It's been a long medical journey for Natalie Mullin-Ferrard. After being plagued by symptoms for nearly fifteen years, the Indian woman saw multiple sclerosis (MS) discovered by doctors only four years ago. “It started for me when I had a veil over my left eye and had trouble with my balance. What I felt were invisible disabilities.”
Multiple sclerosis, which affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), is often confused with other diseases. “Sometimes health professionals can say that if you have a stomach ache, it's because there's a problem there, and if you have a balance problem, it's coming from the ear. September itself is very difficult to diagnose.”
“I was a specialized teacher, but I can no longer practice the profession.”
The secretary of the September 36 association, created 20 years ago in Chateauroux to address the lack of information about the disease, wants to highlight this condition that affects about 120,000 people in France. “All forms of September are different. Depending on the area affected, we do not have the same disease.”
In her case, Nathalie Moulin-Ferrard is still able to move, unlike other people with September, but she still faces some difficulties in her daily life. “I no longer have feeling in my right hand, I have problems with balance, great fatigue and problems with perception. Sometimes there is a difference between the words in my head and the words that come out.”
Daily disturbances
After his diagnosis, his entire home had to be completely air conditioned. “Everything was done to the best of my ability, maximizing the full power of risk reduction.” Natalie also had to upgrade to a car with an automatic transmission and the mandatory reversing camera. “At least I can still drive.”He is fifty years old, “This is not the case for all people with multiple sclerosis.”
Nathalie Moulin-Vivard also had to end her career prematurely “I was a specialist teacher, but I can no longer practice. I have traveled a lot of kilometers, had to move equipment, and it is no longer physically possible. Just like working with children makes my head spin.”She denounces the woman who will soon be forced to take early retirement, “It's part of the package”.
Multiple Sclerosis Society 36 email address: [email protected]
