Chapter 2 of 27
Catherine, a 42-year-old mother and office manager, had a two-year history of severe pain in her arms and legs. Based on her symptoms of wandering pains, she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Subsequently, she was treated with expensive injections for three years without improvement.
Catherine's husband, a veterinarian, started to investigate MS on the Internet. He discovered that many neurologists do annual MRIs of MS patients' brains. The MS lesions show up as snowflakes in the MRI or as red dots in the scan.
Catherine's husband asked the neurologist to order an MRI. He refused, saying it was a waste of time and money. Catherine and her husband decided to go ahead and purchase an MRI. We (as advocates and case managers) helped by ordering the MRI. Catherine and her husband went to Buffalo for MRIs of her head and neck. We added the neck MRI after a detailed history revealed that she had had a previous neck injury.
When we got the results, we were astounded. The MRIs did not show any snowflake lesions of MS. The MRIs proved conclusively that Catherine did not have MS. Catherine and her husband were thrilled with this discovery. However, the MRIs of her neck did indicate that she had spinal cord compression at two levels. This was the cause of her unusual pain pattern. Catherine's cord compression was treatable with surgery.
We enlisted expert opinions from a neurosurgeon at Harvard Medical School and a neurologist at Baylor Medical School in Texas. They were invited to participate in conference calls, and we taped those calls for Catherine and her family. Then we found a neurosurgeon in Toronto who was expert at repairing spinal cord compression using the techniques suggested by the experts. Finding a local surgeon who was expert in this procedure was not a trivial exercise, because many surgeons refuse to see new patients, refuse to accept recommendations from other neurosurgeons or have long waiting lists.
Catherine had the spinal compression in her neck repaired successfully. Her life has improved dramatically. She is now at work. She is thankful that her husband chose to advocate for her.