Sterling, to the left of the duck mascot, has been the University of Miami cheer captain for three years, despite being told by a doctor that cheerleading — let alone going to college — would be a stretch. Image courtesy of Sidney Sterling
When Sidney Sterling started experiencing a slight tingling and numbing sensation in her right arm, she figured she slept wrong and went about her activity at an elite summer cheer camp — one she’d dreamed about attending since she was a kid. At age 16, she felt like everything seemed to be falling into place.
As the cheerleading camp went on, Sterling says the tingling and numbness traveled up her arm and into her back, and she knew it was time to say something. “Once I got back to Miami, my parents immediately brought me to the emergency room,” Sterling tells Healthline.
After an MRI of her brain and spinal cord, a spinal tap, and three full days of observation in the hospital, the doctors determined she had contracted a bacterial infection.
After settling into her junior year of high school, Sterling noticed that day-to-day tasks like school work, homework, extracurricular activities, and cheerleading practice were daunting and physically exhausting.
After expressing how she felt to her parents, Sterling’s mom and dad took her to see a pediatric neurologist.
And that is the moment her life changed.
“The pediatric neurologist reviewed the results from my trip to the hospital four months prior,” says Sterling. “But instead of thinking I had a bacterial infection, this doctor gave me a different diagnosis: multiple sclerosis.”
What it’s like to get an MS diagnosis as a teen
Most teenagers aren’t thinking too seriously about the future of their health. This was certainly the case for Sterling.
“I don’t think I understood the severity or the impact this diagnosis would have on my life,” Sterling says. “I was both anxious and relieved: anxious for the future but relieved that my health would finally improve and I could resume regular activity,” she explains.
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