They say it's not fatal, but that's not entirely true.

I very nearly died of a brainstem lesion at the age of 30. I'm in my forties now.

It happened very suddenly, and put me in the Critical Care Unit (worse than ICU) in the hospital.

My heart rate and blood pressure were extremely low, HR 25 bpm, my heart could have stopped at any time because of this lesion.

Luckily, I did eventually recover from that, but it was a long road. They said my youth helped me and I believe that.

Not trying to scare anybody, but people deserve to know the truth IMO.

Like somebody else mentioned, I'm more concerned with quality of life rather than shortened life when it comes to this disease; but yes it can kill you.

I agree and thank you for sharing your experience.

Imvho there is far too much secrecy and denial within the MS community and I wonder if that hasn’t in part contributed to the lack of progress we have seen in MS research.

I know this might not be a popular comparison but to me it smacks of when HIV was first identified and basically ignored for years. When I think of how many people who died unnecessarily from what is now a treatable disease it breaks my heart.

EDSS 10 = death from MS

Yes, it is possible. About 95% of us will not die from MS though.