Woman finds inspiration after MS diagnosis - Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Information, and resources

April 17, 2012

Stephanie Haughney honors her aunt by taking part in an annual walk to fight multiple sclerosis. She never thought she would be taking part in the event this year with the same disease.

In 2010, the Stratford resident never thought that at the age of 31 her life would forever be changed. She had recently celebrated her second wedding anniversary and soon after was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After two years of living with the illness, she is finding ways to live a normal, active life.

Haughney worked as a physical therapist and kept an active lifestyle, playing volleyball in a recreational league. She was happy and healthy and never imagined that in less than a week she would be diagnosed with an illness that would turn her life upside down.

One Tuesday morning, Haughney awoke suddenly with severe lower back pain. A few days later, the pain became so severe she collapsed to the floor.

“I was in agony and so unsteady on my feet,” said Haughney. “I was scared to hold my baby.” Her little boy, Reid, was then 10 months old.

By that Saturday, just five days from the onset of symptoms, Haughney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic and incurable disease.

Haughney was admitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where she underwent a two-and-a-half-hour MRI and spinal tap. The procedures showed two lesions on her brain: one on the right side and one on her optic nerve. She finally had an answer; she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Haughney’s life had suddenly taken a sharp turn, and she said she faced the future with anger, fear and uncertainty. In an ironic twist of fate, Haughney and her husband, Derek, were not strangers to MS; each of them had an aunt who had struggled with the disease for years.

“I had been involved with the MS cause for more than 10 years,” said Haughney. “I never thought I’d be walking for myself one day.”