MND Diagnosis

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will

— Mahatma Gandhi.

To start with, I’m a 43 year old male and was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease(MND) in late October 2019. Below is the run-up to the diagnosis and treatment.

I first noticed that the tongue was not rolling enough for a couple of words about 6 months back. Did mention it to my wife and friends, but nobody noticed it and put it down to general ageing. I just let life pass by until one day a doctor(my close friend’s wife) visited us. She noticed the slowness in my speech and advised immediate attention. I went to a GP that evening and I should say that his methods of detecting were spot on. First, he advised medicines for acidity and also informed me, that if symptoms do not subside in a week, I need to consult ENT and further a Neurologist.

I took the medicines for a couple of days and went to meet an ENT specialist. She did a throat endoscopy and advised immediate consultation with a Neurologist. Upon examination, the neurologist suspected MND Bulbar. He suggested EMG and ANA profile tests to be done for confirmation. Needless to say both EMG and ANA confirmed the worst fears. I had been afflicted by the rarest of disease, MND of the Bulbar type. This affected my speech, breathing and swallowing abilities. The ground fell out from underneath my feet. What have I got into? Do I deserve this? Do my wife and daughter deserve this? Whats the future? Who is going to take care of my family?

It took sometime to sink in. Post 2nd and 3rd opinions, I was resigned to my fate in dealing with this disease. I was prescribed Riluzole and Speech therapy. The doctors prescribed a few vitamins as well.