Adelle was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis in May 2020 (during the first national lockdown), she was aged just 17 at the time. Here she tells us about the impact the diagnosis had, not just on her life during lockdown but also on her future plans.
When I was first diagnosed I felt quite calm, it wasn't until the next day that it really hit me that I had the condition. Previously I didn't really know much about multiple sclerosis, but after speaking to the MS nurse and neurologist I realised the reality of the condition and how it could affect me. Like many people before my diagnosis I knew nothing about MS. The first time I had heard anything about it was when the actress Selma Blair revealed she had MS back in 2018.
I was only 17 when I was diagnosed, so it was a huge shock for both me and my family. Prior to being told I had MS, I'd planned to join the RAF, but having multiple sclerosis meant I could no longer do this. I needed to rethink all of my future career plans as well as considering more serious things like, if my mobility was seriously affected how my family would support me? My mum was devastated. She tried to keep it to herself to protect me, but I later found out from a work friend of hers that she'd broken down at work the day after my diagnosis.
One of the positives I got from the lockdown was that I realised I need to focus on my health before anything else because that is the most important thing. I was bad at doing that before receiving my diagnosis, but this gave me the chance to refocus. The hardest part of lockdown for me was everything moved to a digital format. I suffer quite badly from headaches, so learning on a laptop for hours each day was hard, as well as not having any physical contact with friends.
