Neuro Note #2 - Multiple Sclerosis

In a few short weeks my classmates and I will be presenting media projects, which involves our intervention plan with one item and case study that was assigned to us. The client in my case study was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, so I decided to find a story on someone living with this horrible disease and learn more about it.

Breea Renee was diagnosed with an acute onset of Multiple Sclerosis when she was a senior in high school. Her YouTube channel shares her story along with her journey of healing and recovering. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease involving damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms can include numbness, impairment of speech, blurred vision, and severe fatigue. 

I watched several videos on Breea’s channel but the video that shared her story was the most inspiring and tear-jerking. I loved the way the video started out with her family and friends telling who Breea was to them. She is a friend, daughter, cheerleader, etc., not a girl with MS. On December 8th, 2011, Breea woke up feeling off balance and later that night collapsed. Within 24 hours she became paralyzed on her left side. She eventually became blind in her left eye and could not talk or swallow. The video starts out with her hospital journey and pictures of friends and family visiting, celebrating Christmas, and different therapy sessions. My favorite part of the video was Breea sitting in her wheelchair at the hospital and she says, “I now have no time to waste. Life can change so suddenly.” This is so true, yet heart-breaking. She wrote goals everywhere of what she wanted to accomplish to overcome this disease. One of her goals was to walk across the stage at high school graduation and she worked so hard and progressed at every therapy session and was able to meet that goal! It shows a short clip of her mom spotting her doing a back handspring at the very end of the video. Before being diagnosed with MS, she was a high school cheerleader, which really hit home being that cheerleading was one of my hobbies growing up. Breea is still in a leg brace today and is working hard to gain back all of her strength. If you want to watch an inspiring story with a happy ending, Breea’s is the one for you! 

Find Breea’s story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfD9s1_TN0s

Learn more about Multiple Sclerosis: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/multiple-sclerosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350269