Author & Founder Lorna Moorhead

MS MOMS new site under construction!  New services coming

 Pre-register your membership today and don't miss out!

    Written by Lorna Moorhead to the members of MS MOMS after its founding in 2000:

     According to most people, I am still considered newly diagnosed. Therefore, the idea of a newly diagnosed lady giving out advice may cause some people a bit of discomfort. I usually attempt to alleviate this by informing the people that I have been studying MS in depth since the possibility of it slipped from my doctor's mouth.

     Until I began attending MS support groups and sitting silently on MS chats, I did not consider my self-taught education in MS to be anything out of the ordinary. Yet I found that many people do not study their disease. There are doctors (mine included) who are not keeping their patients well informed. Finally, there are those of us who either do not have time to study MS or are simply in no state of mind to want to. This leaves many people seeking information but not wanting to spend days searching for it.

 Out of this large group of people who are avidly seeking MS information, I noticed a large number being left in the darkness.

 Women. Not just women,  Mothers. Parents. Families.

 Why was no one talking to them about their needs? Why were their no discussions on how to raise your family with MS? Everyone (including men) was lumped together in one big disabled group.

  It bothered me. No it didn't bother me, it infuriated me. So at first I got agitated and then I got motivated.

    I knew I had no experience or technical education in the area of MS. I knew that I had no degree in any sort of medical or psychological arena. I was also aware that there was a high chance that no one would listen to me, and that I would be laughed out of MS groups. Nevertheless I had experience with the disease and I was a mother.  And not one single person had addressed these issues together. (At least not any group I had run into yet.) So the two just fell together:  MS+MOMS.

     My goal? To help others. To help MS mothers and women feel better about themselves. For both mothers and women to have a place where they can go and talk to people who know EXACTLY what they are talking about. I cannot speak for the men, because I am not a man and wouldn't presume to know what they go through, just as I would not expect them to tell me what I'm feeling.

     So maybe it is biased and discriminatory (and yes I was already told this) but I believe it is needed. I am willing to do the work, to sit up nights finding information tailored exactly to your needs, so you don't have to waste your time and energy searching for it. I am willing to drag various doctors and professionals by the scruff in to chat with us about OUR problems and needs. I am willing to give out advice and care to the best of my ability to each and every one of you even if I risk being laughed at or shunned because I am young and newly diagnosed. I am willing.

I hope you are willing to trust me. (And keep the snickering to a minimum.) *Smile*" ~The woman behind the curtain 2000

`