The Tingle
I awoke several days in a row with a pain at the base of my neck and tingling sensations in my hands(sound familiar). Of course I was a male in his 30's with that feeling of invincibility; I dismissed it as overworking. I will freely admit I was and still am a workaholic. It was not unusual for me to work 80-100 hours a week. I often wonder if that wasn't my trigger (doc says no). The pains and sensations would not go away so my very smart wife convinced me to go get it looked at. I begrudgingly arrived and waited what I thought was too long (he was worth it), now after about 15 minutes in his office he looked at me and suspected MS. What a shock! I thought I would hear about a pinched nerve and that I should get some rest. I was convinced as I left the office he was overreacting.
Crappy Morning
I awoke a mere 7 days later unable to walk straight and I threw up every time I made the attempt. Now my wife knows me, she called me out of work and then called an ambulance. See I have never called out of work (I'm a workaholic remember), so she knew something bad was going on.
Smart woman because within a short period of time I could not walk at all and at about the 4 hour point most of my systems were beginning to shut down.
Scary Hospital Stay
They moved me from ER to a room because it really looked like I would be staying a few days.
The docs started a battery of tests looking for things like cancer or brain tumors and other nasty stuff. Knowing what I know now I don't blame them MS normally does not present like this. I was unlucky to have my first good size lesion on a nerve center that sent crazy signals to all sorts of places in my body. I couldn't see, walk, eat or any number of bodily functions I don't want to talk about. They decided after seeing a spinal scan which was lit up like a Christmas tree (that's the phrase that was bandied about) that I needed a spinal tap. Spinal Taps are scary enough but I was so out of it I don't even remember the procedure.
I awoke several days in a row with a pain at the base of my neck and tingling sensations in my hands(sound familiar). Of course I was a male in his 30's with that feeling of invincibility; I dismissed it as overworking. I will freely admit I was and still am a workaholic. It was not unusual for me to work 80-100 hours a week. I often wonder if that wasn't my trigger (doc says no). The pains and sensations would not go away so my very smart wife convinced me to go get it looked at. I begrudgingly arrived and waited what I thought was too long (he was worth it), now after about 15 minutes in his office he looked at me and suspected MS. What a shock! I thought I would hear about a pinched nerve and that I should get some rest. I was convinced as I left the office he was overreacting.
Crappy Morning
I awoke a mere 7 days later unable to walk straight and I threw up every time I made the attempt. Now my wife knows me, she called me out of work and then called an ambulance. See I have never called out of work (I'm a workaholic remember), so she knew something bad was going on.
Smart woman because within a short period of time I could not walk at all and at about the 4 hour point most of my systems were beginning to shut down.
Scary Hospital Stay
They moved me from ER to a room because it really looked like I would be staying a few days.
The docs started a battery of tests looking for things like cancer or brain tumors and other nasty stuff. Knowing what I know now I don't blame them MS normally does not present like this. I was unlucky to have my first good size lesion on a nerve center that sent crazy signals to all sorts of places in my body. I couldn't see, walk, eat or any number of bodily functions I don't want to talk about. They decided after seeing a spinal scan which was lit up like a Christmas tree (that's the phrase that was bandied about) that I needed a spinal tap. Spinal Taps are scary enough but I was so out of it I don't even remember the procedure.
To be continued....
Buy a Shirt,Help an Artist,Find a Cure.
Artists that have Multiple Sclerosis have contributed their time to createto t-shirts like the one below
Please Visit the MS T-Shirts and help find the cure
Artists that have Multiple Sclerosis have contributed their time to createto t-shirts like the one below
Please Visit the MS T-Shirts and help find the cure
Some notes from the Jenn Shelton -
My artwork became very important to me after I became diagnosed with MS in 2007. I used to have a career path in Finance,
but now concentrate on making abstracts using acrylics as my medium.
This painting was done on an oval canvas shortly after my diagnosis.
It expresses the various sensory symptoms and what we sometimes have to deal with. The orange represents the desire to find a cure and is used by the NMSS.
but now concentrate on making abstracts using acrylics as my medium.
This painting was done on an oval canvas shortly after my diagnosis.
It expresses the various sensory symptoms and what we sometimes have to deal with. The orange represents the desire to find a cure and is used by the NMSS.
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