The day my hands refused to work properly I sensed my “superwoman” days had ended! My body hurt all over, and I was so exhausted that it felt as though water, not blood, was running through my veins. Physically unable to carry on as senior teacher in a special school, I returned home believing that I’d be fine after a few days’ rest.

It all began with an incredible eye ache. I suffered for about a week. Then I went to an evening engagement where I drank several glasses of wine. I recall that detail due to the fact that my head stopped pounding. I felt cured, until the next morning. Then I assumed that I was experiencing a hangover but the following day, the ache was still there. I called my doctor, who then referred me to an eye doctor. I went that day. After a “light” exam, I was asked if I new what MS was.

My sister Debi started feeling sick in early February. She had a fever for a few weeks and felt dizzy and weak. The doctors really didn’t do too much to help her at this time. She had to keep going back to the doctors because she knew something was wrong. Finally, they admitted her. They had found that she had lost a lot of blood internally. They ran a whole lot of tests on her.

My daughter (who is now a happy healthy 19 yr old) was in a car accident when she was 9. She was knocked unconscious for about 20 min and had a concussion, which led to severe headaches for over two years. She was put on Amitriptyline for about 6 months or so (hard to remember exactly how long after this time!). It helped, but it did not completely get rid of the headaches.

I was a very obese kid growing up, but extremely intelligent. I didn’t get a long with my peers very well and was often considered to be an outcast. Most of high school, I didn’t have a very active social life. My mother was an OCD neat freak and made me afraid to go out in the world. Her fears became my fears and I became afraid of the world. My grandmother lived with us and she was emotionally abusive. My mother and step-father were in constant yelling matches with us and each other.