Introductions all around!

Good afternoon, new readers and bloggers alike! 

Recently, I was asked to be a guest blogger here at Uninterrupted, and I'm very honoured. First things first, I'd like to use this post to introduce myself. 

My name's Mel, and I'm a 39-year-old single mother of two teenagers (aged 13 and 17) living in Wollongong NSW. I work part-time, and attend UOW (University of Wollongong) full-time, where I'm studying Creative Writing. I have an amazing group of friends and wonderful family who're my proverbial silver linings on bad days. I have RRMS, Bipolar Disorder, and G.A.D. (Generalised Anxiety Disorder). 

Being given the opportunity to write for MS Australia was something I jumped at. I'm happy to share my MS journey. Doing so has helped me get through the hard times, and has given others (including family and friends) an insight into what MS is like - which is reassuring for them. As they say, knowledge is power. Talking about what I know with people who've either been there and done that, or who know someone with MS and wants to understand what it's like, or to share knowledge and give support to those who're going through the diagnosis experience, is a wonderful thing for people who need to. When I was being shown how to inject myself with Copaxone, the amazing MS nurse told me that a lot of people who're first diagnosed often become angry, choosing to live in denial of what's happening to them. This is so understandable, and I'm hoping that by being here and contributing to this blog, I'm able to help someone else through that journey because I've been there, and I understand (even though - for me - the angry didn't come until three months after injections had started, but that's another post altogether!).

With the next post I make, I'd like to take you through my journey of diagnosis. It was definitely a long one. By the time I came to the end of it, I'd come to understand myself so differently, and look back on the years beforehand with a different view.

Interesting that. 

Melanie.