In March 2003, three weeks after my wedding, I lost all feeling in my legs. At first I thought I had pinched a nerve while I was working out, but it didn't go away and it kept getting worse. Soon I was numb from the waist down. I was eventually taken to the hospital where, after more than a week of tests, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I was familiar with the disease and how devastating it can be because my mother had had the disease.
I sought out a neurologist and underwent several months of trial and error with various medications, all the while putting my husband's and my desire to get pregnant on the back burner. We weren't sure if that would ever be in the cards for us. Stress is also a major factor in MS, so I had to learn how to balance everything in my life, from my health to my new marriage, my career, and my role as caretaker for my parents (my mom was bedridden with MS and my dad is blind).
After much trial and error, I managed to get my health under complete control, to the point that I lost all of the weight (50 pounds) that I'd put on as a result of the mega-doses of steroids. I managed my health with diet and vitamins, along with the medication prescribed to me, and stabilized my disease enough that after one year with no incidents, my husband and I were not only given the OK to start having children, but I was diagnosed as being in remission with my MS.
