The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I was thinking back to all the neurologists that I've seen through these past 20 years. I knew something was definitely wrong, when one morning I woke up to find the entire right-hand side of my body numb. I went to my regular doctor who said it probably was stress and gave me some pills. Finally, I got in to see my first neurologist. He wasn't a very nice man. He ended up yelling at me that a person couldn't have "that many things wrong" and I quit seeing him.

My next neurologist came highly recommended. He wanted to do a spinal tap, said he never used anything to numb the area. Like a dumb sheep, I went along with what he said. Well, he missed the first time and had to re-do it. By then, I was laying there sobbing. When he eventually told me that it wasn't MS, that it was all in my head and he had a friend who was a psychiatrist, I quit going to him.

I finally found an internist who was willing to sit and listen to me. He took one symptom at a time and worked with it. He followed me clinically, then sent me for an MRI which showed plaques. What a relief!

My last neurologist was an outstanding doctor and person. I saw him for three years. He diagnosed me as Secondary Progressive, and also agreed that I needed to begin Tysabri. Unfortunately, he moved to another part of the state the end of December.

I'm scheduled to see a new neurologist the first of March. I've heard good things about him, that he takes the time to sit and talk to you, and that he cares about his patients. I sure hope so! At least, all he'll have to do is pick up where my last one left off since I'm diagnosed and on treatment.

I've learned that I don't have to do what a doctor tells me, I don't have to take sh*t from a person just because he has an MD after his name, and I know my body a lot better than they do.