I’m on top of the world thanks to MS wonder drug
...and back to doing things like THIS after 2 years of sheer hell
STRUCK down with crippling fatigue and agonising nerve pain, she was barely able to get out of bed.
But two years after doctors told her she was suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), Ginty Telfer-Wilkes has revealed that an experimental drug has helped her beat the debilitating symptoms of the disease.
Her testimony offers hope to thousands of others who have been devastated by MS.
The 42-year-old told The Scottish Mail on Sunday that the new ‘wonder drug’ has transformed her life, and even allowed her to return to her favourite hobbies – hill-walking and mountaineering.
Speaking from her home in the Highland village of Muir of Ord, she said: ‘Since the trial I have felt absolutely brilliant.
‘I have not had any major fatigue or any symptoms except the odd tingly fingers. It really is a new hope for people like me with MS as it holds off the effects.’ Mrs Telfer-Wilkes was born in Devon, but has lived in the Highlands for nine years with her mountain guide husband Rob. Keen walkers and climbers, they had always been passionate about bagging Munros and kayaking. But in August of 2015, she began to suffer a puzzling cluster of symptoms including fatigue, numbness and nerve pain. After eight months of tests, doctors gave her the bombshell diagnosis. The neurological condition attacks the immune system, affects 11,000 in Scotland – but has no known cure. She said: ‘I was really shocked. I already knew all about the illness because my auntie passed away due to complications with MS.’
Mrs Telfer-Wilkes found it difficult to accept the physical effects of the illness.
‘After a weekend of hiking or trekking I would come home and be absolutely shattered. Sometimes I couldn’t make it out of bed on a Monday morning,’ she recalled.
Although she was given conventional treatments she felt it made little difference. So when a neurologist offered her the opportunity to take part in clinical trials, she signed up immediately.
She said: ‘There was no hesitation when I was asked to be part of the new study. I was chuffed, really chuffed. I thought, “What’s the harm in trying?”.’
Hailed as a wonder-drug for MS, Ocrelizumab, also known as Ocrevus, is being trialled by the European Medicine Agency (EMA) through Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Mrs Telfer-Wilkes received her first dose in March. It has transformed her condition, and she now experiences almost no MS symptoms or flare-ups.
She said staying positive and not letting her illness impede her physical ability helped her to climb her literal and metaphorical mountains. She added: ‘Every time I get halfway up I think, “I’m not going to make it” and I feel utterly exhausted. Luckily I can take it fairly easy sometimes and it has never been so bad where I’m genuinely scared. But I do I have to be positive for myself otherwise my world will just fall apart.
‘I am so lucky to have a brilliant support network around me – my husband has been by my side every step of the way, and I have my friends and also my employers and work colleagues.’