Hi there! It’s been a long long long long time since I posted on this blog. There’s lots of reasons I could give…one being the little man that I gave birth to in Nov. 09, another was me thinking that I could could stop taking my meeds and still function. I started to wonder when I could no longer focus my eyes or think straight though a very very foggy brain. I hadn’t realized over the last 14 months how affected I was until I started feeling better. So now that I am, it’s time to get onto more important things! Let’s talk about my lovely friend Donna DeLorme!
Donna was diagnosed with MS in 1996, after a few bouts with optic neuritis. She was told that her MS was relapsing-remitting and that she would not likely have many problems. This wasn’t to be so, and just two years later she started having tingling and numbness in her right hand, a foot that dragged when she was tired, and blurred vision. As with anyone with a busy life, (I’ve been guilty of this for the entirety of my life so far) she ignored her body and symptoms and continued to work, even taking a very stressful job ’99. Within two weeks, she was blind in one eye, could barely walk and could not move the right side of her body.
Donna is one of the bravest people I know. She managed to keep her independence for many years by setting up a business and working from home. She eschewed the MS injections as they were not helping and making her feel horribly ill. She’s managed all this time with supplements and exercises, diet modifications and lots and lots of water…but unfortunately MS has her firmly in it’s grip and last year after quite a long stint in a care facility, she truly thought that she wouldn’t be able to come home again and would have to give up her beloved kittehs, Pita and Pepper. I’m sure it was through sheer force of will that Donna did come home, she managed to get things sorted with the help of friends and family and move into an apartment better suited to her needs and arrange just enough home care to get by.
Last July Donna went to Costa Rica to undergo Angioplasty treatment (read about CCSVI here) but was under-treated according to her latest diagnostics. Angioplasty for CCSVI is a hot topic, and is quite controversial, and many countries, including Canada do not allow the procedure. Here in Britain, the first treatments were done at a private clinic in Ediburgh in October of last year. So though you can have the procedure in the UK, it is not something available under the NHS.
We all had such great hopes for her treatment in Costa Rica, and to anyone who knows Donna, just the dramatic change in the way she looked after treatment was enough to make us believers. Unfortunately, her symptoms didn’t improve enough to give her the life-changing results that we were all hoping for. She needs further treatment and perhaps stents to keep the veins open and the blood flowing and that means a second treatment in America. Family and a few friends paid for the last procedure, and cannot afford to do so a second time.
Here’s where you come in! This is your chance to make a real change in the life of someone wonderful….someone who is a huge supporter of great music, a fighter, a lover, a loyal friend, someone who doesn’t take life for granted. So many of us never think about getting out of bed in the morning, being able to take ourselves to the bathroom, or make ourselves and our loved ones a meal. I can’t imagine not being able to reach out an pick up my son, to throw him up in the air while he squeals with delight…so many things
that I do without thinking on a day to day basis that are a struggle or just plain impossible for Donna. we’re putting together a wonderful compilation of great music…songs donated by some of the best musicians that can be found. All proceeds will go to help pay for Donna’s procedure. In the meantime, read her story, peruse her blog, and give a little something to help her out. Just a quid if you’ve not got much…believe me, it’ll help. We’ll let you know when we get the comp underway! Thanks for listening and for your help! Much love, Lo.
