Warrior Wednesday 2/9/22
Meet Brittney
It was a Wednesday in 2011…
The day started like any other. I woke up, had breakfast and headed to work. I worked at VS in my local mall. It was early November, so things were starting to get a bit busy leading up to the holidays. I was helping a customer who was looking for her size in a certain item. We had none in the front of the store, so I ran to the stock room to check back there for her. What she needed ended up being on the very top shelf, so I had to grab a ladder and climb. I got half way up when all the sudden half of my body went completely numb. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. It wasn't numbness like my foot fell asleep, it wasn't the numbness I had with pinched nerves in the past.
This time I felt absolutely NOTHING. I had to call for help. Once I got down, I immediately called my mom and had her come pick me up. We went straight to the hospital where they told me there was nothing they could do and to follow up with my regular doctor. I made an appointment with him for that Monday. At the end of my appointment on Monday my doctor told me he believed it was just a really bad pinched nerve and sent me for physical therapy.
Three months later I was still doing physical therapy and I still couldn't feel a thing. From the middle of my rib cage all the way to my toes there was no feeling at all. I couldn't walk without help. I had to sleep on our living room couch because I couldn't get up the stairs to my bedroom. Finally, after four long months my doctor decided to send me to a neurologist. The neurologist sent me for all kinds of tests. He almost immediately ruled out pinched nerves, so we moved on to other things.
I had blood tests, cat scans, MRIs, you name it. I was poked and prodded and shoved in machines more times than I cared to count. After a few weeks I went back to the neurologist to get the results of all my tests.
My neurologist told me that my MRIs showed lesions on my spine which he believed to be caused by MS and he wanted to do a spinal tap to confirm it for sure. I was absolutely terrified. 19 years old sitting in a doctors office with my mom hearing the doctor say the words "you have MS." I wanted to throw up.
In that moment my whole life flashed before my eyes. The dreams and visions I had for my future immediately went out the door. I thought my life was over. After it was confirmed that I did indeed have MS, my neurologist and I started discussing possible treatment plans. At the time I wasn't ready to start any medication. I was barely out of high school and wasn't ready to start a medication that I would probably be on for the rest of my life. He agreed that it was up to me and so I starting trying to handle my MS naturally.
Looking back at past doctors visits and medical things I was dealing with in the past, we realized I've had MS symptoms from the age of 13, but none of my doctors ever tested me for things like MS because I was "just too young." They always blamed it on anxiety and told me it was all in my head. So in reality, I've probably lived with this disease much longer than I actually knew.
I have to say, I have been pretty lucky. Here I am 11.5 years after my diagnosis and my MS hasn't progressed much. I've learned to manage this monster pretty well. I've learned to listen to my body and rest when it's telling me to rest. The hardest thing of all was learning to say no. The first few years I constantly pushed myself for fear of losing friends and others close to me because I was being "flaky." But once I realized that my health had to be my number one priority above all else and started making it a priority, everyone else in my life began to put my health first too.
These past 11.5 years haven't been easy, but I've got an amazing support system of family and friends that I would not have made it this far without. I am truly grateful for all of them every single day.
This April we will be doing our 11th Walk MS! It's crazy to think I have lived with this disease for this many years, but I honestly wouldn't change it for anything because having MS has made me appreciate life, love and the little things more than I think I ever would have if MS never became part of my life.
MS has taken a lot of things from me, but it will never take my happiness and I will never allow it to stop me from living my life to the fullest.
Follow Brittney’s journey on IG @brittneystorino
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