How I Was Diagnosed

You know that feeling when something just isn't right with your body?  Trying to figure it out can sometimes be a long and frustrating process.  For me, it didn't take that long to finally have a doctor tell me, "You have MS". 


Flash back just over seven years ago.  I was about to turn 19 years old.  I was going to a community college, working for a real estate appraiser and just enjoying my life.  Headaches were a pretty common thing to me so I thought nothing of it when I would get one.  The only problem was this time the headache stayed for several days.  One Sunday night I also noticed that my left eye was blurry.  I assumed it was because of my contacts.  But, after I took them out and put on my glasses my vision was still blurry.  As the day progressed so did this issue with my vision.  The next morning I called my optometrist and went in for an appointment.  He said the inside of my eye looked fine and that I should go see my regular physician.  I made an appointment with him, but there wasn't an opening for three more days.  The day before my appointment my headaches were becoming unbearable and I could hardly see at all out of my left eye.  I again called my optometrist and went in to see a different doctor.  When I got there he held up a bottle of eye drops that had a red lid.  He told me to cover up my bad eye and tell him what color the cap was.  I said, "red" and was right.  He made me switch eyes.  This time the cap wasn't so red; it was more of an orange.  After that the doctor said "I think you have optic neuritis, but you will have to see a specialist to get that official diagnosis."  I left his office feeling better that I now knew what was probably wrong with me.  A couple days later I saw Dr. Foroozan.  I went through several tests and got the confirmation that it was optic neuritis.  He also said that based on some answers I had given him, he believed that I might have multiple sclerosis.  I had no idea what optic neuritis really was and I definitely didn't know what multiple sclerosis was.  So, instead of breaking down crying...I laughed!  I don't know what is wrong with me.  :)  Well, just as this first eye doctor said, I would have to see a specialist to get confirmation of that diagnosis.  The next day I had an MRI and saw Dr. George Hutton the following business day.  Dr. Hutton reviewed my MRI scans and with the diagnosis of optic neuritis, he said "you have MS".  Things after that seemed to rush by.  My parents were there and with the doctor we all decided that it was best to put me on Avonex asap.