Casting off the past

The year was 1999 and I remember it as if it were yesterday. My attending physician, a neurologist, burst into my room and loudly proclaimed “I think you have MS. We’ll need to run some tests to confirm it.”

To be honest, I didn’t know much about MS. Quite frankly, I didn’t care. My focus was on my swollen leg which was a whale of a situation that had brought more than one doctor to their wits end.

The tests for MS were inconclusive at the time and my concentration remained on the treatment plan to try to save my infection riddled leg. It looked like something that belonged on an elephant. Not a 110 pound woman. And yes, it was painful.

It's hard to believe that after hundreds of days in the hospital, several dozen trips to the operating room, along with years of intravenous drugs and physical therapy my leg was in this kind of condition. It was devastating. But God gave me the strength to keep going.

"Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." II Corinthians 2:9 NLT

It had already been three years since this nightmare, which began with two blistered toes, had robbed me of the ability to walk and wear a pair of shoes. Despite being diagnosed and treated, misdiagnosed and mistreated, there seemed to be no end to this illness which wreaked havoc on me and my family. Yet our hope remained locked like a laser on the simple truth that God had a plan to use this situation for the good. And even more certainly, that He was using it to conform me into the image of Christ.
 
"That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son." Romans 8:28-29 The Message
 
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." James 1:4 The Message

I can't say that sixty five days of inpatient therapy always seemed like a sheer gift but it brought with it a wonderful discovery. There was an effective treatment--compression. It was very painful and time consuming but it worked. My leg gradually returned to normal size. One year and six surgeries later both feet were flat on the floor. With a little more time there was every reason to believe that I would be cured. I was excited and never gave MS another thought, at least not for a few years.

My recovery came to a screeching halt, however, when I tripped on the pavement and ruptured my Achilles’ tendon. My foot and leg swelled up with a vengeance. Infection quickly reared its ugly head, too. In and out of the hospitals became almost a way of life. Along with that came additional years of intravenous antibiotics which I administered at home during the “better times.”

PICC line in right arm, cast on left leg

The lymphatic treatments, which had been helpful before, no longer did the trick. It seemed the only way to control the problem was by keeping my leg in a cast. Thus a long leg cast became a part of my regular attire. It eventually allowed me to become infection free.

 But the journey was far from over. For the rest of the story click here.