Hi my name is Tess. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1995. My journey has been exhausting and inspiring and everything in between.

One morning I woke to find I couldn't feel my legs. I thought it was a result of being in bed for a number of days as I just had the worst flu of my life. Days later when the numbness didn't subside, I knew something was seriously wrong. It took me a few more days to confide in my mum and she made me go to the doctor.

After days undergoing several tests, I found out laying in a hospital bed with no feeling in my legs that I had MS. I was 22 years old.

It took several months to recover from this. I lost my job in the process. It made me reflect on my life and I decided that I wanted to go to university to get a degree. Which I successfully achieved. I also had the chance to be part of a student exchange where I spent a year in Canada studying. This brought several challenges at the time as the only medication for MS was self injection. The medication needed to be kept refrigerated, which was quite difficult as I traveled throughout Canada before I started study.

Throughout my life I have struggled with periods of being unwell with pain, visual disturbances, numbness, muscle spasms and the list goes on, but I was able to be in relatively steady employment and even started a family.

In the coming years I have since found out that I also have neurofibromatosis after finding tumors on my body. NF1 as it is known is a genetic condition that affects people in different ways. Two of my children unfortunately also have the condition. My eldest, at the age of 7 had a tumor found on her brain. She underwent 18 months of chemotherapy to try and control the growth. As you can imagine that was a very difficult time.

On a recent routine MRI scan for my MS, a brain tumor was found. At the present time, my medical team are not going to act on it, but it is being closely monitored.

Due to increase disease progression, I recently had to stop working due to poor health.

I am a single parent with three children and I am currently on a pension. I am finding it increasingly difficult to find funds for medication and general bills that just keep piling up. I know that it is an incredibly difficult time for many people with the increase of cost of living. I wish to ask for any assistance to assist me through this difficult time. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I appreciate you reading my story, it is long and I have left out many parts to make it as short as possible. I thank you for your support and wish you well.

Tess