugh, but I thought that was just the altitude and heat making me tired.
My family and friends also pointed out that my moods were changing and I was feeling low, but again I put this down to other circumstances, such as being unemployed, attending so many interviews and getting rejections. So on my trip to the doctors this was also mentioned and I was put on happy pills!!
The pain medication and happy pills helped, but the sensation in my arm was still weak and I also noticed that my grip wasn't great for my left hand.
During this time I also complained to my friends and family that my memory was getting bad and I had trouble remembering things and also finding words when having conversations. They said not to worry as it happens to be best of us. But as a 31 year old, it worried me as I thought it was too young to lose my memory.
Right that's enough for this post which has covered October to November so next post will be start in December 2013.
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