On to the Next Stop: The Exhausting Road to a Neurologist Appointment

If you’ve been following along with my journey to a diagnosis, you know the drill by now. Another week, another waiting room, and another doctor who feels like a complete stranger.

Luckily for me, at this stage, I was living in a small town. That came with a few silver linings, chief among them being that there wasn’t a dizzying list of low-class neurologists scattered across every single medical office building in town. Because of that, I was able to schedule an appointment fairly quickly.

In just a few short weeks, I was back at it, prepping for yet another medical evaluation. This was now my third visit to a doctor for these mysterious and cascading issues.

If you’re keeping score, let me put it into perspective: one simple 30-minute doctor's appointment practically steals a whole week away from my normal life. The mental prep, the physical toll, the recovery, it eats up days. And now? This exhausting cycle was happening every few weeks.

The Accidental Lifestyle Shift: Researching MS

Even though this period of my life was intensely stressful, the waiting game gave me plenty of time to think. I had a lot of quiet moments to realize what life with MS was turning out to be.

Wait, MS?

Yes. At this point in the timeline, nobody was whispering the word ALS yet. Up until then, every medical professional, every hunch, and every lingering thought pointed toward Multiple Sclerosis (MS). So, like anyone would do when facing a terrifying unknown, I hit the internet.

I started researching MS frantically, trying to figure out what I could possibly do to help myself. Out of that desperation, I began to eat healthier. I started actively avoiding foods that made me feel sluggish or bad, and I kept a mental (and sometimes physical) log of what foods impacted the strange symptoms I was suffering from.

Looking back, I was a lot like you probably are right now. Before all of this started, I didn't think twice about the ingredients in my food. I didn't care how it was prepared, what kind of pan it was cooked in, or what it was served or stored in. I wasn't on any special diet. Honestly, I was naturally fit and slender no matter what I ate, good metabolism had always had my back.

I tell you all of this now so you can fully understand later in my story just how drastically my life had to change, and when I truly began overhauling my entire lifestyle.

Meeting the Neurologist: Anxiety Through the Roof

Then, the day finally arrived. The appointment with yet another stranger who was going to poke, prod, and test my body.

My stress and anxiety were through the roof. I had zero idea what to expect. What were they going to do to me? I was already the kind of person who got uptight about something as simple as getting an X-ray or having my blood drawn. The thought of a neurological exam felt like walking the plank.

Trying to recall this exact appointment is honestly tough, most of it is just a complete blur. The sheer anticipation leading up to seeing a neurologist had left me entirely emotionally and physically depleted.

Let's look at the timeline for a second:

It had now been two and a half years since my very first symptom appeared.
It had been six months from my very first doctor’s appointment until this pivotal meeting with the neurologist.

By this point, I was emotionally exhausted. I just wanted answers. I assumed, naively perhaps, that my endless questions would finally be answered here, today, with this specialist. I thought this was the finish line.

An Eventless Appointment (With a Catch)

As it turned out, the appointment itself was remarkably event-less. No grand revelations, no sudden epiphanies, and certainly no definitive answers.

However, the stress and anxiety I suffered leading up to it took an extreme, undeniable toll on my condition. By the time I finally got home, I felt like I had just endured a four-day hike straight through a dense rainforest without a single wink of sleep.

Look, by this point, any event in my life was exhausting. But this? This was different. This wiped me out on a cellular level.

And what did I have to show for it? I left the office with no diagnosis, no immediate answers, and just one thing to look forward to: a scheduled appointment for an MRI in a few more weeks.

The waiting game continued. And little did I know, the real test was still waiting just around the corner.