I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT!!! HOW IT ALL STARTED...

I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT!!! I WILL BE LIBERATED ON JULY 28 HERE IN THE USA!!!! SIX WEEKS FROM TODAY!!! THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS…

Much thanks to my wonderful new friend Diana from Ontario, Canada who unselfishly shared her info with me and stuck with me to help make this happen – my heart is filled with gratitude – Thanks Diana.

HOW IT ALL STARTED: In June 2002, my life was as crazy as it had ever been. I was a full-time student, a part-time worker, and a full-time Mom to Alyssa 13, Amara 11, and Brett 7. I was on two Boards at our church which met regularly for meetings, was on the planning committee for Vacation Bible School as well as a teacher in this program, was a Sunday School Teacher and was active in Boy Scouts and other school activities. In my spare time, I baked cakes (for parties and weddings). I am exhausted just from typing this – imagine how I was when I was LIVING IT. Anyway, on Wednesday, June 26, I woke up and my legs felt numb, pins & needles. I ignored it, thought I must have pinched a nerve or something and continued my day. It got worse, especially at night. The numbness moved up my body until all my skin from the neck down felt numb. The numbness progressed to stiffness and then, over the course of the next couple weeks, paralysis. I was terrified – it felt like a hand from hell came up out of the ground, grabbed me and pulled my face down into the dirt. Five Emergency Room visits later, doctors came in to my hospital room and told me I had MS. I thought they were nuts, I KNEW MS, my sister had it – this was NOT MS. Steroids loosened up my muscles but brought on as many problems as they “fixed”. I had a miserable summer and was sick into the fall. One year later, my diagnosis was definite – I had MS.