Quote:
Originally Posted by RedPenguins
Hey Natalie,
I can see why reading that article would make you freaked out - it isn't making me feel too good either!
I remember reading my report and then asking both neuros what exactly was meant by "multiple" and "several" - and the only response they could give me was that the radiologist stops counting at a certain point... That sounds awful to me (one that they stop counting, and two, that I had several and multiple and didn't know exactly how many).
Of course, I had to pull out my MRI results and re-read them (not that it made any sense to me 3 months ago). My report talks a lot about High T2 and FLAIR signal intensity. I researched it...but of course nothing out there really explains any of it in full clarity, in my opinion. Then again, my vision sucks and my head hurts so much, that probably I couldn't make sense out of a **** (oh, they put *s there - for the nickname for Richard) and Jane story!
And while I read the report, I just get stuck every time I get to the lines that say MS. I just freeze in place.
Okay, putting away report. Gearing up for next MRI, hopefully this week or early next (before my 2nd Tysabri on May 2).
I agree that reading and researching can drive one nuts....but I also can't help myself. Sometimes I try to distract...yet it is hard to sit back and knit and read HP when you see double, are dizzy, and your head hurts like heck!
~Keri
|
Hi Keri,
I'm sorry I freaked you out too with those articles!!
I don't know why I went back to look at my MRI reports or why I was researching MS stuff again. Probably because I started panicking about what might happen if I can't tolerate the copaxone. It's making me feel kind of flu-like. Then what is next?? Interferons are out because of a history of depression (2 weeks of Rebif and I started getting massively depressed not to mention sick as a dog). Tysabri scares me. How are you doing on that? Did your first infusion go okay? I followed some of your threads and was glad to hear you finally got on it.
Yes, the whole "at some point we stop counting" REALLY scares you, doesn't it? Yeah, every time I see the word "multiple sclerosis" I get frozen too. They are such two ugly words. Why couldn't it have a better sounding name? Like C.B. for cotton balls? Or PBP for Pretty Brain Pattern?
I am also sorry you are feeling physically crappy too. I was going to say s**tty but they blocked out my previous use of (another word for donkey) so I figured that one wouldn't be okay either.
The first neurologist I saw who had to admit me into the hospital because my internist couldn't (and it was Friday and he was the only guy on call) was terrible. I dumped him right away. BUT...he did give one good piece of advice. He said not to go online and google about other people's experiences because everyone has a different course--no two cases are really alike--and there is no point in trying to scare yourself or compare. My MS therapist told me that it's no use looking at statistics either because they don't account for individual experiences. She believes in what she calls the "X factor" -- the unknown possibility of doing well or not becoming one of the "terrible" statistics.
Anyhow, I hope I wasn't the cause of too much of your anxiety!!
Natalie