Vicky's Story
My name is Vicki and I am 23yrs old. I was diagnosed with MS in April 2004. I dont know about anybody else, but being diagnosed with MS at a young age brought about all kinds of concerns and worries for me. Particularly when you are young you have mountains of dreams for your future and being told you have an illness that can affect you in so many ways can be frightening, and can make these dreams seem so much further away and harder to reach.
One dream I know every young girl has since as young as they can remember is of her dream wedding, big white dress and all the trimmings. When I got told that I had MS as silly as it sounds now, one of my thoughts was that if when the time came I was unable to walk down the aisle like I had always dreamed.
MS can cause you to look into your future with uncertainty about all kinds of things from your career, relationships, children, etc. It can make the normal day to day activities so much harder.
I have found that normal things like visiting the cinema have become a different story following my diagnosis, sitting in those uncomfy cinema chairs can cause my muscles to become stiff and painful. Making a simple visit to the cinema with your partner or friends less of a fun experience than it used to be. I have found that I do not enjoy nights out to the pub anymore as I find it to hard to stand for long times in a crowded place. All these things seem to affect the way that your partners and friends perceive you. I feel now that I miss out on doing these things because people just dont seem to understand what its like.
Since my diagnosis I have certainly realised who my real friends are and this was not an easy thing to accept. Some peoples reactions to your diagnosis can come as a shock, the people you thought would stand by you through thick and thin can find it all to hard and distance themselves from you.
Being told that I had MS has completely changed my outlook on life and the things in it. I have found that I no longer see the bad in things and try to make the best of everything. I sometimes feel that I want to run across a park screaming just because I still can. It has given me a new thirst for life and although I have recently had to give up work, I try to keep positive and make the best of a bad situation.
MS can cause you to look into your future with uncertainty about all kinds of things from your career, relationships, children, etc. It can make the normal day to day activities so much harder.
I have found that normal things like visiting the cinema have become a different story following my diagnosis, sitting in those uncomfy cinema chairs can cause my muscles to become stiff and painful. Making a simple visit to the cinema with your partner or friends less of a fun experience than it used to be. I have found that I do not enjoy nights out to the pub anymore as I find it to hard to stand for long times in a crowded place. All these things seem to affect the way that your partners and friends perceive you. I feel now that I miss out on doing these things because people just dont seem to understand what its like.
Since my diagnosis I have certainly realised who my real friends are and this was not an easy thing to accept. Some peoples reactions to your diagnosis can come as a shock, the people you thought would stand by you through thick and thin can find it all to hard and distance themselves from you.
Being told that I had MS has completely changed my outlook on life and the things in it. I have found that I no longer see the bad in things and try to make the best of everything. I sometimes feel that I want to run across a park screaming just because I still can. It has given me a new thirst for life and although I have recently had to give up work, I try to keep positive and make the best of a bad situation.
New website: Life and MS
Life and MS is a new site for younger and people newly diagnosed with MS, covering the most frequently asked questions.
