Tag: real life (Page 4 of 5)

September 2004 and my first relapse of any significance.  I already had some loss of sensation in my fingertips, but it was rather surprising to be soaping myself in the shower and discovering I couldn’t feel the sponge pretty much anywhere from my boobs down.

Hmm.  Well, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t expected, so I got on with my life as best I could.  A week passed, and I got used to feeling superficially numb over the major part of my body.  After twelve weeks, the novelty kinda wore off a bit. Continue reading

2004. It started with a bout of double vision, headaches and falling over that could not be attributed to alcohol, or needing new specs.  My GP sent me to an ophthalmologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, who ran a battery of tests involving flashing lights and buttons to click.  He then pronounced my eyes perfectly healthy, so I should probably not delve into it too much in case of “consequences”.  Pat me on the head, run along now…

I asked to see a neurologist, and was sufficiently concerned to pay for it.  By the power of the private sector and the Nuffield’s own MRI suite, I was consulted, prodded and MRIed in one sitting within 48 hours of requesting the appointment.  Woo-hoo.  The consultant tried to break it to me gently that there was some kind of imflammatory condition going on, and I looked him in the eye and said, “It’s MS, isn’t it?” Continue reading