Many S.C.A.R.S
System of Confusion but Able to Regulate and Survive Life (SCARS)
The summer of 2010, change my life forever. I remember that Monday morning as if it was yesterday, it was August
9th and I was sitting in a doctor’s office waiting to be seen by my physician. I had spent the past two weeks waiting anxiously for these test results. About 5 months earlier, I experienced a tingling sensation in my right leg, my right shoulder trembled
and I became dizzy from time to time and I was tired, really tired. As I sat there, I began to think maybe it is all in my mind, I had not felt any of the symptoms for a while. Maybe, my body was just telling me that I needed to slow down. I was working two jobs, going to school and not getting enough rest, so I was probably worrying myself for nothing. It was the stress in my life, what
else could it be? However, I still wondered what if there is something wrong with me? The doctor came in and sat down at his desk rumbled through some papers and said, “How are you feeling today? Well, we got your test results back but let me explain some things before I go into detail of what we found?” (Wait! Explain, what things? So many thoughts raced through my mind, why did he want to explain? What did he find?) “After going through several tests we administered on you we found that you are not a candidate for Parkinson’s disease, and you did not have a stroke. The tingling sensation in your body is called, paresthesia, which causes the ability to feel or sense pressure within your body. The most common cause of tingling is a compressed nerve….” (At this point, I wanted to scream, “What did you find!”quit rambling just TELL ME!) “Your
mobility is great so I don’t want you to worry but the test results from your MRI and Spinal tap conform that you have MS (Multiple Sclerosis), which is an auto-immune disease. What’s happening is your body’s immune system is attacking
your central nervous system and destroying the protective coverings of your nerves called myelin. This can affect your bodily functions such as mobility, speech and vision but one good thing about this is that you have the first stage of the disease, which is called relapsing-remitting. This stage is very manageable. Treatments for this disease start with ……“The doctor kept talking; I
was not even listening anymore! My heart just sank, and thoughts ran through my mind, Was I going to die? Would I still walk? Will I be in a wheelchair? A good thing? How is this a good thing? What do you mean I have the first stage? How many stages are there? My emotions of fear, anger, frustration, anxiety and sadness hit every angle of my body all at once; I was in shock it was as if someone was punching me in the stomach and not stopping. What was this doctoring saying? MS? What is that? Are you sure? I feel fine, nothing is bothering me right now. How did I get this? Could I have prevented it? Why me!
My name is Frank, I am 37 years old and I have been diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis
(RRMS). What is MS? Multiple Sclerosis is an enduring disease of the central nervous system. First, let us understand the meaning of the word, Multiple Sclerosis. The word Multiple means, ‘to have many of’. The second part of the word is Sclerosis, which means, “scarring or lesions”. Therefore, MS plainly means “Many Scars”. Scars of what? Well, the central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord, which contain several nerve cells, these cells control how your body will function. The protective coverings of these nerves cells are called, myelin. When myelin is lost, it creates scars or lesions in the brain or spinal cord. The damage causes the nerves of your body to have a communication breakdown. One way to think of it is to view the coating of electrical wire; the coating is protecting the wires of electricity. If the coating is gone, it exposes the electrical wire, which could cause harm such as an electrical shock. The covering is protecting you. Therefore, myelin is the protective covering of the nerves within your body; if it is gone then harm can be done. Depending where the lesions are located in the brain or spinal cord it can cause various complications of the body. Over time, MS can cause permanent nerve damage, which can lead to long-term disability. However, not everyone will experience the same level of the disease, MS is different in everyone. There have been cases where a person will not advance to future stages. The more scars a person has the more symptoms they experience, these complications include vision problems, fatigue, tingling or numbness (pins and needles), tremors, disability in lack of body coordination such as difficulty in walking, muscle weakness, muscle stiffness, body pain, sexual dysfunction, dizziness, slurred speech, memory loss and bladder and bowel problems.
