MS Ireland
Informing, Supporting and Caring for the MS Community
07
Dec
Date/Time: 07 December 2018 - 11:00 to 13:00
Event Type: Living with MS Programme
Organiser: North Dublin Regional Office: Sean Kinsella
Region: North Dublin And Fingal
Venue:
Colaiste Ide
Cardiffsbridge Road
Dublin 11
Brief Description Of Event:
Weekly computer skills classes for beginners and improvers, starts Friday, 14th September.
Contact Details:
Call Sean 087 2500563
Latest news and research developments delivered to your email inbox at least once a month.
On this Valentine’s Day when many of us choose to celebrate romantic love, Christina McDonald and Niall McGahon give us their take on MS and Romance. Christina We see it all around us. On the streets, in movies and in songs, love and romance. They are everyone’s desire at some point. I was diagnosed at 26 in the common age range for an MS diagnosis (20s-40s). These are also the years seen as someone’s prime years- in college, looking for love, perhaps settling in with someone, building a career, getting married and all the typical life-steps. MS at times has changed how I view myself as a woman. Questions constantly loom such as “am I a burden for my partner?” or “am I still attractive when my symptoms peak?” or “have I embarrassed you in public? “Am I still fun to be around when my fatigue is bad? Sometimes I wish I could be more spontaneous and that I had more energy like I used to before MS. It can be difficult to maintain a romantic relationship when you’re living with MS but with two people who compromise and understand the difficulties that may arise from MS, they can plan around what suits their needs and keep the spark alight. The thing is, I am not my disease, I am not MS. While those questions might go through my mind, I know that when my partner looks at me, she still sees the person that she fell in love with and not the condition. Although we might not go out for date nights as much as we used to, we still make a joint effort in bringing a date night to us. This includes nights in with a movie and takeaway - Netflix and chilling out. We tend to do things earlier so that I have more energy. Compromise is key for myself and my partner when it comes to MS and romance. I see myself as lucky because I had found “the one” before my diagnosis so I didn’t have to worry about how to tell someone I’m dating about my condition. My partner has been with me every step of the way. Niall’s Perspective I think it’s fair to be said most men don’t live up to the Hollywood romance and the way it’s sometimes portrayed but god do we try our best! By the time of my diagnosis at the age of 34, I had met my beautiful wife and we were 4 years married. We now have a beautiful son and another on the way. Like Christina, I never had to go through the process of having to tell someone about my condition. I thank god every day for that because without my wife going through this process with me, I don’t think I would be as strong as I am now. One of the definitions I found for Romance was: “feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life” Quite apt for both MS and romance with a loved one. The illness fills your head full of mystery about the future and sometimes pulls you back and isolates you into a remote-ness from your everyday life. MS gives you a kick in the nuts, excuse the pun, from an in-timacy perspective. I’ve found myself questioning myself on countless occasions “Jesus you’re useless…”, “how embarrassing…” and as time progresses this can eat at you and sometimes it’s easier not to try. Thankfully I get a kick up the ass and get pulled out of whatever dark room I may have entered. All because the person who, 13 years ago filled my head full of mystery of what could be, of excitement of what was to come, took me to a remote place that was only her and I. To me romance is not necessarily about the big gestures; it may have been that a few years ago. Sometimes the smallest of things can be the most romantic. The spontaneous back and foot rub, the dinner made or simply the holding of hands. These all may seem the easiest for most. However when you have little feeling in your dominant hand these tasks become even more challenging but more enjoyable and appreciated when they are done. Christina is right, Netflix and chilling on our own sofa is a bloody good date night too! My perspective on life with MS is about team work. Like Christina, we are not MS, it doesn’t define us. We have the full understanding that the love that we first found all those years ago is not going to be broken by MS, we are only going to get stronger. Ro-mance is not dead, it has just taken on a different form and that’s ok because it will never disappear.
Research Request What is Parental self-efficacy? Parental self-efficacy describes the beliefs one has of their ability to manage and perform the role of parenting successfully. Who is carrying out this study? Rachel Mc Laughlin is a 4th-year Occupational Therapy student in NUI Galway. This research is being completed with a final year university project. This study will run between January and April, 2019. Aim of study Your participation in this study will add to knowledge on how MS can affect parents, specifically through levels of fatigue and parental self-efficacy. It is hoped that this information will lead to an improvement in health services in the future. Who can participate A parent with MS with a child/children between 2-18 years old? If you are interested in participating in a study looking at the impact of fatigue on parenting please read the information sheet to find out more about this study and if you are eligible to participate Get in touch Contact the researcher at r.mclaughlin5@nuigalway.ie who will happily answer any questions that you may have.
