Courtney’s Courage - Learning to Live with MS
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This is the story of my very dear friend, CourtneyPrall - an amazing mother, daughter, sister, and friend who has recently received the devastating diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis at just 33 years old.
A Debilitating Disease
Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, is a progressive, unpredictable, incurable disease in which your immune system attacks your own central nervous system - the brain and spinal cord.
MS is progressive in that it is a disease characterized by nearly continuous worsening of symptoms.
One of the most difficult aspects about living with MS is its unpredictable nature. The course of the disease is unknown, making it crippling in more ways than one. Without warning, it steals energy, movement, and cognitive ability.
There is no cure and the average lifespan of someone suffering from the disease is 5-10 years less than the average person.
The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from person to person and even sometimes within the same individual. However, some of the most common symptoms can include: extreme fatigue, numbness and tingling, bowel and bladder issues, vision problems and blindness, muscle spasticity and pain, and even paralysis.
The Beginning of Health Issues
In June of 2018, Courtney woke up one morning feeling extremely nauseous and dizzy followed by episodes of vomiting. Her symptoms did not improve and there was no reasonable cause for them so she ended up going to Urgent Care.
The doctor who saw her at Urgent Care thought that she might be experiencing vertigo so Courtney was referred to an otolaryngologist (or ear, nose, and throat doctor).
After meeting with with the otolaryngologist, Courtney was referred to a neurologist because he thought that she might be having migraines, not vertigo.
As standard procedure for meeting with a neurologist, an MRI was ordered. Which brings us up to December 2018. At this point, Courtney had been dealing with unexplained symptoms, numerous doctor’s appointments, and missing work due to her worsening condition for six long months. The MRI revealed that Courtney had multiple white lesions on her brain and upper spinal cord. She was absolutely devastated but held out hope because there was still more testing to be done.
Nine vials of blood were drawn and Courtney was tested for a multitude of other conditions. The only issue her labwork revealed was a slight Vitamin D deficiency. This is when the neurologist informed her that a spinal tap would be necessary to determine if it was MS. Even after the spinal tap, Courtney was told if the results came back positive, she definitely had MS, and if they came back negative, there was still up to a 20% chance that she actually did have the disease. Four vials of spinal fluid were drawn and Courtney suffered with a new, debilitating symptom, a severe spinal headache that sometimes occurs after a spinal tap due to CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) leakage. This meant more missed work.
The Diagnosis
After agonizing over the results of the spinal tap for a week, Courtney was informed that the results came back negative. However, her joy was short-lived. The neurologist still believed that she had the disease based off of all of her symptoms as well as her testing negative for everything else they checked. She was referred to a specialist.
The specialist reviewed the lesions covering Courtney’s brain and spinal cord, and on January 22, 2019, Courtney was told she had Multiple Sclerosis.
Learning to Live After the Diagnosis
Courtney is a single mother of a wonderful, intelligent five year old boy. She is his sole parent and his best friend in the whole world.
Due to the worsening of her symptoms - chronic back pain, increased numbness and tingling, frequent and severe infections, nausea, dizziness, ringing of the ears, exacerbation of symptoms with weather changes, extreme fatigue, and anxiety and depression related to the diagnosis itself, she had to miss work due to illness or medical appointments.
She has not applied for any type of disability yet, but even once she does, it may be several months or even longer before she is approved for any type of assistance. This is why I have created this Go Fund Me Page. As a way to help her and her young son financially until she can get some other type of assistance. She is behind on several bills and is not sure how much work she may have to miss in the future due to her condition.
The Expenses
Courtney has fallen behind on her bills due to missing work for health-related issues.
Her car is not very reliable and frequently needs various types of work on it to keep it running to get to work, medical appointments, or to take her son to school.
Due to the uncertainty of the disease, she is not sure how many more days of work she may have to miss due to the increase in her MS symptoms and she has already used almost all her paid time off for the year and the year has just begun. Her current expenses just to live - rent, groceries, utilities, car expenses, caring for her son - are approximately around $900 per month.
I am not not sure how much financial assistance she will need; all I know is that she is definitely going to need some help so anything that you can give will be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to give, please share this page, and send good vibes or prayers (whatever your preference), they are greatly needed at this time too.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the story of a truly amazing person and my very dear friend, Courtney Prall. Thank you in advance for helping in any way that you are able to!
