A lifelong condition .. not life-limiting

Positive message from multiple sclerosis sufferer

Peter’s clumsiness was always a good-natured joke in the Rooney family. They’d give him a gentle ribbing for frequently taking a tumble, getting into scrapes and receiving the odd knock.

When he was hit by a car while walking to work at the age of 20 in 2016, he considered himself lucky to get up and walk away with no more than a few nasty bruises.

Although that accident in itself was just another mishap, it indirectly led to the diagnosis of a medical condition he’d only previously encountered as portrayed by wheelchair users in bleak TV soap storylines. For Peter has multiple sclerosis.

“A week after the accident, I lost the sight in my left eye,” he said.

“When I went to hospital, they thought it was trauma. Ophthamologists and senior doctors could not pinpoint what it was.”

Peter was referred to consultant neurologist Dr Niall MacDougall at University Hospital Hairmyres. That was in March 2016, when he was abuzz with excitement about an impending summer packed with the kind of adventures that would be on many a young person’s bucket list: the Benicassim festival in Barcelona and backpacking across Thailand.

What he hadn’t factored in was being diagnosed with lifelong condition, very active relapsing remitting MS.

“Although the words ‘multiple sclerosis’ had been used, it had not been confirmed. But they knew then that was the only kind of possible explanation,” said Peter.

“Because I had so much planned, the neurologist told me: ‘Go off and have a great summer, and we’ll address it when you get back’.

“He didn’t want it hanging over my head. I did go off and have a fantastic summer, all thanks to the sensitivity of my neurologist – and I hugely appreciate that.”

The loss of vision had been caused by optic neuritis – inflammation of the optic nerve. It is the most prominent symptom of MS, which was diagnosed upon his return from his travels that September.

Keen runner and cyclist Peter didn’t fit the typical profile of a person diagnosed with MS. He wasn’t in his 30s, 40s or 50s and there had been no previous hint of any symptoms prior to the partial failure of his eyesight.

“Before, I did not really know what MS was and didn’t know anybody who had it.

“On TV, you’d see people with MS and they’d be in a wheelchair. That was the extent of my understanding, so it was shocking and scary to hear those words,” he said.

“I was confused and I wasn’t getting my head around it. Actually, I was embarrassed. I told a close friend, but I didn’t tell my other pals for quite a while.

I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me. I didn’t know what was happening to me then, and I didn’t know what would happen to me in the future.

“My MS nurse sat me down and gave me the diagnosis, and we went through the options and how we would address it. To be honest, I think I handled it pretty well, mainly because it had been at the back of my mind most of the summer.

“At the start, my attitude was, ‘just get on with it’. But when I actually got diagnosed, it all started catching up with me. I became numb all down my left side, my arms, my legs. I was avoiding my pals, trying to isolate myself. I just wanted to be alone.

“I couldn’t imagine getting better and having a decent quality of life. I was just in a total rut.”

At that time a student of Mechanical Engineering at Glasgow Kelvin College, Peter was leaving his home at 6.30am, travelling by bus to Springburn and arriving with five minutes to spare before classes.