MS & Me

Thursday, 3rd December 2015

To coincide with the Better Options College Fair 2016, Aoife shares with you, her experience as a student with a 'disability' 

I was on my way to pick up the kids from soccer practice the other day when I realised I had forgotten my phone! It was too late to make it back home to retrieve it and as it turned out, I had to wait a while for the final whistle. With my only other option being the car manual, I decided to re-read the package leaflet for my MS meds. Every time I get a new pack, I toss the tiny paper concertina aside and pop the plastic bubble to get my daily dose. I had read the entire thing when I started taking them almost two years ago and to be honest- it was tough going.

Superheroes and Witnesses

Budget 2016 has reduced some people within the MS community to utter despair.

IMMA, otherwise known as the Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham, always makes me imagine the dignified ghosts of old army pensioners sitting around the courtyard of the Royal Hospital in their distinctive Chelsea-pensioner red uniforms of ex-servicemen. There is a soothing feeling about the place; that of a job done, of rest, of a routine of predictable meals and duties. I am just being fanciful; I’ve never encountered anything there but modern art, but it does make me wonder about what it was like to live in the routine and care of an  old institution. 

Hobbies, or pastimes, are an important part of life and they take on an even greater significance when living with a debilitating long term illness like Multiple Sclerosis. It is also important to recognise your limitations and to know when a particular hobby is no longer suitable to a particular point in your life cycle. 

Keep it in the Family...

I didn’t know that I had MS when I had my kids. I have an eight year old boy and a ten year old girl. Post diagnosis - I decided not to have any more children for many reasons. I won’t go into them today. That’s another blog entirely. I DO want to share a few tips with you about parenting and MS. Things I have learned the hard way. Things I wish I had been told on day one!

Last week Emma wrote about MS and the fertility and pregnancy journey. This week she delves deeper into the joys and challenges of having a new-born in her life.