When she boarded her plane to Bali, Indonesia the day after her wedding, Mai Abdelhay, a 26-year-old digital marketing specialist, did not expect to be at a hospital in Cairo less than a week later, surrounded by her family, physically unable to speak. “It looks like you have MS,” the doctor barked at her. “And you’ll have to stay here in the hospital for five more days and take an intensive course of cortisone.” What MS was, she did not know. All she knew was that on the second day of her honeymoon, she began to experience strange symptoms with no warning. Perhaps the fatigue and lack of energy could be explained by the effort she had exerted in the runup to her wedding, but what about the numbness in the left side of her face and the rigidness of her jaw? By the time the fourth day of her honeymoon came, Mai was unable to speak properly. All her questions, the pleas for help and advice she directed at the doctors in Indonesia, she communicated by typing out on her phone. At that point, she and her husband had…
How an Egyptian Multiple Sclerosis Patient Uses her Platform to Turn Fear Into Hope
November 23, 2020
