Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on Family Essay
Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on Family Essay
Multiple sclerosis imposes a certain amount of burden not only on the patients but also on the caregivers. The unpredictability of the prognosis, the possibility of severe physical disability and cognitive add to the despair. It is very important to evaluate and take appropriate measures to relieve the burden of the caregiver because. health-related quality of life of the patient is inversely correlated with caregiver burden (Alshobaili et al, 2008). .
Samantha’s family consists of four members: 33-year-old Samantha, her husband Nick and their two daughters aged 10 and 8 years. Both Samantha and Nick were earning members until the diagnosis of the disease in Samantha. Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on Family Essay. As the disease progresses, Samantha will not be able to move normally. She may not be able to do activities normally. She may cease to go for work or take up only part-time work. Thus the disease may even affect the income of the family.
Samantha is in the middle age. As an active teacher until the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, she may not continue to be as active and cheerful as before. Besides the gloom of the diagnosis and the disabilities due to the disease process, Samanthas responsibility as the care-taker parent of her children is likely to change. She will now be more dependent on her husband and the care-taker maid to take care of her children. Depending on the extent of disabilities, Samantha may need help for day-to-day chores like cooking, bathing, washing clothes, cleaning the house and other activities. Her husbands’ responsibilities will increase. Other than becoming the only earning member of the family, he may have to support Samantha in daily chores and cooking, in her day-to-day activities and also in the care of their children. . The children are in the middle childhood age group and are of minimal help in day-to-day activities. The increase in responsibilities causes an increase in workload for Nick which can lead to increased frustration. . Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on Family Essay.
Introduction
Eight years ago my mother was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, the most common form of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affecting up to 85% of the MS patients, with twice as many women being affected as men1. It was a very difficult period for her as she had received very little support from her family and I find it fascinating how she managed to withstand the pressure and fight her condition despite all the odds being against her. For these reasons, I composed a poem from my mother’s point of view to try to empathize with her experience and understand the underlying issues of her condition. To have a sound foundation for this poem, I have carried out a
“Upon feeling that she was finally running out of fuel”, I was, at the age of 12, invited for an interview in a elite Czech boarding school which required me to undertake a number of examinations, interviews, travelling and extensive paper work. Despite her worsening condition, she was always there with me, doing all the paper work, practising with me various interview questions and really being the best mum. After I had been accepted to the boarding school, she started to gradually break down due to a number of reasons. While she saw my being accepted as an incredible success, especially for someone from a working class family, my entire family started hating her as they perceived this as her “getting rid of me and her not wanting to take care of me”. Shortly after, she started suffering from short-term memory loss, severe chest pain and loss of balance, leading to the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.
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The diagnosis was by far one of the major