We are so excited to announce that we have teamed up with Emma Larkin, a jewellery designer who is based in Galway. Emma has designed these small little kisses to wear on your lovely lobes. So now you can show your support and help us Kiss Goodbye to MS! Emma is supporting our Kiss Goodbye to MS campaign as MS is a condition that she has been surrounded by for her whole life. Emma’s mum was diagnosed with MS before she was born. “I am aware of the good and the bad days that MS can bring but I think trying to have a positive attitude, can go a long way. My mum has been a great support in my life so it means a lot for me to take part in this Kiss Goodbye MS campaign”. Emma has recently started her own jewellery business and her work is on sale both online and in selected shops. You can check out more of Emma’s amazing designs here. So what are you waiting for? These stunning Kiss Goodbye to MS lip earrings are subtle and add a touch of glamour to your everyday! So head to our shop or call one of our team on 01 6781620 to place your order today! Our earrings are priced at €11.00 including post and packaging. 50% of the cost will do directly to Kiss Goodbye to MS.
Research Request We have been approached by a postgraduate student of psychology at Trinity College who is researching whether young people aged 14 -18 years who live with chronic pain have different worries and beliefs about worry, from their counterparts who do not live with chronic pain. Aim of study This study is the first step in understanding beliefs about pain and about worry in a sample of adolescents, who experience chronic pain, and to compare and contrast this with a sample of adolescents who do not experience pain. Get in touch If this is a study you would like to take part in, please email Aoife aoifek@ms-society.ie
To mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11th February, this week our MS and Me blogger Ciara O’Meara highlights the women of science and innovation who have changed the world for us all. The importance of science is too great to ever be underestimated or underappreciated. Without developments and continued progress and innovation in the world of science, we would not have the knowledge and information to understand the behaviour of the world around us. My own thinking on science has evolved dramatically throughout my own life journey. From a naïve and frustrated Leaving Certificate Chemistry student, I am now an avid subscriber to scientific research based journals and a research contributor. My initial train of thought on this topic ran something like this: Marie Curie- The first person to win a Nobel Prize in two different fields for her ground breaking work on radioactivity, Leaving Certificate Chemistry- the fear of remembering the difference between organic and inorganic compounds and that dreaded periodic table Florence Nightingale- the founder of modern nursing and instigator of professional training standards and better health outcomes Fourth Year Bachelors Degree Nursing Research Proposal- literature reviews were the bane of my life and this concept of methodology and sample size was seriously impacting on my RAG week preparations Dr. Rita Levi- Montalcini- Nobel Prize Recipient for her work on neurobiology. Dr. Montalcini also carried out research in conjunction with the National MS Society on identifying proteins that help nerve cells grow and stay healthy. The pride and sense of achievement and empowerment when I handed in my own Masters Research Dissertation on ‘Parent’s Experiences of a Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis in their young adult sons/daughters’. Science can no longer be considered a male-dominated area; women and girls have always had a critical role in scientific research and development. And continue to do so. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development focuses on the importance of science, empowerment and gender equality to achieve their identified goals. Given that less than 30% of researchers worldwide are women and in tandem with the UN’s goals for sustainable development, The United Nations General Assembly declared February 11th as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Women are more at risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis in comparison to our male counterparts. Given this female dominance, it seems only right to give credit to some of the women and girls who have contributed to recent scientific research and development in the field of MS. Maria Howard, MD at Harvard Medical School (2018), focused her research on pregnancy and MS. Given the diagnosis of MS in women of childbearing age, her research examined annual pregnancy rates between women with and without MS and also studied medical insurance claims made in terms of complications which occurred post pregnancy. Her results were promising with an increase in women with MS becoming pregnant in comparison to a decrease in pregnancies among women without MS between 2006-2014. Medical claims relating to difficulties encountered post partum, i.e. birth complications, premature labours, were similar in statistics between women with and without MS. Her research, in tandem with other studies, strengthens the understanding among women that pregnancy does not necessarily affect the long term clinical course of MS and can be done so successfully with the support and monitoring of health care professionals, new treatments and continued research. The importance of early screening and recognition of cognitive impairments in people living with MS has been highlighted through the work of Dr Rosalind Kalb (2018). Her research has focused on the importance of establishing standard baseline assessments for cognition, appropriate treatments, increased awareness and education among healthcare professionals and stricter monitoring. This initial research by Dr Kalb on the importance of cognitive health and monitoring among people with MS has paved the way for future researchers to develop on this identified need and work on tools to address these issues Scientific Research in the field of MS is developing daily and women and girls are playing a more prominent role in their contribution to the field. There is an increase in female led research in the areas of drug therapy, complementary therapies for MS and an increase in the number of grants, funding and research scholarships awarded to females. February 11th is one day to mark the role that women and girls play in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Let’s encourage, empower and support girls and women every other day of the year. #WomenInScience #WomenInResearch Check out these resources for further reading on scientists mentioned in the piece: Maria Howard’s Research on Pregnancy ttp://n.neurology.org/content/91/17/e1559 United Nations Homepage on International day of Women and Girls in Science http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/ Female Scientists that have changed the world https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/17-top-female-scientists-who-have-changed-the-worl/ Research on Cognitive Impairment and Recommendations for MS https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1352458518803785
Can you imagine the adrenalin rush after jumping out of a plane at 10,000FT? Well wonder no more! Sign up to our Skydive for MS in 2019 and find out for yourself!
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