Living with Multiple Sclerosis.

'Me, Myself & M.S.'

Fife, Scotland
Photography & Text by Sofia Conti.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) within the UK have around 130,000 people who live with the condition. A study conducted by the MS Society (2022) indicated that at least 7,000 new MS cases were identified that year. Within Scotland there are around 15,870 people who have MS, when that is broken down it highlights 1 in every 350 individuals live with the condition (MS Society 2022). Various studies show that women are twice as likely to get MS than men. In the UK 73% of MS suffers are women. Alice is a woman who was diagnosed with MS around 30 years ago. Now aged 81 years Alice is just one of the 8,970 women that are over 75 years old who live with MS in the UK. MS in the basic sense when a person’s immune system starts to attack the brain and the nerves. There is not a definitive answer of why this occurs, but evidence suggests it could potentially be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. (NHS 2023).

Photo above:
In the living room watching the world go by since she can no longer leave her home unattended.

Alice lives in her semi-detached house with her husband Mike, but sadly can no longer manoeuvre upstairs due to her deterioration in health. A bell has been installed so she can ring Mike in the middle of the night if she requires assistance. Alice has a room downstairs that has been adapted into a bedroom with an en suite. This has allowed Alice to maintain some of her independence along with giving her more comfort with some added appliances e.g., walk in shower to make her life a little easier.
The condition is slowly debilitating, and it has halted Alice from leaving her home unattended, and unfortunately has spent more time in and out of hospital. MS in a sense has not just a prisoner in her own home and trapped within her own body.

Alice, however, is not the kind of person to let things get her down. She talks fondly about how fulfilling her life has been as a wife, a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Thankfully, due to Alice’s happy go lucky attitude she does not let her MS and other medical conditions get her down. Alice’s home is never empty with so many families and friends who visit daily. She might not be able to leave her home, but she still is connected to so many people. Alice likes nothing more than to interact on social media to see what everyone has been getting up to.

With MS the life expectancy can be lowered anything between 5-10 years but consider-ing what Alice has been through over the last 30 years of the condition it has not stopped her yet (MS Society 2022). Alice claims living each day to the fullest, having a loving family unit, a positive outlook on life and her faith is what has kept her going all these years. Alice is definitely a fighter and is a prime example to everyone on what we should appreciate most in life.

Photo below:
On Alice’s good days she likes to spend time in the living room.

Thanks for reading.