The Life of a Law Enforcement Officer

Way back in the early summer of 1995 (actually the month of May), my wife and I went to Florida and stayed at a condominium for our 3rd anniversary, which was May 21st. On the second day, we decided to spend the afternoon in the pool activating our summer tan, and after being in the pool and lounging out, I decided to get in the sauna for about 30 minutes. Once I got out, I told my wife that I didn’t feel well and that I must have gotten too hot, so we went back inside to cool off.

What triggered me that something might not be right

Afterward, I felt fine, and we continued our celebration getaway. After returning home on a Sunday, we unpacked, and everything was fine. The next morning, she left to go back to work. I worked nightshift so that afternoon, I was watching tv and trying to get some sleep, but I was propped up on the bed with my right hand partially covering up my right eye when I noticed that the television was blurry when looking at it with just my left eye open.

I was shocked

Since I was scheduled to work a patrol shift that night, I decided I better call in sick and get in to see my primary care physician at the next available date. After the appointment, he referred me to a neurologist the next day. So after going to see him, he scheduled me to have an MRI. After doing the MRI, he informed me to go home and that he would contact me later on with the findings. That evening I received a phone call from him, and he informed me that he was certain that I have MS, which back then, I had never heard of so I was floored. The next time that I went back to his office for a follow-up appointment, he discussed treatment ideas and he decided to start me on Betaseron. Since 1995, I’ve had numerous exacerbations but in 2000 the disease was believed to be in remission so I was able to resume my career working as a Police Officer.

The flare that made my decision

On 05/09/01, while on patrol, I got into a felony pursuit with a driver that had left a bar room intoxicated after making threats to his wife who was a barmaid. To make a long story short, I was involved in a bad wreck that resulted in a fractured pelvis and severe head trauma. It was believed that this trauma may caused my MS back to active. But after recovering and battling to get my MS back in remission, I decided to retire. Then in the fall of 2017, I had to have an emergency triple coronary bypass which I should have died from, but throughout it all, my MS has stayed in remission. So that is my story, and my family and friends have always told me that my bullheaded trait is what has kept me mobile and still not requiring assistance from any type of device.