I was a week into my second trimester of freshman year when my mom

lost all feeling in her left side. She tried to blame it on a pinched nerve for
days until we convinced her to see a doctor. The day of parent-teacher
conferences at my school I met her in front and could tell she had been
crying. She assured me that everything was fine and we went in, but she
could barely walk up the stairs and refused to tell me what the doctor had
said. She just smiled and tried to stay cheery.

That night we ordered pizza and my mom ate in bed because she was so
tired. After dinner my dad told my brother and me that we needed to have
a family talk. As I sat on the foot of my parents’ bed watching my mom
struggle to tell us what was going on, I heard the two words that would
alter my whole universe: multiple sclerosis.

I was only 14 and hardly well versed in neurological disorders so,

naturally, all I could do was burst into tears. She explained to us that
multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease that involves the
central nervous system – specifically the brain, spinal cord, and optic
nerves – and that MS can affect muscle control and strength, vision,
balance, and mental functions.

The tone in my house was a mix of mourning and solitude in the weeks
that followed. My mom’s condition got severely worse before it got better.
She was on steroid treatment to reduce the swelling in her brain, and was
chronically fatigued and often confused.

In the months after her diagnosis I took on a new role in our family. I
cooked dinner every night, did laundry, went to the supermarket, and
even paid bills. It wasn’t hard at first, but after a while my schoolwork
started to catch up with me. If only you knew my mom: she was one of
those super-moms who found time to get everything done and was never
crazed or disheveled but calm, collected, and great at everything! And
then I lost all of that in what felt like the blink of an eye.

I had never felt so alone and helpless. I’m sure if I hadn’t gotten help I
would have gone crazy. After a few months I went to my first MS support
group. By then I had read every article on neurological disorders. I was
excited to attend these meetings and ask the doctors all the questions the
articles hadn’t answered. When the speaker that night stood and
introduced herself, I was surprised to hear she was a registered nurse
who specialized in multiple sclerosis. I had never heard of a nurse having
such a specific field, and as she spoke I discovered how much Rita -
understood about how this disease was affecting my family.

I continued going to the support group, and over time I realized what
Rita’s job really entailed. I had no idea how interactive a nurse’s career
could be. I told her that I had been curious about a career in medicine but
had never felt as passionate about it as when I realized how much an
illness can affect a whole family. That’s when I discovered I wanted to be
a nurse.

I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders, because I knew that I had finally
found something I could be passionate about for the rest of my life. The
work my mom’s doctors and nurses have done with her has vastly
improved the quality of her life. They teach her to be optimistic and
supply her with many types of support.

I think the best people to help others through hardships are those who
have experienced them firsthand. And I feel that my experience will help
me become an amazing nurse who can help other families through the
difficulty of having a loved one with an illness.