Feature Focus
Living with Multiple Sclerosis
Harriet Connides
dismissed the tingling
sensation in her hands and legs, inability to walk far without feeling exhausted and occasional numbness in her body as general symptoms of getting older.
It was not until she almost collapsed at work seven years ago with such severe back pain she could barely walk, that the East Finchley woman realised there was a very real problem.
Six months later, and with the debilitating pain in her back subsiding, Mrs Connides had endured countless scans and
hospital visits but still had no firm diagnosis as to what the problem was.
It took perseverance and visits to a host of different consultants to finally be told she was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
She said: "Before I was diagnosed properly I was in denial and just tried to think I was fine.
"I was finally told the day I moved to my flat in East Finchley in 2004. It was a relief in a way and horrible in another because it labels you and being in denial almost kept me going.
"Since then my mobility has just got worse. But my husband, Richard, was quite relieved as he thought it was something much worse."
MS is the result of damage to myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system, which interferes with messages between the brain and the body.
For some people, it is
characterised by periods of relapse and remission
while for others it has a
progressive pattern. There is no cure and few effective treatments.
Mrs Connides, 45, was immediately put on a drug called Betaseron, but it
upset her liver function and consequently nearly killed her.
Now, she has been prescribed Copaxone, but it
is unknown how effective this particular course of treatment will be.
And with a toddler to look after, Mrs Connides faces challenges every day which most mothers take for
granted.
She said: "My mobility is the issue. I am finding it increasingly difficult to get my daughter up on my own. And she wants to walk everywhere which I find hard because my balance is not good and I have had some bad falls recently so I don't like to take her out on my own."
"Some days I can barely stand. Some days I can do more than others.
"It's a struggle and I get very bad fatigue. It's so unpredictable. I never
get better though. Since it started my situation has only got worse."
Although never fully in remission from the
condition, Mrs Connides does occasionally suffer relapses in the form of
tingling sensations in
her back which require
her to receive steroids in hospital.
But with an art degree under her belt and two
further qualifications in
creative writing and archaeology, Mrs Connides is
determined to carry on with her life.
She has recently been
chosen to feature as one of four new faces in a new nationwide campaign by the MS Society, the country's largest MS charity.
Coinciding with MS Awareness Week last month, adverts featuring Mrs Connides can be seen on buses, trains and billboards across the UK.
She said: "My husband said he saw my face
at Earls Court Tube station
yesterday, which was very strange.
"I wanted to be part of the campaign because not many people know about MS.
"It's a hidden problem that isn't often in the media, so it's a campaign I fully
support."
But the unpredictability of the disease means Mrs Connides has to take each day as it comes.
She said: "Sometimes I do get low and I worry about the future but I try not to think too much about it.
"I just think in terms of the next six months and
how I am going to get my daughter to school. I just don't know how I am going to be in the months and years to come."
6:30pm Thursday 1st May 2008
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