A mum-of-two suffering from multiple sclerosis was left despairing after being misdiagnosed for 13 years, being told by doctors she needs to take more exercise or even have a "mixed drink".
"As if Smirnoff with a splash of cranberry juice could stop my body from declining," Lindsay Cohen Karp recently wrote.
The 39-year-old children's author suffered from debilitating fatigue, mobility issues, and pain for years. Eventually her stamina was low she couldn't even walk.
Despite this multiple medical professionals weren't able to diagnose what was wrong.
Finally after 13 years the Philadelphia resident was told by a doctor she had multiple sclerosis.
This lifelong condition affects the brain and nerves but can present in patients differently. Possible symptoms include tiredness, vision problems and problems with walking or balance.
In an essay for Insider she bitterly recalled the years of being misdiagnosed by doctors, writing: "My search for a diagnosis had taken me to doctors as far away as a four-hour plane ride from my home.
"The futile suggestions had ranged from exercise to psychotherapy to a mixed drink, as if Smirnoff with a splash of cranberry juice could stop my body from declining."
She continued: "I thought of the time I'd endured an unnecessary breast exam because the doctor demanded it. I remembered the time a physician told me there was no answer to be had as my body continued to decline until merely existing was a struggle."
While waiting for the diagnosis that just wasn't coming, walking and standing were difficult.
As she described in her blog: "I had to walk a short distance, sit and rest, and then do a little more. My legs ached and felt as though they were running out of energy, like a car with a near empty gas tank. I was poked, prodded and poked some more."
Writing about the day she was finally diagnosed, she said: "When I reached the 10-year mark, I thought I'd dangle from the edge of the undiagnosed mountain for the remainder of my existence.
"But here I was in this exam room on a day unlike any other. It was a day I never thought would arrive."
Being told you have multiple sclerosis isn't a reason to rejoice but for Lindsay it was a relief. She finally knew what was wrong.
She recalled: "I felt overwhelming relief with a side of fear.
"Will I walk normally again? Can these lesions heal? Are my legs going to fatigue this easily forever?
"I stacked the questions one upon the other until they reached the ceiling. I'd waited for a diagnosis for so long, but I hadn't prepared myself to accept one."
The long awaited diagnosis came when a doctor spotted white spots on an MRI of Lindsay's brain. These are called demyelination.
This doctor gave Lindsay her life back.
She says she thinks about him every day and wrote: "Without him, I'd surely still be undiagnosed, incapable of walking, and with no stamina to go on.
"Without him, my boys wouldn't have a mother."
