I am Davina, but commonly known as Div or Divvy!! Hopefully as a shortened name and not because I am one. I am 38 (although I think I'm still 16 sometimes!!). I live in Sutton-at-Hone, Kent in the UK with my boyfriend of 15 years and one cat. No plans for any wedding bells or kids!!!!.

I have many interests but as you can see my computer is my main one, can't get me off here these days!!! If I'm not concentrating on this website, I am chatting or playing games. I have also discovered paint shop pro again and am busy creating graphics, I'm not that good but I love it and now have a psp page on here showing some of my work that I've done (as I said I'm not that good so don't expect anything spectacular!!!). I have always been into electronic stuff like computers, stereos etc. I think sometimes I should have been a boy!!! Other interests include reading books, mainly horror like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert and also mystery thriller stuff, like James Patterson. But I must admit, I will read almost anything, no slushy romance though!!!!

Music is another great passion. I will listen to almost anything - although I have to draw the line at anything too heavy, and I think most of the chart stuff these days is rubbish (but that is probably me showing my age!!!). We used to love going to gigs and festivals but that has slowed down in the last few years. We are making an effort to start going again, although I think we will have to draw the line at going to the festivals, they are not exactly wheelchair friendly - remember the muddy Glastonbury - yes I was there!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to have a great social life but age and MS put paid to that. Well if I am honest mostly age caused me to slow down, done it, been there, can't remember most of it, in my 20s!!! A slower pace of life suits me fine nowadays. Also I have a very low tolerance to alcohol, which is probably a blessing to most, including my purse.

I did work in a magistrates' court as an admin officer for nearly 20 years, but I decided earlier this year (2006) that the time had come where my MS and work were not a good combination. I was medically retired from work on 9th May this year and things have been good since then so I know I made the right decision. It involved a lot of time and patience on my side (you can read about it in my diary) but I got there in the end I am now officially a Young(ish) Age Pensioner ;o) When at work I had a very supportive management and colleagues - which is a great plus when you have something like MS!! I contacted the Access to Work people a few years ago on the advice of my admin manager. I received a visit from a very nice man named Fred who did an assessment of my workplace. At the time I was only using a walking stick and he advised that work supply me with a walker/trolley for better stability. He also suggested a wheelchair lift was fitted for access to the building, which was a blessing as I am now in a wheelchair all of the time!!! Work also made another parking space available for people with disabilities which was very helpful. I would advise anyone in work in the UK who has special needs to contact them as they are extremely helpful.

I had to contact the team again in 2004 regarding having hand controls fitted to my car. They were extremely helpful and paid for a driving assessment to be done and for a majority of the cost of having the adaptations fitted. I did not think they would contribute towards it but as I had to use my car to get to work and their objective is to keep you in work they did. I was fortunate that my work place made up the difference so I found I was not out of pocket in any way and having the work done enabled me to stay in work.

I am now the proud owner (sort of) of a brand new car under the motability scheme. This is open to anyone who receives the top rate of the mobility component of DLA (disability living allowance). In April 2006 I became the proud owner of a new Renault Megane Sport Tourer and I love it!!! Again if someone is in receipt of DLA and is still driving I would recommend that you get a car under this scheme. It is a great scheme, and all the car costs you is basically the petrol you put in it, service, insurance, breakdown etc are all covered by the motability scheme. Of course you loose the mobility part of your DLA (or part of it depending on what car you choose), and some cars require a deposit and also if you want any extras (like an updated stereo system), you have to pay this. Also any adaptations needed have to be paid by you, but it is really worth it. Take my car for example, over the three years I'll have it, it will have cost me about £7000 plus petrol (this is taking into account the mobility part of the DLA that I won't be getting for the 3 years), and to buy the car myself would have cost about £19000, and then come the end of the 3 years, you can start all over again with a new car. I think this is a great scheme to help keep disabled people more mobile and independant.

My MS story.

I was diagnosed with MS in October 1998, a couple of months before my 31st birthday. Apparently I was slap bang in the middle of the average person to be diagnosed with it. (Female, between 30 and 40, and live in the northern hemisphere).

I had been experiencing problems with my eyes in May 1996, which was finally diagnosed as optic neuritis. I have found out since that this is a classic first symptom of MS. At the time I wasn't made aware of this and as it disappeared by itself, I never gave it another thought.

In 1998 I started to experience little problems, like heavy legs and weakness in my arms. I eventually went to my GP with these problems who was concerned that I was having a stroke. As I was so young he referred me to a neurologist. I was lucky to have private cover and got to see a neurologist pretty quickly who arranged for me to have an MRI (Magnetic Resonating Imaging) scan. I went back to the neurologist a week later who diagnosed me with rrms on the results of this scan.

I was sent for further tests after this, although I wasn't really sure why as I had already been diagnosed. I had a lumbar puncture which was a bit of a disaster (I won't go into detail!!). Don't be put off by this if you are sent for a lumber puncture, as I was just one of the unlucky ones and most people have no problems with this test, just make sure you lay down for a few hours after the test is done and drink plenty of fluids. I was also sent for a V.E.P. (Visual Evoked Potential) tests which were positive for MS.

I consider myself as extremely lucky to be diagnosed so quickly. Some people have years and years of not knowing what is wrong with them and being referred from doctor to doctor, only to be told it is all in their head!!! I was also lucky to get referred to an MS nurse so quickly and in March 2002 I was lucky enough to be started on rebif. This seemed to work out ok for me until 2004 when I had major problems. My neurologist informed me in 2005 that I have now progressed to spms and that the rebif was no longer doing what it should, so I have stopped the injections. I am currently just using several differents meds to help with specific symptoms that I have (e.g. spasms) until I decide if I want to try the treatment he is offering now which is mitoxantrone, which I am not too keen to try at this moment in time.

I decided to do this website as I got interested in the idea of making a website and I thought it would be great to do something that would help new people diagnosed with MS. I have also got other stuff added to the site like a joke page and I am also going to start adding other stuff.

If you have any comments, ideas or suggestions regarding this website, please Contact me

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