Pulse - September 2022 - 14

Melissa Tompkins
Melissa Tompkins, owner of South Coast
Veterinary Management Solutions and a
member of the SCVMA Board of Trustees,
has been dealing with multiple sclerosis for
some 20 years.
She was diagnosed in 2006 but then realized that she
had experienced symptoms well before that. " I think
I should have been diagnosed in 2002. I believe I was
misdiagnosed for about four years. " The doctor who did
not recognize her MS symptoms told her that she had a
pinched nerve.
In 2006, Melissa had an onset of vertigo. " I was throwing
up and I had to go to the emergency room. The doctors
I saw were going to give me antinausea meds and
send me on my way. But a fourth-year medical student
realized something was wrong.
" He asked me: 'Why do you keep closing your eyes?' I
said: 'Because I don't want to see two of you.' I was having
double vision but didn't understand that because I was so
out of it. He believed that I had a neurological problem. "
Subsequent tests and an MRI confirmed that her illness
was multiple sclerosis. " I never saw my original
doctor again, " she said. " And I never saw that medical
student again. "
Melissa founded her consulting business four years
ago. She sees her work as three different jobs: recruiting
for clients, consulting in hospitals and making oral
presentations.
" Recruiting is remote and most of the time on [job]
interviews I need to be on my A game and I have to walk
straight and do all those things. When I go into practices
to consult, I can't necessarily control whether I'm having
a relapse or a physical disability. But the hardest thing is
doing presentations. I am an active professional speaker. I
talk to live audiences all the time - and I cannot always
control what my body is doing.
" There have been quite a few times when I've just
struggled through it because there's not really an option.
But I'm not ready to say, 'Oh, I can just stop now.' "
There have been other occasions, Melissa said, when
she has been able to cover up physical problems while
making a presentation.
" Sometimes I think it would be better if you could
just start shaking a little bit and slurring your words and
not be embarrassed by it, " she said.
Melissa speaks about multiple sclerosis and how it
affects her, both publicly and through her personal and
professional social media outlets.
" It took me a long time to understand when I was
having a symptom of multiple sclerosis that it wasn't just
a normal thing, " she said. But she was so accustomed to
having dizzy spells that she thought they were not related
to MS, as she now knows they are.
" I have leg weakness, arm weakness, slurred speech. I
don't really have any pain, thankfully, which some people
with MS do.
" Sometimes when I was walking at work and my legs
were really beat, I would hold on to something so it
would not be obvious. If I was dizzy, I would go to the
bathroom and turn the lights off and that would help my
brain cool down for a minute and I would be better. I
could do things like that at work.
" Certain sounds or tones affect my brain so I carry ear
plugs with me all the time. Sometimes I go to a restaurant
and it's no problem. Other times the sounds trigger
dizziness so I put plugs in my ears. Things like that
help me deal with whatever I'm experiencing. " She
sometimes has asked people to turn down their devices
" because my brain is not happy. "
Many people don't know what to do if they think
she's having an MS problem, Melissa said. " They don't
know how to help me. I know it comes from their hearts
but it's kind of annoying, because I've been dealing with
it for 20 years and I know what to do. I appreciate that
they're trying to help and I will ask when I need it. "
Based on her own experience, Melissa has a word of
advice for all of us.
" If you feel like something's wrong and you have
symptoms or bad anxiety, get the help you need. I've
seen people who have been misdiagnosed and they
believe their problems are not real but imagined - in
their heads, " she said. " If that's you, my message would be
not to believe it. Pursue it until you have a diagnosis. Try
another doctor. Get a second opinion. " I didn't do that
and I went misdiagnosed for four years. "
" Sometimes I think it would be better if you could just
start shaking a little bit and slurring your words and
not be embarrassed by it, " she said.
14
SEPTEMBER 2022
PULSE
Pulse - September 2022

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