My needle/test filled road to diagnosis..
I was pregnant with my son in 2011. I started to notice I had symptoms of carpel tunnel.. It was so bad! Some days I couldn't open a bag of cheese or my soda! I was starting to worry but I figured it might just be pregnancy related. A few months after my son was born I noticed it didn't go away.. I also started getting really strong headaches. I also thought that had to do with my lack of sleep due to my newborn son lol I just pushed it to the back of my mind.
In 2013, we finally got on state insurance (yippee) so we were making Dr' appointments left & right. My grandfather had Multiple Sclerosis & my mother has it as well. I didn't want to wait around till things got severely bad to check into it. I figured while I had the insurance.. I might as well.
The Dr' definitely had a fantastic way of making me feel stupid for looking into it. She felt that if I didn't have significant reasoning to see her then she shouldn't waste her time, I figured out a way to tell her to suck it & do her job.. politely :) There was a bunch of in office tests. Silly things like making me walk as if I were doing a sobriety test. She tickled my foot.. looked at my eyes. Nothing was screaming at her. So, she had me get the god awful nerve conduction test done. I had to complete that test to make sure I didn't actually have carpel tunnel. I hated it. I cried. I turned towards the wall and totally cried. This lady was sticking a stupid vibrating needle in my nerve. Bleh! I did not have carpel tunnel.
Next on the list was to get my MRI. I was totally freaking the hell out.. I mean, I have big boobs. That tube is SMALL! Luckily, my entire body did not go in. The tech covered my eyes and put headphones in. I couldn't hear the music at all. The machine sounded like construction work. Loud. Annoying. The Dr' still did not see anything screaming at her. She said I had very faint spots that could be migraine spots. Next on the list was a freaking spinal tap. At this point.. I'm convinced the Dr' hates me.. I made the mistake looking up the procedure on google. Don't do that EVER. Terrible idea. I was super nervous. Luckily, my friend works in that department! I was certain that if I moved at all while that needle was in my back.. I'd die or something terrible! It takes forever. It was almost like getting another epidural lol if you've ever had one that is! My friend made sure to stop by while I waited on the table for awhile. It was nice to talk to someone while waiting there! It's been awhile but if I remember correctly, there was nothing major going on!
It was time for another MRI. I had to get one without contrast and one with contrast. This tube was way smaller and I actually had to go all the way inside of it. My boobs were smooshed. I panicked. The nurse was asking if she should take me out for a minute but I saw no point if she was putting me back in there lol My results came back with contrast and holy crapola.. there was something there! The spots on my brain were showing up a bit more. I apparently had some on my spine as well even though I saw nothing on that damn screen! That's when she told me that she was 99% sure I had Multiple Sclerosis. I knew it was coming.. so I acted as if someone told me the sun was out that day. I acted as if it was normal news. I didn't freak out. I didn't cry. I was numb to the situation. I went through hell & back just to figure it out.. I knew it wasn't for nothing. It was about one month or so to figure it out. I've heard it has taken people years to get diagnosed.. so I should feel lucky. The diagnosis would hit me later.. hard.
