No problem, I know you are just trying to be helpful. This has been a hard decision. I doubt anything will make me cancel my appointment but I would appreciate hearing from others in the same boat.

I'm sorry to hear about Sally, I remember she was an avid poster and a valued member of this community. I am also sorry to hear that postings have dropped off -- out of all the message boards I visited when I was searching for answers about multiple sclerosis, this was the best by far. I communicated with a few people off-board but eventually lost touch.

As for myself, I was dxed about 13 years ago from a case of optic neuritis. My MRI more than met the criteria so I didn't even have to get a spinal tap, yet I was not very symptomatic. According to an MRI from about two years back, I had a silent case of ON but other than that, my sx are sensory and thankfully, not pronounced enough to drastically interfere with everyday life. There were several factors that impacted my decision to go the no medication route and of course, I was diagnosed before oral therapies were available. The "new drug" at the time was Tysabri.