Former manager of Cobbs and Fielders Farm Shops, Jo Fielder was diagnosed with MS about 3 years ago.
MS is a debilitating and currently incurable disease but Jo is finding the strength to get on with her life as positively as possible. She is about to embark on a Ridgeway Challenge to raise £10,000 for the MS Society and the Riding for the Disabled Association.
Starting on the 10th June from Overton Hill near Avebury, she is going to walk 87 miles in 7 consecutive days. That’s almost a half marathon every day for a week. She hopes to arrive at Ivinghoe Beacon near Tring in Herts on the 16th June.
For some, this might sound like a walk in the park. But with an MS MonSter in tow, this will be far from easy. However, Jo’s husband Jake will be on hand with a wheelbarrow to push her to the finish if needs be! She will also horse-ride a short section when she goes past the Lambourn branch of the RDA, accompanied by Sam Orde, the national Chairman of the RDA.
Please support Jo by making a donation here.
Jo’s Story
Hi, I’m Jo. The little critter in the picture is my MS MonSter. It arrived in my life about 3 years ago and turned my world upside down. It destroyed my career, bashed me round the head, periodically set my legs in concrete and generally disrupts my day with all sorts of mischief. Its favourite trick is to either hang on my leg or stab me in the shin. I can’t fight it off so I am learning to live with it. We go everywhere together and have a fairly unpleasant ‘hate hate’ relationship!
Having spent the last 3 years under the care of an excellent neurologist and team of nurses, I am starting to establish my ‘new normal’ and finding ways to deal with this irritating, horrible and currently incurable disease. I have been on a drip-fed drug therapy every 4 weeks for over 2 years now which is helping to reduce the MonSter’s mischievous ways to something more manageable.
I am now in a place where I can start to rebuild my life, with my MonSter in tow. I’m not sure where this new path will take me but I am optimistic and I remain hopeful that one day, someone will wave the magic wand that makes my little MonSter disappear from my life completely.
If you would like to find out more about what my life is like with MS please follow my blog Multiple What?! Multiple Sclerosis? Me? Don’t be ridiculous.
Save
Save
Author: Penny Post
Penny Post is a community notice board serving West Berkshire, Wantage, Swindon, Marlborough and surrounding areas so there
