Going from strength to strength. |
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November 2011 Newsletter
NEXT MS MEETING- November, Wednesday 16th, 10.30am at the MS Meeting
Rooms on the right side of Steele Rudd Dr, off Baker St (opp the USQ) Please
bring a plate to share and stay for lunch.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED- Toowoomba Bunning’s Sausage Sizzle, raising funds for
your support group to support you. Sunday, February 5th Phone Darryl 4636 0406
GUEST SPEAKER- MS QLD
Volunteer Peter Coy talking about Skype. Peter is a volunteer with the MS Society and has been working with most
of the clients who are now using Skype to assist them in getting connected.
This includes assisting with the installation of Skype, providing guidelines on
the use of Skype, providing webcams for those who do not have one, and general
computer support.
Skype is a free (sort of)
communications package that allows you to have voice or video chats with other
people who are also using Skype and who have accepted you as a contact (or you
have accepted them).
MS
& Relationships with Aart Simons
In October, we welcomed
our special guest and MS QLD clinical psychologist, Aart Simons to Toowoomba.
Aart shared his wealth of knowledge on the impact living with MS has on our
relationships.
Aart describes a relationship
in the form of a pizza, there is the slice where you like things about a
person, another slice is everything you dislike, another is the MS and so on.
With partnerships in life, we have the honeymoon phase where we are getting to
know each other. Then comes the control phase, a big learning curve! We have to
accept that we are individuals coming from very different backgrounds.
Aart reminded us that we live
in different “time zones”, we stress at different times, we want to face
problems at different times. We accept or fear for our future at different
times, we are human and relationships of all kinds can be very complicated.
Together we need to support our family and friends and realise that it is okay
to be different and react differently along the journey of life.
Stress, depression and anxiety
can impact negatively on relationships by closing the lines of communication.
The natural inclination when depressed is to withdraw from others, but this is
a time when open and honest discussion is vital. We all need to find a way of
dealing with stress in our own way before it escalates and creates arguments
which only add more frustration and pressure on our relationships or as Aart
calls it, “The Highway to Hell!”
MS has come along and thrown
the biggest curve ball at our relationships, new and old and we need to take on
the challenge and learn the tools to live with MS and not let it dictate our
lives. It is your life and your choice to make that happen.
Thank you to Aart Simons and
Janice Wheeler from MS QLD for joining us and being available for discussion.
It was wonderful to see such a variety of people take advantage of this rare
opportunity. Welcome to our group Mark and Sue who had their hands full upon
leaving after winning the large fruit hamper raffle prize donated by Darryl and
their collection of new information! Congrats also to Paul for winning the
prize kindly donated by Peter and Dawn. We also thank the many companies that
sent information and goodies to be included in our “Info Bag”, we will give out
the remaining bags at future meetings until they are gone so don’t miss out!
PARLIAMENTARY
QUESTION ON NOTICE, asked 11th October... Answer due 10th November.
To the Minister for Health, Mr.
Wilson:- :Will the Minister advise if the heated indoor pool at Baillie
Henderson Hospital will have the roof repaired and re-opened, not only for
hospital patients, but also the 60 people with disabilities who use the
facility five days a week and will the Minister provide an approximate date for
any re-opening?
Do your family and friends a favour- ask them
to take you christmas shopping, they will love the benefits of using a disabled
car park at this time of the year!
Shopping Tips this Summer
· See your GP to organise a parking permit. · Contact QLD Transport to apply for a taxi card. Grab a cab, the stress free way avoid parking in the holiday season! · See your service co-ordinator, Janice Wheeler about accessing a transport service that can get you to shops, services and appointments. · Don’t overheat or be alienated by sitting alone in the car at shopping centres. Plan your shopping trips with wheelchair hire so your energy will last longer and you and your family and friends can enjoy each other’s company in the cool of air-conditioned comfort. · Be dropped off by taxi and swap your walker/sticks for a wheelchair and enjoy the freedom and energy to have a good look around. Put items on layby and pick them up later when you are with someone to help or ask someone to collect them for you. · Don’t wear yourself out trying to try on clothes in a very tight and uncomfortable space. Buy the items after you are comfortable with their return policy, keep the receipt and try the clothes on later at home. If the store looks uncomfortable with this, maybe they would consider renovating one day to accommodate all shoppers including those with babies in prams? · Take a mobile phone with you if you are going out alone. · Keep your power bill down and keep cool by shopping at the hottest time of the day in summer. · Do a little research, collect shopping centre directories including disabled parking so you can plan where you need to go and how to get there the easiest way before you leave home. · Shop Online and have items delivered to your door, including Woolworths and Coles where items are placed on your kitchen bench-now that’s service! · Wear a bag with your valuables that goes over your head and across your chest, you won’t drop it and you won’t be easy prey for a bag snatcher. · Use as many home delivery services as you can or ask your pharmacy, butcher, local store etc if they will deliver for you. Contact Darryl of the MS
Support Group if you wish to borrow free of charge an electric wheelchair or a
manual chair.
