Doing Better

Hello everyone... I was diagnosed with RRMS in 1979 while in nursing school and I was also engaged to a medical student. It all started out with optic neuritis and spotty numbness in my right leg. After I graduated and got a job, my symptoms were mild but within 5 years I had to go part time due to fatigue. Fast forward to 1987 when my son was born. Great pregnancy and no exacerbations until my son was 18 months old. I was off balance, dropping things, optic neuritis returned along with nystagmus. Steroids were the only treatment at the time and I mean heavy doses IV. I fell down the stairs at home and fractured my left wrist. My neurologist told me that I had secondary progressive MS since I didn’t return to baseline. I was a wreck. We had to hire a live in nanny for 1 year. I got better and had my daughter in 1991. No problems or worsening of the disease. I started on Interferon soon after it was approved. Unfortunately, when my kids were 6 and 2, my husband left me. Honestly, at the time I thought my life was over but I was wrong. I continued to do well despite all the stress of divorce and taking care of 2 young kids by myself except every other weekend. Today, I continue to take Interferon and have been working full time in nursing for the last 15 years. My neurologist cannot believe how well I am doing and walking (used a cane for a long time). I feel so fortunate that for whatever reasons, I am doing better than I once did.