What causes MS? The cause is unknown. The medical field thinks that MS may be triggered by an infection, genetics, environment or problems within the immune system but there is no direct reason as to why it occurs. There are three stages of this disease, the first stage is called, Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) in which a person can experience relapse complications from time to time or in can go into remission. The second stage is called, Secondary-progressive MS (SPMS) in which over time the relapses become less frequent and the symptoms and disability worsens. The final stage of this disease is called Primary-progressive MS (PPMS) in which a person does not experience relapses or remissions, their symptoms are steady. The advancement of MS is unpredictable, as every person can experience different complications and it can last for days, weeks or months. Is there a cure? At the moment, there is no cure, however medical research has found a way to slow down the
progression of the disease, through a therapy of several different types of injections called, interferons. This therapy consists of 3 to 5 shots per week. Currently there are 2 .5 million people worldwide, about 400,000 Americans are living with this disease. The disease is more common in women than in men with the ages ranging from 15 to 60 years.
Is there ways of preventing complications or attacks? Yes, a person has the power to help their own body’s immune system by taking proper care of themselves. By choosing healthier food options, eliminating stress and exercising, as these benefits can create a healthy immune system. After my initial diagnosis, I did seek a second opinion in which my current doctor advised me of certain precautions to take in order to manage this disease effectively. One would have thought that I would have listened, but I continued to live my life as before eating whatever I wanted, working long hours and not getting enough rest. Well it finally caught up to me, within a year of knowing of my disease I had a full-blown attack, which lasted two weeks not days. Never in my life had I experienced such pain with muscle weakness and stiffness, I lost my leg coordination and began to have blurred vision, it got the best of me! In order to regain my strength my doctor injected IV steroids for three days, 2 hours each day. It was horrific! My doctor instructed me to review my life and make a conscious decision on where I stood at that point. As she said, “You only have 3 lesions in your brain compared to others, who have far more and worse complications than you. The shots will only help to a certain extent, but you have to help the shots with maintaining your body’s immune system, you have a chance to make this disease work with you not against you.” She really made sense, I did only have 3 lesions, and I did not experience most of the complications that others have had. What was I doing? I did not want to feel this pain all the time, being healthy was a choice I had to make so that I could still live my life to the fullest.
After my ordeal, I began to focus on myself, listening to my body and doing things to change my lifestyle. I started with my eating habits, I choose to eat clean. When I say clean, it means that I do not consume prepared foods from a box nor a can, I make everything fresh. My diet consists of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish and occasional red meat. I have established an exercise routine that enables me to maintain my strength and flexibility. I currently take Rebif interferon injections 3 times a week, in which my body has adapted well. Occasionally, I do experience muscle stiffness, dizziness and fatigue but it is doable. I am so glad I went to see the doctor when I did because there have been many cases where people just ignore the symptoms. When they find out that they have MS, it is usually at the second stage, which is harder to manage. One famous person experienced this hardship and his name is Montel Williams. Montel is best known as a talk show host of the 1990s, Montel ignored the symptoms for years until he began to experience pins and needles sensations(pain) in his legs along with unstable body coordination. The diagnosis was second stage of MS which is Secondary-progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Montel currently is an advocate for MS, and promotes finding a cure for the disease.
The good news is that people living with MS, can still lead a productive life. New therapies have proven to reduce the movement of the disease and relapses leading to the slowing progression of disability. I admit that finding out the
prognosis was a little freighting but learning to accept it was the turning point. I look at this disease as a blessing in disguise; it has brought a different lifestyle, a style that works for the better of me. We all want to be healthy and live a great life, but sometimes we forget the things we do to our bodies can jeopardize our health. I view MS as a countless System of Confusion but Able to Regulate and Survive life (SCARS). One day there will be a cure but until then these scars in my brain will push me to endure the challenges of life, I understand what could happen to me in the future, but MS is not going to live my life, I am and will strive for strength and courage to do it. We all experience hardships in life, nothing is perfect but seeking perfection makes it worth the effort.
