Six years ago, Katie O’Loughlin was experiencing numbness and weakness. The fatigue was immense and she was always feeling tired, but she and doctors put the symptoms down to stress and being overworked.
It was only when she lost movement on the right side of her body that she was sent to the hospital’s emergency department.
Originally, they believed she had a brain tumour, but when a neurologist thought she saw a lesion on O’Loughlin’s spinal cord, it was the first time multiple sclerosis (MS) came into the conversation.
MS is a condition that causes damage to the nerves in the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord. The symptoms vary from person to person, but can affect mobility, communication and cognition.
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“I went nearly completely blind. They thought it was a stroke, then they said it was a brain tumour. I was relieved it wasn’t a brain tumour, but I was also dealing with the grief of the diagnosis,” she said.
Her grandfather had the same disease but he died in the 1960s when there was no treatment, and the progression of the condition was quite rapid.
“It was a lot to delve into. I should’ve sought counselling sooner than I did, really, but it was Covid. But 10 years earlier, the diagnosis would have been very different. The disease-modifying therapies have really come a long way,” she said.
The 44-year-old mother of two, living in Galway, said she has to take each day as it comes as they can be “completely different”.
“There’s lots of adapting and lots of learning how to manage. For me, fatigue is the biggest problem. My vision can drop. There can be internal tremors, that feel like you’re shaking but you’re not. I can get nerve pain down my right leg,” she said.
“Recently, I’ve started to get a hot, burning pain in my feet. I have cognitive issues; my memory is not as good as it was.”
She receives an infusion in Merlin Park hospital once a month, which helps keep her symptoms managed, and she has not had a flare up since her time in hospital in April 2020.
This has allowed her to continue her dog-grooming business, something she was worried about when diagnosed.
“I did have to downsize, but grooming is a passion of mine, I love it so much and I’d be lost without it.”
Mentally, O’Loughlin highlights a positive change in attitude following her diagnosis.
“It has also given me gifts in life. What I think matters has completely changed. You have to make the most of now, not living in your head worrying about things. Life has a new tint to it and it’s beautiful.”
[ Multiple sclerosis: What does the future hold as treatments improve?Opens in new window ]
O’Loughlin was speaking as part of MS Ireland’s awareness day campaign, which seeks to challenge misconceptions and remind people with the diagnosis “they are not alone”.
Ava Battles, chief executive of MS Ireland, said the awareness day is important to “recognise the many different experiences of people living with multiple sclerosis across Ireland”.
“Multiple sclerosis affects over 11,000 people across Ireland, yet there is still limited public understanding of the condition and the impact it can have on every aspect of a person’s life,” she said.
“Too often, people living with MS encounter misconceptions because many symptoms are invisible or fluctuate from day to day. In reality, many people with MS are working, parenting, studying and contributing fully to their communities while managing symptoms that others may not see.”
Battles said it is a “complex, lifelong neurological condition”.
“Some people may have visible symptoms, while many others live with hidden symptoms such as fatigue, pain, cognitive difficulties, changes in mobility or vision, and the uncertainty of not knowing how they will feel from one day to the next.”
