from first symptoms to diagnosis through to now...

I first thought I might have an unusual medical problem when I was at the Farnborough Air Show in 1990 as a guest of one of the main military aircraft manufacturers. The programme stated that a pair of, let's say, Hawk fighters, were doing a formation display; but I was seeing four aircraft cavorting aloft! Now it's not unknown for alcohol to be consumed during the said event, and my first thought was, ‘Shouldn't have had that third glass of wine’. But the next day, once the hangover had worn off, I became conscious of the occasional bout of double vision which returned at unpredictable intervals over the following days and then weeks.

The next indication that something was up was when I was on my way to my office in central London one day and had, as usual, to cross a busy thoroughfare. At the edge of the pavement, I looked to my left and saw a big red bus approaching from what I thought was sufficient distance to allow me to cross safely if I broke into a trot. About halfway across I realised that I wasn't trotting as fast as I judged was needed and drew a scornful beep from the bus driver.

Clinching the decision to turn myself into the medics was the realisation that I couldn't take the stairs in the office block where I worked two at a time anymore.

I was in a job which entitled me to unusually good medical care and, having been expeditiously referred by the GP that I saw to a specialist neurologist, I was soon being told that I had a potentially serious condition, possibly multiple sclerosis, but that myasthenia gravis was another possibility. The diagnostic steps led me quickly and fortuitously to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where I was seen by a professor who was eminent in the field of research into MG. He arranged for me to undergo the then best possible test for the condition, a ‘single fibre’ test. I remember the chap who administered the test, probably a well-qualified doctor himself, bouncing up off his chair with glee and chortling, ‘We’re in business!’ when a positive result emerged. I wasn’t sure that it was much for me to be gleeful about, but, on reflection, I should have been very glad that it turned out to be MG and not something considerably worse.

After a short stay in a hospital for determination of the best mode of treatment in my case, I remember pyridostigmine being prescribed and being given directions to the stockist nearest to the hospital to which I had driven myself. Getting back into my car and reflecting that driving with double vision (which was pretty bad by this time) was not to be recommended, I squinted through one eye to navigate to the chemist. Almost tearing open the package, I eagerly downed a pill and was amazed that after only a few minutes my eyesight had returned to normal.

Given a choice, I wouldn’t have developed myasthenia, but I’ve been lucky that with good old pyridostigmine, I have been able to live a completely normal life. A life long enough to notch up a few more conditions that many of us collect, too. Ungratefully perhaps, I haven’t engaged as much as I should with myaware, but I have contributed money regularly and I’m sure that myaware has done and continues to provide valuable services to those of us who have the disease. So many thanks to the staff and volunteers at myaware.