K (she/her)
Diagnosed with MS at age 20
"I felt isolated and confused. Not being able to understand what I was looking at and not having the words to say what was happening was hard."
Listen to K's Story:
Listen to K's Story:
Read K's Story:
I was in the 2nd year of my undergrad, studying neuroscience and computer science. I struggled with lack of coordination between the left and right side of my body. I also had vision issues like pain, blurriness, difficulty focusing on things, and even visual processing issues. I felt isolated and confused. Not being able to understand what I was looking at and not having the words to say what was happening was hard. I was in a lot of pain triggered by motion or light in my eyes, so I wore sunglasses even inside and at night for 2 weeks, and really struggled in lectures and on assignments.
It wasn’t the most supportive environment, and I was crumbling under the pressure to just survive through it and get things over with. It began in September and symptoms came and went over the winter. My peers made fun of me for wearing sunglasses and for being slow at thinking, but I was in too much pain and much too overwhelmed to care.
The only person I could talk to was my partner, who was very supportive and even helped me type up all of my assignments when I couldn’t coordinate my hands to type. My friends at school didn’t understand. They found it weird that I was falling behind and wearing sunglasses, and my work supervisor was frustrated that I was taking so long to do such simple tasks. My family didn’t really know what to do, so did nothing. My doctor told me that I was just stressed and after a couple of appointments told me to not come back unless I have a real problem.
Then I was diagnosed with MS.
It’s important to be supportive of your peers’ unconventional and creative timelines or ways of doing things. If you’re respectful and supportive, you might get the chance to grow with them too. There are so many MS-related challenges that can be helped with creative management strategies. I think that it would not only help people with MS, but also anyone who the system isn’t set up to support optimal growth.
It wasn’t the most supportive environment, and I was crumbling under the pressure to just survive through it and get things over with. It began in September and symptoms came and went over the winter. My peers made fun of me for wearing sunglasses and for being slow at thinking, but I was in too much pain and much too overwhelmed to care.
The only person I could talk to was my partner, who was very supportive and even helped me type up all of my assignments when I couldn’t coordinate my hands to type. My friends at school didn’t understand. They found it weird that I was falling behind and wearing sunglasses, and my work supervisor was frustrated that I was taking so long to do such simple tasks. My family didn’t really know what to do, so did nothing. My doctor told me that I was just stressed and after a couple of appointments told me to not come back unless I have a real problem.
Then I was diagnosed with MS.
It’s important to be supportive of your peers’ unconventional and creative timelines or ways of doing things. If you’re respectful and supportive, you might get the chance to grow with them too. There are so many MS-related challenges that can be helped with creative management strategies. I think that it would not only help people with MS, but also anyone who the system isn’t set up to support optimal growth.
