Hi Marcie,
I’m sorry to hear this bad news - especially about anyone so young.
I do not think even an adult will “accept” such a serious diagnosis within a month, and I do not think you can “get someone to accept” - it’s something most diagnosed people eventually achieve in their own time and their own way, but there’s not a set timescale, and it’s something they have to arrive at themselves, not something even a parent can “get them” to do.
Some people want to learn everything immediately - even to the point of obsessing about it. Others do not want to read or talk about MS - perhaps for some time. Neither approach is abnormal, or wrong. If your daughter wants to hook up with other young people with MS, then she will. But she might be finding that far too scary at the moment - it’s only been a month. A big fear many people have is being confronted with people who are much more ill than they are. If you’re just starting out, you do not always want to know how bad it may become, for some people (even though it also may not).
And websites (even this one) can be a bit scary, because people tend to post when there’s a problem. That means there’s less visibility of people who are managing fine with their MS (they won’t tend to post, just to say they’re doing well), but more visibility of people with serious problems. That can give a false impression of how prevalent the serious stuff is, because more of the posts are about that.
So I don’t think there’s anything too worrying about your daughter not wanting to visit websites, at the moment. They can be a bit of a mixed blessing. I’m sure, when she’s ready to dip a toe in the water, she will. But it’s important to keep in mind it’s very unlikely for any one individual to get ALL the symptoms she might read about on websites - and certainly not all at the same time!
As for what will happen next, it depends how many relapses they think your daughter may already have had. The usual criteria (for an adult) are two clinically significant relapses in two years. If it’s not thought your daughter has had these, they may play “wait and see” with the medication.
“Clinically significant” is undefined, so a relapse that is sensory only (tingling) may not always count, with some consultants treating “clinically significant” as meaning only relapses that are disabling. I’m not sure if the rules are modified at all for children, or may not even apply at all. I only know how it is for adults.
Even if medication is recommended, I do not think it will start immediately from next appointment. Typically, a choice of more than one is offered, and the patient invited to go home and think about it. The reason the patient’s given a choice is there is not really a clear winner in terms of effectiveness, so people pick and choose according to what’s most important to them - things like side-effect profile, how frequently it has to be administered, and that sort of thing. Unless you are told clearly by the neuro that one is to be preferred, there’s really no right or wrong answer. People choose different drugs for different reasons. It’s more about which fits in best with their lifestyle, than which is more effective, as the main ones are all roughly on a par.
Hope this helps,
Tina