Uncoordinated Confusion (part 3)

I distinctly remember getting the call from the Nurse Practitioner to discuss my MRI results on a Wednesday morning while I was on my way to work. My phone rang just as I was pulling up to the office. She told me that my brain scan looked fine, but there were a couple spots on my spine that could be questionable. MRI's can be very sensitive so there was a chance it could be nothing, but she said the neurologist would know for sure. She stressed that I really needed to see the neurologist to be certain about what was going on, but she wanted me to know that MS was a real possibility at this point. The neurologist would probably need to do more testing which could potentially include a lumbar puncture (also called a spinal tap). While she was telling me all this, I stayed mostly calm. I felt like was in a dream of sorts... in shock, I guess. I walked into work, sat down at my desk, logged into my computer like every other morning, and then texted my mom to let her know what the Nurse Practitioner had told me. I messaged a couple other close friends and they were all super sympathetic. The phone conversation from the morning kept running through my head throughout the work day, so I was on the verge of tears most of the time.

Throughout that day I slowly began to realize just how blessed I am when it comes to family, friends, and managers. My mom immediately started researching things about MS herself, and was super sympathetic. I happen to work in the same office as one of my best friends, and she brought me a funny card with kitties on it and a piece of pumpkin cheesecake after lunch (she knows exactly what I love!). One of my other best friends who lives out of state checked in on me throughout the day to make sure I was doing ok. My manager realized about halfway through the day that something was off with me, and told me that if I needed to talk she was available but she didn't want to pressure me. Everyone was very supportive and I felt it

When I got home from work I was Googling everything I could about MS. In my life I've only been around one person who I knew to have MS, and I didn't even understand what that meant or how it affected her life. (I was a kid most of the time I was around her, so I had other more light-hearted things to think about.) Since I didn't know really anything about it I searched through many sites starting with the basics of what MS is, to common symptoms, to diagnosis procedures, to common treatments. Learning about MS by reading articles and real life experiences online really helped calm my nerves about the possibility.

*this is part 3 of a 4 part series