Marquita

After giving birth to her first daughter in 2000, Marquita began experiencing sensations that ranged from vibrations in her tailbone to leg numbness. Marquita was concerned by the symptoms, especially as a new mother, but she did not have insurance and hated going to doctors at the time, so she did not pursue a diagnosis or treatment. For the next two years, Marquita experienced intermittent symptoms such as hand paralysis. She recognized that she needed to see a doctor but did not seek care. When she did see two doctors at different hospitals, one dismissed what she was saying while the other ran a CAT scan that did not reveal anything. Finally, after living with her worsening symptoms for some time, Marquita went to the primary physician she saw as a child and told the nurse practitioner what she was experiencing. After a series of MRI tests, the nurse practitioner diagnosed Marquita with Multiple sclerosis (MS).

For Marquita, the journey to diagnosis was incredibly lengthy and lonely. In addition to a lack of understanding from others when she described her symptoms, Marquita, a self-described avid “Googler,” also had to spend a lot of time trying to figure things out all on her own. After further confirmatory testing, Marquita started on the medication Copaxone. After an anaphylactic reaction to the medication, Marquita switched to Rebif, an auto injection medication. Marquita continued to experience MS-related symptoms such as dizziness and problems with her eyes, all while “trying to live a normal life,” coping with her illness and taking care of her daughters. Excruciating leg pain and entire right-side paralysis led to Marquita’s admission to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in her right leg and Pulmonary embolism (PE) in both lungs. After her relapse, Marquita began seeing a doctor who put her on Tysabri which she has continued to take for the past eleven years except for when she was pregnant.

Marquita lost her hearing entirely in her right ear and partially in her left ear. While her hearing came back, she has difficulty locating the sources of sound when she closes her eyes. During both pregnancies, Marquita experienced MS flare-ups in which she lost hearing in her right ear again and experienced vertigo. Marquita went through a period of depression thinking about “having to deal with the financial aspect of not being able to work and of having children.”  Marquita has a special relationship with her oldest daughter. Through all the pain and everything she has been through with MS, Marquita’s eldest has “always been there just trying her best to help” her out and make sure that Marquita is OK. Marquita says that her daughter “truly, truly understands and gets the whole MS thing.”

Since having her last daughter, Marquita’s MS has stabilized. She consistently takes her medication and sees her MS doctor regularly. Now, Marquita alternates between seeing her MS doctor and a nurse practitioner every six months and receives an MRI at least once a year to monitor her MS. Marquita has lingering numbness in a portion of her face. She also experiences fatigue, dry eye, leg numbness, slight imbalance, occasional stutters when speaking, and limited mobility in her hands. Her hand symptoms in particular have impeded her ability to work as a dental assistant, despite receiving her certification. Marquita describes her MS as a “deep-rooted kind of pain” that she feels in her nerves. Marquita has had four hip surgeries which she believes is the result of the steroids she has taken over the years for her MS flare-ups.