13!
Thirteen years ago today I moved to Ireland. A teenage dream turned reality. Little did I know that 2,5 years later, my life would be transformed in a way I had never imagined. Still, there are no regrets, and where anger could have lived, none is left for two chronic illnesses that could easily have been my downfall. Not one to dwell on issues past, I never allowed myself to live in Oscar Wilde’s famous gutter for a long period. When he said, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars,” I realise I still am that stargazer, that dreamer, someone who loves Irish history and sociology, nature and literature, photography and psychology. I also still believe in historical and moral justice, a dreamer…
]MS News: September 2015
Highlight! Less vitamin D and melatonin bad for multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis relapse risk influenced by melatonin levels Melatonin could help treat multiple sclerosis Melatonin Linked to Seasonal Relapses of Multiple Sclerosis
Are you Cinderella yet?
"Seeing the world with fresh eyes every morning is something other people do. I try to get my innate sense of curiosity and wonder going when I wake up, but my enthusiasm only reaches as far as, “Oh look, both my eyes are open!” I re-evaluated my night-time activities, so, as those dubious sleep and pretend-to-be-awake-games only lead to more excessive MS fatigue."
I don’t miss myself
So… Rugby world cup. At last. England in a fashion faux-pas. Coin toss aside, they resembled players of Wales, China, Japan or Kyrgyzstan (Fijian, red is Fijian). Mum’s nine-day visit to Ireland now over. Visited Dublin Zoo once again. New camera making me rather shutter-slow, hence prevalent photographic bonding with rear ends of several animals. Otherwise, hardly left the house. Sniff. Thank you, MS. Living with a chronic illness is not all it’s cracked up to be. Chronic means chronic. I don’t get to choose the days, the hours, the moments. Hence, a triad of medical events in the space of twelve days now extended into a three-week period. Flu. Impatient, it could not wait to land on my doorstep before that all-important flu jab. Must remember that viruses follow…
PLEASE VOTE! MS Ireland company blog shortlisted!
MS & Me, the group blog of MS Ireland for which I also write, has been shortlisted for the Blog Awards 2015 edition in the company Best Health and Wellbeing category! We need YOUR vote though to become a finalist. *** The PUBLIC VOTE is now open for the 2015 Blog Awards Ireland! *** Voting will be open for TWO weeks from Monday, 7th September! The PUBLIC VOTE will be worth 30% of the overall mark. The other 70% will be decided by a panel of judges. Please cast your vote below by clicking here, or on the colourful Blog Awards image below! Thank you! Ava, Diana, Trevis, Joan, Declan, Aoife, Lucina, Helen, Niamh, Emma & Willeke Please share… _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ About Willeke Neurologically challenged by MS and personally by her will to…
What a difference a needle makes
Needle anxiety. We all went through childhood being afraid of injections. But why would someone have needle anxiety when what you’re about to self-inject every day, in fact, slows down the progression of your chronic illness? Although my emotions regarding needles do not amount to belonephobia, I have gone through moments where I simply could not press a needle in my skin. Using an Autoinject only made it worse. Pain doesn’t scare me (anymore). In fact, I’m going through a pretty rough time right now because of trigeminal pain. Knowing, however, what the prerequisite was for having to inject myself on a daily basis, has, on occasion kept me from self-medicating.
MS News: August 2015
Vitamin D research was once again a recurring news story this month, with more studies linking lack of vitamin D to MS. Also widely reported was the news Novartis bought GlaxoSmithKline’s remaining rights to Ofatumumab, an investigational multiple sclerosis medicine, for up to $1 billion. Highlight! Gene study finds link between multiple sclerosis and low vitamin D Gene study backs up link between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis risk Low levels of vitamin D may cause multiple sclerosis Vitamin D deficiency direct cause of multiple sclerosis (MS): Study