Hallo from London, England

May 21, 2002

Hallo everyone

I joined the group a few weeks ago and have been reading the posts, but

thought it was time to introduce myself. I am currently caring for my

82 year old mother who was diagnosed as having MSA in early 2000.

My mum, who's called Groodles by our family (a long story!), started

having problems with her balance in early 1997, and has gone from being

extremely fit and active to someone who now can only walk about 10 yards

and then at a very slow pace. She has occasional falls which are

complicated by her having osteoporosis. Whenever we go out she goes to

the car in her wheelchair and then uses her wheelchair wherever we go.

She makes lots of noise when she sleeps, and seems to be tired / sleepy

all the time - I think I might ask about sleep apnoea (UK spelling!).

She also has some difficulty in swallowing, and most of the time her

speech is very difficult to understand. She has problems coughing, and

this is another difficulty for her because her chest is very crackly.

She has had pneumonia twice and has been in hospital on both occasions.

I have 2 questions for the group:

1. How many people from the UK are on the list?

2. I've tried searching the archives of the group to find other hints

and tips, but it's very difficult - the archive's so huge! Is there

anywhere particular on the archive to look, or could people share

(again?) any particular hints and tips that they've found have helped

with particular aspects of MSA?

Thank you to everyone who's shared their experience of MSA. I've found

the postings really helpful.

Best wishes

Cannon

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