9th and I was sitting in a doctor’s office waiting to be seen by my physician. I had spent the past two weeks waiting anxiously for these test results. About 5 months earlier, I experienced a tingling sensation in my right leg, my right shoulder trembled
and I became dizzy from time to time and I was tired, really tired. As I sat there, I began to think maybe it is all in my mind, I had not felt any of the symptoms for a while. Maybe, my body was just telling me that I needed to slow down. I was working two jobs, going to school and not getting enough rest, so I was probably worrying myself for nothing. It was the stress in my life, what
else could it be? However, I still wondered what if there is something wrong with me? The doctor came in and sat down at his desk rumbled through some papers and said, “How are you feeling today? Well, we got your test results back but let me explain some things before I go into detail of what we found?” (Wait! Explain, what things? So many thoughts raced through my mind, why did he want to explain? What did he find?) “After going through several tests we administered on you we found that you are not a candidate for Parkinson’s disease, and you did not have a stroke. The tingling sensation in your body is called, paresthesia, which causes the ability to feel or sense pressure within your body. The most common cause of tingling is a compressed nerve….” (At this point, I wanted to scream, “What did you find!”quit rambling just TELL ME!) “Your
mobility is great so I don’t want you to worry but the test results from your MRI and Spinal tap conform that you have MS (Multiple Sclerosis), which is an auto-immune disease. What’s happening is your body’s immune system is attacking
your central nervous system and destroying the protective coverings of your nerves called myelin. This can affect your bodily functions such as mobility, speech and vision but one good thing about this is that you have the first stage of the disease, which is called relapsing-remitting. This stage is very manageable. Treatments for this disease start with ……“The doctor kept talking; I
was not even listening anymore! My heart just sank, and thoughts ran through my mind, Was I going to die? Would I still walk? Will I be in a wheelchair? A good thing? How is this a good thing? What do you mean I have the first stage? How many stages are there? My emotions of fear, anger, frustration, anxiety and sadness hit every angle of my body all at once; I was in shock it was as if someone was punching me in the stomach and not stopping. What was this doctoring saying? MS? What is that? Are you sure? I feel fine, nothing is bothering me right now. How did I get this? Could I have prevented it? Why me!
My name is Frank, I am 37 years old and I have been diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis
(RRMS). What is MS? Multiple Sclerosis is an enduring disease of the central nervous system. First, let us understand the meaning of the word, Multiple Sclerosis. The word Multiple means, ‘to have many of’. The second part of the word is Sclerosis, which means, “scarring or lesions”. Therefore, MS plainly means “Many Scars”. Scars of what? Well, the central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord, which contain several nerve cells, these cells control how your body will function. The protective coverings of these nerves cells are called, myelin. When myelin is lost, it creates scars or lesions in the brain or spinal cord. The damage causes the nerves of your body to have a communication breakdown. One way to think of it is to view the coating of electrical wire; the coating is protecting the wires of electricity. If the coating is gone, it exposes the electrical wire, which could cause harm such as an electrical shock. The covering is protecting you. Therefore, myelin is the protective covering of the nerves within your body; if it is gone then harm can be done. Depending where the lesions are located in the brain or spinal cord it can cause various complications of the body. Over time, MS can cause permanent nerve damage, which can lead to long-term disability. However, not everyone will experience the same level of the disease, MS is different in everyone. There have been cases where a person will not advance to future stages. The more scars a person has the more symptoms they experience, these complications include vision problems, fatigue, tingling or numbness (pins and needles), tremors, disability in lack of body coordination such as difficulty in walking, muscle weakness, muscle stiffness, body pain, sexual dysfunction, dizziness, slurred speech, memory loss and bladder and bowel problems.
