My reaction wasn't much either. I just wanted answers to what was going on with my body. I knew MS was a possibility and then when we found out I said "ok, I can still continue running right? and lets get on with some treatment" I saw 3 different specialists before starting treatment and I was fine for the most part, til a few months later on Thanksgiving Day...I cried off and on most of the day(no one knew) and after that I was done and ready to move on. My husband and family was more shaken than I was when the Dr. said MS.
I had my first real flare up last month and that shook me up, it just made it more real, more so than I would have liked...

when ms was confirmed i told the dr i wanted to be aggressively "proactive"...

broke down when i saw my sis....broke down a little today, it comes and goes.

the grieving continues in small stages. no one humongous breakdown...but many a day a little tougher than others.

i knew it was comming...but when the ms neuro called me to confirm..i still felt like someone had punched me in the stomach..smile...that was the extent of it..sigh...in the past 8 years though i had dealt with the epilepsy and the stroke...so it was easier for me i think...this was the second chronic illness to deal with....mind you when i went back in armed with all my research and was told i was ppms and nope no treatment...then i was shocked..i will admitt that..grin...now that one..i went home and had a stiff drink on...smile..

luv
heather

I created a yahoo group within 3 weeks

My reaction is closer to Rhonda.
I think I expected it. In fact the possibility was real enough for me to continue private insurance after retirement. Honestly, I think it is because it has not really hit me. I think when (if?) it gets to the point when I have to tell people or leave them wondering, it will hit me... My mom suspects something is wrong with me, but I cannot tell her.

denial then had a relapse then said *expletive* it and took the copaxone and went about my business....not letting ms have me i have it!

I had been laid off my job in a mass lay off with around 70 other people in a 2nd round of lay off's,from downsizing. It had drastically affected my life, obviously being without income for the first time in my life. I went to the company sponsored training to find a new job. I decided to go back to school to get a 2nd degree. It would only be 2 more years. I would be more employable.

I only had 1 full time & 1 part time semester left. I had 6 resume's to target different available jobs.

My diagnosis was sudden. I stumbled into the hospital, not knowing what was wrong, but since I am healthy, I thought I would just need a shot of penicillen to correct it and get me back into "job hunting" capability.

I was uninsured, I had lost my job & I thought it was money I had to spend to be successful in an a job interview.

Within three hours they had run a cat scan, MRI and told me I had MS & I had had it for a long time based on my MRI. Then they admitted me to neurological intensive care for the night & started me on IV steroids.

I really, really thought that God had given me too much to handle. I had rolled with the punches on the job lay off & I had been making the best of it. Now ADD MS along with being uninsured for the 1st time in my life it was just too much for me to handle. I began to cry & cried for 4 days solid, helped I am sure by the steroids which were a new experience to me.

After the diagnosis, I focused on completing the degree. I knew to be able to live with myself I was gonna need to complete the last goal I made before MS.

The doc advised me against going to school, but I went anyway. I made it through 1 semester, the 2nd part time semester I was unable to go to the university. The profs allowed me to complete the degree over the internet. Despite the school did not have any internet classes. the profs just emailed the lecture notes & test and let me complete the degree. Talk about nice!!!

Some time around this time, when I was unable to go to the university. The ANGER started. Lot's of anger. It's been about 4 years & the anger is les consistent. But still I get angry when I think of that time & all I lost....it does seem that god's against me.

I could have got MS when I was employeed and covered by a LTD policy. Which I had had in every job for the last 15 years. But GOD waited until I had been laid off. Yes I can still get angry thinking about it!

Wow. Sorry to hear that chain of events.

I was already in the emergency room for the third time and in a hospital bed, so the shock of the diagnosis was not as bad as what was happening to me. I wasnt too happy about having a chronic incurable disease with no ideal treatments, but at least from there I was given a steroid treatment which stopped the disease progression which was rapidly getting worse. I hated the treatment though and it took a few months before I was completely back to normal, at least as far as I could tell.

I think there has been some degree of denial during my periods of remission.

Hmmm, Because of horrible balance when I was 40, and MRI that showed somewhat swollen ventricles, Doc diagnosed me with Hydrocephalous. I had brain surgery which did help briefly (probably the steroids that are a normal part of brainsurgery.

Two years later, I still had not gotten better and doctor guessed MS. Did electrical conduction tests and finally did a LP (spinal tap). I confirmed the diagnosis with an MS specilist.

I hedn't needed the brain surgery but if the diagnosis had come sooner there was nothing they could do (just approved Betaseron).

At this point I am happy with Copaxone and taking LDN and short of a hoped for cure, I am not going to try any other drugs.

WOW! So many different reactions! I'm guessing mine IS "normal" whatever that means. I guess maybe I was given so much to deal with in that 12 month period prior to my dx (including my OWN "near death" due to an attack of pancreatitis) that I nothing else including MS has phased me. I think I've finally become emotionally bankrupt. (Great coping tool!) Thanks guys for sharing your stories!

I'm almost embarassed to say that the first words I uttered after hearing the news was 'So, can I get a disabled parking permit?'
In truth I was just so relieved that it was only MS since the other explanation for my symptoms was a tumour on the spine.

YEAH, I not crazy! Every doc I ever saw said "it is all in your head". It was a time of joy for me. Now I know what caused all this weird stuff to happen to me.

Now remember my first episode was in 1960 & I got dx in 1992. Told my mom that I had proof it was in my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKCv2qGMkF0

I burst into tears. The only time i had ever heard of MS was when i watched an episode of MTV's MADE. The kid's mom had it. She looked normal so it wasn't like i had this scary image in my head. I really don't know what made me instantly cry but my diagnosing neurologist actually said "OH! Should i not have told you?!"