My Story Introduction | Stage 0 | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6

Stage 1: Mysterious Sickness
1 Year Before Diagnosis

The Mirage Shatters.....

As you have seen, the onset of my symptoms appeared to be sudden. But they originated in childhood and started to outwardly show during my RAF years.

However, I continued my crazy lifestyle by suppressing the pain until MS stopped me.

Dead.

Stupidly, I didn’t understand the warning signs. Up to then I lacked the self knowledge or medical insight to understand why these symptoms had appeared, or how to cope with them.

I never once saw the similarity between my 1 year pre diagnosis symptoms and those experienced earlier in the RAF.

The RAF was such a different context, and I thought that the illness I was diagnosed with: ‘Torture Syndrome’ was a ‘discreet’ event. The symptoms while severe, were only temporary.

Wrong!    

Now I had a ‘Mysterious Sickness’ with bizarre, deteriorating symptoms: Crippling pains and spasms, dizziness, stiffness, soreness, numbness, mental fog, emotional turmoil and gradual paralysis from the neck down.

I went from Dr to Dr and treatment to treatment but nothing helped. No one seemed to know what was really wrong with me.

My work suffered: I vividly remember meetings when I was present physically, but was absent in every other way!

My marriage suffered: I felt terrible, confused and took it out on the person closest to me: my husband.

I began to wonder if I was going nuts! So did he!

Finally, my rapid physical deterioration and more tests led to the MS diagnosis and hospital.

Hospital was Hell: the tubes pumping me with toxic gunk, the constant daze, numbness, smell of antiseptic, pitying looks, and critically, Fear.

My Fear.

Other patients’ Fear.

Friends and relatives’ Fear.......

I was swamped by fear and surrounded by terrible illness and death.

My Mirage Life of Success, Wealth and Happiness had shattered

BUT, At Last, I Had A Diagnosis: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS!.....

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