Some time this month or thereabouts, two years have passed since the first concrete signs of what was to become MS showed up. I believe I had some symptoms before that as well but from this point it was to be an unbroken chain of them instead of some isolated occurrence that took care of itself after a while. The very first thing I can firmly connect to MS was that I suddenly had trouble with the workout group program at work.
At my workplace, we have some very nice arrangements that allow us to use a gym and access to workout groups and other activities and I really liked doing those workout sessions. Then, for no obvious reason, I discovered I had trouble keeping my balance in some of the exercises, not enough to skip that class but enough to notice. Other things got in the way and kept me from the workout class for a while and after that I had already gotten so sick I couldn't do any of the group stuff at all.
That was about 6 months after what I now see as the first signs. Another 6 months later, I had to stop trying to go to work at all - so that's about a year ago now. (Actually, it'll be another month until that anniversary.)
For me it was balance that was the only symptom I could pinpoint for a very long time. That was unlucky, cause it's not what causes doctors to start thinking about MS. I realize now that I had temperature issues long before I got my diagnosis and that fatigue was an issue from almost as far back as balance but I didn't realize it at the time. Numbness or tingling didn't show up until much later and still only happens for very short periods when I'm having a bad day.
And when I say balance, I don't actually mean balance. It's neurological control of the legs that is failing, not my actual sense of balance. I took several rounds of tests and they all showed my sense of balance was just fine.
So, happy birthday MS. I still think I'm gonna beat you. Now, I'm heading over to the gym.
No comments:
Post a Comment