MS Ireland
Informing, Supporting and Caring for the MS Community
Briefing Document and Position Paper on the need for an MS registry in Ireland MS Ireland has produced a Briefing Document and Position Paper on the need to establish an MS Patient Registry in Ireland. The paper outlines: What patient registries are Why registries are important ...
Published by MS Ireland on Monday October 23 2017 09:23 AM
How to get involved We will join with individuals and organisations across the world to mark World MS Day on Wednesday, 31st of May. This is one of the highlights of our year when we come together to celebrate and empower the 9,000 people living with Multiple Sclerosis in Ireland. The them...
Published by MS Ireland on Friday May 05 2017 09:24 AM
Will YOUR photo make our 2017 calendar? Following on from last year's incredibly successful competition where we discovered that there are hundreds of talented photographers across the country, we're delighted to announce that we are on the hunt for images again! We are creating a 2017 calendar...
Published by MS Ireland on Friday July 29 2016 11:32 AM
MS Ireland has been approached by a production company, Tick Tock films, with the following request: “We are putting together a documentary about the legalisation of cannabis for medical use in Ireland. We are reaching out to people with MS in hopes that they can share their story with us....
Published by Tick Tock Production Company on Wednesday July 27 2016 11:23 AM
St Patrick’s Cathedral ‘Lighting up Blue’ for the 10th National Carers Week in Ireland Family Carers will have the opportunity to take part in events in every county this week as the 10th National Carers Week (13–19 June) is launched in Dublin today by Nuala Carey. Nation...
Published by Care Alliance Ireland on Monday June 13 2016 11:01 AM
Apply now to become a Director We are currently seeking candidates to go on to our panel of potential Board members. Members, branches, council, the board and staff may propose candidates. All nominations must be proposed and seconded by members. The nominating committee review the applica...
Published by MS Ireland on Friday March 11 2016 01:46 PM
Care Alliance Ireland launch factsheet for carers As part of National Carers Week 2015, Care Alliance Ireland launched a four-page factsheet on Family Carers in Ireland. The factsheet provides important information pulled from the 2011 Census and other sources. This information is provided in sh...
Published by Care Alliance Ireland on Friday July 03 2015 09:45 AM
MS community shouts out ‘Together we’re stronger than MS’ to announce World MS Day 2015 Multiple Sclerosis Ireland today announced World MS Day 2015, which will take place Wednesday May 27th under the banner ‘Together we’re stronger than MS’. Ireland’s w...
Published by MS Ireland on Friday May 08 2015 04:44 PM
Together we're stronger than MS We will be joining with people and organisations across the world to mark World MS Day on Wednesday, 27th of May. This is one of the highlights of our year when the whole world comes together to celebrate and empower people living with MS. The theme for this year...
Published by MS Ireland on Thursday May 07 2015 09:10 AM
Medical Cannabis remains illegal in Ireland despite government promises An Irish healthcare company has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise funds to lobby the Irish government to change the laws on medical cannabis. GreenLight Health, a medical cannabis research and developme...
Published by Greenlight Health on Thursday March 26 2015 08:45 AM
‘But you look so good’…. MS & Me blogger Niall McGahon shares his thoughts and reaction on hearing this compliment. “But you look so good….” For some, this expression can be one of the most frustrating things to hear when you have MS. For me, it is simply someone paying me a compliment and my immediate reply is “Thanks a million…” Personally, the most frustrating aspect of having MS - is having this progressive illness. No two days are the same nor do they have any predictability. This is where I have tried to take back control of my life and put a bit of manners on MS! Now this was by no means an instantaneous migration and did not happen overnight. It was and still is difficult to make such major lifestyle changes and I am continuously learning each and every day. Many times, of course it does get in the way, or rather my right leg gets in the way of my left leg. Suddenly the footpath and I are about to become very close friends! But like all things you learn to live with and give yourself the best possible chance of limiting the relapses through exercise, major dietary change, meditation and focusing on what I can do and not on what I may or may not be able to do in the future. I follow the OMS program for all of this. The great sports phycologist, Dr Bob Rotella has a simple concept used for golf of “staying in the present”. These golfers play their next shot until they run out of holes and then add up their score. I have taken this from my golf and tried to apply it to my illness, simply take each day as it comes and deal with that day. The rest of the days are, for the most part outside of my control. Since being diagnosed with MS in 2014 and having many experiences since, I have become acutely aware of how well I am in the grand scheme of human health. I have been in hospital for various treatments and have seen people who have much harder crosses to bear than me. So as a result, I am trying to make myself more aware of when someone is paying me a compliment. I have no idea what that person is going through, yet they have taken the time to think about me and what I am going through by paying me a compliment. The correct thing to do is simply say thank you. If you can add to peoples’ knowledge of MS along the way through conversation, then brilliant. The greater the understanding of what a person with MS goes through daily, the better. You may be in pain, you may be heavily fatigued, and you may not be in a very good emotional place. What I have learnt over the last 4 years is that the person saying that you look good could be in the very same place but for a totally different reason, so saying thank you is sometimes best for all.
New treatment option for relapsing remitting MS The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics in Ireland (NCPE) announces positive recommendation for reimbursement for MAVENCLAD (Cladribine tablets). MS Ireland believes people with MS should have access to all and any appropriate and licensed treatments that would improve or assist in the management of their condition. The MS community is very much looking forward to having access to this treatment option. Read MS Ireland’s briefing document on the process of licensing and reimbursement of new medications.
