Must Reads for Anyone Touched By MS

often incontinent, and I could barely make it through the day because I was constantly exhausted. At the age of twenty-two I felt like I was eighty-two, and I was seriously worried that I would never feel better.

Ironically, at the time I became ill, I was working as a health and fitness instructor at a medical center on the Gold Coast of Florida. I loved my job, which included evaluating patients, developing exercise prescriptions to help them regain mobility and teaching fitness classes. Many of my clients had serious health conditions like arthritis, heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and obesity, and I felt truly rewarded by my role in helping them back to health.

Although I worked out regularly, I didn't pay much attention to what I put in my mouth. I was blessed with a fast metabolism, and I happily took advantage of it: My all-time favorite food was ice cream. I pretty much ate what I wanted, then hit the gym. I looked fit and healthy, but that was far from the truth.

I suddenly began suffering from bladder infections -- as many as three a month. I constantly felt the urge to run to the bathroom, and I literally planned my days around access to a toilet.

I spent an entire summer visiting physician after physician, yet couldn't obtain an accurate diagnosis. One doctor told me I was a "nervous-natured" girl, and another told me to sit in a hot bath four to six times a day to relax, and another insisted that using the bathroom 20 times a day was normal!

Things got progressively worse. My right leg got numb, and I lost considerable strength in my right hip muscle, making it difficult for me to lift my leg. Teaching exercise class was nearly impossible, and I was becoming more depressed with each passing day.

~ The Diagnosis ~

On night, thinking that another bladder infection was beginning, I followed doctor's instructions and drank nearly four cups of cranberry juice and water. Thirty minutes into The Horse Whisperer, I thought my bladder was going to explode. I ran to the ladies' room, but couldn't go. I wound up in the emergency room, and I left the hospital wearing a catheter. While I knew something was terribly wrong, I was terrified to imagine what it was.

Still wearing the catheter, I traveled with my parents to the University of Miami to obtain a diagnosis. After extensive testing

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