Mike woke up one morning, July 2nd, and saw a smudge in his eye. Thinking that it was most likely a tear in his eye he called the eye doctor and made an appointment to get it checked out that day. Once we got to the eye doctor he said looks like fluid in the eye, but you should probably go and see an Optometrist. So we called our insurance got the approval super quick and headed over to see the Optometrist. The specialist that Mike needed to see was out on vacation (for the 4th of July holiday) so he had to wait until Tuesday 7th to see him. So once he saw him that Tuesday he then referred him to a Retina Opthamologist to look deeper into the retina, since there was no present fluid in his eye. We saw the Retina Opthamologist that very next day. I remember that day that it was yesterday! Mike went up to see the doctor and I stayed in the car to finish feeding Jude (who was only 2 1/2 months) and I remember getting this texted from Mike saying, "you need to get up here, they are saying it's MS". I remember saying to him, "shutup, what is it really" and he was dead serious! So I went up there and the doctor talked to us and told us that he thinks Mike has MS and that he wanted Mike to check into the hospital right away. I'm sure the look on both of our faces were priceless but we were both in total shock.
From that point everything seems like a total blur. Mike and I learned SO much about MS and how it had particularly affected Mike personally. But a few hospital stays, treatments and 4 or 5 doctors later, we finally found some really great physicians who specialize in MS and are amazing!!!
Today Mike unfortunately is blind in his left eye. The doctors have said that he will never regain any vision in that eye, but on the positive side, his right eye looks very healthy. Mike is currently on Copaxone which is a daily injectable that he takes to stabilize his MS. Of course like any health issue Mike has good days and he has bad days, but I think overall he's doing great. I wouldn't say we are 100% on getting everything stable, but I definitely think we're on our way.
Mike has always been a super upbeat guy and has always been generally positive, but this really hit him hard and took a little while to bounce back to his normal crazy self. I really admire Mike for everything he's had to go through. I always tell him, I don't understand what you're going through but I will totally be there to support you in whatever you need. It's weird though, as a spouse or family member of someone who has MS it's hard on you too. And I've had to learn as well how to accept this lifestyle and the challenges it brings. I think the most important part and the biggest learning experience for Mike and I was communication. We of course still have times where our communication isn't the best but we really try to take a step back once and awhile and really focus on what is important.
To support MS Awareness Mike, Jude and I will be participating in the MS Walk on April 10th at UC Irvine. It's a 2 mile walk and I think it will be a great thing for Mike to participate and meet people living with this disease. If you'd like to join us we'd love for you to join us!!! Just email me!
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