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Motor Neurone DiseaseArrow
ALS- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/MND aged 20-49
Kim - Interview 10  

Kim - Interview 10

Age at Interview: 39
Sex: Female
Age at Diagnosis: 38
Background: Kim is an occupational therapist, married with 2 children, aged 12 and 10. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.
Brief outline:Kim was diagnosed with MND (ALS) about a year ago (2005). Now unable to walk she needs help with most daily tasks, but is still working as an occupational therapist and able to drive. Her speech is not affected.

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As an OT she suspected she might have MND. She describes the diagnostic tests, including an EMG, blood tests, an MRI scan and an x-ray of her spine.

 



Well as I said because my job, my profession's an occupational therapist. I know quite in depth the symptoms and signs of motor neurone and because I was treating three patients of my own with MND, I straight away thought it was motor neurone disease. But like many other people you always think that, you're just thinking the worst and it's human nature and it could possibly be something else. But I didn't really actually fit the average age bracket which is normally men sort of 55, 50 plus. So obviously I wasn't really in that bracket at all. And then nurse friends of mine that, who I worked with on the ward were saying that I could possibly just have a trapped nerve in my spine or it could be other past medical history problems that I had. That it could be an exaggeration of those but unfortunately my primary diagnosis of myself was correct. 

Can you tell me how you felt when they told that?

Well, I did have an inkling but you never want to think it is that. And I'd already told the consultant in the hospital when I was in to have my tests that I thought I had MND. And when he came around unfortunately he confirmed it was. And that's still very emotional for me now. It's very, very hard. It's hard for the family and hard for you. 

Perhaps you can tell me a bit about the tests that you had and what they were like?

Right. First of all I had bloods done which is the normal course for everything that they test you for. And then I had an MRI scan. I mean it was a full body MRI scan sort of for my brain and for my spine to see if they could see anything on there. From there on then I had what they call an EMG which was testing my muscles and how quickly the nerve pathways would go, reaching my muscles and also if there was any muscle loss. And I had a lumbar, a lumbar X-ray as well, spinal X-ray and it was really the EMG that was quite conclusive because there was signs of muscle wastage and slowness in the nerve pathways. I also had a lumbar puncture and again the sort of that all concluded, all the tests, that I did have those it was most probably MND then. 

And the time it took to took, to have those tests?

Right. I was advised by my consultant to go in as an inpatient and be admitted because it would be far quicker to be seen than if I waited as an outpatient because I'd have to go on a long waiting list. So basically I just went into hospital and whenever they had a gap to squeeze me in they squeezed me in. So I was in hospital for about roughly two weeks and I was diagnosed at the end of that time as well.
Jonathan Miller - Motor Neurone
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