It began with a feeling like an electrical shock traveling along her spine when she put her head down.
“It started with random things happening to me infrequently and I would pass them off as one-offs and then they started to happen more frequently,” Kerry Etter said.
“Then I started having stroke-like symptoms of tingling and numbness and things wouldn’t work and I went to the doctor and for eight years they kept telling me I was depressed, I was imagining things and it was all in my head and not to worry about it.”
She had difficulty walking. She would have to throw her leg forward to get moving and at times one or the other arm would just hang from her shoulder and she would have to lift one hand with the other to place it on a table, for example.
She’s the fourth person in her family to be diagnosed with MS.
“And even with that knowledge nobody thought to check for it,” Etter said.
One day, her whole system seemed to shut down all at once and that’s when she finally was diagnosed properly.
“My whole right side was completely paralyzed,” Etter recalled the terrifying incident. “And I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t speak properly because my tongue was all numb and that’s when the doctor looked at me and said ‘I think I know what’s going on here.’
That was when she was 35 and the doctor said Etter probably had MS since she was a teenager.
Now, years later, Etter is on a very effective medication she found through trial and error. It’s the fifth one she’s tried.
“I was so excited,” Etter recalled about the time when she first realized the medication was actually working.
“I was so happy. It’s done amazing things for me and I’ve been able to resume a lot of my life.”
To raise awareness and funds for the cause the Prince George MS group is hosting the 25th annual Prince George MS Walk on May 28 at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The fundraising goal is $40,000 this year.
There’s a festival that will take place along with the 2.5km walk that includes children’s activities like bubbles, games and face painting, vendors will be on site along with lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs, snacks and drinks. Musical performances will be showcased at the bandshell. Golfers might want to attend the MS Golf Classic held May 27 at Aberdeen Glen Golf Course. For more information email [email protected].
Registration for the walk is online only at Prince George Mulitiple Sclerosis Walk.
