By The Ottawa Hospital – The Globe and Mail
Treatment developed at The Ottawa Hospital can halt MS progression and potentially reverse symptoms
When Geneviève Bétournay developed blurry vision and pain in her hips 12 years ago, she was shocked to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a condition where the body’s immune system attacks its own central nervous system, brain and spinal cord.
“It was a scary, emotional time,” recalls Bétournay. “Getting a chronic illness prompted some soul-searching and a lot of questions.”
She was only 23 years old, starting a master’s degree in organic chemistry and planning for a career in research or academia when she received the devastating news. She hoped she had the more common “relapsing-remitting” form of the autoimmune disease, where attacks of neurological symptoms come and go.
However, when it became clear she had a more “aggressive” form of MS, causing ever-worsening headaches, muscle spasms, difficulties walking, a loss of dexterity in her fingers and blind spots in the middle of both eyes, “it was definitely challenging,” she says.