What I would like someone who just got diagnosed to know…

When Laura was diagnosed with MS she felt like the life she wanted were out of reach. It took time to find her feet and really understand what MS was. Read Laura’s diagnosis story and find out what she would tell someone who just got diagnosed with MS.

“Hi, my name is Laura. I’m 24 years old and I was diagnosed with MS at 19. I was born in Munich, Germany, and I have an Italian background. I wanted to share my diagnosis story with you because it was a story full of ups and downs.

I got my first symptoms at the age of 16 when I was not able to properly feel my fingertips. At the time I thought it was just all due stress. The doctors thought so too. My next attack was when I was 19 at university. I was not able to see, like, my left eye was completely blacked out. It was my first semester and it was super stressful.

I went to my doctor and she immediately thought that it was something neurological. I got a MRI picture of my brain right away. At the hospital they told me that they thought it was MS and they made sure with further tests.

After checking my inflammation markers in my blood, they also checked a sample of liquid in my brain. They wanted to make sure I really had MS – I did. After confirming the diagnosis the doctors immediately proposed that I start treatment. I felt very, very overwhelmed. Especially when I started looking up MS on the Internet.

I had just started university and I thought I had everything ahead of me, right? It felt like a major drawback. I did not know if it would be possible to reach all the goals I had just figured out. In the end, it took me almost three years to understand what I had.

I got into an MS group connected to the German MS Society and that was super helpful for me. At first, I remember going to those meetings feeling super afraid and nervous. In the end, everyone was super nice and open. It felt very good to be understood. What I found to be very helpful was writing things down. I even decided to launch an MS campaign with that MS Society on social media.

I had thought okay my life is over, I have to rethink it all again. But then I realised there are so many factors in life, right? Not everything is bound up by my diagnosis.

I realised I was not alone and not some strange case. There are a lot of people who have the same diagnosis who go about living their lives. They find new solutions to reach their goals.

This is what I would like someone who just got diagnosed to know.

I know it’s hard, I know it’s shocking at first. I’m not saying it’s easy but it’s also not the end. Not everything is bound to that one diagnosis. It happened and you can find a different way to make it work.”

Thank you Laura and the Deutsche Multiple Sklerose Gesellschaft in Germany.

One of the My MS Diagnosis campaign angles is ‘building informed, caring communities and systems that support people diagnosed with MS. If you want to celebrate your MS support group or share advice to someone newly diagnosed, you can share a diagnosis story on the World MS Day map.