Hi Vangie,

I am no doctor either, but I do have a perspective on your question.

My diagnosis was more than twenty years ago, and it did not occur to me to think my hand, arm and neck might be an MS symptom. If there was an awareness effort, I had not heard.

When I experienced neck pain and had problems controlling my hand and arm, I had a carpel tunnel test twice, and wore a hand and wrist brace in between. The tests showed carpel tunnel was not the problem, but we did not know the cause. If carpel tunnel was the problem, we would have treeatment and not have gone further

I did not know about lesions, if I had any or where they might have been. There were few MRIs, and even the term was virtually unknown. Even though I was pro-active in my medical care, most of us without medical training were naive about what to look for, where and why. I did, however, interview doctors until I found some I could trust.

Then I trusted them. That did not stop my questions with each new problem and treatment. If you trust your doctor, take the test. If not, find another. I realize I am speaking as someone with insurance.

I wish you luck. Let us know how it works out. I care.