‘Don’t let MS stop you from finding your happily ever after’… This week Ciara O Meara reflects on dating and disclosing her MS when she finally found the one! Dating is a pure and utter minefield! Your preparation for the field is diligent and precise. You approach the field with care and caution, as you have no idea where potential disasters lie. The field itself is exciting; it’s unpredictable and it’s nerve wrecking. And your exit from the field can be a calamity or pure serendipity. MS just drops a few unexpected mines into the field of mayhem! MS never impacted on my dating life and it certainly didn’t do anything to lessen the amount of frogs that reared their heads along the way! When I was diagnosed I was in a relationship, but that ship was already sinking long before MS was mentioned. It was sinking at such a rapid rate that I never told him of my diagnosis- what was the point? It wasn’t going to make any difference to our relationship and I didn’t want anyone hanging around out of guilt or fear. Plus, I was excited at the thought of single Ciara returning to the minefield of dating! I didn’t have the Tinder experience when I was single. It was late bars, nightclubs or a friend of a friend. I didn’t have the ‘liathróidí’ to approach anyone without an alcoholic beverage in hand. Give me some Pinto Grigio and I had balls of steel. There were once off kisses, numbers swapped, a regretful one-night stand, a date, maybe two, even three but MS was never mentioned and it never entered my mind. I had no visible symptoms of my MS and there was no indication that anything was wrong. I was young, free and single and playing the field and MS had no reason to be involved. Like I said, MS never impacted on my dating life, not until I fell in love that is. Ladies night out in a dodgy nightclub at home at Christmas- it was only meant to be one of those random drunken kisses. Numbers were exchanged, dates arranged and by month four we were ‘Facebook Official’ and I was falling and falling hard. I had told Dave I loved him long before MS was mentioned. Maybe it was fear, maybe worry, pity or embarrassment that stopped me every time from telling him. I thought if I told him that he would feel morally obliged to stay in the situation rather than wanting to be in a relationship. There were only so many excuses I could make for the perfectly circular bruises on my tummy and thighs from the Rebif. I wanted this relationship to develop and to do that I had to be honest about the uncertainty and unpredictability that this disease brings with it. When I told him he stared blankly for a few minutes, my heart rate increasing by the second. He looked at me, held my hand and said ‘Ciara, I fell in love with you and now that I know you have MS, I will love you even more’. I had made MS out to be bigger than what we had when in fact our journey together with MS would make us stronger. Six years on and a house together is testament to that. He’s there on the bad days, he’s there on the good days and he’s there to support me in everything I do. Everyone’s someone is waiting for them. Don’t ever let MS stop you from finding your happily ever after. Brace the minefield with open arms and kiss all the frogs that hop in your way- you never know which one is the right one!
MS Ireland will host the annual National MS Conference on Saturday, 22nd September in the Radisson Hotel, Athlone, Westmeath. We are also hosting a gala dinner on Friday evening (21st September) during which the annual awards ceremony will be held. Highlights on the day - confirmed speakers: Professor Gavin Giovanonni, Professor of Neurology Centre: Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma. Research Groups: Neuroimmunology. Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Jens Bansi, Exercise Scientist; PhD., Rehabilitationszentrum Valens, Switzerland. Dr. Sabina Brennan, Trinity Brain Health and ADAPT, TCD. Workshops Irish Hospice Foundation, Planning for the future. Genomics Ireland, Dr. Kate O’Brien identifying specific patterns in genes in people with MS so as to develop new diagnosis tools, treatments, and better our understanding of disease progression. How to book your place! Registration from 9am. Meeting starts 9.45am - 3pm followed by MS Ireland Annual General Meeting (AGM) will also take place on the day. Cost of Day €20 (including lunch). Get in touch For further details contact western@ms-society.ie or 091 768630 National Conference - Save the Date originally published 9th February 2018
This week Robert Joyce discusses the good days and the bad days. Chronic illness invades every part of our lives and it can be so easy to fall into a trap of grieving for what used to be. Snowflake. I never thought that I would class myself as part of this new category. It is a term that is used to describe the new generation, signifying that everyone is different. Unique. Special. Beautiful. Multiple Sclerosis has so many variations of how it affects the people that have it; MS can definitely be called a snowflake disease. In the last four years, my health has changed. My Multiple Sclerosis raised its head, announcing its return by adding extra weight to my right leg and placing gloves on my hands that contain thousands of pins and needles. It woke up because of a minor car accident that shook this beast from its slumber. Accompanied by a headache that since then has never abated. Chronic illness can and does, invade every part of your life. Work suffers, testing your relations with loved ones and your mental state can transform from happy to maudlin in an instant. Your mind brings up memories of days when you could walk for hours, or become immersed in learning something new. Now, these are not possible. Living with longing for the past only leads to despair. I have travelled this journey and understand how easy it is to fall into this cauldron of lost abilities. My toe has been scalded many times as I started to slide into this boiling broth. Now I know how this feels and have found a way of lifting myself away from this bubbling pot. I’ve placed my damaged body back on a path with the sun warming my back by focusing on my abilities, on the friendships made while walking this road. Focusing on the opportunities that I have, the abilities that I learned, and newfound friendships, has created vital, renewing times for me. Lost mobility has put me in front of my laptop and now I write. Seeing that the creativity that I need to feel fulfilled can be met by using these keys, I now share my stories to an audience that spans the world. Singapore, Peru, USA and even Cork are all places that my words have been read. My eyes once again sparkle with excitement as I wonder what new post I shall write. I share my story with the world and I know it is listening. In this uncertain future that I have as a result of my medical condition, I know that those dark, cauldron days will return. However, those days are a stark contrast to the days filled with happiness and gratitude for the new abilities that I have learned. I am secure in my belief that "the dark days make the bright days brighter". Discover more from Robert Joyce on https://a30minutelife.com/
Calling all budding photographers! Enter our competition to see YOUR photo in our new calendar!
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15 August 2018: Physiotherapist designed and led exercise programme for people with MS.
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