If caught early, it can be manageable.
Sure, she says, she was a bit clumsy, but never thought twice about it.
When she was diagnosed with MS, she thought it must be a mistake.
“It hit really fast.”
“I thought,Where do I go from here?
Am I going to be able to work again?
Am I going to be able to be a mother again?”
Before MS, she was physically activeshe had just recently run a 5k.
And her left eye felt like she was “looking through something gray and fuzzy all the time.”
I’m still in the process."
Her legs still get so stiff it feels like theyre locked at the joints.
Its worst in the morning; she gives herself an hour to stretch out and get ready.
Last year she had two full relapses that lasted a week or more.
If she’s more conscientious about triggers and overdoing it, she has more good days than bad.
She was initially diagnosed after experiencing constant headaches and deciding she probably needed glasses.
Determined to still go to college, Christina did just that.
But it was hard to be independent with a physically debilitating disease.
She wore a brace on her left leg, and stumbled a lot.
“My younger brother called me Stumbilina,” she says.
(Leave it to brothers, right?)
“I didnt like the way people looked at me.
It was just really hard to overcome it.”
She was also told that having children was probably off the table.
The couple are now parents to three rescue dogs.
“They were very fearful I was going to lose sight because I started losing color.”
In fact, any kind of sickness, even the common cold, hits her hard.
“I get sick for a week.
I cant walk, cant see, its all there, fever with it.”
During the school year, Christina has more bad days than good.
“Stress really triggers me,” she says.
“I always give a shot to keep stress out.”
Since starting summer vacation, she says, “I havent done a thing I wanted to do.
Ive just been sleeping like theres no tomorrow.
And her husband doesn’t hold it against hershe needs that time to recharge.
She’s allowed to teach for nine months, as long as she takes it easy for three.
Christina has been on the same treatment, too, now for over three years.
“It’s changed a lot,” she says.
“They would sometimes give me really bad flu-like symptoms.
She coached her girls' soccer team this past year, and has started jogging with her husband again.
“I plan to go to Mount Rainier and go skiing with my sister,” she says.
Even when she’s having a bad day or week, Christina always tries to stay positive.
Even if it’s just to Home Depot.”
“Its not going to go away; there’s no cure,” Raquel says.
“They’re getting really close to a cure.
Photo Credit: Collage by Valerie Fischel
