A Highland woman has told how she was feeling ill for more than 10 years before she was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Nina Campbell of Strathpeffer was finally given the news 20 years ago when she was 31.
“I had been experiencing symptoms since I was nineteen, but doctors always put them down to ‘funny things that happen to women of your age’, or a virus, or a tapped nerve,” she said.
“But when my husband Laurence got a job on the Isle of Rum my new GP reviewed my notes and said it was like ‘putting a jigsaw together’.
“He referred me to a neurologist and after just one MRI scan I was told I had MS.”
Mrs Campbell said she was alone in the hospital at the time and the manner in which she was told the news was “very blunt”.
“I was shocked at the diagnosis, but also relieved that I wasn’t a hypochondriac,” she recalled.
“I wasn’t offered any specialist support and I’ve never really seen an MS nurse – I’m very lucky to have a good GP, who is my first port of call.”
Mrs Campbell said MS had completely affected her life.
“I was an occupational therapist but after my diagnosis I didn’t work again,” she added.
“That’s very frustrating and has had a financial impact.
“But I have three beautiful daughters.
“My third, Isla, was born after my diagnosis and after I had been advised not to have any more children, but I always wanted three so we made the decision to get pregnant again.
“As I haven’t worked I’ve been able to spend more time with them.
“They are there for me and I’m there for them.”
Mrs Campbell said the type of MS she first had was relapsing remitting but it had turned into secondary progressive, which means she is gradually getting less able.
“I have now lived with MS for twenty years,” she added.
“My family help me to accept the situation I am in and to make the adjustments and adaptations I need to carry on as normally as possible.”