I'll go first....

I started feeling little electric shocks in my back about a week before I went into full shut down.  I thought it was just a fluke being tired from working, picking up and dropping off kids, cooking, cleaning, well you know normal stuff we do daily with and for our families.  I found myself getting more and more tired than usual everyday, but again I still shook it off as working myself too much.  I slowed down a bit, but the increased tiredness kept hitting me harder and harder.  I remember going to bed and feeling the shocks getting stronger.  I took some muscle relaxers I had from a few months before, as my legs kept cramping up, yes my legs cramping was a symptom too, but of course I did not know it at the time, nor did the doctors figure it to be nothing more than leg cramps from walking a lot and me being a bit overweight. 

I went to sleep, and when I woke up the next morning to go to the bathroom, I stood up and my legs buckled from under me. They felt like very heavy bricks and I could not move them.  I called for my husband to call 911.   The neighborhood we lived in at the time did not send ambulances quick enough, so my wonderful husband of 31 years,  wrapped belts around my legs to move them, and sat me up on a office chair with wheels, and rolled me out to our car.  He rushed me to the hospital, although in my mind and spirit, there was no rush, I knew something was wrong and it wasn't going to be a quick fix.  When I arrived at Northwestern Hospital in downtown Chicago, they put me in a wheel chair  and admitted me immediately.  They of course began to run many test, including a MRI.  

I was finally taken to a private room. I laid in that bed thinking all sorts of things that could be wrong with me, maybe it was just my back giving out and it affected my legs, or maybe they needed to give me antibiotics from a infection I inquired from a cold or an airborne disease I got from someone I came in contact with, but in my heart I felt it was much more than that.  I did not want a spinal tap for testing, but Doctor Shepherd, my neurologist assigned to me and is still my doctor to this day, assured me the testing they will do will determine a cause. I remember waking up the next day, and Dr. Shepherd was sitting quietly beside my bed, with a look of sadness and concern on his face.  He did not hesitate to say, Mrs. Andrews, I am very sorry, but you have Multiple Sclerosis.  Now, I have heard of MS, but never really paid attention to what it really was.  Dr. Shepherd began to break it down for me, you have a autoimmune disease that attacks your nervous system.  What do I need to do to make it stop or to heal, I asked, he said, there is no cure for this disease. What? Really? There's nothing we can do, I asked? There are various medications  you can choose to take to help slow down the progression, but again, I am sorry there is no cure.  I felt devastated.   I felt like the world was closing in on me.  I cried, cried and cried until I had no more tears left. I am thankful, I know the Lord Jesus who began to strengthen my mind and spirit when I called on Him in prayer.   My doctor started me on Steroids immediately in hopes of gaining the strength back in my legs, which worked, although I still have a bit of numbness in my right foot, that just won't go away. I also have numbness in my left and right hands. I did two weeks of physical therapy to continue strengthening my legs and arms. I had a bit of numbness in my face that also went away with the steroid treatments. 

After much praying, I began to work on my mind first. I had to renew my mind to deal with this situation and new lifestyle I had to now embrace. My mind had to wrap around the fact that my body will not be the same. I had to figure out a plan to build a successful life living with MS.  The next step was working on my body to find all the ways I could eat and drink better, lose weight, as I am a plus size girl.  I also looked into medications with my doctor that would help slow down the progression of this disease and a good vitamin regimen.  I chose the medication Tecfidera to kick start the process.  Tecfidera, had me itching, and getting flushed in my face the first few months I started.  It was terrible.  But after those few months my body adjusted to the medication and I have been taking Tecfidera every since.  No, I haven't tried another medicine, but I've heard it's good to switch after awhile, but I have no plans just yet to do that.  If its not broke, don't fix it is my motto.  

My skin began to suffer from severe dryness, I used many over the counter lotions and creams. A few of them soothe my dry skin, but was not healing it or totally getting rid of the dryness and hard to the touch skin I had. I had hard dry patches on my hands, arms, and feet. It took me 7 years, but I formulated a cream that helped to get rid of my dry skin. My cream made my skin baby bottom soft and cleared up all the dryness. Yes, after giving my cream away to family and friends for years, I am selling my cream at a low cost to help others too.  My husband is a pharmacist and gave me a plan to use a  great vitamin cocktail of  A, B, C D,  with Turmeric, Ginger, and Ashwagandha, and others variations of vitamins and supplements that not only help with skin care, but also fatigue, aches, and other ailments that come along with this disease. 

Anywho, today, 10 years later,  I feel more energized.  I do use a walker because,  even though I can walk,  I am still a bit unstable, and of course do not want to fall.   My MRI does not show new lesions in my brain.  I have lost weight, not from dieting, but getting with a weight loss doctor who is awesome, who introduced me to a medicine called Wegovy, which helps with diabetes and weight loss. This helped me lose over 70 pounds, along with eating more balanced and healthier meals.  Like anyone, I have some bad days too, but the good ones have outweighed them tremendously as I keep to my daily regimen. Nothing is perfect, but we can still have a great life living with MS, or any other autoimmune disease.  I have MS, but it does not have me.  I have been working from home for the past 8 years.  I started Zuri Arts, where I paint, create digital art,  and make handmade items. I refuse to not use my inner strength as a super hero in this fight.  I hope one day soon a cure is found, until then we continue to fight with the help of the Lord with the great superpower of strength he gives us daily.

Mary Nvonne