Rochelle
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Rochelle’s first symptom occurred in 2013 when she got out her car and slipped on the snow. Though she laughed it off and carried on, a couple of days later, her whole right side was not functionable and started tingling. She thought she had had a stroke and spent two weeks in the hospital where she underwent numerous tests and scans. After receiving steroids, Rochelle’s symptoms disappeared, and she was released from the hospital. She focused on raising her daughters. Five years later, Rochelle lost control of the left side of her body, stumbled into the wall, and experienced difficulty writing. She was admitted to the hospital where she again underwent many tests but did not receive a diagnosis. Her symptom of walking at a slower pace stuck with her this time and she soon was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis by an MS specialist.
When Rochelle received her diagnosis, she didn’t want to think about MS. She worried about whether she was going to be able to function normally again. Rochelle first treatment was Copaxone, which required daily self-administered injections. However, she continued to experience symptoms and switched to Tysabri. She worried about serious side effects, but her doctor assured her that she would be closely monitored. She has not had a relapse since starting on Tysabri.
After her diagnosis, Rochelle sat down with her daughters and explained to them that MS has to do with her nerves and assured them that everything was going to be fine. At first, Rochelle tried to minimize her activity because she worried that moving too much would exacerbate her symptoms. It was stressful for her to be unable to do things with her youngest daughter. Now that Tysabri has been alleviating Rochelle’s symptoms, her daughters feel better about Rochelle’s MS. Rochelle’s father has been very supportive of her and has accompanied her to medical appointments to make sure everything was OK.
Over the course of her MS, Rochelle experienced walking disturbances, affected bowels, and impaired vision. Rochelle has not had any new lesions on her brain in a year. While she can walk at a normal pace, Rochelle notes that she sometimes walks over to the side a little bit, into the grass. Rochelle completed an MS awareness walk with the support of her family and friends. The MS walk allowed her to see a lot of people who had MS and the varying degrees to which MS can affect mobility. Rochelle worries about how long she will live but she prays every day to “just make it through until God says so.” Rochelle has learned to manage her stress by simply responding with “OK.” She has gotten through with the support of her faith, her children, and her family who have never given up on her.
Clinical Trials Experience:
Rochelle had a good experience participating in a clinical study that aimed to assess the benefits of taking vitamins along with her treatment medication. Rochelle was asked to take one vitamin every day and go to a medical facility for blood work roughly every three months for a year. The researchers also performed some tests on Rochelle, such as sticking her with a safety pin to see if she felt it and assessing her walking and bodily movement. The clinical trial also gave Rochelle the opportunity to ask her doctor, who also ran the study, any questions that she had.
Rochelle’s primary motivation for participating in the study was to learn some more about multiple sclerosis, specifically what she can do, what she cannot do, and what she needs to do. While Rochelle never received information back regarding her individual health response to taking the vitamins, she did get individual test results back. At the end of the study, Rochelle went in to do blood work, an MRI, and a physical where she was asked to walk, jump, and do different obstacles on which she was graded. Rochelle feels that the study had a nice, problem-free ending which she is glad and thankful about. She hopes that her participation in this study benefits somebody. Rochelle feels like the vitamins were beneficial for her and plans on continuing to take the vitamins for the foreseeable future.