Friend with MS

[purplepeony]

Got a friend who has been diagnosed.

The only other person I knew was a friend of my parents who was bed ridden with it for many years.

Can anyone tell me anything positive?

My sister has it. She is an artist and mostly lives in her own flat (back to mum and dad's if she has a relapse). she is not as mobile as she would like (walks with a crutch) and suffers from chronic fatigue but it is not all doom and gloom and she is definitely not bed ridden.

My mum has it. She has the slowly progressive form (vs acute flare ups type) and is still mobile in her early 60s. She walks with a stick while out and about, but can get about the house reasonably without it. She can still manage stairs too. She can't do much in the way of walking before it tires her out though, so she has to plan carefully what she can manage in a day. All in all she is doing well considering the time since she was diagnosed though.

I think all cases are different and some people are worse affected than others, but there is hope. There is still a lot of research going on too and potential treatments being trialled. There is a very good society with sources of information she can join. Do encourage her to claim disability living allowance and get a blue badge for her car/others who take her places as it can really help her parking close to places like the shops. Even if she doesn't have much need now for the DLA in her opinion she can save up for if she needs things like bath lifts, or stair lifts later on.