[Rick DeSantis]

I just want to share my story and how I decided to battle MS. My hope is it will be an inspiration to all who cares to follow my thread.

I am a male 68 years of age and I have had MS for at least 20 years. To look at me today you would think I was extremely fit and very young looking for my age but I wasn't always like that. MS left me an invalid for almost a year and a half.

I was always very athletic but short at 5'4" but I never let that stop me from playing all sports. I was a very quick and powerful little guy who just never quit on anything.

I was in my middle 40's when I told my wife, a Trauma Nurse, that something was wrong with me. I wasn't sick but I knew something was wrong. I was just getting weak and beginning to stumble. Off to the hospital we went. I passed every test with flying colors and was sent home. In my heart I knew something was just not right.

A few days later I wakeup numb on my left side so off to the hospital again. My wife is thinking heart attack. Again all test on the heart are negative. I then had a MRI of the brain and hundreds of tiny lesions were found so they thought I might have suffered a series of mini strokes. I was told the numbness would remain on my left side. Home I go again

Soon I was numb from the neck down on both sides of my spine and barely walking. Linda takes me again to the hospital and tells the Dr's that I would not be going home until they found out what was wrong. I went through the mill for 5 days of testing. Finally a spinal tap was given and large lesions were found on my spine.
By this time I can no longer walk or control my arms and have trouble speaking. The whole team of Dr's came to my bedside with my wife and told me I had a severe case of MS. My reply was great news now make me better. Linda grabbed my hand and was trying to hold her emotions in check when they told me MS was an incurable disease and not much could be done.
After a few days of steroid infusions I was being discharged. They wheeled me out in a wheel chair of course because I couldn't walk. Once they placed me in the car I noticed them put the chair in our suv. I told Linda I would never sit in a wheel chair. Her response was "But honey you can'y walk". My response was "Maybe not today but I will walk again and that's my promise to you. Please get me a walker instead".

After a few visits to the Neurologist I began daily injections of Copaxone and I began to educate myself on this debilitating disease. At this point I need help with everything from eating to dressing myself and everything in-between.

OK here was my plan.
I have always heard that we only use a very small portion of our brain. So somehow I would create new areas to accept information. My first battle plan would be intense concentration and focus to grab a class on the kitchen table.

Linda took off three months of work to stay with me because she knew how intense i could be at times. I sat at the table of course with my hands in my lap and a large empty glass in front of me. I focused on that glass for most of the first day with only a twitch of my right hand. You know me it was the same drill every day for hrs. Just what else did I have to do.

One day after about two solid weeks of this intense and I do mean intense focusing on that glass my hand actually moved! In my heart from that moment on I knew I was on the right track and I double my thought processing efforts. In bed at night began to visualize grabbing that glass for hours. I at this point was totally obsessed.

A month now has gone by and I'm still going at it harder than ever and making some progress. I had actually put my hand on the table but nowhere near the glass. Then one day it happened. I grabbed the glass!!!
I screamed for my wife and we both just sat there and cried. I'm actually crying now, it's one of those moments in my life I will never forget.

Much more to come