Hello
To all of us members of the MS Society Bristol and South Gloucestershire Branch which I am also a member and I live in Bristol.
I was just wondering whether any of you are going to attend the MS Life 2014 event at the Manchester Central venue in Manchester, it would be good to see you at the event.
I am looking forward to meeting any of the members at the events in 2014.
Trisha x
Hi All
Are there any members of the MS Society Bristol and South Gloucestershire Branch out there that are members of this forum, it would be great to hear from you also is there anybody on this forum that live in Bristol, it would be really good to hear from you on this forum that could reply to my message.
Trisha x
I live in Bristol and am a member of the Bristol etc branch.
I’d love to go to the MS Live thing, but I don’t think I’d survive getting there never mind being up to doing much!
I am still totally exhausted after Christmas. I sat in the car while my other half drove to Portsmouth, then sat in a chair eating all day, then sat in the car while I was driven home! How can that exhaust me so much for many days?
I hope you’re well and fighting fit to get to Manchester!
Hello EllenC Thank you for your reply. I am sorry to hear that you are not feeling well, I hope I am alright for Manchester. I am at present waiting on a MRI Scan of my brain which I had at Frenchay Hospital here in Bristol, I am dreading the result, my neuro is also looking at doing a lumber puncture as well as doing other tests as well. I feel really rather scared and lonely. Trisha xxx
Hello EllenC
Good to hear that you are a member of the Bristol branch as well, I do not know how many members they have got. What part of Bristol are you in? I live in St George.
Trisha xxx
Hi trisha, I dont belong to the ms branch group but live near to u. How do u find the group im only diagnosised a year and, my ms nurse advised me to not go to the ms centre in bristol as I think she thought it would make me more anxious.Im trying hard to not think about ms all the time…which is hard. I think I read so much at the beginning which was negitive and the worse cases that she felt it wouldnt help my state of mind but im in a slightly more positive mind frame now after starting dmds so I might come along, Look forward to chatting to you. Zoe
Hello Zoe
Thank you for your message.
The website address of the Bristol Branch is www.mssocietybristol.co.uk
There has been no events as such so far, they only started this year I think in July, there was supposed to be a wine and cheese evening before christmas but that was cancelled due to lack of numbers and the christmas lunch was also cancelled due to lack of numbers. At the moment I think they are doing Yoga Classes.
I was diagnosed with MS in June 2003 after an MRI Scan on my brain and on my spine they found lessions on my cervical spine and in my brain, but they have not put me into any goup at the moment, the scans were done back in 2003 for another reason and the MS was an incidential find.
I have just had a MRI Scan back earlier this month on my brain at Frenchay Hospital and I am dreading the result, my neurologist did mention about having an lumber puncture and other tests which I am not looking forward to, it;s been a horrible time since 2003, my mum died in 2004 and my dad died in 2007, I have no brothers or sisters and I do not have a partner.
I work full time and at the moment, it is very stressful and I have a new line manager who is trying to take away my reasonable adjustments, so I have a meeting coming up in the new year at work with her, a representative from the Disabled Police Association (I am a police staff employee) and my unison rep.
Like you I try not to think about it because it makes me anxious, but after the results of the tests if I am then put on meds, then like you I will start to feel positive.
I would very much like to come along to any event with you, we could also meet up for coffee somewhere.
Trisha
I live in Stoke Gifford. I’ve never done anything with the group, just joined it and keep paying the membership fees lol
zoe - when I was diagnosed my MS nurse told me not to look up anything about MS on any site other than the MS Trust site. The MS Therapy Centre wasn’t in Bradley Stoke then so that wasn’t an issue for me.
I can understand why they say that. You can very quickly get the impression that it’s all doom and gloom when you’re diagnosed. Literally that you’ll get all the worst symptoms by next week. So getting information in a controlled way that is relevant to you is really essential. Forums can be very scary because they are where people come for support. Which means that they are in need of support! But the majority of people who don’t need support don’t post on the forum. Which makes sense.
The trouble with the MS Therapy Centre is that there are lots of MSers there with obvious mobility issues, which can freak you out. It’s why I’ve avoided the ms society until now. I need support but not to hear people who need lots of support too. We all needs some positivity in our lives, but sometimes we can’t cope with anything negative.
I promise to try and be positive! It’s hard sometimes but I’m feeling good in myself at the moment 
Hello EllenC
Yes you are right we all need lots of positivity in our lives, and yes negativity can bring us down. I have joined the local branch of the MS Society and the other things to be able to speak to other people and for us all to know that none of us are alone, there will always be someone you can speak to and share your ups and downs with.
Lets all have more of the up moments.
Trisha
Hi Trisha.
I’m not a member yet, but gonna look into it I think.
I’m in the same boat as Ellen. I would be up to getting to Manchester. I think it would finish me off to be honest. I am struggling too after a hectic Christmas.
Don’t worry about having the tests. I had all mine done at Frenchay and they were lovely there. I had MRI, LP and VEP tests done. The VEP was done at the Burden Centre, which, as you probably already know, is at Frenchay Hospital too.
Hope it all goes well and you have a good time in Manchester.
Shazzie xx
Hello Shazzie
Thank you for your reply, your comments about the tests were very kind and you are right about the staff at Frenchay they are really nice, my MS Nurse at Frenchay is really nice.
It would be good if you were to join our local MS Branch the more of us that join the better, it would be nice to get to know people and perhaps for us all to meet up perhaps from time to time.
I am sorry that I have not responded till time time in the day, I work full time and have just got in from work, I do not know how I am managing I am realy struggling with chronic fatigue, balance problems and mobility problems, you probably seen in the above message to Zoe that I have a new line manager at work and she is being very unfair to me, I have a meeting coming up with her, someone from Human Resources, a man from disabled police association (I work as police staff) and I will have my Unison rep there at the meeting as well, my line manager is trying to stop my reasonable adjustments which have been in place for the last three years, she is also trying to make me work till 5:00 pm in the till 5:00 pm rota, I start work at 07:00 am every day. The meeting is next Tuesday 7th October so I am dreading it and hoping that she gets told that she cannot do what she is planning, today she tried to tell me to get on with a job that I was already in the middle of, when I told her that I was already doing this job, she told me I should have started it earlier, so I told her that I had been busy doing other urgent work and that I knew I had to do it and that it has not been forgotten.
This is just a smal sample what I have to put up with at work at the moment, it is so stressful I could do without it, I am sure all this stress is making my MS worse.
I am sorry to go on so much about my problems with work and everything else, I know what I ment to ask you I think I know what the abbreviations are but I am not sure I take LP is a lumber puncture and VEP is visual evolked potentials, what do they test for in VEP, I have heard of it but did not know what the test involves.
I hope all my tests go well to and I am looking forward to having a good time in manchester, there will be the added bonus of not only having a few days rest but it will be good to get away from my boss who does not understand my health problems.
Trisha xx