Someone with MS

MS is a disease that effects more people then some may believe.  Almost everyone you talk to know someone with MS, whether it be a family member, friend or neighbor.  When my own mother was diagnosed with MS we found more and more people who were effected by MS. The wife of my parents former stake president has MS. A man down the street was diagnosed 10 years ago and just last week a young hirl in their ward found out she also has MS.  Jenna (name changed) is only 7 years old. She is happy, smart and loves to spend time with her siblings.  Although it was very last minute her mom took a little time to answer some questions for me about their experience. 

Tell me a little bit about Jenna.

Jenna is 7 years old.  She is in the 1st grade and love going to school! She loves reading new books and playing outside.  She especially likes to play on the playground at recess.  She is so kind and is a great big sister. 

What first had you take Jenna to the doctor? What clues did you see that told you something might be wrong?

We first started to notice that something was wrong about 8 months ago.  The first clue we had was that Jenna had a seizure.  We took her straight to the hospital. Over the next couple of months she was tired and did not really seem like herself, we knew something was wrong. Doctors did lots of tests and finally a few weeks ago were able to tell us for sure that she had MS.  

How did it feel to get the diagnosis?

It was honestly a little bit of a relief.  We finally knew what was really wrong.  We had been so worried for so long it was nice to finally know what it was.  We had a jumping off point.  There is that part of you that is sad but I choose not to think about that as much.  I don't want it to define her. We are going to do our best to make her life as normal as possible. 

What accommodations are being made for her at school?

Nothing yet.  Since she was so recently diagnosed we are just watching to see what kind of needs she will have.  The only major thing is that since she missed so much school with doctor visits there are some small changes that are being made to try and catch her up.  She gets tired at school sometimes and so her teachers are being a little more lenient with her than before.  

Has your home life changed at all?

Since Jenna was diagnosed so recently we have not had to change much yet.  We are still trying to decide what kind of medication we are going to start, but after that life will change a little bit.  We will also have to be aware of her condition getting worse.  We are going to have to be aware and willing to adjust where needed.  But overall we just want her to feel as normal as possible.  She is only 7 and we want to give her a happy, full childhood even though she has MS.