Meet Aoife

'In Aoife's introductory blog for MS Ireland, she shares her MS story and how her life has changed in little ways'

My diagnosis came when I was in my final year of college. I was under an enormous amount of pressure as anyone in their final year would be. My symptoms were refined to sensory issues. I had been experiencing numbness in my fingers and toes, as well as my face over a few months. My symptoms could be traced back for years, but in relation to the diagnosis I will keep it short. I had been to my GP on numerous occasions regarding issues which I now know were MS related over the space of five months. Nothing showed up and the symptoms could easily have been stress related or nerve damage. I knew something wasn't right, but I couldn't quite figure it out. I had googled my symptoms and knew MS was a possibility, but it seemed to be diagnosed in people older than me, I now know this is not the case!  

The occurrence which lead to my diagnosis was a case of optic neuritis in my right eye. I experienced 98% vision loss. I was studying art in college, so the thought of losing my sight was devastating to me. Having googled my symptoms I knew at this point that the most likely cause of them was multiple sclerosis.

From that point I was hospitalized and my suspicions were confirmed. I wasn't upset as such. I was relieved to have identified the issue, I knew that from this point there was something I could do. Before the diagnosis I had felt extremely helpless.  

From then on life has changed in little ways. As a mother life is hectic, I need to make more of an effort to get the rest I need. At times my high heels are shoved under the bed and replaced by converse, but as my six year old tells me; 'Some people wear glasses, and some people's electricity doesn't work.'. He has it in a nut shell, he wears glasses and that is something he has to live with each day, while I have to deal with disruption to my electrical conductivity.  

We all have our issues, our labels, our baggage, but adaptation and resilience make it easier to carry on carrying on. 

Go raibh maith agat.

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