Learning

I dont know much about ms other than my experiences, but one night this week I learnt a lot more. I was given the opportunity along with around 30 or so other newly diagnosed patients, to attend a seminar given by my ms nurse.
What she covered was the cause of ms, well the cause of symptoms - demyelination; current best understanding of why people develop ms, and who is typically most affected; what we should look out for; and answered a lot of general questions.

It was good to appreciate the range of people affected, and see that many of those there, although recently diagnosed, looked to have gone through a long process to find out the cause of their problems.  It was highlighted that there were much higher numbers at the seminar than normal. Which I presumed means more diagnoses. I cannot say if this means more incidences of ms in the population, or better detection. Hopefully its the latter.

One thing that was of particular interest is the current best understanding of the root cause of ms is a deficiency in vitamin d.   As a person who used to spend a minimum of 2-3 hours outdoors daily this should not have been an issue, but for around 2.5 years during which my symptoms appeared, I worked in a building with no natural light, and certainly in winter did not see daylight other than weekends.  I probably had the starts of the disease before that job, but it makes you think and want to spend more time outside, as if I didnt already.

Getting back to the point, the session was very useful, and something I think should be available to all newly diagnosed people. I don't know if its something offered across the board, but if you could leave a comment on your experience around your understanding soon after diagnosis and support offered that would be great.

I think the one thing that stands out for me is the more I know the less scary it seems. Ms is a disease that isnt well understood, even by the medics, and the general perception is much worse than the reality, so education is vital for the newly diagnosed like myself.