I have come a long way in my understanding MG since my diagnoses in November 2013, due in part to the Internet, but also in no short order to the Myasthenia Gravis Support Forum on NeuroTalk. Even though I have MG, I am grateful for many things.

I am grateful . .

I am grateful to my young primary care physician who diagnosed my condition a few weeks after I presented serious MG symptoms. I have read that others have had to wait one or two years, and see two or three doctors, before they were diagnosed.

I am grateful that I only have MG, and not any of the other myriad of conditions or diseases that are far worse and more devastating.

I am grateful for the Affordable Care Act which provided me with the opportunity to get quality healthcare insurance. I can now afford the proper drugs and treatment for MG, or any other thing that might crop up going forward. In the past ten years I tried several time to buy healthcare insurance, turned down each and every time. Apparently, fat, 50-year-old taxicab drivers were not a desirable demographic for the healthcare insurance industry.

I am grateful that my energy, ambition, and motivations has returned. I had been experiencing chronic fatigue for a few years. At the time I though this was a character flaw, but now recognize it was an early symptom of MG. I was really beating myself up about this, but now beating me up is my immune system's job. BTW, this might be the Prednisone talking.

I am grateful that my early, mild MG symptoms forced me to seek out healthcare. I was able to find a great medical group that offered discount prices for self-paying patients. My early symptoms were brief periods of double vision (not something you want in a taxicab driver). It turned out that I had extremely high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, both of which are now well under control. After my blood pressure came down, the double vision disappeared. I now know this was a MG symptom, which returned in October 2013.

I am grateful to having lost 80 pounds, down from 315 in November 2012 to 235 pounds in January 2014, in no small part due to my weak jaw caused by MG. I can't chew very well, and this forced me to develop a better diet. No more cheeseburgers and greasy ribs for me. I mean

I am grateful that MG has not impacted my ability to earn a living, at least not to date. And if it does, I will deal with it.

And last, but not least, I am grateful for the NueroTalk Myasthenia Gravis Support Forum that brought me to some wonderful people. I've only been here a few days, but already feel like I have found a home.

Take care,

-Mark-