My Health

This blog is going to be my way of keeping everyone updated on what's going on with my health. It's just easier than individually emailing everyone :)
I've been having some weird symptoms over the last about three years and in the last month they have gotten worse...a lot worse. The worst part is that my legs are not working properly and I am totally exhausted all the time. My legs are shaky and weak and I'm having trouble with my balance and with walking. Two nights ago I woke up at 4am to turn down my heater and when I tried to step out of bed, my legs buckled under me and I hit the ground. I had to crawl to my heater and back to bed. That was the last straw for me.
I've applied for health insurance and was going to wait until January to see a doctor but my stress and frustration level has been getting bad. I was advised that the fastest way to see a Neurologist without going through all the hoops of seeing my doctor, getting a referral, then waiting to see a Neurologist was to go to the ER at Harborview. They have a program for uninsured people and have a Neurologist on-call. I went to the ER Wednesday night and was there for seven hours. I was seen by an MD and a Neurologist. The MD drew a bunch of blood and ran a bunch of tests. All my blood work came back fine. The Neurologist did a bunch of reflex tests, made me walk on my tip toes, poked me and prodded me, pinched my toes..... Finally she said that I need to get an MRI of my brain and spine. YES!!!!!! That's all I really wanted in the first place so it was all worth it. I should be hearing from the Neuro Clinic soon to schedule my MRI. The main reason for the MRI is to try to rule out Multiple Sclerosis. MS causes lesions on the brain and the spinal cord that can be seen in the MRI. All of the symptoms I am having (and believe me, there are A LOT) coincide with MS. There are multiple other diseases that have similar symptoms so now it's just a matter of ruling out what it's NOT...which could take awhile.