Uncomfortably Numb: a memoir about the life-altering diagnosis of multiple sclerosis by Meredith O'Brien

Author:Meredith O'Brien [O'Brien, Meredith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781948018708
Publisher: Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing
Published: 2020-03-02T22:00:00+00:00

A fever could be life-threatening.

That line from an old episode of The West Wing prompts me to immediately Google whether, in fact, a fever is fatal to someone with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Fresh from learning I have MS, this suggestion plunges me into a panic. A search of “fever and multiple sclerosis” in the fall of 2014 yields over 590,000 results. The first result comes from a website called Healthline, reporting on a study which discovered that patients who have low-grade fevers suffer more from chronic fatigue than others. The next result is an article saying many MS patients experience an exacerbation of symptoms when they’re overheated, whether from the weather or fevers.

“In the old days, a hot-bath test was one of the ways doctors diagnosed MS,” the Everyday Health website quotes a physician as saying. “MS symptoms, especially tingling, are usually worse in the summer because of the heat. Getting into air conditioning or taking a cool shower usually helps reduce heat symptoms.”

But what about this life-threatening business? I mutter as I sit at my desk, freaking out over whether what I heard on the Emmy-winning Aaron Sorkin TV classic is indeed true. Can a fever prove fatal as the fictional first lady says in the drama about a president who has relapsing remitting MS? Would I, someone with the same unpredictable and incurable ailment, have to start wearing a mask in public to avoid getting sick? Cover myself in Purell? Keep a ten-foot protective perimeter from the walking petri dishes known as my grade school-aged nephews?

As I scan web page after web page and find nothing about a fever being a potentially fatal complication for people like me, I tentatively began to unclench my muscles. Just a wee bit. But I’m not satisfied with what I’ve found. I keep digging. I input “fever and multiple sclerosis and west wing” in the search box. The first result is “MS Goes ‘West’” on a website called Mult-sclerosis.org. The piece explores whether NBC’s The West Wing’s President Jed Bartlet character accurately represents the experiences of MS patients. While the article notes that the National Multiple Sclerosis Society bestowed an award on the program for raising awareness about the autoimmune disorder which attacks the central nervous system and, as of 2019 afflicts one million Americans a year, it only briefly mentions the fever issue which became a major plot point after President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), who is suffering an MS flare-up and passes out in the Oval Office. His wife Abbey, a physician, tearfully admits to a staffer that it isn’t the flu that is making him ill.

“I see you trying to cover the panic,” the chief of staff tells the West Wing first lady, imploring her to reveal what is really going on.

“He has multiple sclerosis Leo,” Abbey Bartlet (Stockard Channing) says in a near-whisper. “… A fever could be lifethreatening.”

Abbey Bartlet’s words echo inside my head, ping off my own damaged nerves. I am brimming with questions:

Will my own

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