If things in life weren't hard, they wouldn't be worth it, right? People are too easily giving up on things because they just want to give in. Not this chick! My husband told me today that I am not as strong of a person as I was when we first met. Keep in mind that this was five years ago...

Five years ago, I was very healthy. I was also in my senior year of college at Penn State University about to graduate and become independent. Five years later, I am not the same girl I used to be. The thing I used to pry myself on has been taken from me, my independence, and right now, I am fighting to make sure I get it back.

I am not the girl who gives up. Nor am I the girl that lets anything get to me. Until now that is. I always say that MS might cause me to battle, but I am going to take it to war. When is a battle to much to handle? Honestly, I feel better. Not back to "normal", but, who is to say what "normal" is for me anymore? I don't like that my "normal" is the way I had felt at a certain point in time. Doctors ask me if I feel my new medicine is working. I tell them yes... But, the reality of the situation is that I really don't know.

My nams is Brittany. I have had MS for about 5 years now making me 25 and truly feel blessed to have the disease. It has affected my vision so I like to say that it changed the way I see things. I no longer take simple things for granted and I enjoy life more now that I know I can wake up and not be able to do the basic things I have always done. I like to think that God granted me with MS because I am a strong person and I refuse to give up no matter what happens.

 

From losing my ability to walk, going blind in my right eye, having my cognition affected and going completely numb on the left side of my body, I can finally say that I know what doctors mean when they ask if I had a relapse in the past.

I was diagnosed with MS in the begenning of 2005 and originally put on Betaseron. I loved betaseron because it never gave me any side effects. However, I had flare ups in August 2007, March 2008 and March 2009 resulting in my doctors switching me to another medication. My specilist in Philadelphia suggested that I switch to Tysabri but I felt Tysabri was too risky for me at that time since I was only 24, getting married in a year and a half, and to me, the risks for that medication were only considerable when I felt it was my last resort. Instead of agreeing with my specialist, I went with another option which was to start taking Copaxone and do solumedrol once a month. Since my last flare up was my worst and left me feeling really out of it, I am now excited to start Tysabri. Both my neurologist and my specialist feel is it the way to go. Although there are risks with it, the risks of not bring on it are far worse in my eyes. I have done my research and have talked to both doctors about the pro's and con's and I am finally ready to be on it. At my last appointment in Philly, I signed the paperwork, agreed to the terms and the possible risks and cannot wait to set up my first infusion. I just hope my insurance will cover it since it is $2,300.00 a month.

So the last flare up, November 2009, landed me in the hospital for 4 days and then released on Thanksgiving which didn't really care about. I hate turkey so I was glad I didnt have to eat it =). I was on iv solumedrol for 5 days. Basically I started the steroids out patient on a Friday and when I went back on Monday, I felt horrible. My body went totally numb on the left side, I was falling over when I tried to walk and I couldn't pay attention to anything. The girls in the out patient department were worried so they called my neurologist who sent me to the emergency room to be admitted.

 

When I was 20 years old, I was told that I had a non-curable auto immune disease called Multiple Sclerosis. My first thought was "Who names a disease multiple sclerosis? Why can't it be called something cooler!?" I had no idea what the disease entailed. I didn't know what it was doing to me or how I got it. I didn't know where to go for information, but most of all, I didn't know who I could talk to about it. All I knew is that it wasn't the end of the world. I couldn't let it be the end of my world.