Founder's Blog #36

I hope everybody’s Christmas provided some magic moments. For Sportin MS, the New Year promises progress and development for the charity in all sorts of areas. One thing we are particularly proud of and keen to continue, is the expansion of our network and catchment to include not only new members and supporters but also other MS sufferers. Our 2024 goals are already in motion with the East Surrey Hospital partnership continuing to develop and build momentum.

Recently, we hosted a wonderful Wreath Making workshop. Thank you to all that attended and contributed. We managed to raise £680! It was a wonderful evening with great leadership from Ann Tompkin and Wendy. Some lovely photos are on the way so keep an eye on the News page of the website. The demand was so high that we had to turn people away! So maybe next time, we will have two sittings.

A new supporter of Sportin MS, Inn On The Pond in Merstham, has successfully sold Sportin MS Christmas Cards and promotes the charity to all the punters. The pub/restaurant has been incredibly willing to get involved with the charity and has some great plans in the making. Another brilliant surprise came to our attention when Cheralyn Harrington organised a table tennis fundraiser at her work, Mott MacDonald and raised £175, all for Sportin MS! Thank you Cheralyn! On that note, if anyone would like to put on an event at work, at a sports club, within the community, or has any ideas for an event, large or small, please do get in touch. We would be more than happy to assist and provide a helping hand where we can to make it easier and hopefully more profitable for all.

Ok, so over to the serious stuff; it has been a while since I’ve had an MRI. People diagnosed with MS have annual MRIs to check the progression of the disease and if there are more lesions either in the brain, spine or both. The procedure is a pretty gruelling hour-and-a-half ordeal with a cage-like enclosure over the face and some extra time in the tunnel for an injection of dye in to the body, to show up on the scan. As usual, the process calls for some mental and emotional stamina. Firstly, I received the results of my MRI through the post with one sentence – “there are more lesions which will be discussed at your next appointment “– that will be July 2024. As a Secondary Progressive MS patient, more often than not this process reconfirms a consistent decline, without much variation. However, the blasé and unemotional delivery of the news, via a ‘copy and paste’ letter in, is simply unacceptable. When I have aches and pains or fatigue, part of me is always hoping to blame my age, overworking in the gym or my menopause. This letter, horribly bluntly slaps me in the face and basically says ‘nope, your disease has gotten worse and you can’t discuss it with us for another six months’. This is exactly what motivates me to accelerate the plans we have at Sportin MS to collaborate with East Surrey Hospital. MS patients need more than what they are getting, somewhere to go and someone to talk to. People should be able to have discussions with others who understand, others who have experienced the same thing and people who share the same struggles and emotions. We can’t wait to turn our vision in to a reality in 2024.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year. And all of us at Sportin MS would like to thank everyone for such a successful and positive year.

Lots of love,

Antoinette