Maureen M.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
By: Maureen M.

Survivor

I am now 77, and was misdiagnosed for almost 40 years as having MS. I was treated with MS drugs until the advent of MRI's, at which point I was told I had suffered one large stroke and several smaller ones. As a result of the misdiagnoses (as no one thought little kids could get a stroke in 1936 or so) I was scolded in school because I could not do P.E. like "normal" kids. I never learned to swim, and I had two children without getting the special care that a stroke victim would get when they were pregnant. 

After I got the stroke diagnosis, my doctors summarized that I had the stroke either at birth or very shortly afterwards. I have little feeling on my left side, and have always had balance problems, but until MRI's came along no one knew why.  My history should serve as a warning to parents to be sure that their child has not had a stroke before they are given incorrect diagnoses.

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