Dear NT Friends,

I'm writing to give you and update and to ask some questions I'm hoping someone can answer for me.

I tried to self-refer myself to the Mayo Clinic in June. I was not awarded an appointment. I finally saw a neuro doc at UNM on July 15th.

My condition has gotten progressively worse over the past three months.
The daily fatigue, muscle stiffness/weakness, and blurred vision have caused me to give up my teaching duties for the fall semester. I use a cane now for treks of more than 100 feet or so.

A myriad of blood tests have all come back normal including tests for Lyme disease, B12 deficiency, thyroid hormone imbalances etc.

I had three MRIs on Aug 5th--brain, cervical spinal cord, and thoracic spinal cord--all came back normal.

A couple of questions here:

My first symptom--a visual field cut in one eye was experienced in July 2008. I have had progressive symptoms since April of 2009. How unusual is it for a person with MS to be MRI-negative under those circumstances?

My MRIs were performed on a 1.5 Tesla magnet w/o contrast dye. Terms such as T1-weighted, TSE T2-weighted, FLAIR, MEDIC etc. appear on my reports. Does any of that make any difference in the quality or resolution of the images?

I had a VEP study this past Monday--no results yet.

I had an EMG study today--results were normal.

The techs who performed my MRIs and my VEP, and the doctor who performed my EMG all asked me if I'd had a lumbar puncture yet. I have not.

Is that normally the next step??

Thank you for your help.

I am so grateful for this forum.

Susie