A Glasgow doctor diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) is sharing her battle with the condition in support of a World MS Day campaign. Dr Victoria Appleton, a mother-of-two and a part-time chronic pain doctor in Newlands, used to treat patients with MS before being diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) in 2011. The 43-year-old is joining MS Society Scotland and communities worldwide to back the My MS Diagnosis: Navigating MS Together campaign.
She said: "Of course, it was a shock when I was diagnosed. "No one wants to hear the words 'you have MS'. I cried, I cried a lot.
I needed time for things to sink in. “As a doctor, I had come across many people with MS in my working life and my view was certainly that this was a condition that was going to make my life far more difficult. "I was aware of the uncertainty living with MS would cause and I have found that probably the most difficult thing to come to terms with over the years.
"Because of that I try to live in the moment, enjoying every day as it comes, knowing some days will be easier than others.” MS, a condition affecting the brain and spinal cord, impacting movement, thought, and feelings, is a reality for more than 17,000 people in Scotland. Dr Appleton's symptoms include pain, sensory problems, balance, cognitive difficulties including struggling with word-finding, vertigo, and affected sleep.
However, the symptoms she finds toughest to deal with and talk about is fatigue and bladder issues. The member of M.
