Post by Archief on Feb 7, 2014 16:25:48 GMT
(archief van oude forum oms.yourbb.nl)
libello
Geplaatst: 16 sep 2013, 16:32
bron: www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/Community/What-Others-Say/
libello
Geplaatst: 16 sep 2013, 16:32
Everything to gain and nothing to lose
My sporadic loss of balance was unnerving. Before I saw my doctor I did my homework and knew some of the likely causes. MS was one of them and one of the worst, so when I was finally diagnosed with it in 2004 I knew enough to be scared.
A school friend of mine had his first MS symptoms at the age of 15 and died a decade ago in his mid forties, bedridden. Our most prominent MS sufferer is also one of our most famous sporting stars, sprinter Betty Cuthbert. Cuthbert won four Olympic golds and set multiple world records; she now spends her days in a wheelchair. MS is a frightening disease. No-one beats it.
Well, almost no-one, and my neurologist had nothing to offer me but that slim straw. About one in twenty MS patients remains fully functional and experiences ‘only’ cognitive dysfunction and short-term memory problems. He said I might be one of those lucky ones. It was not reassuring news.
In my panic after diagnosis I remembered a TV show about a Western Australian medical professor who had MS and thought he could stop it progressing. I found and consumed his book. George Jelinek made a convincing case which was all the more persuasive for the lack of competing treatments. There are (very expensive) drugs out there to slow the downward spiral of MS, but nothing to stop it. His regimen of ultra-healthy diet, Vitamin D, exercise and meditation is disruptive and challenging, but the only game in town.
But does it all work? Consider that the worst that can happen from this therapy is that, MS aside, you become fit and healthy. This is no snake-oil or faith cure. No-one makes a cent, aside from your local fishmonger and greengrocer as you upgrade to a first class diet. I have met Professor Jelinek on several occasions. He is fit and well, a decade into his illness. You get the feeling he has found the true meaning of medicine as he spreads the word of his treatment amongst MS sufferers. He has reason to be passionately uncompromising: his mother took her own life after suffering years of MS disability.
Four years on from my own diagnosis, I am not symptom-free. I suffer from the most common symptom, fatigue, but I still work and I am in far better shape than I have a right to expect for a man diagnosed at the age of 51. Nothing is certain, but men and late-comers to MS generally fare worse than women and people diagnosed mid-life. I am doing very well in comparison, and better than many of my fellow sufferers.
This treatment has offered me everything to gain and nothing to lose. So far the ledger is balanced well in my favour.
- David Robertson
Jun 2008
Canberra
The most improved MRI I have seen
It was a normal Sunday when I woke and just didn’t feel right. I then noticed that my balance was getting worse and thinking that I had an inner ear infection headed off to the GP. After a few simple tests he sent me to the local hospital for an MRI. Confirmed by a neurologist I had relapsing-remitting MS, but this was only the beginning. I then spent the next two months in hospital with two more relapses in the following 4 weeks and getting rehab daily to re-learn how to do even the simplest of tasks. The specialist in the rehab program never thought I would walk without an aid again.
I had more support than I ever expected from family and friends and whilst in hospital I was given 2 copies of George’s book. I had also been studying and my friends at University through generosity and determination found the time to hold a fund raiser. The money was used to send me to the retreat at the Gawler Foundation. Not only did I meet great people, but I learned strategies to help me keep my relapses at bay.
I’ve been well ever since, with nil relapses and I have started studying again and was not at all reluctant to have a second MRI a year later when my neurologist suggested it. The results were, well, fantastically awesome. We both looked over the initial MRI and then he put up the latest. He was surprised and astounded by the what he saw. The lesions were either significantly reduced or gone altogether. His quote to me was “This is the most drastically improved MRI I have ever seen”.
Sharing this story, I hope it gives others a positive attitude and maybe a little inspiration.
- Renee
Jul 2009
Victoria
My sporadic loss of balance was unnerving. Before I saw my doctor I did my homework and knew some of the likely causes. MS was one of them and one of the worst, so when I was finally diagnosed with it in 2004 I knew enough to be scared.
A school friend of mine had his first MS symptoms at the age of 15 and died a decade ago in his mid forties, bedridden. Our most prominent MS sufferer is also one of our most famous sporting stars, sprinter Betty Cuthbert. Cuthbert won four Olympic golds and set multiple world records; she now spends her days in a wheelchair. MS is a frightening disease. No-one beats it.
Well, almost no-one, and my neurologist had nothing to offer me but that slim straw. About one in twenty MS patients remains fully functional and experiences ‘only’ cognitive dysfunction and short-term memory problems. He said I might be one of those lucky ones. It was not reassuring news.
In my panic after diagnosis I remembered a TV show about a Western Australian medical professor who had MS and thought he could stop it progressing. I found and consumed his book. George Jelinek made a convincing case which was all the more persuasive for the lack of competing treatments. There are (very expensive) drugs out there to slow the downward spiral of MS, but nothing to stop it. His regimen of ultra-healthy diet, Vitamin D, exercise and meditation is disruptive and challenging, but the only game in town.
But does it all work? Consider that the worst that can happen from this therapy is that, MS aside, you become fit and healthy. This is no snake-oil or faith cure. No-one makes a cent, aside from your local fishmonger and greengrocer as you upgrade to a first class diet. I have met Professor Jelinek on several occasions. He is fit and well, a decade into his illness. You get the feeling he has found the true meaning of medicine as he spreads the word of his treatment amongst MS sufferers. He has reason to be passionately uncompromising: his mother took her own life after suffering years of MS disability.
Four years on from my own diagnosis, I am not symptom-free. I suffer from the most common symptom, fatigue, but I still work and I am in far better shape than I have a right to expect for a man diagnosed at the age of 51. Nothing is certain, but men and late-comers to MS generally fare worse than women and people diagnosed mid-life. I am doing very well in comparison, and better than many of my fellow sufferers.
This treatment has offered me everything to gain and nothing to lose. So far the ledger is balanced well in my favour.
- David Robertson
Jun 2008
Canberra
The most improved MRI I have seen
It was a normal Sunday when I woke and just didn’t feel right. I then noticed that my balance was getting worse and thinking that I had an inner ear infection headed off to the GP. After a few simple tests he sent me to the local hospital for an MRI. Confirmed by a neurologist I had relapsing-remitting MS, but this was only the beginning. I then spent the next two months in hospital with two more relapses in the following 4 weeks and getting rehab daily to re-learn how to do even the simplest of tasks. The specialist in the rehab program never thought I would walk without an aid again.
I had more support than I ever expected from family and friends and whilst in hospital I was given 2 copies of George’s book. I had also been studying and my friends at University through generosity and determination found the time to hold a fund raiser. The money was used to send me to the retreat at the Gawler Foundation. Not only did I meet great people, but I learned strategies to help me keep my relapses at bay.
I’ve been well ever since, with nil relapses and I have started studying again and was not at all reluctant to have a second MRI a year later when my neurologist suggested it. The results were, well, fantastically awesome. We both looked over the initial MRI and then he put up the latest. He was surprised and astounded by the what he saw. The lesions were either significantly reduced or gone altogether. His quote to me was “This is the most drastically improved MRI I have ever seen”.
Sharing this story, I hope it gives others a positive attitude and maybe a little inspiration.
- Renee
Jul 2009
Victoria
bron: www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/Community/What-Others-Say/