Today is my diagnosiversay. Yes, this is a word I made up. It’s the anniversary of the day I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; March 15, 2016. Two years ago today. Some people chose to ignore the date they were diagnosed, quietly sweeping it under the rug as if it were any other day. I choose to embrace my diagnosiversary as a day that I reflect on all the things I’ve accomplished and how far I’ve come in the past year.
This year I gave MS a run for its money! I put my MS through hell and back again. I spent six months off my disease modifying medication, put my body through fertility treatments, and then finally began the HSCT treatment process which culminated in my receiving a stem cell transplant about a month ago. My stem cell birthday was February 19, 2018. (Much more on all that later.) It’s been a VERY busy year!
So what did this past year with MS teach me? A lot!
I learned to be even stronger than I ever thought possible.
I learned that a lot of times things have to get worse before they can get better.
I learned that getting sick was not my fault; nothing I did or didn’t do caused this.
I learned to live life one day at a time; sometimes one hour at a time.
I learned to let go of things that I can not control.
I learned that it’s ok to ask for and need help.
I learned that you can’t help others unless you are well yourself.
I learned that there is an incredible lack of awareness for both multiple sclerosis and HSCT.
I learned that the only way to spread awareness is to educate people.
I learned that the only way to educate people is to speak up.
I learned the only way to be comfortable speaking up, is to start sharing my story!
This past year I was blessed in many ways; receiving a life changing medical treatment, participating in a life changing support group, and making life changing business moves too! I am officially 2 years diagnosed with MS, Day +24 post HSCT, and feeling very hopeful about what this next year will bring. As the Welcome Page to this blog explains in further detail, I had initially planned on launching this blog on my diagnosiversary last year. I thought I was ready…but I wasn’t. Putting my person health out there to the world is NOT an easy thing to do; but if there is one person out there who can be helped by reading this my mission has been accomplished. If there is one person out there who learns something from reading my story my mission has been accomplished. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I find writing very therapeutic so I’m helping myself too!
Stay tuned to find out what happened between the initial diagnosis and my diagnosiversaries!
