Life with MS: 17 years of ‘what the hell just happened?!’

Seventeen years ago today, I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a rollercoaster ride of the good and the bad, the expected and unexpected, and most of all, of love and friendship from old and new friends and family.

Thank you for all those who have fiercely stood by and cheered on. We have gone through ups and downs and still, you’re only a phone call away even when we don’t talk every day, or every week.

Seventeen years is a long time to live with daily, debilitating symptoms that wake you up, and don’t allow you to fall asleep again. Life goes on with all the good it can bring, and with goals I yet want to achieve, so I tolerate MS. There’s no resentment or blame, no more heartache, guilt or doubt.

To explain life with multiple sclerosis, I often go back to something I wrote years ago as I find solace in seeing more treatments reach new patients, and while I know a cure lies outside of my lifespan, I remain optimistic.

Nevertheless, MS is an illness that demands staying vigilant, as physical restraints curb your potential and you realise that you want so more from your life. It reminds you that being chronically ill sucks as energy is being depleted in all the wrong places. There is simply no room for manoeuvring uphill when you’re faced with an illness that will -quite literally- be there until you draw your last breath.

Seventeen years and yet it still feels like yesterday. Seventeen that prove that you don’t have to give up, you don’t need to walk out.

2018 Winner Best Blog Post with ‘3443 Needles’, Blog Awards Ireland, Ashville Media Group, Dublin, Ireland
◾Everyday Health: Top 10 MS Blogs to Follow in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2018
◾Feedspot: Top 50 MS Blogs to follow in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
◾ MyTherapy: Multiple Sclerosis Blogs: 10 of the Best in 2019
◾ MyTherapy: Best MS Blog for Simplicity 2018
◾ Blog Awards Ireland: Finalist 2017, 2015, 2014; Winner Best Blog Post 2018 (Awards competition discontinued from 2019 onwards)

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