Dear Rhondab:
What symptoms are you experiencing? My symptoms occurred off and on with a lot of time lapse inbetween for certain symptoms, but I was misdiagnosed. It took something like Katrina to cause a full blown exacerbation. I couldn't keep my balance, words and routine things I did on my job as a respiratory therapist were totally alien to me (I thought I was losing my mind!), I would look at the list of patients I had for the day (many times around 25 with seeing each one at least twice in a 12 hr time span) and not know where to begin when before I just jumped right into my routine with time to spare inbetween pts to work w/other pts on asthma mgt.
I didn't have to work this hurricane at the hospital, so we left as soon as I got off work on Sunday night. Still ran into heavy wind and rain on our way to Montgomery. We returned on Wed when they allowed us into the area. I couldn't believe the devastation and although we were a lot luckier than some, my house was a complete mess. The east wall came down and a lot of wind and rain came into the house. The only rooms that weren't damaged were my son's bedroom, the bathrooms and the kitchen area. I could stand on my patio and look into our attic (our house is 2 stories). But I felt very lucky compared to all the horror stories and deaths that occurred. We are like others and still trying to finish putting our house back together. Working in a hospital setting prepares you to handle a lot of stress. My husband is learning to handle my MS a little better. He still jumps everytime he hears a lot noise as he thinks I've fallen again.
My problem is that I am a retired Navy wife and used to being totally independent. Even when I was young, I was the mother of our groups. My husband was gone most of the time and I learned how to work on plumbing after a snowstorm, work on the car when it wouldn't start, and even dealt with a stalker who would call and tell me what I was wearing and when I came home. Having MS has taught me a lot about patience and adjustments. I can no longer run up and down several flights of stairs, but I am thankful that I have to use my cane only occasionally (I need it around objects), I still feel comfortable shopping or running errands alone. It may take me a lot more time than usual, but at least I'm out there. When routine things become strange to me, I try not to become irritated, I simply try to make a joke of it (like "Boy! Will I ever be prepared for mindloss when I become old! 
). The simple things like birds singing and the colors of nature around me mean so much more and the materialistic belongings don't seem as important. I worked on Oncology and the pts taught me so much in understanding what life is really about. It's too bad that it took MS to make it really kick into meaning.
Even if you haven't been diagnosed w/MS, still log onto all the sights as the info is great and you will be more prepared for future tests and MD explanations. Just remember to keep it light and each day doesn't seem so bad. 