We still aren't sure. At first the doctors were ready to diagnose me with MS. Believe it or not, I was ready for that diagnosis. I cried tears. However, in a way, I was just glad we finally had a diagnosis. Then, the doctors re-examined my records and decided that they weren't ready to call it MS just yet.
So, a quick run down - I have abnormal proteins in my spinal fluid and I have plaque build-up on my cervical spine. Those two things in and of themselves would be enough for some docs to diagnose me MS and start treatment. However, the big wig in Chicago and my neuro here do not want to treat if not absolutely necessary. Since both those things were found in my spinal column, they believe it could still be a "clinically isolated demylenating syndrome" of some sort.
I am going to have another MRI of my brain and thoracic spine to see if there have been any changes. If they see lesions on the brain or plaque build up on the thoracic spine, then I will have the official diagnosis of MS and start treatment. If the tests show no change, then I will continue like this and see if the symptoms actually start to go away with periodic MRIs. The good news is that a lot of my symptoms have either gotten better or gone away since this summer.
The docs did say that if I am adamant that we start treatment, they would do so. We will see how I feel in the upcoming weeks as we wait for the MRI and the results. I have to say that I completely trust my doctors. The neurologist at Northwestern is THE neurologist who specializes in MS and is the director of the MS clinic there. My neuro locally is incredible. He is not afraid to seek a second opinion and is very thorough. I couldn't ask for better care.
So, there it is in a nutshell.
No comments:
Post a Comment