My connection to Multiple Sclerosis

In the second season of The West Wing, President Bartlet discloses that all through the election and his first year in office he has suffered from MS. Throughout the season the white house was under investigation for misleading the American public to vote for someone with, what most people thought, was a terminal disease. They educated the public about MS and in tern without realizing I learned a lot to. I had no idea that picking up little bits of information about MS from this TV show would ever help me later on in my life. 

About six years ago my mom began to feel numbness in her feet and legs.  After lots of tests the doctors could not figure out what was wrong.  I am sure that my mom did not forget about it but I certainly did.  

Three years later the symptoms came back.  She felt numbness in her toes and did not think much about it. The numbness slowly moved up her feet to her legs and then up her legs.  My mom is not the type of person who complains and so she kept it to herself. After a full week of this numbness she finally told my dad.  My dad was worried and so they went straight to the hospital.  In the ER they had no idea what the problem was.  They checked her into the hospital and began tests.  After trying lots of different tests to find out what was wrong, they found lesions on her spine.  They diagnosed her with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. 

They hooked her up to an IV to give her a steroid and waited in hopes that the numbness would subside.  

Although I was not the person diagnosed with MS it really affected me.  I was up at BYU-I at the time and my parents only gave me very little information about what was going on.  All I knew was my mom was in the hospital with MS. Ironically, I was watching the last season of the West Wing at the time.  The day after finding out my mom was diagnosed I was on the episode that the President has a horrible attack. His attack happened on his way to China for diplomatic meetings. The attack causes him to be paralyzed. Watching this episode hit a little too close to home.  The only information I had on MS came from this show and now the show showed what kind of future I was sure my mom would have.  It was devastating and terrifying.  Little did I know, MS effects everyone differently.    

Over the next few months I talked to my mom constantly to see how she was doing and make sure she was okay.  Now  she is doing fairly well.  She has changed her eating habits a lot, she is now vegan. She exercises regularly and tries to stay as healthy as possible.  She has to give herself a shot every other day.  Whenever my brothers ask her how the shot was they lovingly call it "shooting up".  Every time she gives herself the shot she does not know exactly what to expect.  Some days she is fine, others she is nauseous and tired.  Although it is not ideal, the shots seem to be helping.  She has not had an attack since but really, it is just a matter of time.

My mother with me and my sisters

On the day I asked my mom if could interview her for this project she said she would be happy to, but she did not know how much she will be able to help. She said that eventually she stopped reading about MS because she did not like seeing where she may be in the future. I am doing this project for her. She should not have to be weighed down with that knowledge. I want to know more about MS.  I want to be educated.  This blog is my attempt to learn a wider range of knowledge, not only for my mom but so that one day when I have a classroom I will know what I can do to help a student with Multiple Sclerosis.