Not going down without a fight (Continued)

[Haptik]

When I woke up one morning with very numb feet I understood that this was a symptom of MS. I was also aware that it could be caused by other conditions but in my mind it it was just a result of sleeping funny and it would go away.

Three years before this happened to me my family was rocked a bit by something that happened to my youngest son. He was the picture of health, champion swimmer in HS, worked out on a regular basis, had a healthy diet and just starting to thirive in his first sales job.

He was with his girlfriend at a concert. The kids started crowd surfing and at some point he got hit with something in the head causing a concussion. After one week of a headache that would not go away his mother finally insisted he see a doctor.

Healthy, no symptoms now with a concussion that’s not going away and the CAT scan came back lit up like a Christmas tree. When our family doctor called my wife to suggest that he go to a neurologist as soon as possible you can imagine is mother’s reaction.

At the suggestion of our family doctor I called the recommended neurologist and made the appointment. I then went to our doctor’s office and retrieved the report, did a few google searches and consoled my wife as I related to her what I found.

In my mind this was all an error and he was fine but still after all this we hadn’t told him what we found out. You see our doctor knows our family well after all the years of going to him. He really broke the rules a bit but this was important information and we were glad he let us know.

I called my son who was still in college and told him we wanted to take him to dinner where we gave him all this information. The poor kid was stunned to say the least. Off we went a couple of weeks to see the neurologist.

A couple of MRIs, a spinal tap (which resulted in more evidence of MS and a spinal tap headache), a study abroad course in Germany for his degree and a seizure which would take him off the road for 6 months all lead to the dreaded MS diagnosis. Just after the final diagnosis his neurologist, who he liked, retired and moved to Northern Michigan. He’s now being treated at the University of Michigan MS center.

He has had a more difficult time than I have had. We always worry about the seizure problem but there has not been any reoccurrence of that. At the moment he has not had any episodes for over a year. He’s thriving in his job and bought a house. I’d say he’s a good catch for any young lady out there looking for a good catch.

I had no MS symptoms at this time so nothing pointed to this being a part of the family. This is where I am curious to know if anyone else has a close relation that also has MS? My son’s neurologist at U of M medical center MS Clinic seemed really interested in the two of us, but never set us up for the special blood test she said she’d like us to take. This lead me to believe that MS in parent/child is not that common.

Curious to know who else is in the same situation.

[SueAB]

Haptik, My sister is 4 years younger then me and was diagnosed in her early 20's. I was not DX until 20 years later, when I was 40. We have both moved into SP, but she now uses a scooter, while I use a cane or walker for long hauls.

[Juleigh21]

I have a great aunt and 1st cousin who both suffer from severe PPMS. I have RRMS.

[janetb1968]

Hi Haptik from across the pond there is no MS past or present in my family. Hope u and ur son are ok xx 😊

[RoseySawyer]

My Mother didn't know that MS ran on her side of the family until I was diagnosed and paralyzed in 2015. Her cousin had MS growing up but my mother said she had no idea until her aunt told her after I was in the hospital for the first month, because her cousin did everything any other kid did. So basically the monster skipped many generations then it got me. But atleast now I'm walking and I'm looking at the bright side of things. I could of had something else that could've been worse. (not saying MS is good but there are other diseases that are worse) That being said I hope you and your son are okay.

[Diva1976]

I've been curious about family traces of this disease. No family member has it far as they know. Both of my parents are deceased. But no known history of it from them either.

[REDLIPS44]

no one in my family has had MS I think I'm the first one