“I will never forget my very first attack – I was 26, a flight attendant and in New Zealand, celebrating the first week of my marriage. What began as an excruciating shot of back pain was followed swiftly by numbness and a tingling sensation, rendering me unable to walk in a straight line. An MRI scan soon discovered a lesion (swelling) in my lower lumbar and the initial prognosis was a tumour.
Shaken and frightened, I recovered miraculously within a month and the lesion subsided, ruling out a malignant growth. While the term ‘multiple sclerosis (MS)’ was tossed about, diagnosis would be impossible until the second attack a year later.
Officially diagnosed
In 2004, that dreaded numbness returned in my left leg along with the lesion – I knew it was another attack. This time, it would be another four months before recovery, costing me my job with the airlines as my contract was not renewed. While on the surface I appeared normal and regained my gait, nobody knew the amount of effort each step took; I felt as if my legs had been tied down with a gunny sack. Some people even went so far as to accuse me of laziness. The lethargy and unemployment took a toll on me – I was moody all the time – but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
The attacks started becoming an annual affair and recovery periods became prolonged, taking up to six months. Each time I improved, another bout would strike, leaving me confined to the four walls of my home – especially when embarrassing episodes of incontinence began to take hold.
What is multiple sclerosis?
According to Dr Lee Moon Keen, consultant neurologist at Sunway Medical Centre, MS is when the immune system attacks your central nervous system – affecting your brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Utterly unpredictable, signs may persist or disappear, only to return in another form. Early symptoms usually include tingling facial sensations, fatigue, blurry vision and eye pains, balancing issues while walking, dizziness, weakness and pain, depression, and cognitive impairment.
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