Listen to your body

McKenna’s world was turned upside down when she woke up to complete vision loss in her right eye. After a series of hospital tests, McKenna was diagnosed with MS. At 29 years old, she faced the daunting reality of life with a chronic illness. Find out how McKenna is navigating her recent MS diagnosis and her reflections so far.  

‘Waking up blind in one eye and not knowing what happened is the scariest thing I’ve ever been through. 

It all started back in the middle of October. I woke up on a Monday to some blurry vision. Immediately, I called my eye doctor went in to get seen and he thought it was just irritation from me being around a bonfire that weekend. Fast-forward a few days to that Thursday, I was supposed to be on a plane to California to see my family, but clearly God had other plans. I woke up with zero vision in my right eye and a pain behind the eye that felt like it was about to pop out. Things went through my mind about what could be causing this. I finally got to my local hospital, where I ended up spending two days.  

After multiple MRIs, they figured out what was going on. I remember waiting four hours before I saw my doctor walking into my room. He looked at me and he said, “McKenna we found something… we believe you’re in the early stages of multiple sclerosis.”  

I remember feeling numbness throughout my entire body. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that, I, McKenna would have multiple sclerosis… It’s not easy hearing that you’re going to have a chronic lifelong disease that has no cure. I know I’ll have good days and bad days and when the bad days happen, I pray they aren’t bad. I like to think there will be one day that I will not cry when I tell the story. 

I’m only eight months into knowing the diagnosis and it’s not easy. It’s not easy giving yourself a shot three times a week for medication. It’s not easy going to bed knowing that you have no idea how you will feel when you wake up. It’s not easy, knowing that when people look at you, they see you as completely different than who you used to be. Multiple sclerosis has changed my life right now, I don’t know if it’s for better or worse. I try to put on a very confident and very optimistic front about all this, but deep down I’m not. It’s been eight months and I still do not have my sight back. My neuro-Ophthalmologist does not think that it will come back, because it was a very severe case of optic neuritis. I’m 29 years old. I’m just starting my life and now every plan I had has gone out the window for the moment.  

Looking back, I’ve had some symptoms of this disease for the past five years, but I’ve ignored them. I thought it was because I had pinched nerves when my arm and leg went numb for days. I remember brushing my hair and feeling my skin on my head tingle for days. I just ignored those symptoms Because I’ve always taught myself no matter how you’re feeling you just tough it out. Listen to your body no matter how small it may seem!’ 

Our thanks to McKenna for sharing her MS diagnosis story on the 2024 World MS Day map. If you have an MS diagnosis story to share you can add your experience to the World MS Day map.