Linda Richardson

I was recently married, with a young baby, a toddler and step son living with us the a hot and dry mining town of Central Queensland when things started to go a little weird. First my big toes went numb, to be followed by extreme fatigue, and later in the year 1/2 my body went numb. I had my first symptom of MS in the winter of 2000, my first major relapse November 2000, and received a definitive diagnosis in January of 2001. Living in central qld in the early 2000's it was an interesting experience of country regional dr's, trips to Emerald for CT scans, and then Rockhampton Base hospital for a MRI, and then down to Brisbane for a lumbar puncture. Although those days are a blur of fatigue, pain and weakness, I still remember the nausea and breaking out in a sweat just from the effort of standing up. Treatment was started, but not much was known about MS, really, and next to nothing in Central Qld! I was told then it I was like a 1 in 100,000 event! The years rolled on with several big relapses, stays in hospital, and loss of mobility, and the use of my right arm. Many times I have had to 're-boot' and start again - first walking to the letterbox, then walking to the lamp post, then the next corner, then walking around the 'small block' (around 600m), and then the 'big block' (around 1.2km) - progress was slow, but I kept pushing. In 2006, being my worst relapse, a 3 week stay in hospital left me significantly impaired, and it took 4 years to get strength and walking ability back to where I had been before. In recent years, the various treatments have continued to be improved, and while the early days the side affects were horrible, I am very grateful now to not have many side affects and my MS is stable. I am also grateful for the support, love and encouragement from all my family, but especially my husband, Eddie. I am running a little, walking daily, and have started cycling! I hope to exceed the 150km - but I just want to raise awareness of the disease and help support the much needed research for a cure!