Purple Haze

My brother sat with a grimace. Not that this was anything particularly new—I've seen my share of pained looks on his face, though mostly in reference to the latest idiotic thing I've said. When he started to rub his temples, I asked if he was alright.

"Oh, my eye has been giving me some pain. You know how your vision gets a little blurry one day, then it's okay the next?"

"Yeah," I replied, thinking of seasonal allergies and the havoc they wreak on my eyes.

"Yeah, well it's like that... but it's been for the past few days."

"That's not good."

"I know... I think I'm going to call the eye doctor tomorrow."

Thirteen

My mother called me a few days later. Seth had visited the eye doctor, and had been told it could be one of two things, and that they were going to run a few tests and have him take an MRI scan. Of the two things, one was more likely... and far more terrifying: Multiple Sclerosis.

My mother said she'd let me know the results, but the fact of the matter was that it was probably MS. My initial shock was soon overcome by fear: wait... can I get this? Am I more likely to get it?

After the results of the tests came back, my mother called me and explained how they diagnose MS. She didn't tell me the results... no, she just told me the typical diagnosis. Strange, I thought. To be diagnosed with MS, you typically have either one lesion on the brain and exhibit two symptoms, or have two lesions and one symptom.

Then came the bombshell. "Your brother has 13 lesions."

Next Time: Greg halts plans and freaks out. Seth amazes everyone. Infusions start, stop and start again.