My name is Elisabeth and I want to tell you about my sister Amy. She is a wonderful kind person who has been going through some very tough times lately. She and her fiance are both out of work, and may lose their house to the bank. And on top of all that, she has recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Amy first started having symptoms in 2007, including vertigo, nausea, stiff neck, and blurry vision. Her doctors were convinced that it was a virus and would soon go away. Though the symptoms did improve, they didn't go away, and she saw an ENT doctor, an optometrist, and even tried a chiropractor (which made her worse). Finally she decided she would just have to live with this.
Then in November 2009, she woke up with tingling and burning sensations in her legs, progressing to heaviness and weakness that made it difficult to walk without limping. Her fiance took her to the ER, where they weren't able to find anything wrong with her physically, but recommended she see a neurologist. A few days later, she did, and was provisionally diagnosed with MS. She had an MRI, which showed evidence of old lesions. To comfirm the diagnosis, she had to have a spinal tap, which made it official, and meant she would need medications costing at least $30,000 a year to keep it under control.
At the time she started feeling sick, Amy had been looking for a job for months, and applying for anything she could find despite the tough economy. She had just gotten a job with the US Census when her symptoms started in November, which made it impossible for her to take the job - it would have required hours a day on her feet, and now she could hardly walk. Her fiance has also been out of work since last summer, and neither of them has health insurance. She also has a daughter to support. Now that she has been diagnosed with MS, and is living with all these symptoms, most jobs are now impossible for her - she can't walk easily, finds it hard to type, and nearly every normal daily activity is more difficult. In her own words "Burning and tingling in my legs and feet all the time, and some tingling in my arms and hands. Muscle stiffness and weakness in my arms and my legs. The optic neuritis causes my vision to be blurry, I have vertigo and balance issues, as well as light sensitivity. I can't walk, sit, stand, or sleep comfortably. Paralysis and blindness are worst case scenarios. I am terrified of this disease, and it's made me even more depressed than I was before, and yet I try harder to stay positive because stress and worry exacerbate my symptoms."
Can you imagine living with this, a terrible progressive disease that you've just been diagnosed with, and no health insurance to get treatment for it? MS medications are around $3,000 a month, and they will both help with symptoms and slow progression of the disease. With good self-care and medication, an MS sufferer can live an almost normal life, but they will always have to be much more careful than other people, and they can never be sure when or if it will get worse. And the stress of worrying about this also makes her symptoms worse and makes the disease progress faster, so it's important she get started on medication as soon as possible, and not have to worry whether she can pay for it from one month to the next. She's trying hard to take care of herself in every way she can, but she desperately needs the medication.
Amy has helped many other people over the years in many ways, and now she needs help in return. I know that this is a tough time for all of us, but if you can spare even a little to help pay for Amy's medication, it would make a big difference for her.
If you would like to make a PayPal donation, or send Amy your support, her email is amycc33@gmail.com.
Thank you for any help you can give my little sister.
Elisabeth
