First let me introduce myself. My name is Terri House and I have MS (multiple sclerosis). I was diagnosed with MS in April of 1997 when I was 26.
I was married at the tender age of 23. Life was supposed to be great and wonderful and all that fairytale stuff. I was very much in love with my husband, just out of the military and we were ready to start our new life together. I went to school to become a medical assistant and graduated with a GPA of 3.6, not too bad huh. Well since my husband was still in the military we got transferred from Washington State to Texas. While in Texas I got a job as a medical assistant in a Dr.'s office and really enjoyed it but I started having problems with my legs aching all the time and unexplained shooting/stabbing pains and tripping over things that weren't there. My boss, the Dr there at the office, decided I had fibromyalgia and that there was nothing I could do about it and just had to suffer with it. I continued on with my life and continued to have vague problems here and there. I decided at some point I was going to stop working at the Dr.'s office and go back to school doing something I really enjoyed and that was computer programming.
I started my first semester of college and to help with some of the costs of going to school I worked at the Veterans Administration office in return for help with some of those costs. That was when my life turned upside down. I became very fatigued, and was just generally feeling like I had the flu without the coughing and vomiting. I was sent to the emergency room where they thought that maybe I had had a heat stroke (it was extremely hot that time of year) and sent me to an Internal Medicine Specialist. By the time I was able to get in to see her the left side of my face and scalp along with parts of my arm were numb and there was a lot of pain in my left eye. She only asked a few questions, then left the room and upon returning she asked one more question about where I grew up. I told her that I was born and raised in Virginia and she said she didn't want to scare me but suspected I had Multiple Sclerosis. I had no clue as to what that meant so she told me a little about it and said she was going to refer me to a neurologist.
I went to see a neurologist in San Antonio, TX (a 2-hr drive), where they scheduled me for various tests, which I�m sure that most of you who have already been diagnosed with MS are already familiar with. These first tests (evoked potentials and visual evoked potentials) were not painful but they were tedious. You can find out more about these tests on other pages that go more into detail. My VEP's came out abnormal on my left eye which I was having problems with at the time. My EP's came back inconclusive due to the problems I was having with my legs at the time of the tests; they were not able to get any response. I was given a diagnosis of probable MS at that time. My husband and I decided that we were going to request a humanitarian discharge from the military so I could go be with my family for support. I was also to see a neurologist, in Virginia Beach, VA who was a MS specialist so that I could get the best care available.
I returned home and started seeing Dr. Marcus Rice at Neurology Specialists in Virginia Beach, VA. When I first arrived at his office he immediately continued the tests that my previous neurologist had not yet done. The first test that was done was a LP (lumbar puncture) which also came back inconclusive. He then sent me in for a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of my brain, cervical and T-spine. I eventually received a call from Dr. Rice in April of 1997 with the diagnosis of MS. Soon after My diagnosis of MS I started researching MS. I read everything I could find on the internet and at the library. I was devastated and relieved at the same time about my diagnosis, finally I had an answer to many problems I have had in the past. As many of you know diagnosis of MS is a tedious and bumpy road. There are many times when you feel like you might be crazy and others might think the same. It is an emotional rollercoaster because with MS, most of our symptoms are what is called invisible symptoms which means, that most people can't see anything wrong with you but you feel them all too well. Many people who have been diagnosed with MS tell stories in which a common theme is someone saying to them "But you look so good" or "You don't look sick". Well we are sick and we aren't feeling so good. I was doing OK for many years with my MS and got along fine with only a few exacerbations here and there.
I wound up in the hospital in December of 2000 just before Christmas for about a week. I was given high dose IV steroids and then released with only a few side effects from the steroids, one of which was a severe case of thrush. I will get into more about thrush and other side effects of the steroids elsewhere on my site but for now lets just say it wasn't pleasant. I went into physical therapy to help regain my strength in my legs and to stabilize my balance.. In February, still out of work, my husband decides he can't deal with the MS and we soon separated. And so starts my journey that leads me to this very point in my life. After my husband and I separated I needed to find a job and do it quick. I started working again and continued to do so for several years with only a few MS symptoms. I had moved in with my sister (who was also recently divorced) and her three girls and seemed to be doing fine.
In March of 2004 I developed Optic Neuritis in my right eye (all previous bouts of ON were in my left eye) and called my neurologist to let him know. He put me on IV steroids again but soon after I developed ON in my left eye and the right eye didn't seem to get better with the steroids. In just a short time I started having difficulty walking again and started to lose my balance. I took a leave of absence and tried to get better. My body however had other ideas. I gradually got worse over time and eventually had to quit work completely. Here I was with no health insurance and no job with which to get my medications and see my doctors. (Though, thanks to my sister I was able to at least have a roof over my head and food on my plate.) I applied for SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) and after being denied the first time I was approved upon requesting reconsideration through a lawyer. I applied for medicaid and was put on what they call a spend down. This is where things got tricky. I was to pay for $3600 worth of medical bills before medicaid would pay for one penny of anything and this was only for a 6-month period. Considering that I only made $830 a month with SSDI that was well more than I could afford to fork out in medical costs. I searched high and low for any type of financial assistance it just wasn't there in abundance and due to the MS and the severe fatigue I was experiencing this was difficult during the best of times. It was during this very difficult time in my life that I made a decision. I was determined that I was going to do everything in my power to try to prevent others from having to go through what I went through. This is why I created this website and started working toward creating a foundation that would assist people with MS through the tough times of disability.
I am trying to educate people on MS and at the same time I will be trying to set up a foundation/organization that will be able to assist people while going through diagnosis and/or during their times of disability. Unlike most other organizations who either refer people elsewhere or just plain can't provide financial assistance, I intend to do something about this injustice. During my time of need I had no where to go and no one person who could help me. I want to see that stop. There are too many of us out there with MS who have no health insurance and no means to pay for a Dr. visit. I want to put a plug in the huge gaping hole that is leaking too many people through and give them strength to turn around and help others as well.