Tessa Nielsen

Thanks to all for the support so far.

Last year the challenge was a real struggle for me, not just because I was doing it with a six month old baby attached to me, but because I was going through one of the hardest points of my journey of living with MS. 

This time last year I was in the midst of the full force of a very nasty relapse. The relapse came on suddenly and the symptoms were numbness pretty much all over my body, I lost my balance so found walking very hard, my left arm suffered constant throbbing nerve pain from the damage of the relapse, a pain that no painkillers could reduce even a little bit. The whole of my left arm was numb and I lost a lot of motor function with the numbness. I couldn't use cutlery, I couldn't hold a glass of water in my left hand. I couldn't even control the movement of my finger, hand or arm well enough to do basic things. Getting dressed became a challenge, cooking was difficult. All of this and I had a six months old baby to look after. It was a very hard time for me personally, emotionally, physically and mentally. But I look back now and although it felt like it would never end I see with hindsight how I adapted quickly to my new body's abilities. I see how resilient I was and I have to be proud of myself for coming through it. Today I still have some residual numbness in my hands but the recovery has been exceptional. MS affects those of us who have it and the people closest to us in more ways than most people realise. I must have looked fine to most people because I had to carry on for my little boy. I have James to thank for keeping me going because keeping going is the only way to get through something like that. 

I've lived with this condition for over ten years now, largely without major issues. In 2023 I gave birth to my son. I had a great pregnancy but a traumatic birth. They say that the effects of stress come out after an event, and the trauma of my experience followed by the physical and emotional challenge of becoming a new mum showed physically in me around four months after giving birth. 

I woke one morning to some numbness and tingling in my extremeties, and this rapidly got worse until another morning a few days late I woke up and my whole body was numb from the neck down, bar a few patches. I found it hard to balance and walk, my legs cramped up when I did walk, and I lost the use of my left arm and fingers. I could no longer hold cutlery, a glass of water or do anything that requires precision or dexterity with my left hand. I could not feel my little boy's fingers wrapped around mine. It was devastating and terrifying. My right hand was numb too but thankfully not to the same extreme. Now, over a year later I have thankfully made a huge recovery from this relapse, but I still and will probably always have a loss of sensation in my left hand. 

Thankfully I was able to start a new medication to help manage my symptoms and prevent future attacks in their severity. There is no cure, it is unpredictable and it affects your life in ways you cannot imagine. You wouldn't know there is anything wrong with me to look at me, but I assure you, every little thing I do takes twice as much effort now than it used to do. 

I hope raising funds for research and support will help people like me to retain their mobility, and lifestyle. 

So if you can, I would really appreciate any donation. If you can I would love some company on a walk, because walking and exercise really is the best thing for all of us. 

Thanks for taking the time.