By: Team Sherrod

Last year, Troy—who proudly works for Sherrod’s campaign—was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Read his powerful story below, and learn how Sherrod is working hard to make sure Ohioans like Troy have the healthcare and resources they need.

—

I’ve heard others describe that sinking feeling one gets when receiving bad medical news, or the zoning out that occurs as the doctor is describing your condition. You know, like in the movies?

I always thought that was a dramatization, until I sat there in the specialist’s office in the summer of 2017, listening to him explain that I have Multiple Sclerosis.

Thirty-one years of perfect health, and now I suddenly wake up with an incurable neurological disease that science knows little about. How can that be?

Unfortunately, that is often the case with MS—it is random, unpredictable, and unforgiving. Over the course of my first year with MS, it attacked my entire lower half of my body, then, after a brief remission, my entire upper half.

As a full-time employee who uses my computer for 95 percent of my work, I found myself barely able to type. As a musician who loves performing on the weekends, I found myself unable to play. Eventually it reached a point where holding a pen, a fork, a toothbrush, or even buttoning my own shirt became a difficult task. It was humbling, to say the least.

In addition to causing inflammation and scarring in my brain and spinal cord, I also quickly realized that MS attacks the pocketbook. Specialist doctors, frequent MRIs, unusual blood tests, and newly-approved drugs mean that MS, and similar diseases, are very expensive diagnoses.

As if living in constant fear of relapse isn’t bad enough, there is also the constant anxiety over finances.

That is why I proudly support my boss, Senator Sherrod Brown. I’ve never had to guess where he stands on issues like healthcare and prescription drug affordability, medical research, and supporting and protecting our community hospitals and clinics. He’s been a reliable champion for Ohioans like me.

I have Sherrod’s back, because I know he has mine.

Troy