THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
One of the hardest parts of being diagnosed with MS wasn’t the diagnosis itself. It was figuring out how to talk about it. For a while, I kept my diagnosis close. Not because I was ashamed of having MS, but because I wasn’t sure what would happen once other people knew. I didn’t know if they would see me differently. I didn’t know if they would focus on the diagnosis instead of the person they had always known me to be. Keeping my identity intact was important to me. So being transparent about my new reality felt compromising.
As both a therapist and yoga instructor, I spend a lot of time encouraging people to be honest with themselves and about their experiences. Yet when it came to my own diagnosis, I realized how vulnerable honesty can feel and man was that scary! The truth is, keeping it to myself became heavy. The more I avoided conversations about MS, the more space it seemed to take up in my mind. Being open about my diagnosis didn't make MS disappear, but it did help me release some of the weight I had been carrying.
At the same time, the truth didn't always feel freeing. Sometimes people heard “Multiple Sclerosis” and immediately began imagining a future for me that I hadn’t imagined for myself. Others became overly worried because they cared about me and wanted to help. Their concern came from a place of love, but there were moments when I found myself managing other people’s fears about my diagnosis while still learning how to navigate it myself.
Over time, I realized that other people’s assumptions were not my reality. Especially when they thought the worst of the worst. A diagnosis can change parts of your life, but it doesn’t erase who you are. I had to reconcile the person I was before my diagnosis with the person I was becoming after it. What I discovered is that they weren’t two different people at all.
I am still Tiana. I am still a daughter, partner, friend, foodie, dancer, entrepreneur and dreamer. I still love building community, spending time in nature, traveling, enjoying new experiences, fashion, laughing with the people I love, and imagining what's next. MS is part of my story, but it is not the entire story.
These days, I think of openness less as sharing a diagnosis and more as reclaiming my narrative. It allows me to live from a place of truth rather than fear, even when that truth is uncomfortable or misunderstood. The truth may not always feel like freedom at the moment. Sometimes it invites questions, assumptions, or concerns. But for me, it has also created space for connection, self-acceptance, and a deeper understanding of who I am.
MS is something I live with. It is not who I am. There is freedom in knowing the difference.
