Hello out there

I am in the midst of a nightmare that I know so many others must face. I've decided the only way to find answers is to start journaling everything - everything. So, here goes...

On April 24, 2012, I was not feeling so well. Extremely fatigued, feeling sort of like I was trying to walk through quicksand, with pain in my legs and general confusion and weakness. None of this was really new to me. I'd dealt with these symptoms on and off for about 12 years, usually lasting for a few days to a couple weeks, then I would feel better. This time was just a little different, though. It was heavy - not sure how else to describe it - just worse than ever before.

Somehow on April 24, I managed to drive (very, very slowly) to work. I put a call in to my doctor because I had just gone through a bout of illness that went from sinusitis to bronchitis to pneumonia. I was working 10 -12 hour days running a very busy office on my own. My family doctor called me back and said she wanted me in the Emergency Room right away. She said I wasn't talking correctly.

In the ER, a doctor came in after hours of basically nothing being done other than a blood and urine test, and essentially treated me like a dumb ass - didn't I KNOW I had MS?

Well, no - I didn't know, and still didn't know. I'd never been diagnosed with MS as far as I knew. And, if I was, it would have been nice if someone told me.

I was put on FMLA - told my boss I was sure I'd be back in a week or so, by the beginning of May. This always worked itself out with rest. So, rest I did.