Posted Monday, June 27, 2011
News from Stanford Hospital and Clinics
(Mary-Lynne Blazzard is a Can Do MS CAN DO Program Alumni and JUMPSTART Program participant. Read her story written by Stanford Hospital and Clinics.)
In a matter of years, Mary-Lynne Blazzard went from high-tech marketing executive--and in control of every detail in her life--to a woman struggling with the depression and isolation that often comes with a chronic condition. She had experienced her first symptoms in her 20s, but she wasn't diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a debilitating autoimmune disease, until another bout of vision loss occurred over a decade later.
"That first time was terrifying," Blazzard said. "I didn't even know what it was. When I woke up that morning, my vision seemed kind of funny. My left eye had a complete black line through it and I was missing half my vision in that eye."
The doctor she saw told her and her husband, Ernest, that he suspected optic neuritis. Her vision loss could either be the start of MS or it could be an isolated case. She wasn't fazed. "I immediately put the MS diagnosis out of my brain and went on with my life," she said. "We were young and in denial."
Read full story and watch video