Basic Background-Type Information

I was diagnosed with MS in December of 2003.  I was 18 years old at the time of diagnosis, a freshman in college, & had just gotten out of my first semester of college for Christmas break.  Going to college an hour & a half away from home - your family, high school friends, & of course your boyfriend - is hard enough, but in or around September of my freshman year, my left leg started to give me trouble when walking.  I figured that I didn't have to go to the doctor if I didn't want to because I did not have my Mom & Dad at school with me to make me go.  However, for some reason, I went to the doctor on my own to see why my left leg was causing me to limp all over campus.  I thought I had just pulled a muscle, the school nurse thought I had a pinched nerve of some sort, but after testing, she realized neither was what was going on.  She sent me to a neurologist whom she knew to have a good reputation in Raleigh.  After lots of blood work, numerous MRIs, and, oh yes, a spinal tap, he concluded that I do, in fact, have MS.  I'm not sure what a normal person would do after getting this type of news at the doctor's office, but my parents, my sister & I went Christmas shopping after leaving this particular doctor's appointment!  I can remember calling my boyfriend, who is now my husband, to tell him the news.  It's kind of like how you remember where you were on 9/11, although this was nowhere near as tragic.  I was in the middle of the mall in front of one of those Charlotte Reuse type stores when I called him, & sort of nonchalantly told him, "oh, by the way, the doctor said I have this thing called Multiple Sclerosis, but most people call it MS."  What else was I supposed to say?  I was still trying to figure out exactly what it was myself.  This is not a regular topic of conversation between a boyfriend and girlfriend, ages 19 and 18 -- I was sure he would dump me before long because, in my head, I was thinking that most normal guys probably would do just that since they don't know how to deal with stuff like that, and at the age of 18, a possible-break-up-situation is major problem central.  He must be nowhere near normal since he has stuck with me through everything.  The fact that he never changed is impressive to me and shows me how lucky I am to have been blessed with such a caring, accepting, and understanding guy-wait, let's don't forget forgiving (just in case he reads this).  We have been together for 7-years strong, so I am an incredibly lucky person to have him in my life, I think it makes a huge difference to me. 

My parents are my saving grace with my MS.  When we first found out, they made sure that I remembered how lucky I actually am in the real scheme of things.  Even though having MS isn't the best thing ever, it could always be something worse.  They would always remind me that MS is not as bad of a disease as other things that people deal with on a daily basis, i.e. cancer, diabetes, etc, etc, that is, as long as I don't let it be.  In my opinion, it really is all about your outlook.  Unfortunately, I'm not perfect so whenever I really wasn't feeling good and sometimes just wanting to feel sorry for myself and maybe squeeze some un-needed attention of out someone, that's not the kind of stuff I want to hear, but they have always kept me thinking positive even when I have had moments of "attitude weakness".