I have MS. It is a simple fact that has changed my life forever.

It all began when I was 11 and I lost my sight for the first time. I have to say there is nothing more disconcerting then sitting in math class and not being able to see. Of course my first thought was to go the nurse and get help. I was told to stop pretending and sent back to my class.

Years went by with fatigue, muscle spasms, the inability to think and still nobody paid attention to my symptoms. I was labeled a hypochondriac, lazy and a failure.

You would not believe the extent people will go to convenience a child that there is really nothing wrong with them. I missed a lot of school because of fatigue. It was not until I was sitting in a judge's chamber with a truant officer, one of my teachers, my dad and a judge that I realized that nobody believes me. The judge informed me that if I didn't start getting up and going to school, he would take me from my dad and put me in a group home for troubled teens. The teacher informed me that I was going to amount to nothing in my life if I did not stop making up these illness.

I was a straight A student, even with missing class and I didn't understand why nobody would listen. I actually graduated high school early and went to a two year college against my fathers advice. He believed that I should get married and have babies, I was too lazy to have a career. I graduated from college in a year with a degree in Legal Studies and I have to say that the look of pride on my fathers face filled me with more happiness than I had ever known. But still the symptoms remained. I convinced myself that I had to just starting fighting my way through them.

As an adult I started see a neurologist after losing my sight again in the office. The neurologist like everyone else in my life, told me there was nothing wrong with me. When I was 19 my grandmother passed away and I ended up in an ER, unable to tell you my name, where I lived or how old I was. I could not talk, I could not use my right arm and I lost my ability to walk. The stress of my grandmother passing had tipped me over the edge. The ER called the neurologist I had been seeing and they were informed he had run all the tests and that there was nothing wrong with me, I was faking it.

The ER doctor though did not accept that, he gave me an MRI and a spinal tap and talked to me. Then it happened, I received my diagnosis, I had MS. Finally, it has a name.

I received a letter from the neurologist that I had been seeing apologizing for disbelieving me and my father was crushed that he had ignored my symptoms for so long and had not forced someone to pay attention to me sooner. As for the teacher and the judge that threatened me and put me down, I sent them a letter a couple of years ago, with a picture of my office and a business card and told them the whole story about how I had succeeded in life in spite of the fact that I had a disability that nobody could see or feel but me.

I have a friend whos her 16 year old daughter is always sick and complaining about pain and fatigue. She has labeled her a hypochondriac. Last week, the school sent her to a neurologist because of a head injury she received in gym class. She is now being tested for MS, Lupus and other autoimmune diseases and of course my friend, like my father, feels awful for not believing her child. At least she is getting people to listen to her sooner than I did and I hope she gets a name for what she has been experiencing.

Learn more about this author, Adele Durr.
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