When a Doctor Recommends Alcohol, You Know You Are in Trouble

Describing my grandfather, Vince, in the spring of 1970 you would see a rebellious 17-year-old. When he wasn’t playing bass guitar in a rock-and-roll band, he was picking up chicks in his 1965 Mustang. Unbeknownst to him that would all change by November of that same year.

The trouble first became clear with a tremor in his hands that affected not only his ability to play bass but even to eat or drink. Traveling with his mother to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Vince hoped for an explanation for what was occurring to his body. The doctor confirmed that in Vince’s case this was no operable brain tumor, and he received a firm diagnosis that he had Multiple Sclerosis.

The Mayo Clinic website describes Multiple Sclerosis, also known as MS, as a chronic neurological disorder that involves the immune system attacking the protective covering of nerves. When your nerve coating is worn away this can cause issues with communication between the brain and the body.  The tremors Vince had begun experiencing were only the beginning of what MS had in store.

Multiple Sclerosis has no known cure and thus prescription drugs are often the go-to for symptom relief. MS has quite a range of side effects, such as the inability to walk, loss of vision, slurred speech, and even lack of bowel/ bladder control. You can see why doctors want to provide support of any kind but these feeble attempts with drugs seem to come with their own set of problems.

Vince had already experienced painful procedures to find the way to his current diagnosis.  The journey forward treating only the symptoms would range from intramuscular injections to ten-day I.V. treatments with plenty of sedatives in between. While Doctors searched for an answer they even went as far as recommending to drink alcohol if it helps, and that smoking pot was probably not a bad idea either.

By 1974, Vince’s body, mind, and work felt his diagnosis’s negative impact. At the age of twenty-one cane in hand he had no choice but to retire and go on disability insurance. Issues with double vision made driving impossible and by May of 1976 he had become wheelchair bound. The continued progression of this disease encouraged the search for any possibility of a cure.

Searching high and low for any sort of answer Vince eventually heard of a woman who had found freedom from MS using vitamins. Intrigued by what he had heard, Vince set out to find a local distributor of what he would come to know as supplements. Stepping away from all the prescription drugs had its own battles but Vince had never felt better than with this nutritional regimen.

The last medical treatment Vince endured was in December of 1977 and this seemed to have no positive results. Deciding once and for all, he turned his full attention to a 192-tablet-a-day supplement plan. Devoting his time and energy to an unconventional path, Vince was shocked when he began to not just feel his body changing but see it happen too.

After 10 years of watching his body deteriorate in January of 1980, he was able to shove his wheelchair in a closet and shut those doors for good. Working to gain back his independence with a walker, then a cane, and eventually nothing but his own two feet. To say his MS is cured is not true, as he still lives with that diagnosis to this day.

Vince is 72 years old now and continues to drive fast cars and play his bass guitar. He keeps to his daily supplement plan and shows very few lasting side effects. When asked about how MS affects his daily life he chuckled and responded, “Well I have a tremor in one foot sometimes, but I can handle that.”

Jaden Burgett is a media student at NorthWest Arkansas Community College enrolled in Media Writing this fall 2024 semester. She used a phone interview and a book, “One Victor’s Story,” by Vincent Stephens Jr. for this blog post.