I didn't take you questioning me--truly, Cherie. I'm understanding you. And I do think that I fit into the criteria, which is why I was dx'd by the MS specialist in 2005. He said I met the criteria when I questioned him specifically about it. We discussed the criteria and my situation.
Then I go to this new facility this year because my MS Specialist got recruited to work with MS patients at the Cleveland Clinic. At the new facility, Dr. Researcher says, "oh, no spasticity ever. No lesions on 2005 MRI (brain). You never had any additional attacks. TM and that's it. 2 lesions 2007 brain MRI but probably artifact (and wouldn't you know they're in the corpus callosum too)." The 2005 MS Specialist and his partner Dr. Flip Flop both said "spasticity" and Dr. MS Specialist said MS and lesions on 2005 MRI (brain). Dr. Recruited said, "Yep, one lesion on 2005 MRI and clinically isolated syndrome." He never mentioned spasticity or 2007 MRI.
SOOOoo....... this is ridiculous. It's boiling down to the opinion of the day. And I'm getting sick of it. It's like getting the soup du jour.
If I met the criteria in 2005 for a dx, what the heck happened for me not to meet it 3 years later? The criteria didn't change.
My 2005 MS Specialist wasn't one to dole out IVSM at the drop of the hat. And one reason I can't remember now is because it was a horrible time when I had my attack in 2005. My grandmother, to whom I was very close, had just died; my best friend was deploying to Iraq; and I was having a major problem at my job with my partner in our business. I ended up having an attack about a month after my grandmother's funeral in the middle of trying to sort through a dysfunctional family situation related to her death, my partnership deterioriating, and my brain's mush. I remember that I reacted badly to the roids--very fatigued and anorexic during it. That's about it.
No one ever asked me or suggested an MRI during the attacks. I'd had MRIs very shortly before both rounds of IVSM if I recall correctly. So they didn't want to repeat them.
I'm just going to take a deep breath and go in there tomorrow and see what this doc has to say. But I'm NOT going to be really excited if he comes up with yet another theory or wants more testing. I've given enough blood to start a new person and gone through enough testing in the past year to keep at least one doc's personal bills paid for months. Nothing's shown up that explains anything else as contributing to my sx. Fibro has been ruled out, Sjogren's has been ruled out, neurosyphillis, Lyme, RA, etc. All have been ruled out. Vit. B deficit's been ruled out etc. Psych issues have been ruled out. I've been diagnosed with "Adjustment disorder." (Ya think? You live with this disease and you're gonna have adjustment disorder. It's a heck of an adjustment on a daily basis. Oh, yeah, and the chiro can't fix adjustment disorder.
) And it seems, too, that every doc has his/her definition of spasticity.
I've done the limbo thing. I'm comfortable with the limbo thing. I'm just ****** that the docs at this facility can't seem to agree from one to the other. At least Dr. Flip Flop, my initial neuro, had the guts to tell me he wasn't comfortable and referred me to his partner MS Specialist neuro. But these guys at this facility are supposed to be on par with the Cleveland Clinic and other places of that level. SOMEONE should agree. None have. There's something intrinsically wrong with that.
That's all.
That's the source of my ire and cynicism.