I can still hardly believe it. Answered the phone this morning and a voice on the other end said, "This is Dr. __", the radiologist from ___. Do you mind if I talk to you and ask you a few questions?" I was surprised but of course, I said I didn't mind at all!

Let me back up...

Long story short, I had follow-up MRIs of the brain and orbits at the end of December at a new facility, the one that my doctors are associated with. I had gone to a different facility for the first MRIs these doctors had ordered (the one my first knucklehead neuro-ophthalmologist used -- I now have a great neuro-op).

Got the radiologist reports from my December MRIs and the good news was that nothing enhanced. I also found out for the first time where some of my brain lesions were located. Unlike my neuro-op, my MS specialist is not so forthcoming with info. so I was thankful for this. So, it seemed like everything was stable but I made it my business to get my old MRIs to the new facility so they could do an addendum because I knew that this would give me the real answer. I had searched for information on how long lesions light up and was unable to find a definitive answer. One source said it was only six weeks so if this was true, this could mean that there was new activity but its time had passed since my last MRI! Getting my old films was not as easy a task as it sounds and I only delivered them to the new radiology facility last Monday.

I was mostly concerned about my brain, hence my surprise when the doctor asked me how my eye was and if I was experiencing any sx! As far as I was concerned, although I have some residual effects from my ON attack, they are thankfully very slight and nothing I can't live with. The good news is that according to this doctor, the optic MRI is better than the last one (where the lesion on my optic nerve lit up) but obviously, I'm not as clinically improved as I thought. I'll certainly find out more when I see my neuro-ophthalmologist in April. I don't think/hope it's anything to be concerned about but I know that if it is, she will call me when she gets the report.

Dr. ___ and I chatted for a bit and he was more than willing to answer some questions for me! I told him how blown away I was and he commended me for wanting to know these things!

On the question of active lesions, he said that it can be as little as 6 weeks but also much longer. There really is no exact timetable. He also said that sometimes lesions will light up during/as a result of the remyelination process! He also discussed some of the confusion of identifying lesions as MS and the many mimics -- AND that 2 different doctors can see 2 different things in the findings. He told me that he's done MRIs on himself and he has white matter lesions as well although they are not MS.

I am seriously blown away. He was a wealth of information and I am happy to know that he's there! I told him he sounds like he loves what he does and he agreed. My neuro-op is like this too -- so involved.

I still can't believe I overlooked getting these MRIs to the new facility when I got the follow-ups but perhaps it was meant to be because I wouldn't have otherwise had this opportunity to speak to this doctor. Now that I know how thorough he is, I am admittedly a little nervous about getting the addendums -- he hadn't gotten to my brain yet.

Perhaps one of the things that adds to my delight about receiving this call is that when I spoke to my MS specialist's assistant and asked if the doctor wanted me to come in for an appointment, she never got back to me. (And he's had these reports and access to the films through their network since the first week in January.)