Toowoomba Shopping Centre Free Wheelchair Hire
Clifford Gardens Shopping
Centre available at the information
Centre outside Big W available free of charge with approved identification.
Bookings are recommended and can be made by calling Customer Service on (07)
4634 1371.
Grand Central Information Centre, Level 2 outside the Australian
Geographic Shop Free hire of motorised scooters and wheelchairs Phone Customer
Service on 1800 638 855
Gardentown Shopping Centre has a number of wheel chairs available to customers
for loan whilst shopping inside the Centre. These can be collected from
DISCOUNT DRUG STORE on the ground level, 7 days a week. Phone: (07) 4639 2300
JUDY JAMES NOMINATED FOR AUSTRALIAN FOR THE YEAR
Judy, member of MS Qld.,
Toowoomba MS Support Group, People with Disabilities Aus. and Women with
Disabilities Aus. has been nominated for Australian of the Year by our long
time MS Group member, Miles Blake. Judy thanks Miles and all her friends in all
disability communities for their continued support for her efforts of the last
19 years.
Fampyra™ (fampridine)
Source.Medical News Today Article 16 May 2011 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/225428.php
The Australian Therapeutic
Goods Administration (TGA) has granted approval for FAMPYRA™, (fampridine) 10
mg Modified Release (MR) tablet, for the symptomatic improvement of walking
ability in adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have shown
improvement after eight weeks of treatment. FAMPYRA demonstrated efficacy in
people with all four major types of MS (relapsing remitting, secondary
progressive, progressive relapsing and primary progressive). FAMPYRA can be
used alone or with existing MS therapies, including immunomodulator drugs.
Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) is
presently taking steps to obtain Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS)
reimbursement approval for FAMPYRA, an outcome which will benefit the MS
community in
FAMPYRA is an oral potassium
channel blocker which is thought to work by stopping potassium leaving the
nerve cells which have been damaged by MS. This enables signals to pass down
the nerve more regularly, which may allow patients to walk better.
Consult your doctor about
treatments or for more information call MS Connect on 1800 042 138.
RACQ SERVICES AVAILABLE
This free service is offered to
wheelchair and mobility scooter users for members and non-members when they
experience difficulty either at home or away. Service includes:
A
warm thank you to Don & Rita for their kind donation of postage stamps to
post the November postal newsletters, these donations are always most
appreciated.
EMERGENCY ALERT
There is a new alert product
available, the distinctive design of which is intended as an alert to health
care professionals in emergency situations. In the form of a 2 gigabytes USB
stick that attaches to your key chain, it has been developed to contain all of
your medical history.
All personal details can be
stored, who to call in an emergency, Medicare numbers, doctors details,
medications being taken, medical history, the list is endless. You can even add
your photo and scan medical letters and test results; what you would like to
add is up to you – for more info phone 1300 369 142
November will be the last meeting
and newsletter until February 2012. The MS Support Group Committee wishes you
all a safe and wonderful Christmas and we hope it brings all you wish for and
more-
Merry Christmas & A Happy New
Year!
A BIG THANK YOU to Officeworks, Toowoomba for offering to cover the costs to print this
newsletter for our postal members this month! This is a huge saving to the MS
Support Group. Please support Officeworks Toowoomba on
Phone 1300 633 423 or visit
officeworks.com.auTOOWOOMBA
MS SUPPORT GROUP CONTACTS
President Darryl Ph
4636 0406 email: d.connell57@optusnet.com.au V-President
2 Shelley Ph 4687 7273 email: shelleyann2010@hotmail.com Treasurer Steve Ph
4634 3540 email:
Also
a contact for Parents with MS and Youngcare
JANICE WHEELER, MS
Qld. Service Co-ordinator Phone 4638 9327 janice.wheeler@msqld.org.au
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