Multiple Sclerosis: Romancing a Disease

“Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish…?” “Yes,” I said, eyes aglow with hope for a blissful future. Who would have known that “sickness” would be our plight and instead of romancing my husband, I’d be romancing a disease?

Lab Tests Online defines Multiple Sclerosis (MS) as “a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS: brain and spinal cord). It causes inflammation and the destruction of myelin, the fatty covering that insulates nerve cells. This “demyelination” process interferes with nerve impulse transmission, affects muscular control, and causes a variety of sensory, motor, and psychological symptoms.” In information provided by the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, “Symptoms may be persistent or may cease from time to time. Most patients have episodic patterns of attacks and remissions throughout the disease course. Symptoms may remit completely, leaving no residual damage, or partially leaving degrees of permanent impairment.” Understandably, this is why MS is so hard to diagnose in its early stages. 

My spouse’s symptoms would come and go, almost unnoticeably. Early in our relationship, he complained of headaches and numbness. His left eye and left nostril was always watery requiring that he keep a tissue handy. But without warning, he would begin having stabbing pains down his left side. He had a slight limp to his walk, but I honestly thought he was trying to be cool. For the most part, his symptoms were elusive and could often be relegated to a cold or the flu, or worst case scenario, a stroke.

During an episode of sustained discomfort, my husband went to the doctor. Upon describing the numbness of his left side, frequent headaches, and his knee giving out without warning, the doctors cautioned him that he had symptoms of a stroke. They advised him to reduce his stress and gave him some suggested modifications to lower his cholesterol intake.