Diagnosis. Ive told you a small snippet about my mum and the kind of person she was. Caring, loving, strong, proud and independent. But in August 2004 all that changed. Mums diagnosis didnt come easy. Mainly down to the lack of knowledge from the GP and the long process of elimination around testing were most things are ruled out long before they would consider MND. In June 2004 mums shoulder started feeling heavy. She went to the GP who said it was possibly the onset of arthritis but not being 100% sure no treatment was recommended. In July 2004 her words became slurred. As if she had been drinking. We used to wind her up about it and she would laugh. We also noticed she was very emotional about everything and anything. We thought she had suffered a stroke and back to the GP we went but that was ruled out. Towards the end of July when her voice was worse than ever and she struggled to swallow large items of food along with the slurring of words becoming very noticeable the doc tested for throat cancer and we prepared for the worse. Mum was a heavy smoker and we naturally believed that it would come back positive. But within days the tests for cancer came back clear. So more tests!! With no idea what they were testing for!! And in the meantime mum found it very hard to swallow and her speech rapidly deteriorated. She became embarrassed to speak to people and started sending others to the shop, avoiding phone calls and ignoring neighbours. She also gave up her work, which she loved and with this she became depressed. On the 23rd of August 2004 the GP gave my mum her diagnosis. MND. At this point we had no idea what it was, how it would develop and what treatment she could have. Within days we all knew exactly what it was, that it would develop fast and there was no treatment and no cure. I then wished it had been throat cancer or a stroke. At least with these there is treatment. Hope. Answers. Chance and possibly cure. My mum just cried. For hours, days even. My family fell apart. And the realisation that my mum, this force to be reckoned with, would be reduced to a terminally ill, frail and vulnerable person was just too much for me to handle. Mum was dying in front of our eyes. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. That was the end of life as we knew it forever. Research is vital in providing quicker diagnosis, accurate prognosis and better quality of care. With the right research, who knows? In time they may find a cure. My trek will raise much needed cash to help fund this research. Please donate, it really is essential. For mum x
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 18:34:14 +0000
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