My Journey: How it began

My MS was diagnosed started when I woke up one January morning in 2016 and my left eye was blurry.  It was similar to when you wake up and have film over your eye.  I thought for sure it would clear up but, as each day passed, it did not get better.  I scheduled an appointment with my eye doctor who recommended using some eye drops because I had evidence of dry eye.  

​I was working out about 3-4 days a week at a local fitness club.  At the end of the week I was running on the treadmill and I noticed my vision in my left eye would fade when my heart rate was peaking during the intense parts of my running.  I had experience as an EMT so I stopped my workout, stood in front of the mirror and started assessing myself for evidence of stroke.  I had no other symptoms that indicated that I was having a stroke so I immediately called my ophthalmologist to explain my symptoms.  They asked me to come in immediately.

​After another exam and testing, the doctor came back into the room and asked me if I noticed any odd symptoms after taking a hot shower or being in a hot tub.  I told him that I didn't notice anything odd.  He went on to state that he was sending me to have an MRI.  Since my symptoms would get worse at the peak of my workout, his only conclusion was that I was experiencing Uhthoff’s phenomenon. He was very compassionate and also told me that although usually only people with MS have this happen, it could be other things as well. The results of the MRI revealed that I had scaring on my brain. This turned my life in a totally new direction.

Once I was able to see a neurologist, my diagnosis was finally confirmed after another MRI, several blood test, and finally a spinal tap.  With each new test came a hope of not having an autoimmune disease but maybe have something that was treatable and curable.  As test results were posted to my chart on-line I continued to get confirmation that my immune system was attacking my nervous system (aka, MS)