“My new doctor” (part I)

We decided to drive to Atlanta to see a new doctor.  My appointment was January 18, 2012.  My doctor is very young, and she has two small children.  The first thing she asked me was, “How can I help you?”  I replied, “Find out what is wrong with me!”  I had written down all my symptoms and the dates when everything occurred, and she typed them on her computer.  She asked a billion questions and did several simple tests to better ascertain my problem.  Her starting diagnosis was neuralgia…inflammation of the nerve.  She needed to get my tests results back from the other doctor. 

She did tell me MS (Multiple Sclerosis) was in the back of her mind.  I told her mine as well.  She did not think it was Lou Gehrig's disease.  She put me on a steroid to help the inflamed nerve and thought it would help me.  The actual first treatment of the nerve pain....not someone just giving me pain pills!  We set up a phone conversation for the following week.  I sent my family an email updating them but did not mention MS because they did not need to fret until then.

Since she mentioned MS, I immediately started researching it once again.  The term was familiar back in 2005 because there was the possibility of me having MS.  I noticed several symptoms I was having that we did not talk about at my appointment.  I was having balance issues in which I would occasionally have to put my arm up against a wall to keep me from falling over.  It could have been from the drugs, but since I have been on them for so long, I could not remember when the symptom first started.  I also have memory issues which is another symptom of MS.  The other week I needed my employee to cut some curling ribbon for me.  As I was telling her what to do, I pointed at the curling ribbon, but it took a few seconds for me to remember the word curling ribbon.