Weeks passed, and then months and still nothing was resolved. Still on paid leave, she and her father were doing all right financially but wondered how long it would last.

Gayle had of course seen her Doctor after the spell she had suffered and he had told her to see a neurologist, which she did. He was the best neurologist she had been to and she had seen many on the mainland. He understood MS better than any other Doctor she had been to.. He took more pictures of her brain and confirmed progression had occurred.

He also said she was fit enough to return to work.

The hospital then set her up with their own independent neurologist. He tested her and concluded that she was not able to work. Gayle was back to square one.

Six months after the confusion attack Gayle received her last check along with a termination letter.

Chapter 7

Gayle did not want to give up but had to face the reality that she was going into a relapse. For years, she had trouble with her bowels and bladder. It was not uncommon for her to go two weeks without a bowel movement. Special laxatives helped but when she was able, it was painful. The same was true with her bladder. Either she could not go or when taking her medicine she went constantly. It was bright orange and stained her underwear and sheets. Her eyes were very dry all the time so she constantly used eye drops.

With the loss of Gayle’s income, credit card debt and medical bills, she and her dad had to start using their savings and cashing in assets.

One day she was sitting on the sofa discussing the situation when she suddenly threw her arms up and started jerking wildly. Her father ran to her, she was drooling and her eyes were rolled back. He was panicked, thought she was dying, held onto her telling her to wake up. He was paralyzed with fear. Gayle slowly came to and a little later was O.K.

When her father told her what had happened she told him that it was a seizure and not to worry, as there was nothing he could do but make sure she had air and wait until it passed.

Her dad was not reassured and very nervous, but she seemed to be all right, so he calmed down. This, however, was the start of many strange events over the next several months. One night she started screaming in agony. Her father rushed to her room. She was screaming and thrashing about wildly. He did not know what was happening and tried to calm her. In a couple of hours, she came out of it. They had a Doctor appointment in a few days and he thought that it sounded to him like withdrawal. She had run out of one of her medications a week before the appointment so that explained what happened. The Doctor wrote out her prescriptions and they started home. Her father drove and suddenly Gayle had a seizure in the car. He pulled over, stopped, grabbed hold of her, and tried to keep her from choking on the shoulder strap. He was struggling, hoping someone would notice and stop to help, but no one did and Gayle slowly regained her senses, and they drove home.