A female Australian cricketer has revealed the first symptoms
that alerted her to the fact she had multiple sclerosis.
By CLAUDIA POPOSKI FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
15 May 2019
Ms Jemma Barsby, now 23 years old, told Daily Mail Australia how
she initially missed her symptoms because she assumed she was sore from playing
cricket.
'I'd just been invited to a training camp with the Australian
women's cricket team, and I went from bowling no overs to 30 overs in the
weekend,' she said.
'I came out of it with a sore shoulder and at that time I
thought nothing of it.'
However, when her fingers began to go numb that is when she
visited her team doctor.
What she thought was a shoulder injury was in fact MS and she
kept it private until she was able to get her head around her diagnosis.
That wasn't her only concern when it came to her diagnosis.
She said that when she was diagnosed at 19, she had all these
thoughts running through her head about whether this would end her cricketing
career.
'To be honest I try not to think about it,' she said on how
she feels about it now.
'Like every athlete your career comes to an end but I’m
hoping I get to finish when I would like.'
Ms Barsby has the same stance when it come to her personal
relationships.
'I try not to think about it, especially while I’m still
young,' she said.
'I'm hoping as I get older, we can find a cure and definitely
go down the right track, but it’s looking positive at this stage.
'But when first being diagnosed, like everyone else, all
those thoughts were running through my head - especially the thought of being
in a wheelchair.'
Now she is turning her efforts to helping raise awareness for
the disease - something she knew nothing about when she was diagnosed with it.
The Kiss Goodbye to MS ambassador said that exercise is an
important part of managing the illness and that The May 50K challenge is a
timely reminder for that.
What is multiple sclerosis?
MS affects the central nervous system and interferes with
nerve impulses in the brain and spinal cord.
More progressive forms of MS can lead to worsening physical
and psychological issues.
Currently 25,600 Australians suffer from MS with ten new
diagnoses a week.
The disease affects more young people than any other acquired
chronic neurological disease in Australia.
Three quarters of people diagnosed with MS are women with the
average age being 35.
There is currently no cure for MS.
The challenge encourages people to walk 50 kilometers over
the month to raise money for search for MS Research Australia to help
understand how diet and exercise play a role in managing the disease.
Despite her raising awareness for the disease, she doesn't
feel like she is different from anyone else with MS.
'It's very scary at the start, but once you live with it for
a bit, you get to know your limitations,' she said.
'But I'm definitely trying to use my voice to help people
know what MS is and how they can help, because at the start I had no idea what
MS was.
'I'm just thankful I can give back in some way to the people
that have it worse off than me.'
Dr Yasmine Probst, a dietitian who is also living with MS, is
leading research to improve methods that review how diet can affect the
disease.
'While we don't know exactly why MS occurs, there are several
modifiable lifestyle factors that relate to the progression of MS,' she said.
'These factors include sun exposure, stress, exercise and
healthy eating.'
Diet has been seen to impact other chronic diseases.
She said researchers have found a common interest in how
modifiable lifestyle factors that relate to MS with Multiple Sclerosis Research
Australia coordinating these efforts.
Dr Yasmine Probst was diagnosed with MS at the age of 22 as
she was in the middle of her doctoral research, and she started to become numb
in her feet.
She ignored this and it slowly began to creep up her legs.
'By the point where it had reached just past my knees, I realized
that ignoring it was no longer possible as it was starting to have an impact on
my walking,' she said.
She was admitted to hospital and she was diagnosed with
relapsing remitting MS, which is the most common form.
Similar to Ms Barsby, the dietitian only told her family,
close friends and the colleagues who noticed she had disappeared in the
research unit she worked in as she wanted to be 'normal'.
'I was also of the impression that if I told too many people,
they would feel sorry for me and treat me differently,' she said.
'Occasionally people would hear that I have MS and would
hesitantly ask me about my MS, but I continued my studies and then my
subsequent working life telling myself I was the same as everyone else.'
After her second pregnancy her MS symptoms returned to their
pre-pregnancy level, as women with MS can be almost symptom-free during
pregnancy.
However she continued to breastfeed her children, meaning
that that she couldn't take her medication.
'Somewhere in the midst of looking after three children while
working I forgot to think about myself. My kids and husband came first,' she
said.
'The time when I finally realized that I needed to take
control and focus on me again saw a seven year gap between neurologist
appointments.
'A recent MRI showed that my disease had progressed to a
moderate disease state, but my healthy lifestyle had allowed me to appear as a
relatively healthy person. I was told I was a "clinical imaging
paradox" meaning that what was seen on screen in my MRI was contradictory
to was observed in person.'
She now focuses on a combination of diet and exercise, and
notices how her body reacts if she strays too far away from it.
Now, because at the current stage there are no guidelines for
MS sufferers and a lot of information is anecdotal, she is working on reducing
misinformation.
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