My only experience with MS before I got diagnosed, other than hearing about a cousin who has it, was when I saw my former boss at a store here in town. She was working there. It was her last day at work before she went on disability. She'd just been diagnosed with MS, and was in the middle of an exacerbation.


Apparently she had optic neuritis in one eye, and she told me her legs and feet were numb. She looked really depressed. I'd never really known what the symptoms of MS were before that, other than seeing famous people like Teri Garr and Richard Pryor on tv.

I know I was having symptoms of MS at that time, but nothing obvious had leaped out at me yet at the time. I was waking up with blurry vision that took hours or most of a day to clear up, and I'd have tingly fingertips or numb fingers that wouldnt wake up for most of the day.


Both my former boss and I had mononucleosis around the same time. (girl at work kept coming into work while she was sick with mono...and she had a bad habit of having us taste the pop from the pop machines to make sure she hooked it up correctly with the same cup she'd just used to taste it)

I think the mononucleosis is what triggered the MS for both of us. I know of one other person, a guy, from that job who I heard also developed MS. Makes me wonder about how MS starts in people. I havent seen that guy since I worked there, I'd like to see him and my former boss again and compare notes on things. Makes me worry that we're part of an MS cluster group or something.

I know where my former boss lives, (nearby me) and I used to see her out in the grocery stores, but that was before I knew she had MS. I havent seen her in at least 5 or 6 years. I keep hoping that I'll see her out somewhere so that I'll be able to talk to her and tell her about my MS. I just hope that she's recovered from the symptoms that she'd been having and that she's not having any big problems from it. Maybe I'll go back to the store that she was working at the last time I saw her and see if she's there.