Here's to a New Chapter...

747 days ago I was sitting in the same hospital with my parents, not sure if I had a choice to cry, laugh, or just sit there in disbelief. As the words came out of his mouth, my suspicions were confirmed, "You, without a shadow of a doubt have Multiple Sclerosis."

Looking at him with his funny glasses, after all these silly tests and questions he had asked me for what felt like the dozen-th time I felt a sense of peace. A sense of clarity washed over me. No more weird unexplained symptoms. I had the answer. I had multiple sclerosis.

Without a doubt.

I don't remember every moment of that day, but I remember most of the time after I walked into the hospital. I remember trying to figure out where the MS clinic was and navigating a strange hospital. I remember sitting in the waiting room watching the many different people walk in and out of the hallway, some with their canes because MS had affected their eyes to the point where they couldn't see. Or their loved ones wheeled them down the hallway because MS had affected their ability to walk.

At that point I still felt like I didn't have a hope to live a what I would call a "normal life".

But then the doctor came back into the room and to tell me there was hope. His face lit up as he said, "This drug is going to knock the socks off MS."

As he handed me a stack of papers, he tole me and my parents we should read through them, and if I said yes to being a part of his clinical trial, he would put me to the top of his list and I would start by the end of the month.

I remember leaving that room and the nurse asked, "So, what did he say?" I replied naively, "He said he would put me to the top of the wait list and I would start the trial by the end of the month."
She looked at me in shock and said, "Okay."

At that point I didn't know that the wait list was at least a year and even then, it was unlikely to get to be apart of the study.

What else I didn't know was how my life would change in two years...

I didn't know how much MS would affect my life.
I didn't know how hard it would be to live with MS. 

I didn't know how much love and support I would receive from my friends and family.
I didn't know how much I would learn and grow.
I didn't know that in two years I would say, "You know, I wouldn't  give back what I've learned, how much I've grown, or the challenges I've faced for the 'normal life' that I thought I'd lost"

Today it's back to the UbC hospital for my first "knock the socks" off MS drug infusion. It's still going to be a while before I feel the effects of the drug and will potentially start to feel "normal" ...or at least what I remember to be 'normal'.

I am excited. But also prepared that there is a slim chance it won't do anything for me at all. I'm ok with that too, and ready to take on this next stage of life.

So thanks guys for keeping me in your prayers, thoughts and lives.

I will continue to keep you updated.

(Stay tuned for Pt. 2 in two weeks when I come back down for my second half of my first dose!)

--Kate