Mrs Joyce Cook – A Personal Story

*Stock photo of carer and client

Joyce is a fifty-something, straight talking divorcee, originally from Ireland. She has a bubbly personality and a great sense of humour. She also has Multiple Sclerosis, or MS for short.

I have known Joyce for a number of years, originally from when I worked in are source centre for adults with disabilities. Joyce attended twice a week and from the first time I met her I admired her determination to re-build her skills and strength and improve her walking. However, she was not attending the resource centre because of Multiple Sclerosis, she was attending because of a brain stem stroke which left her with a right sided weakness and ataxia (problems with poor coordination and slurred speech. Her memory was also affected, and she lost peripheral vision in her left eye.

Following her Stroke, Joyce has made fantastic progress in her rehabilitation, but in a cruel twist of fate, Joyce was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2017 following a routine MRI scan – it was a huge shock as Joyce had not had any Multiple Sclerosis symptoms.

Fortunately, Joyce has so far not experienced any symptoms relating to her Multiple Sclerosis. She has a nominated MS Nurse and is on a disease-modifying therapy. She has a blood test every two months and injections once a week which are designed to keep any progression of her MS and symptoms at bay.

Joyce remains positive and cheerful. She has a wonderful support network - two Live-in Carers who work opposite each other, a Case Manager and team of PAs from Head First which is a specialist brain injury organisation, MS Nurse and Neurologist. Her ongoing rehabilitation includes physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, massage, acupuncture and a home exercise programme which includes vision therapy. One of Joyce’s Live in Carers has been supporting her since 2016 and her other current Carer joined her in 2019. This commitment and continuity of care means a lot to Joyce and means that both she and the Home Carers know each other well and the Livein Carers have an excellent understanding of Joyce’s needs.

The Live-in Carers support her with her personal care, activities of daily living, support with her home exercise programme, keep her home clean and tidy, provide friendship and companionship and enable her to continue living the life she wants in her own home.

Best wishes

Jo

Client Relationship Consultant