Warrior Wednesday 1/26/22
Meet Karolīna
When I was thinking about how to start this, I realized I have entered the 10th year since being diagnosed with MS. And what a journey it has been.
My first symptoms were quite minor. Or at least that’s what I told myself. At around the age of 15 weird things started going on in my body. Burning hands, burning legs, dizziness, pins and needles... When I experienced the first foot-drop, I was in 10th grade and figured I probably slept weird and had pinched a nerve. I went to my GP a couple of times, asking her to check if I’m okay. She said I was so I figured it’s some sort of normal.
Then one night I woke up from an excruciating pain in my head and left eye. That’s how my journey to being diagnosed with MS started. Almost 3 years after my first symptoms. I was 17 when I had my first MRI. My dad came with me to both the MRI, and my MS neurologist’s appointment. And, honestly, I think that’s why I felt like the announcement of the diagnosis first didn’t affect me at all. Because the doctors mainly just talked to my dad, assuring that his kid will be fine. That’s all I was told, too. That I’ll be fine. I’ll just have to be on medication, that’s all.
BOY WERE THEY WRONG! (insert me laughing right now)
My first medication was three-times-a-week injections. My college mini-fridge, full of syringes, that sort of stuff. The first three years were kind of okay. Yes, I eventually went down the rabbit-hole of self-pity and depression for a while. Lost friends, and bailed on my dreams. It was very scary, and still is sometimes. I am here, writing this, only because I had loved ones around me who didn’t let me give in to my illness.
Flash forward to 3 years with the fun interferon injections - they stopped working for me. I was about 22 years old and I had a relapse episode every month for the better part of a year. I was miserable. But my doctors’ hands were tied by the laws of my country, which didn’t let her put me on new medication unless I had 3 new symptoms in 6 months. When I finally got to the point where I was legally allowed to switch medications.. I had been paralyzed, fully bedridden, and by the end of it, done with fighting for my life every single day.
MS can be absolutely horrible and I didn’t want to see where else it could get me.
After finally changing my medication, I immediately went into remission, and was basically as good as new! I know it won’t be like that for everybody, and I know I am extremely lucky to be as perfectly healthy as one can be, considering the situation.
My previous doctor called me one of her ‘snowball girls’. I am one of her patients who has a giant, snowball-like lesion in the middle of her brain. On top of that, I like to tell people I am ‘Daughter of Thor’. Why, you ask? Because the other giant lesion is in my spine - one that looks like a large lightning bolt has struck right down my spinal cord!
And my dreams? Yes, I may not be allowed to join the military and fly a fighter jet.. But I ended up being a reporter and got to write about the same fighter jets that I would’ve loved piloting.
I came up with new dreams, and new goals. Because at the end of the day - having to adjust to your ‘new normal’ is really not the worst thing. I just needed to give it some time and learn to appreciate everything else that I am lucky enough to have. I don’t know what I have in store for the next 10 years, but I’m sure I am not going to give up ever again!
MS is a beast, but so am I!
Follow Karolīna’s journey on Instagram @imlinarivas
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