It was last week today that I went to the hospital around 5:30pm with chest pains that I thought were a heart attack, and while it was a relief to find that my heart was fine, my continuing stiffness and numbness in my right hand and the numbness in my torso worried the cardiologist enough to call in a neurologist to have a look at me. Ironically, the neurologist on call at the hospital that night was the same doctor I had made an appointment with for the next day. She ordered an MRI and off I went at 9pm for 2 hours of torture, and when I came out of the tube, hot and sweaty and exhausted at 11pm, she introduced herself, identified two lesions in my spine, and diagnosed me with MS. I must admit it was a shock--I didn't know anything about the disease (amazing how much you can learn in a week), and wanted someone to come in and say it was all a big mistake. But alas, instead it was off for a midnight spinal tap. Believe me, if you've never had a spinal tap, you're not missing anything. I can still feel it when I talk about it today.
Well, it was a long night but I finally made it to a hospital room at around 5:30am, and would remain there on a steroid drip and to be observed for the next 5 days. While the focus has been on me this past week, and while I am of course concerned about my health, I'm more concerned about Bella and the kids, and what lies in store for them. Last Tuesday was Bella's 41st birthday--my MS diagnosis was not the present I was hoping to give her. The year before, we took the kids to Italy for her birthday, a trip we've wanted to take ever since we met. This November will be our 20th wedding anniversary, and I plan on doing everything I can to make sure we can celebrate properly.
