People with MS are like snowflakes--no two are exactly alike.

I have MS, and so did my father. Dad was diagnosed when he was 39, probably 2-4 years after his first symptoms. He gave up his driver's license when he was about 45 because his legs/feet didn't always move when he wanted them to. If he'd been able to get a car with hand controls, he would have kept driving.

Dad didn't feel it was in his best interests for his employers to know of the diagnosis, so we didn't tell anybody. For 17 years after giving up his license, he walked to the paper mill (a mile each way) and retired at 62. He NEVER missed a day of work in those 17 years due to MS.

My dad died a month before his 80th birthday, of COPD. Most people never did know he had MS. He had sporadic episodes of numbness and tingling, some balance issues, drop foot, and fatigue. But he mowed the lawn, shoveled snow, worked in his wood shop, went fishing, enjoyed his life. He was still going up and down stairs under his own steam three days before he died.

Dad's MS never worsened significantly in over 40 years. Will this be your course? Who knows. You are a different snowflake. But for SOME people, "the worst" doesn't happen.