Newly diagnosed
Just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS)? MS Trust is here to help you with practical and relevant information rooted in real life. Let us answer your questions and listen to your concerns with empathy.
An MS diagnosis back in September turned out to be the 'push' Samantha Cooper needed to start her own dream business. "Like everybody with MS, I have no idea what my future with the condition looks like but I hope to keep a positive mindset and overcome it the best way that I can," Samantha tells us.
My name is Samantha Cooper, I’m 28 years old and I was diagnosed with MS in September 2019.
Pre-diagnosis I was your regular happy 28-year-old. I had been married for just over 2 years and had recently been employed as the Digital Marketing Manager of my beloved wedding venue which I was really enjoying.
In March 2019 I was packing for a trip to Lanzarote one evening when my vision went out of focus. The next morning my vision had returned to normal so we caught our flight as planned. When I woke up on the first morning of our trip I found that I couldn’t see anything to the left hand side of both eyes, leaving me with a blind spot in my vision.
I had also been experiencing migraines, so I thought it must have been a result of that. My vision didn’t return all week and so when I returned home I was seen by my optician and then an eye consultant at the hospital. Both concluded that there were no issues with my eyes and therefore the issue was coming from my brain.
I was rushed through to A&E with a suspected brain tumour or stroke and over the course of a few very scary days I had multiple CT and MRI scans which thankfully ruled out both. The relief was overwhelming and a feeling I will never forget.
The scans did however show two areas of inflammation on the back right side of my brain (the part which controls the vision in the left of both eyes) and it was then that MS was first mentioned as one of the possible causes.
I didn’t know a lot about MS and so initially I thought that meant I would be severely disabled at a young age. I was really nervous about the prospect but having read lots of information and other peoples experiences on the MS Trust website, I realised that it was a manageable condition and not the life sentence I had feared.
For the next few months, whilst I was undergoing further investigations, my vision was up and down, the migraines crippled me most days and I also experienced a couple of flair ups of fatigue. It was during this time that I was sadly made redundant from what I thought was my dream job.
I couldn’t see well enough to drive and I wasn’t in a position to apply for new jobs so I decided to do something I had been too afraid to do for years – start my own business! I now run Little Acorn Digital Marketing from home, helping small businesses grow their online presence and build their customer base and I love every minute of it.
I was really nervous about the prospect but having read lots of information and other peoples experiences on the MS Trust website, I realised that it was a manageable condition and not the life sentence I had feared.
The following month I was lucky enough to fall pregnant which is a blessing in so many ways. Not only are we excited to have our first child but pregnancy has also completely stabilised my MS symptoms. My vision is not 100% back to normal and I feel that it probably never will be but it is certainly very close and all other symptoms have pretty much vanished. I know that I might have a flair up after the birth, but for right now I am enjoying these months of bliss.
Many people express to me how sorry they are that I have been diagnosed with MS and I certainly get down about it from time to time, but when I reflect on everything as a whole I feel incredibly lucky.
I am so lucky that I didn’t have the brain tumour which I feared so badly. I am so lucky that my condition is manageable and I am so lucky that I had the push I needed to start my own business, which has provided me with a fulfilling and flexible career which will be ideal when my baby arrives.
Like everybody with MS, I have no idea what my future with the condition looks like but I hope to keep a positive mindset and overcome it the best way that I can.