A Debilitating Disease
Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, is a progressive, unpredictable, incurable disease in which your immune system attacks your own central nervous system - the brain and spinal cord.
MS is progressive in that it is a disease characterized by nearly continuous worsening of symptoms.
One of the most difficult aspects about living with MS is its unpredictable nature. The course of the disease is unknown, making it crippling in more ways than one. Without warning, it steals energy, movement, and cognitive ability.
There is no cure and the average lifespan of someone suffering from the disease is 5-10 years less than the average person.
The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from person to person and even sometimes within the same individual. However, some of the most common symptoms can include: extreme fatigue, numbness and tingling, bowel and bladder issues, vision problems and blindness, muscle spasticity and pain, and even paralysis.
The Beginning of Health Issues
In June of 2018, Courtney woke up one morning feeling extremely nauseous and dizzy followed by episodes of vomiting. Her symptoms did not improve and there was no reasonable cause for them so she ended up going to Urgent Care.
The doctor who saw her at Urgent Care thought that she might be experiencing vertigo so Courtney was referred to an otolaryngologist (or ear, nose, and throat doctor).
After meeting with with the otolaryngologist, Courtney was referred to a neurologist because he thought that she might be having migraines, not vertigo.
As standard procedure for meeting with a neurologist, an MRI was ordered. Which brings us up to December 2018. At this point, Courtney had been dealing with unexplained symptoms, numerous doctor’s appointments, and missing work due to her worsening condition for six long months. The MRI revealed that Courtney had multiple white lesions on her brain and upper spinal cord. She was absolutely devastated but held out hope because there was still more testing to be done.
Nine vials of blood were drawn and Courtney was tested for a multitude of other conditions. The only issue her labwork revealed was a slight Vitamin D deficiency. This is when the neurologist informed her that a spinal tap would be necessary to determine if it was MS. Even after the spinal tap, Courtney was told if the results came back positive, she definitely had MS, and if they came back negative, there was still up to a 20% chance that she actually did have the disease. Four vials of spinal fluid were drawn and Courtney suffered with a new, debilitating symptom, a severe spinal headache that sometimes occurs after a spinal tap due to CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) leakage. This meant more missed work.
The Diagnosis
After agonizing over the results of the spinal tap for a week, Courtney was informed that the results came back negative. However, her joy was short-lived. The neurologist still believed that she had the disease based off of all of her symptoms as well as her testing negative for everything else they checked. She was referred to a specialist.
The specialist reviewed the lesions covering Courtney’s brain and spinal cord, and on January 22, 2019, Courtney was told she had Multiple Sclerosis.
Learning to Live After the Diagnosis
Courtney is a single mother of a wonderful, intelligent five year old boy. She is his sole parent and his best friend in the whole world.
Due to the worsening of her symptoms - chronic back pain, increased numbness and tingling, frequent and severe infections, nausea, dizziness, ringing of the ears, exacerbation of symptoms with weather changes, extreme fatigue, and anxiety and depression related to the diagnosis itself, she had to miss work due to illness or medical appointments.
She has not applied for any type of disability yet, but even once she does, it may be several months or even longer before she is approved for any type of assistance. This is why I have created this Go Fund Me Page. As a way to help her and her young son financially until she can get some other type of assistance. She is behind on several bills and is not sure how much work she may have to miss in the future due to her condition.
The Expenses
Courtney has fallen behind on her bills due to missing work for health-related issues.
Her car is not very reliable and frequently needs various types of work on it to keep it running to get to work, medical appointments, or to take her son to school.
Due to the uncertainty of the disease, she is not sure how many more days of work she may have to miss due to the increase in her MS symptoms and she has already used almost all her paid time off for the year and the year has just begun. Her current expenses just to live - rent, groceries, utilities, car expenses, caring for her son - are approximately around $900 per month.
I am not not sure how much financial assistance she will need; all I know is that she is definitely going to need some help so anything that you can give will be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to give, please share this page, and send good vibes or prayers (whatever your preference), they are greatly needed at this time too.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the story of a truly amazing person and my very dear friend, Courtney Prall. Thank you in advance for helping in any way that you are able to!
Organizer and beneficiary
Kristin Cady
Organizer
Meadville, PA
Courtney Prall
Beneficiary