Mums with 'wobbly legs'

10:39am Friday 25th April 2008

Multiple sclerosis affects thousands of people in the UK. Health Editor Barry Nelson talks to young mothers with the condition to mark MS Awareness Week

THE sound of lively chatter and laughter greets you as you enter the church hall and somehow you can't help smiling. Cups of tea in hand, a group of women sit around tables chatting while their children happily play at the other end of the hall.

At first sight it looks as if this could be any church hall meeting in the country. But the unique thing about this regular gathering at Elm Ridge Methodist Church Hall in the west end of Darlington is that all the women have multiple sclerosis, or MS, the most common neurological disorder affecting young adults in the UK.

"Most of us have wobbled into the hall with the aid of a stick, leaning on somebody's arm, or in my case, in a wheelchair," says Helen Nicholls, 39, a former junior school teacher who helped set up the Darlington and District MS Young Mums group six years ago.

MS is the result of damage to the protective coating surrounding the nerve fibres of the central nervous system. This interferes with the messages between the brain and other parts of the body.

The condition affects everyone differently: some people have periods of relapse and remission, but for others there is a progressive pattern. Commonly, MS sufferers find it increasingly difficult to walk, but the condition can affect virtually every part of the body. There is no cure, although research into the condition is continuing and new drugs are constantly being developed.

In Helen's case, her first symptoms were when she suddenly went blind in her right eye. Four months later, it affected both eyes. While her vision is now restored, the condition means she is unable to move her right leg and has limited movement in her right hand. But she finds the Young Mums group so helpful that she does her damnedest to get along.

The group was set up by women belonging to the Darlington and District MS Society. Apart from the mums' group - which Helen believes is very unusual in MS circles - the Darlington MS Society also runs a Tuesday Support Group, a men's day and a twice-a-month physiotherapy group.

"Laughing and joking together does you the power of good," says Helen. "This can help you feel happy and well in yourself, despite the fact that you have to cope every day with such a serious condition."

The group is also important for the group's children, who dash up and down shrieking with laughter as the mums chat together. "The meetings help them to see other mums with 'wobbly legs'. This can help the children to feel that they are not alone and that it's not just their mum who has MS," says Helen.

Sue Gardner, 43, another regular at the group, has had MS for 17 years. "Everybody has different symptoms: for me, it started with pins and needles. At one stage I was paralysed from the waist down, had to be in hospital for three weeks but was able to walk out under my own steam," says Sue, who has been able to continue working in a bank.

Despite her illness, she has had two children, Tim, 14, and Adam, aged nine. "They both know that mum can't walk very well," says Sue, who lives in Darlington. "When you are first diagnosed, you think you are the only one but look, there are all these lovely ladies," she says.

Sue Craythorne, also from Darlington, was struck down by MS in July 2000 in the most dramatic way. "I do a lot of travelling through my job as a clinical research associate for a medical devices company," says Sue. "I was in Austria on business when I suddenly couldn't feel anything from the waist down. I was able to walk, but I was just totally numb."

A member of the group for three years, Sue says it has helped her make new friends.

Care home deputy manager Tracey French, 38, from Spennymoor, County Durham, guessed she had MS two years before she was diagnosed.

"Because I am a nurse, I just knew," says Tracey, who has a five-year-old daughter, Caitlin. "I can still walk. It is just getting worse gradually. It also affects memory," says Tracey, who was forced to move back in with her parents.

Tracey really values the group and loves to gossip with her friends.

Jeannie Young, 45, who grew up in Bishop Auckland, but now lives in Brompton on Swale, North Yorkshire, developed "tingling" sensations six months after giving birth to her daughter, Eleanor, who is nine.

"It took a while to get a diagnosis. It is shocking and horrible to find out, but at least you know what it is and you can deal with," says Jeannie, who has been coming to the group from the very early days.

"Sometimes people will come up with some really practical advice, which is good. It is just nice to know that if you have a particular problem, someone who has MS will understand."

Poignantly, Sue Gardner's eldest son wants to study medicine when he is older. "He wants to find a cure for MS," she says.

* MS Society helpline: Freephone 0808-800-8000.

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