letting you know about my dr. visit / tell me about the pain pump / QUIZ

[grannyhotwheels]

Hi Quiz,   I had my appointment with the neurologist on Friday.  She said everything I have points directly to MS.  She has had me doing test this week (3 mri's, 1 chest x-ray, and eeg) and we will have the results on the 14th.  That's when I go back.  She then can compare them to the latest tests I had done.  

She also thinks that I have something else besides MS going on.  She feels that the incredible pain is caused from something besides MS.  I would defientely have pain with MS but not as much as I am having.  If I have MS and something else then I'm pretty well doomed.  Would'nt you say?  I'm really scared.

My doctor also suggested we put a pain pump in.  She said that we will go into that more next appointment.  Tell me what it is and would you advice it.  I respect your opinion very much so please help me here.

Thank you
Carol  

[kitlyn]

Hi : i was taken ill last July of 06. I thought i wa sdying, i was soo weak w head pressure and slurred speech or almost slurred. Like i was having a stroke. But iw asn;t  Turned out after  a brain MRI by neuro i have two 1.2 and 1.4 cm spots on each side of my brain. I lived in horror it was a brian tumor as it had mass effect and they couldn;t rule that out unitl 5 months later after spots are less prominent. I was soo scared.. I still have symptoms . I am maybe facing MS too. It was looking to me anyway like vasculitis but neuro says that MS  it looks like more. No its not the end of the world . Think positve i know its hard. My husband i did everything for left me while i wa sgetting testing he couldn;t handle it. Peace, Kitlyn

[grannyhotwheels]

Thank you Quix.  I do feel alot better and I will keep you updated on my journey.  I feel alot better knowing that you are here for me.  Thank you.

Carol

[Quixotic1]

Oh, Carol!!!  MS is not a death sentence. Putting a name to it really doesn't change anything, does it?  You already knew something was very wrong.  Now you have a name for it possibly - and that means a plan of action and  a way to get information.  Most cases of MS can benefit from treatment, AND you've found a doctor that is thinking about your symptoms and your suffering and is determined to do something about it.

I'm not saying you should be happy, though oddly enough, I was!  Not knowing why I was losing function in my legs and arm and why I was too tired to get out of my recliner to fix something to eat was literally tearing me up.  The diagnosis of MS put the whole mess into an approachable problem.  And, like you, getting the diagnosis also meant that I had found a doctor who would care for me.  I finally had someone to turn to!!  I will admit that the initial  "happiness" did work it's way into some depression and anger.  I was mightily pissed off for a while.

The medication pumps are miracles!  They figure out what it will take to relieve your pain and fill the pump with the med.  Depending on the type you can dose yourself, within limits, or it will give some all the time or a combo of the two.  Constant medication is much more effective at relieving pain than a huge dose, then letting it wear off.

Please don't have worries about addiction.  Most worries of that nature are imposed by society and by people that do not live in pain.  If you need pain relief, then I am in favor of your getting it.  There is no honor in being in pain, there is only PAIN.  And you're new doc is looking for the reasons for it, so maybe there will be a solution.

So, doomed, you're not!  Your situation is no different than it was yesterday except that now you are beginning to have some answers.  Stay with us, Carol.  We'll share your journey.  You might also consider some of the other chat/support forums.  The one here on MedHelp called the Multiple Sclerosis Forum is new and still a little slow, but people are beginning to share what they've been going through.  Another poster here, Sherma, also told me about a very active chat room that usually has people in it so there's almost always someone to talk to "in real time."  The address is

www.mswebpals.org

I haven't checked in there yet, but I will.  Keep talking, I want to know everything that is happening to you, Quix  

(and don't worry about my weird nickname.  Quixotic is from the novel "Don Quixote" and he went about tilting at windmills. Lol, so do I!!)  I was a Spanish Literature/Pre-Med major in college of all things!

[grannyhotwheels]

I'm sorry, it's QUIX.  I'll get it right next time.
Carol