For my 39th Birthday I got...
Here I am sitting at my family Birthday party when I feel like my left foot has gone numb. I talk myself into the fact it’s probably just because I sat on it to long while crossing my legs, or it just merely fell asleep. I go on with the night. I’m in my kitchen, I go to grab a plate of food, and I stumble a little bit. Mind you I have not had a drop of alcohol but It seems as if I’m drunk. I notice my left ear is sore and feels full. I chalk it up to the start of an ear infection. The rest of the night goes by just fine. I got to bed and I am excited to start the last year of my 30′s the next morning.
Hooray It’s my birthday! The last year in my 30′s. My partner has taken the day off from work to spend it with me. We lay in bed talking about what we are going to do to celebrate. I decided on a little day hiking. We roll out of bed and start our morning rituals. I notice that my arms and legs feel tingly and almost like they are asleep. I mention this to my partner and we decide to just lay low. It was a cool, damp day anyways. So to the couch I go. I get a heating pad and take a muscle relaxer because in my mind i just have a pinched nerve and possibly an ear infection. Now here is where I should tell you that i’m an Emergency Medical Technician and I was coming up with any medical excuses that all of my symptoms could be. While in the background my partner is telling me I need to go to the er. I politely ignore her and go about my self diagnosis of an ear infection that is causing my balance issues and numbness. The day passes and I go to bed.
It’s 5am the next day and I get up to pee. Upon standing I realize my legs are numb and I’m completely off balance. I stumble into the bathroom and realize that maybe I should go to the walk-in, because I wouldnt be caught dead at the ER, to get my “ear infection” checked out. I go back to bed to lay down for a bit and wait for the walk-in to open. As I’m laying there I realize that I am now numb from my chest to my legs. When I grab my leg or hand It feels like it’s attached to someone else. I cant feel anything. I come up with a few good medical reasons why this is and I drive myself to the walk-in.
I check into the walk-in and begin my wait to see the NP. They call my name and back I go to the exam room. I tell the MOA what is happening and before I know it she leaves and goes and gets the NP. She comes in the room and starts examining me. Now i’m starting to get concerned. She jabs me with a pin, pen, her fingernail, and checks my reflexes. Nothing....I feel nothing. The look on her face concerns me and I start to internally panic. The next words out of her mouth are..”i’m calling the ambulance and you need to go to the ER”. The hell you are! I’m thankful that a polite “No that’s ok i will call someone to come get me” came out instead. She throws out a few diagnosis and I just let them hang in the air not willing to hear or accept anything she’s saying.
I call my partner to come get me and take me to the ER. Now as you can imagine she is saying over and over I told you so and you should have went yesterday. I appease her by saying you were right and yes ma’am. We arrive at the local ER and by now i’m pretty worried and I”m still hoping someone tells me I have an ear infection. By the time I arrived at the ER my left side was weaker than my right. I was kinda limping on my left leg and was pretty weak with my left hand. They throw me into a wheelchair and they whisk me into the back and into a room. The nurse is in there waiting on me, and she wastes no time putting in an IV and drawing blood. The doctor comes in not to long after I get undressed. We relive the story of the past 3 days. She tells me she concentrated in neuro during her internship. She has a great bed side manner and is a smart ass which puts me at ease. She does a few neuro checks and then draws a line with and object on my stomach. Nothing happens. She says some fancy words and then tells me I will be getting steroids and will be spending the night. I stare blankly at her. All i wanted was for someone to tell me I had an ear infection and send me on my way. Here she is telling me that something is wrong neurologically and that i’m spending the night in the hospital. I’ve never been admitted to the hospital. I surely didnt want to spend my 39th bday in the hospital.
They would send me for a CT, 7 MRI, Lumbar puncture, and an xray. I go up to my room and wait for all the results to come back. The next day the resident walks in and tells me and my family I have Multiple Sclerosis. What?!? I have what? That cant be true. I only have an ear infection and this all is a misunderstanding. I’ve heard of MS but I have no idea what it really is. I am athletic, I was a firefighter for 12yrs, I am an EMT, I exercise, and I eat healthy. There is no way I have this disease called MS!
I reluctantly accept the fact that maybe I do have this disease. They tell me I will be staying in the hospital for 5 days and will be given a high dose of steroids. Then I will be sent packing with a new found outlook on life and this disease called MS.