Alex has asked us to place his book online for download, and asks you to donate to the MS Society if you enjoy reading it. If you are kind enough to make a donation online, please write "Alex Fleming" in the comments box. Thank you.

Alex also has a website that you might be interested in visiting at http://www.ms-diagnosis.co.uk.

Preface

I first suspected something was amiss when I noticed loss of colour definition in my left eye, an occasional bout of double vision and an unusual tingling in my arms during a hot shower after squash. I went to the reference librart and convinced myself that I was experiencing the onset of MS. The family doctor and his colleagues were clearly irritated at my self-diagnosis and agreed to a man that I should “go away and grow up”.

But I insisted on a referral to a higher authority... and this is where you and I possibly differ. Your specialist hopefully communicates and empathises with you. He or she helps you focus.

My specialist informed me by phone that my “tests were positive”, that he was going on holiday and that he would answer my questions “in a month or so.” Nobody else from his team was available to help me, or so he said. He was completely insensitive. To make matters worse, Sue my wife, was not around at that crucial moment.

At times like this, what we need is immediate communication with specialists and loved ones to help us cope with the panic and to focus. If you have just beein diagnosed, remember that things will not change or deteriorate straight away. Try to focus on what you can do now, not what you MIGHT NOT be able to do in twenty years or in relapse. It is important to speak to your specialist, your GP, your local MS nurse, the MS Society, your loved ones or even someone like me, if only because I and thousands of others have been through what you are experiencing. (My email is: afleming@cyberscape.net). Look forward positively to the hundreds of things you will be able to do, using your MS. Focus.

And, if you enjoy reading my book, make a financial contribution to the MS Society and help them on the last few laps to a cure.

In the meantime, while Sue and our kids, Ellie and Alex, go off to play badminton, I'm LEFT TO WRITE.

That's my project.

So, here goes!