Steve Vaughan is an athlete, motivational speaker, husband, and father and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patient. He has committed his life to being a positive role model for fellow MS patients and uses his physical gifts to spread his positive message. Below is his account on his diagnosis and how he overcomes his disease with a day-to-day perspective.
In January of 2002 at the age of 48, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In November of 2001, I had my first symptom. I was packing for a trip to Moab, and was kneeling in the back of the pickup truck, when I felt something wet on my pant leg. I thought I was kneeling in a puddle of water. I got up, and found my pants were dry. I didn’t think anything of it. Later that weekend, I hopped on a friend’s new mountain bike to take it for a spin. I rode a short distance and had to stop because it felt like my leg had fallen asleep. I couldn’t dismount the bike and needed help off. I continued to have electrical burning in my legs over the next several weeks, so I went to see a doctor. That doctor tossed out the possibility of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and referred me to a neurologist. I had already self diagnosed myself with a pinched nerve in my neck. I had a MRI and my neurologist concurred with the MS diagnosis that was January 2, 2002.
I’ve learned a lot about MS since that day. I have made many life adjustments to deal with MS. Probably the worse aspect of having MS is never knowing what the next day, month or year will bring. MS is an incurable and completely unpredictable disease.
After my diagnosis I had to develop a plan to fight this disease. I decided to fight it medically, mentally and physically. For my medical plan my doctor and I chose Avonex. This medication is designed to slow the progression of Multiple Sclerosis. I would recommend that anyone diagnosed with MS chose one of the disease modifying drugs and get on it as soon as possible. For my mental approach I decided to keep a positive attitude. Although I have been diagnosed with this disease I have many other things in my life to be grateful for. That is what is most important for all of us to remember. For my physical attack on the disease I chose to exercise regularly. I started running shortly after my diagnosis and have since run 4 marathons. In the summer of 2007 I started competing in triathlons. The races keep me motivated to train and the training helps me stay healthy. I believe it is important to exercise but only to the extent that is consistent with individuals health needs. With that said I believe that it is important to push myself to make myself stronger. I believe the stronger I am both physically and mentally going into any health problems the better off I will be.
I have chosen to be a patient advocate for the Multiple Sclerosis community. There are too many recently diagnosed MS patients that don’ know who to turn to. I am always happy to speak with these people to reassure them that they should be just fine. There are millions of people living with this disease that live healthy productive lives. Feel free to contact Steve here: Steve@TriForMS.org