Posted on 11.26.2021

Subject line: The day Katie and I's life changed forever.

"Do you have any other questions?"

Kate and I blankly stare at each other and then back at the doctor. Neither of us resembles the people who walked into this same hospital a week ago.

It was my birthday, October 16th. It was a wonderful celebration with family; until the next day...

Kate had been having issues all week with her foot feeling numb and then the entire left side of her body. We had agreed to go in on Sunday (the 17th) if nothing improved.

So, the day after my birthday, we went to a walk-in. Within twenty minutes, we were on the way to the ER.

After four hours at the ER, Kate finally came down looking worn out and tired. Rather than jumping into inquiry mode, I remained in the space of uncertainty. She was quiet as we walked to the car.

Finally, after getting in the car, she mentions all the tests they did (e.g., MRIs, blood work, pregnancy test).

"And…?" I ask.

She looks away as she begins to tear up. Oh no, I think. I'm about to be a parent. That's not that bad, other than the fact I'm grossly underprepared to parent a kid.

But that wasn't it.

"They think I have MS."

"MS?"

"Multiple Sclerosis."

Before she finished that sentence, she began crying, and I moved to embrace her. The weight of this early diagnosis was crippling, but the heat of her body near mine gave us warmth.

Over the next few days, Kate went through more tests and eventually ended up in a neurologist’s office, where the opening question was asked. That's when he told us he was confident it was MS but needed to do a few more tests.

Kate and I both had researched MS in an attempt to grasp our new future. But, unfortunately, the research did not result in optimism, at least for me.