My MS story

I was diagnosed in 2007 at the age of 55 but can trace it back almost 20 years.

My youngest daughter had been diagnosed 10 years earlier. Her father, my first husband had MS as well, and his sister and his mother had it also and no, we weren't related (ha!). So mine is quite a bizarre story. We were all born and raised in a small town in northern Va. where there was no industry or factory or pesticides or anything we can think of to blame.

Luckily by the time my daughter and I were dx'd there were treatments available and we are both still ambulatory and doing okay. Although I do have to use a cane from time to time and a wheelchair if I have to walk very far, I am still able to function fairly normally. And my cognitive and memory functions are not what they used to be but I'm almost 61, so that's a factor also.

My dx came as quite a shock because I wasn't expecting it. I had gone to the neurologist for migraines and the MRI showed lesions on my brain. Not long after that, I had my first full-blown exacerbation.

But for years I had suffered debillitating vertigo spells that would last for days to weeks and sporadic tingling, numbness and vision problems that were never dx'd. But my biggest symptoms were the bouts of vertigo.