Great advice from some of our regular members.
We are here any time you want to vent, yell, share, talk it out, whatever, while MS tends to be an individualistic (did I make that word up?) disease, we learn by sharing.
One day at a time, you don't need to deal with more than that at one time!
Get into the pages on the right hand side of the posts and read up on it, there is a wealth of information there to help you. The MS website also has some great topics. The more you learn, the better you can cope with your new BFF.
Welome to our corner of the web
Very good answers from two of the regulars here whose experience and insight have long impressed me.
One more quote, which my daughter uses as her e-mail signature (sorry; I forget from whom she quotes): "Who I am is not a noun, but a narrative."
Whatever we are facing, it is a fair assumption that it will be different soon enough. Take the next step, even though you can't see the one beyond it. When you get there, you can better see which way to go.
Yes, it's normal to grieve following the dx of a serious illness. Not everyone deals with a dx in this way, but many of us do. I did.
The MS Society in the UK posted a helpful article on this topic:
http://www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-support/emotional-support/living-with-ms/loss-and-grief
A psychiatrist told me denial can be a good thing it keeps us from flipping out over overwhelming things. A diagnosis of MS is overwhelming. It is a chronic disease and they are hard to accept. It took me over a year to understand MS and accept it.
You have o-bands in CSF and you can have them in your blood. That is why they take blood at the same time as a LP. With MS they typically only find o-bands in the CSF not the serum.
I have learned to live with it and be happy by accepting it. I made a bucket list. I have been riding horses for two years and love it. I am training dogs. I spend a lot of times with friends. I volunteer for the MS Society. I have made so many great friends because of this disease. All the folks at the barn, they do not have MS. I walk my dog and meet more people.
I live by two quotes. "True contentment comes from playing the cards you are dealt" and "Its not what happens in life its what you do about it".
Alex