A young woman from Colorado claims to have cured her Multiple Sclerosis and has been symptom free for over eight years. Kristen was a fit, young woman, competing in triathletes, when at the age of 27 she received the devastating news that she had Multiple Sclerosis. Naturally, she suffered bouts of depression and self pity. However, she was motivated to do something about it after the birth of her baby.
Read her inspiring story.
Kristen in yoga training almost seven years after she cured
herself of Multiple Sclerosis
In 1998 Kristen was 27 years old. She was a triathlete, a mountain biker, a skier and a surgical scrub tech. She was visiting her parents when an emergency trip to the hospital ended with a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. For over five years she attempted to cope with the intermittent and debilitating symptoms (exacerbations) of this disease — then she got pregnant. With a new baby on the way Kristen was determined her MS would no longer be a part of her life. She has now been cured of MS for 8 years.
When you have the whole world telling you there is no cure for Multiple Sclerosis what made you think you could cure it?
I don’t know if I thought I could cure it. I thought, ‘This is a big intrusion on my life and I am not willing to have it.’
When you had Multiple Sclerosis what were some of the most severe exacerbations?
My worst outcome of an exacerbation was losing sight in my left eye. There were two other times I was unable to walk. There was another exacerbation where I was completely paralyzed on the left side. It is hard to pick which was the worst.
What does Multiple Sclerosis do to your body?
Think of your nerves as an electrical cable. If you dropped acid on that cable, it will burn a hole in it. This is what MS does to your nerves. Then it covers those nerves with a plaque so the nerves can no longer fire from point A to point B or they fire intermittently. There are two kinds of Multiple Sclerosis. There is Remitting Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis which is what I had and then there is Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Remitting Relapsing MS means you go for times without any flare ups, which are also called exacerbations. Progressive MS means you are on a progressive downward spiral to a wheelchair.
How do you know for sure you are cured?
I don’t take any medications for MS. I had eight lesions to start with and have two now that showed up on the last scan about five years ago, but they are smaller. I have been symptom free for 8 years. I don’t even want to say symptom free because my doctor is like, ‘You are fine. Go away.’
How did you react to being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis?
When the doctor told me that I had MS he also told me that I was going to have to be in the hospital for a little bit. I wanted to know when I could go skiing. He told me that he did not think that I understood what he was telling me. I told him that I work in medicine and that I understood. I just wanted to when I could go back skiing. He told me he didn’t know if I could go back skiing and I said, ‘That is not good enough.’
While I was in the hospital room I would do pushups at the end of the bed. They were not happy with me for climbing over the bed rails to do them. I would call Physical Therapy and ask them to bring sandbags so I could do weights. I would do stretches on the window sill. This was not going to define me. It just wasn’t. I was like, ‘Ok I have been dealt this card, but I am not ready to fold just yet.’ All through the years of dealing with Multiple Sclerosis I had friends say, ‘You are such an inspiration.’ I would say, ‘What is the alternative? Give up and sit on the couch the rest of my life.’
Please continue reading the rest of Kristen’s story here
Source: thedeliciousday.com
