The harrowing moment that would change Amron Myers’ life forever happened in a children’s day care.

Looking back, life before that seemed simple. For Myers, it was all about kids and coffee. Being a mom, day care provider and coffee shop manager were her greatest joys in life. They served as the pillars of her identity. 

An incident just over two years ago forced Myers to expand her identity, adding a new and very foreign pillar: patient.

---

---

It all started in November 2021. Myers had just gotten her own in-home day care center up and running, and it was morning drop-off time. As kids rolled in, Myers was having a hard time focusing. What she describes as “blotchy spots” began to appear in front of her, impacting her vision.

Myers was no stranger to the occasional migraine and chalked it up to that at first. Yet, as 10 minutes passed, then 20, those spots in her vision changed form, and it felt like she was looking through a kaleidoscope. Colors illuminated to a brightness they never had before, and the outline of items in the room dissipated. It was both disorienting and terrifying. 

---

---

As Myers grappled with this bewildering turn of events, a customer walked in with her 9-year-old child.

Instead of a greeting, Myers blurted, “Something is not right. I’m not OK right now, and I don’t know what’s going on.” 

She proceeded to take her blood pressure. It was high. But of course it was; it was the scariest moment of her life. Then she made a call to 911.

“We can’t really see anything that’s wrong,” Myers said the first responders told her before recommending she go to the hospital. 

At the emergency room, she underwent some bloodwork. Other than being low on Vitamin D, the bloodwork provided no explanation for her distorted vision. Myers was suffering internally. Yet, with a lack of outward symptoms and no clear answers, she felt invisible and invalidated. She didn’t know it at the time, but the feeling would stick with her.

Next up was an MRI. The scary part about MRI results, she said, is that they can open the door to myriad possibilities. The procedure can detect abnormalities, but additional testing is often needed to determine a more serious diagnosis. This leaves many patients with a “what if.” 

For Myers, doctors said that “what if” was likely either a migraine or, to her horror, multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a rare disease that impacts the central nervous system. Symptoms can include numbness, tingling, memory problems, mood changes, pain, fatigue, blindness and paralysis, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Dr. Susan Anzalone with the Colorado MS Center said, contrary to popular belief, it’s actually not too uncommon for people Myers’ age to be diagnosed with MS.

“Typically, people get diagnosed anywhere between the ages of 25 to 35,” Anzalone said. “So it is a disease of young people. However, it is a lifelong disease.”

---

Stay up-to-date on all things Summit County. Get the top stories in your inbox every morning. Sign up here: SummitDaily.com/newsletter

---

The words “multiple sclerosis” hit Myers like a bullet, coming suddenly and without warning. How could this be when there wasn’t an ounce of the disease in her entire family history?

The single narrative she had to reference for multiple sclerosis was the diagnosis of her mom’s friend, who declined rapidly before losing her life to the disease. 

Myers said the hard part of diagnosing multiple sclerosis is there isn’t a one-and-done test to detect it. It’s a process where “what ifs” hang over a patient’s head like a guillotine. 

It was just before Christmas that year when “what if” turned into a “what’s next.” The diagnosis was official.

Practicing gratitude

Just over two years later, Myers can’t shake the feeling of being unseen with her invisible disease. While she continues to learn to embrace it, she carries a friendly, warm aura that serves as a mask for her pain that she almost never takes off. 

Since her diagnosis, the disease has left her running on fumes, and she said life has been “one struggle bus after another.” But she uses the experience to practice gratitude and build strength. For Myers, a silver lining of the disease is that it made the good times feel even sweeter, and she learned to cherish the little moments, like making someone’s day better with coffee.

She also found a medical team that makes having the disease feel less difficult.

Coming up on April 5 is the one-year anniversary of a flare-up that led to an infection that almost took her life. She framed this as an opportunity to keep living.

While recounting her struggles, she recalled a poem she wrote last year when her life was on the line. 

“I don’t know what tomorrow holds; I do know that I am able to handle a great deal. Each day I must remember to be grateful for this life. The good, the bad and the beautiful.”

Living in a small mountain community, the hardships that accompany multiple sclerosis felt like they were unique to Myers. In the years since her diagnosis, she has met only one other Summit County resident with multiple sclerosis. 

The lack of people she knew with multiple sclerosis made the disease feel invisible, so she chose to start speaking up. She decided to seize the opportunity of March being Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month and shared her experience on a blog published by her employer, Red Buffalo Coffee & Tea. 

“In some ways, me trying to put this out there for MS awareness is also trying to say, ‘Hey, who else is out there that has this?'” Myers said. 

Myers said she hopes sharing her experience not only informs people about the disease but also possibly creates a support system for those who need it. 

Dr. Anzalone said MS awareness is paramount to helping the medical field learn more about the disease and be able provide patients with more answers. March is the one time a year MS gets the spotlight and people are reminded to help with research fundraising efforts for this disease that has many question marks associated with it.

“Research is hugely important because we still don’t have a cure for MS, and we actually still are not completely solid on what causes MS,” Anzalone said. “Once we know with certainty what causes MS, then that will help drive and focus potential cares or even more effective treatments.”

Read the blog at RedBuffaloCafe.com/our-story/f/barista-life-with-a-side-of-ms.

A list of organizations that support MS patients and research can be found TinyURL.com/2y5zxsm7.