Breathe
By Rosa Edith Gálvez
I am 38 years old, I am a pediatrician and I have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis for two years. Everything happened during the pandemic and I can say that at the beginning the process was very complex. I have always been very sporty and I even ran Ironman Half Ironman, my process was always surrounded by training, but also because of my profession everything was easier, my environment did not let me ignore those alarms in my body.
I have marked that date because of the proximity to my birthday, I am from the first of November, and day two was when I woke up and felt my hands and feet tingling. I felt the muscles in my mouth contract. I lasted at least two weeks like that until I went to a rehabilitation specialist friend of mine, who referred me to a neurologist who requested several tests. Among them, an MRI of my neck, because I already had signs of LHERMITTE, which means that when I bend my head down my feet start to hurt. I also started to have double vision.
From November 2 until December 13, 2021, I was in revisions and managed to get my diagnosis. A very different context to many people who take more years to get their diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.
I remember that when I was given the news it was like a bucket of cold water, I felt condemned, I cried because of my diagnosis, I did not want to accept it to the point of wanting to confirm my disease in every consultation with every specialist. I also made the mistake of looking for information on the internet because although I knew about the disease, I only had references from what I had read when I studied General Medicine 10 years ago.
My family was affected by my reaction, but something that helped me a lot was that my neurology specialists accompanied me at all times and showed me that there were new treatments, and that the disease was not going to prevent me from having a normal life. That a diagnosis was not going to determine my quality of life.
My doctors gave me peace of mind, because they informed me about how advanced the treatments for Multiple Sclerosis were, they helped me to disprove what I saw on the internet. Undoubtedly, my specialists were very supportive. Besides them, I have always been a believer in mental health, so therapy has allowed me to feel much calmer, especially in accepting my diagnosis. In that first confusing moment, therapy helped me to calm my mind before the uncertainty of what was going on in my body.
In retrospect, the therapy helped me a lot to order my thoughts and unburden myself without having a restriction on what I thought and my emotions. Today, I see and feel differently, it has been a 180 degree turn, although it is true that I have not stopped being afraid because of the uncertainty of the disease itself.
Multiple Sclerosis made me feel more empowered and more self-confident, especially because of my family's support, which has been fundamental, they have made me feel normal. Above all, to take things as they are, to follow the doctor's indications and to forget about the rest that is not true, or that we believe Multiple Sclerosis may be.
Little by little I have been rebuilding myself, because understanding and working with Multiple Sclerosis is very hard, but not impossible. I have taken this disease as an aspect that adds to my life and not subtracts from it. It has made me more fulfilled and aware of my life. Mainly because I live in the here and now, I emphasize that I am well and that I can move. I started a postgraduate program that has helped me to change the focus in my career.
Joining EMovimiento also changed me completely: although I have emotional support from my psychologist and my family, this team allowed me to feel that I was in an empathic space, with people just like me. Today I am 38 years old and I feel stronger than before. Because I have already gone through a process and today I can talk about what this disease means and tell someone who is going through the same thing that it is not the end.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
Comments ()