hi keri,

i still remember how shocked i was when my MS dx was confirmed. and i had been having tests for wks before. i knew i was being worked up for MS but still i was shocked, and i'm an RN!

so i understand how you feel. it takes a while for that to wear off.
don't shoot me :eek:. i've learned to take things one, ok, maybe two, days at a time. i try not to think ahead. no one, even healthy people know what the future holds. all you can do is work hard to get the MS under control and live one day at a time.

the hardest thing i had to come to grips with was to listen to my body.
i know what my limits are and what happens if i try to push past them. visual disturbances and extreme weakness/fatigue.

you might even consider journaling. it really helps to clarify your feelings. and somehow getting it on paper is cathartic.

and, you might even consider some counseling. it's very helpful for me to be able to "detox" and talk to someone about what's happening in my life.

i hope your exacerbation levels off soon and you feel better.
we're here for you.

This is an old thread from February of Keri's.......Lavender must have found it on the Net..

Welcome to NeuroTalk, Lavender/Sandra, Nice to meet you...Come on in and join the fun..:)

Thanks, Sally :). I thought I was having deja vu or that somehow I imagined that Keri had HiCy treatment :D.

Hi Keri :)

I too was tested 5 years ago. I was having numbness in the left side of my face, neck and body pain, horrific vision and so on. I had MRI's done with and with out contrast dye of the C spine, T spine and Brain. They found white oval Dawson Fingers lesions on the front part of the brain. The doctors have not positively diagnosed me with MS. Five years have gone by and now I feel the weakness in my arms, legs are sluggish and torso is very stiff and achy. I will be having new MRI's performed this upcoming week. Blood works came back negative for Lyme and Lupus.
As I continue to do my own research. I am finding more issues associated with Dawson Finger lesions. My biggest argument is...If its not MS, then how about finding out what it really is.

I am not up for the spine puncture......My doc said its not necessary. He also diagnosed me with Fybromyalgia. Another falsely diagnosed condition.

I think LIMBO is getting over populated.

Good Luck!
Terry

Keri, My 3rd MRI showed Dawson fingers. Still waiting on 2nd opinion so no diagnosis yet. I had LP last year, which was negative.
I thought it was a little worse than my myelogram and several epidurials in my C5. But still worth it, if it helps dx. I went through it because it would of confirmed had it been positive.
Still was limbo.

whoa...I thought I was hallucinating until I looked at the date on the OP...:D

Hi Trinkeet,
Welcome to NT. Nice to meet you. :) I, too, had the Dawson's fingers on MRI, the shape was Ovoid and they lit up from the GAD dye they used. But that was many, many, years after I was diagnosed with MS.

When I was diagnosed they didn't have MRI's, just LP's and rule out tests. It was my clinical exam that clinched it. I had a CT scan but I doubt that was useful other than to look for brain problems or tumors.

My symptoms, history, and clinical exam by a MS specialist Dx'd me in 1981. I was three years in Limbo until then while they tested. It takes time.

Do you live in the USA? Your testing sounds like the procedures of Socialized medicine.

Many people have negative LP's too. It's up to the Neuro to call it. If he/she is not 100 percent sure, than you have to wait and see a bit longer. Sorry.

We have many here in Limbo. Join us on the MS front page and introduce yourself on a New thread here and many will help and reply to you.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/fo...aysprune=&f=17

.

Wow, talk about a flash from the past!

River, I'm with you when I saw this post pop up on top! LOL

Trinkett is new so she researched some old post and posted to it. It is a very old post, but she now knows the main page is a good place to start a new thread, and read and post to the newer ones.

Many people do this and it is why I always look at the date of the first poster to make sure it is a new thread or one brought forward.

She is in the same place you were years ago, questioning the Dawson fingers on the MRI. She was looking for information on Dawson's fingers.

My apologies to Trinkett!
Welcome to NT!
I didn't look at the end of the post, just the beginning and the date.
I hope the info you seek is found in the post.