Update 20/09/2010: I did it and I didn't die!

The North-East and humanity in general breathed a collective sigh of relief when I failed to explode, collapse or catch fire on the way round the GNR course yesterday. I managed it in a knee-shredding 2hrs and 28 minutes. Doctors have assured me I will be able to walk again someday.

Thankyou so much to everyone who sponsored me - the money has gone to an amazing cause where every penny of it will be used to do good. There should be pictures uploaded soon to the ShiftMS website and I'll update this page again when they are.

Many, many thanks, Simon

 

About a year and a half ago, my wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. MS is a degenerative condition which attacks the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve fibres in the body, causing temporary or permanent disfunction in the normal working of the body.

The treatment of MS has moved on greatly in the last few years. Even a few years ago you basically just got a sympathetic talk from the doctor, a pamphlet entitled "So You're Completely ****ed Then" and a hearty 'Good luck'. Nowadays the condition still can't be cured but it can be managed to an extent with regular drug treatments. However, little enough is known about MS still that in most cases the treatment essentially consists of "Here are some drugs. Hopefully they'll help. Let us know how you get on." There are some truly wonderful MS nurses and consultants out there, but you are in a location lottery as to what level of care you get.

Shift MS -

At its essence, Shift MS is very simple. It’s really just an extended message board for fellow sufferers to get together and swap stories, thoughts, ideas, information and support. It’s a platform for an open conversation amongst sufferers (and a growing number of healthcare professionals) from across the world with no imposed agenda beyond a general encouragement to be positive, open and honest.

I genuinely cannot describe just how much help this has been to us.

What it’s meant is that she’s had access to advice and counselling, pretty much from day one, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whatever is on her mind, from choice of medication or advice on diet and exercise, to just having a rant or venting some fears – she can put a post up and, often within minutes, she has an answer and is having a conversation. Oddly, she says one of the things she finds most therapeutic sometimes is giving advice or counselling herself. Even though she’s only been a sufferer for a short time, she’s been through enough already to have some genuinely useful information and advice to share with people new to the illness and that makes her feel better – she has a bit more control, a better handle on the illness.

 

This is an astonishingly powerful tool and something I hope will become a model for similar sites dealing with other illnesses. The work that has been done to set this up so far is truly phenomenal.

 

To help keep this site open and meeting their running costs, please donate as much as you can.