Can we read anything into this? MS investigations

[redpickle]

A close relative has been having scans and tests further to headaches and an MRI which found brain lesions. He had a spinal scan last week and this morning received a letter with an appointment for a face-to-face with the neurologist in late July. He's worrying that a face-to-face indicates bad news but I'm thinking the fact it's July suggests it's nothing urgent. Surely if they had found MS, they would need to look at meds sooner rather than later. I'm worried we're going to spend the next 5 months going round and round in circles worrying while we wait for this appointment. Can anyone with recent experience shed any light? All his appointments with her so far have been via Zoom so he's wondering why this one is different. He's really torturing himself over this.

Sorry to hear you’re going through this. It’s very difficult waiting for any sort of appointment - the uncertainty can be really hard.

It’s best not to read anything into the face to face appointment. Yes, it could be that they’ve found something (MS or otherwise) that they want to discuss face to face. But it could also be that the neurologist wants to see him to physically check his reflexes/balance etc, especially if she’s not seen him face to face previously. You can speculate, but there’s no way to be sure. I’d agree that if something sinister had shown up on a recent scan then you would expect to be seen before July, although this doesn’t in itself mean he doesn’t have MS - diagnosing MS can be a long and complicated process and can take years. My advice would be to go to the appointment with a list of questions that you want answered as well as a list of symptoms and dates to help the neurologist make a correct diagnosis.

Disclaimer - I’m not medically qualified, just basing my response on my own experiences as a neurology patient.