What causes MS? The cause is unknown. The medical field thinks that MS may be triggered by an infection, genetics, environment or problems within the immune system but there is no direct reason as to why it occurs. There are three stages of this disease, the first stage is called, Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) in which a person can experience relapse complications from time to time or in can go into remission. The second stage is called, Secondary-progressive MS (SPMS) in which over time the relapses become less frequent and the symptoms and disability worsens. The final stage of this disease is called Primary-progressive MS (PPMS) in which a person does not experience relapses or remissions, their symptoms are steady. The advancement of MS is unpredictable, as every person can experience different complications and it can last for days, weeks or months. Is there a cure? At the moment, there is no cure, however medical research has found a way to slow down the
progression of the disease, through a therapy of several different types of injections called, interferons. This therapy consists of 3 to 5 shots per week. Currently there are 2 .5 million people worldwide, about 400,000 Americans are living with this disease. The disease is more common in women than in men with the ages ranging from 15 to 60 years.
Is there ways of preventing complications or attacks? Yes, a person has the power to help their own body’s immune system by taking proper care of themselves. By choosing healthier food options, eliminating stress and exercising, as these benefits can create a healthy immune system. After my initial diagnosis, I did seek a second opinion in which my current doctor advised me of certain precautions to take in order to manage this disease effectively. One would have thought that I would have listened, but I continued to live my life as before eating whatever I wanted, working long hours and not getting enough rest. Well it finally caught up to me, within a year of knowing of my disease I had a full-blown attack, which lasted two weeks not days. Never in my life had I experienced such pain with muscle weakness and stiffness, I lost my leg coordination and began to have blurred vision, it got the best of me! In order to regain my strength my doctor injected IV steroids for three days, 2 hours each day. It was horrific! My doctor instructed me to review my life and make a conscious decision on where I stood at that point. As she said, “You only have 3 lesions in your brain compared to others, who have far more and worse complications than you. The shots will only help to a certain extent, but you have to help the shots with maintaining your body’s immune system, you have a chance to make this disease work with you not against you.” She really made sense, I did only have 3 lesions, and I did not experience most of the complications that others have had. What was I doing? I did not want to feel this pain all the time, being healthy was a choice I had to make so that I could still live my life to the fullest.
After my ordeal, I began to focus on myself, listening to my body and doing things to change my lifestyle. I started with my eating habits, I choose to eat clean. When I say clean, it means that I do not consume prepared foods from a box nor a can, I make everything fresh. My diet consists of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish and occasional red meat. I have established an exercise routine that enables me to maintain my strength and flexibility. I currently take Rebif interferon injections 3 times a week, in which my body has adapted well. Occasionally, I do experience muscle stiffness, dizziness and fatigue but it is doable. I am so glad I went to see the doctor when I did because there have been many cases where people just ignore the symptoms. When they find out that they have MS, it is usually at the second stage, which is harder to manage. One famous person experienced this hardship and his name is Montel Williams. Montel is best known as a talk show host of the 1990s, Montel ignored the symptoms for years until he began to experience pins and needles sensations(pain) in his legs along with unstable body coordination. The diagnosis was second stage of MS which is Secondary-progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Montel currently is an advocate for MS, and promotes finding a cure for the disease.
The good news is that people living with MS, can still lead a productive life. New therapies have proven to reduce the movement of the disease and relapses leading to the slowing progression of disability. I admit that finding out the
prognosis was a little freighting but learning to accept it was the turning point. I look at this disease as a blessing in disguise; it has brought a different lifestyle, a style that works for the better of me. We all want to be healthy and live a great life, but sometimes we forget the things we do to our bodies can jeopardize our health. I view MS as a countless System of Confusion but Able to Regulate and Survive life (SCARS). One day there will be a cure but until then these scars in my brain will push me to endure the challenges of life, I understand what could happen to me in the future, but MS is not going to live my life, I am and will strive for strength and courage to do it. We all experience hardships in life, nothing is perfect but seeking perfection makes it worth the effort.
