Neuro Note #2- Multiple Sclerosis
For my second neuro note, I watched a Tedx Talk called "Thriving in the Face of Adversity" by Stephanie Buxboeveden. Stephanie was a neurosurgical intensive nurse who at the age of 25 was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I wanted to learn more about multiple sclerosis because before taking this class, I did not know this was a neurological disorder that had such a young average age of onset. Stephanie was only two years older than I currently am when she was diagnosed. One day when she was at work, what she thought was just her foot being asleep, soon became a numbness that engulfed her whole body, even blurring her eyesight. After a lumbar puncture and an MRI, she was diagnosed with the most common neurological disease in young people, effecting 1.23 million people. I chose this specific Tedx Talk because as a future OT I not only want to know about conditions, but I want to know how to help my future clients tune in to their strengths and goals despite their diagnosis. Stephanie gives her personal story about what she has done since her diagnosis and it is truly inspiring.
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the CNS in which the immune system attacks the nerves, damaging the myelin around them. The nerve is left exposed, creating visible, permanent lesions on the nerves. Stephanie describes the worst part of this disease as the uncertainty of what any day will hold. There is no way to know when/where this damage will occur. One minute Stephanie could be going about her day and within minutes go numb or experience extreme pain. Overcoming this uncertainty has been the biggest struggle for her, but she viewed it only as a challenge and not road block. Stephanie continued her degree to become a nurse anesthetist just 6 months after her diagnosis. She still works in the neuro ICU and uses her experience with her own neurological disorder to help treat other patients and teach other nurses the same. She did not want to be a victim and give up her ambitions just because of what is going on with her body. While she lives everyday with these invisible symptoms, never knowing if a symptom could be permanent or recover, she says her diagnosis has made her a better nurse, person, and given her a more purposeful life. I loved hearing this lesson and ambition from this Tedx Talk. This is the power I hope to instill in my future clients, never give up on what makes your life purposeful.
TEDx Talks. (2015, Apr. 3) Thriving in the face of adversity | Stephanie Buxboeveden | TEDxHerndon [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuLOT6GsAxw
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the CNS in which the immune system attacks the nerves, damaging the myelin around them. The nerve is left exposed, creating visible, permanent lesions on the nerves. Stephanie describes the worst part of this disease as the uncertainty of what any day will hold. There is no way to know when/where this damage will occur. One minute Stephanie could be going about her day and within minutes go numb or experience extreme pain. Overcoming this uncertainty has been the biggest struggle for her, but she viewed it only as a challenge and not road block. Stephanie continued her degree to become a nurse anesthetist just 6 months after her diagnosis. She still works in the neuro ICU and uses her experience with her own neurological disorder to help treat other patients and teach other nurses the same. She did not want to be a victim and give up her ambitions just because of what is going on with her body. While she lives everyday with these invisible symptoms, never knowing if a symptom could be permanent or recover, she says her diagnosis has made her a better nurse, person, and given her a more purposeful life. I loved hearing this lesson and ambition from this Tedx Talk. This is the power I hope to instill in my future clients, never give up on what makes your life purposeful.
TEDx Talks. (2015, Apr. 3) Thriving in the face of adversity | Stephanie Buxboeveden | TEDxHerndon [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuLOT6GsAxw
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