It's a new dawn, Its a new day, It's a new life for me.....

Who are you? I imagine you mutter. What time do you call this? I hear you think. Where on earth have you been?? Well I am thinking this to myself....

So- according to Blogger my last post was in April... and since then I have been in a some-what sticky situation. One that has taken me until now to be able to blog about. So why am I choosing to blog now? Well it's nearly Christmas and I have a LOT to say and share about presents, food tips and fun things.. but first I really must get this out the way so that I can move on..... (also just an excuse for me to use an obscene amount of full stops in one post)...



Okay, put simply... in August 2012... the 14th of August 2012 to be exact. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. There, I've said it. Sorry if that a rather blunt way of saying it but that's just how i roll sometimes when I don't feel like fluffing things up with descriptives.....

Summer 2012 was originally going to be a summer filled with late nights of dancing, blowing the wages earned in my new job on restaurant pop-ups around London Town and Topshop clothes.... But in fact the reality was more like taking Steroids, 3 months of Relapsing, Self-Rehabilitation and becoming acquainted with the fantastic NHS that we are fortunate to have access to in the UK. It was pretty scary at times, and pretty painful during others. I experienced the feeling of Guilt (from both my fantastic family taking it out on themselves and from myself), Depression, Anxiety about the future and Anger that this was even happening to me. But I'm so over that dark hole now. WAY over.

To respond to a few questions that i tend to be faced with when people find out my diagnosis.....
No, I wont end up in a wheelchair (not straight away, if ever). No, I have no idea why its happened to me as no-one in my family has it. No, I'm not dying. Yes, I am working a full time job and running my own home perfectly well thank you. Yes I am still the same person i was before this happened, albeit with slightly adjusted priorities these days. Yes I am positive... because you have to be. In life you get out what you put in, and being positive is a sure fire way for me to remain- well, remain ME.

What is Multiple Sclerosis? No its not what babies get... Lord only knows what people are thinking of when they say this to me.
To put very very simply (and i mean very simply): MS is a condition where my white blood cells somehow have got confused and now think my Brain and Optic Nerve (and for others with MS, Spinal cord) are an evil foreign substance that needs to be destroyed. They do this by crossing a barrier between my bloodstream and my Brain. So its all about my White blood cells being a pain-in-the-ass.
There are two main types: Relapsing & Remitting; and Progressive.
I have Relapsing & Remitting MS- which means i may have times in my life when my white blood cells managed to get through the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) and attack the Myelin surrounding my nerves. This is what happens when i relapse- basically a huge inflammation occurs and more damage is made.Then I will have times where I will be in remittance and symptoms will go away.
Its a complex condition and every one of us MS-ers (I find this tag so cute) is unique in our symptoms.

I have been really fortunate to already be on treatment to help prevent more relapses and slow down the progression of any future (chance of) disability. But I have also had to use my Nutritional education to help myself further... more on that in future posts.

If you want to know further information then please please visit the MS Society who do fab fact sheets for everyone- whether you have MS, know someone with MS or just simply want to find out more. But for now, I hope that I've helped to, even slightly, start to explain it all.

I'm going to be adding some MS themed postings to this blog... alongside my nutrition posts, and London discoveries :)

Finally.. I just want to say to all those reading this with MS - don't be ashamed, embarrassed, scared or lonely. You are just one of 2.5 million people in the world who are being amazing, simply by just being you! (Cue some American cheerleader style songs with pom poms and marching band as I say this). To readers who aren't living with MS... don't take a single day for granted. Life is full of surprises so enjoy the ride and never go to sleep on an argument. In fact... that TTN advice goes to everyone.

So... onwards and upwards. No really... I'm moving on with my life in a positive way and bringing MS with me just for the fun of it.  :).

Bring on the Blogging :D and please leave me a comment or two (but be nice please).

Me having my first infusion of Medication with Steroid Bloat ...Sept 2012

Lots of love

xxx TTN xxx