34 years after diagnosis

Kostas from Greece was diagnosied with MS as a university student in 1992. At a time when there were no available treatments. Over the coming decades, he continued his studies, built a career, and lived life on his own terms. Today, he shares his story to encourage others newly diagnosed with MS, reminding them that life does not stop after diagnosis.

You are a first-year university student in Thessaloniki, 1991. You are living the most beautiful period of your life, full of dreams, independence, and discoveries. And suddenly, an unexplained numbness in your neck. “It must be from the cold,” you think. But the numbness spreads. To your arm. To your leg. And it doesn’t stop.

And yet, you continue. Until your body says “enough.” Fatigue. Dizziness. Vomiting. Time for a doctor. Time for the hospital. At the hospital on duty, alone, counting your money for a taxi, but first making a phone call for your little niece’s first birthday. Life, even there, continues to flow.

You enter the hospital, admitted without return, without even realizing that you will stay. Within a few hours, the marathon of tests begins. Blood work, CT scan, MRI, lumbar puncture. Your parents arrive in panic. Your friends flood the room. The cassette player plays “Didymoteicho Blues” seven times in two hours. And you are there, more exhausted than ever.

One morning, however, something like a miracle comes. A cortisone injection. And the body awakens. Strength again, appetite again. Even though they cut your salt, even though they cut off the world as you knew it. For a few moments, you felt like yourself again.

And then came the diagnosis. Demyelination. Possible Multiple Sclerosis. And then certainty.

And now? What do we do?

In 1992, there was no treatment. The doctor said, “We can’t do anything.” Your parents said, “Come back home.” But you said, “No. I will live. I will study. I want life, not prison.” And you were right.

And you lived. And you studied. And you worked. And you loved. And you grew. And you made it here.

Every year you write the same post. Why? To remind yourself and all of us that Multiple Sclerosis did not steal your life. And it will not. Because life is something you claim. Every single day.

34 years after the diagnosis. 34 candles. Not like birthday candles — these are stronger, brighter. Because on each flame it is written: “I am still here. I live. And I continue.”

To those who were recently diagnosed, to those who are afraid, to those who feel weak — claim your life. There are scientists, support groups, the Greek MS Society community who care. You are not alone.

As the Greek MS Society says:“We are close to you. We can help you.”

And next year, with even more strength.

Because life does not stop. And neither do we.

Our thanks to Kosatas and the Greek MS Society for this story. If you have an MS diagnosis story to share you can add your experience to the World MS Day map.