My experiences with MS so far.....

Hi My name is Jaz.

I was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting MS in February 2002 at the age of 26, when I was working as an Office Manager for a computer firm.

I was experiencing a feeling of something in my right eye but no matter how much I searched I was unable to find anything, so I just presumed that it was a piece of cotton bud which came off when I was cleaning my mascara! Then the pain started to come from behind my eye but it was when a cling film type coating came which blurred my vision that I decided it was time to see an optician (after a week of suffering).

When I was at the opticians I knew something wasn’t right as the eye examination took about 40 minutes when it usually takes about 15mins maximum usually, After my examination I was informed to go to Moorfield's Eye Hospital immediately, that they had already informed them I was on my way!! I asked the Optician if I had cancer of the eye and he just said “no” but I needed to go ASAP, told him I couldn’t as had a hairdresser’s appointment and against his wishes went and got my hair done!! When I was paying the hairdresser I realised I hadn’t paid the optician and went back to do so, where I was met by the Optician and once again was told to go immediately to Moorfield's. I think it was because he scared me I did NOT go still and the next day the hospital called to tell me to come down IMMEDIATLEY.

I finally arrived at Moorfield’s, was seen instantly had various eye examinations and was then told they suspected M.S as I had Optic Neuritis, but I was just like o.k. as it didn’t really register, not even when they told me I was going to be admitted into a specialist Neurological hospital (The National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Russell Sq, London) the next day!!

When I arrived at the hospital I was seen by my Consultant, who informed me the eye examination showed I had Optic Neuritis and they just wanted to do some tests to rule out M.S. Over the next two days I had various tests, such as MRI scan, Evoked.. (Can’t remember the rest of the name), Lumbar Puncture and a few others plus the blood tests. I was told all tests carried out showed I had RRMS, and was told that it was very rare in Asians, and I was just like “oh ok” as I was “normal” as I was NOT experiencing any other symptoms except the vision problem. To get my vision back to normal I was given a course of IV steroids. I visited MS centre but felt like a leper as the people there were like “you can’t have MS” as I was the only one of a different race, and after a while I stopped going, also as they were much older than me.