I was doing pretty well for myself at 32! Then just when everything was going well, everything started to fall apart.
I had just been promoted and was managing over 50 people in my team. That same year, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). The doctor told me it was going to change my life forever, but I could never have imagined how much and how quickly it would. All I could think was, “I can’t get sick.”
At the time I didn’t even know what MS was. My first step was to go straight to the MS Society and they were amazing. They gave me all the information I needed and answered all of my questions. My three biggest fears when I was diagnosed were losing my job, losing my driver’s license and losing my family. Unfortunately, all my fears came true. One after the other.
I hid my symptoms from work as long as I could but eventually the fatigue, the loss of balance and sensation became too much to bear, and I had to resign.
I was put on medication, but it didn’t help. I went from walking stick to wheelchair in a matter of six months. At the same time, I was also losing my eyesight.
Watching MS take over every part of my life became too much for my family – mentally, they just couldn’t accept it.
While I haven’t had an attack for the last five years, MS has taken a lot from me. I am now blind, in a wheelchair and the left side of my body doesn’t function well.
The hardest thing to accept was losing my independence. I have to ask for everything and I’ve lost count of the number of times I had to say please and thank you.
Throughout everything though, the MS Society were there for me – when I needed help with my medication, physiotherapy sessions, funding for my wheelchair and when I was undergoing treatment. Over the years, the MS Society has become like family to me.
When you are diagnosed with MS, you don’t just have to deal with the changes in your body. Your whole lifestyle has to change. The best thing you can do is work with your MS, not against it.
When you donate to the MS Society, you are giving me and people like me a chance to live a more fulfilling life. You can help find a cure - then families like mine would no longer be torn apart by MS.
Just to feel normal for one day, to not feel sick would be unbelievable. You can help me achieve that dream.
Stephen