Jaye Watson, a veteran 11 Alive news reporter, considers herself a healthy person who takes care of herself. She is teased at work for eating "tree bark and dirt."
But her left leg had that dreaded "pins and needles" feel for a few weeks. Then it spread to her left hand. One morning, she felt general weakness and could barely type. A medical expert then gave her a bombshell early diagnosis: " You have a high chance of having MS."
Multiple schlerosis is, as WebMD describes it, "a long-lasting disease that can affect your brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves in your eyes. It can cause problems with vision, balance, muscle control, and other basic body functions."
As Watson also noted in her blog: "More than half of people with MS suffer cognitive issues. Half to three quarters are out of their jobs within a decade. And then there's the mobility issues. People use canes, walkers, wheelchairs. Not all, but many."
She was scared. Understandably so. She treasured her career at 11 Alive, where she has worked 15 years. She loved her life, her two kids, her husband of 10 years. She was racked with worry, with regret, with sadness.
"It had been exquisite, my life. More than I deserved," she wrote.
Last Monday, she had an MRI. The results came back.
“You’re clear,” the doctor told her. “Your brain and spine are clear. You don’t have MS.”
She had an inflamed spinal cord. That is hardly a walk in the park but is not MS. He said she needed to reduce stress. But as a friend told her, "She is stress."
I spoke with her after I read the piece.
"The reaction has been really overwhelming," Watson said. "I've gotten hundreds of emails and voicemails. I'm trying to respond to everybody. People have been so compassionate and encouraging sharing their own stories dodging bullets and getting bad diagnoses, about life with neuro-degenerative diseases."
She said she spent three days in a valley, wondering what life would be like with MS, how she would tell her bosses, how she would stay in the business or transition out. She felt gratitude and joy after the less severe diagnosi. It was a no brainer for her to write about the situation in her blog, which she has written for 18 months. "It would have taken longer for me to get to the point I could articulate what was happening if I had MS," she said. "Now I could stay lucky and keep having the life I'm having."
Watson said the spinal cord is self repairing but stress creates cortisol. Too much of that won't heal the spinal cord. "I think I manage my stress but I guess I don't," she said. "I eat well. I try to sleep as much as I can. I do yoga. But I set impossibly high standards on myself. Even if I jump through 27 hoops, I need to jump through four more."
Given how she is wired, Watson said she chose her crazy profession with its weird hours, tight deadlines and high adrenaline rushes. "I love the spontaneity," she said. "I can still do my job. I love what I do."
She is taking steroids to reduce inflammation. She is resting for now. She said it will take months for her spinal cord to fix itself. "I have some pain right now," she said. "I'm kind of hobbling on one foot by the end of the day."
"I have not figured it all out,' she added. "My biggest stress is trying not to be stressed. It's ironic!"
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