Multiple sclerosis “crashed” into Deanna’s life when she was just 17 years old.
After waking up one morning with eye pain and blurred vision, Deanna knew something wasn’t right. Shortly after this onset of symptoms, Deanna was officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Suddenly my world changed drastically. Being diagnosed with a chronic, incurable illness at 17 was a bitter pill to swallow.
At an age when most teenagers are thinking about finishing school and planning their futures, Deanna was grappling with the uncertainty of a lifelong neurological condition. There were few answers, many stereotypes and very little clarity about what the future might look like.
Initially, she was advised to defer her final year of high school due to her health. Instead, she pushed through and graduated. The years that followed were challenging. Deanna spent time coming to terms with her diagnosis while navigating the transition from school to adulthood.
I spent the next couple of years in deep depression and denial, trying to understand what MS meant for my life while also learning to manage symptoms like fatigue, pain and balance issues. I also had to learn how to pace myself and conserve energy, which is not an easy lesson for a teenager.
By chance, Deanna met a doctor who was also living with MS. During their conversation, the doctor mentioned she had been diagnosed years earlier and was continuing to live a full and active life.
For the first time I met someone living with invisible MS that offered a different type of representation. She was a doctor, living her life and working in a demanding profession. It challenged the very narrow idea I had of what my future would look like.
It was a brief encounter, but one that planted an important seed, that life with MS could still hold possibility.
In 2010 Deanna enrolled in a Bachelor of Social Sciences at Monash University, graduating in 2013. To celebrate the milestone, she booked a month-long trip through Southeast Asia.
During this trip I felt an amazing sense of personal achievement and soon had the epiphany that my MS cannot stop me from achieving my goals. In 2015, I commenced a yearlong Master of Science in Medicine and graduated in the top percentile of my class. I then went on to backpack around India for six weeks.
She later completed a Master of Social Work at the University of Melbourne, combining her academic background with her passion for supporting others through complex health and life experiences.
In 2022, Deanna took on one of her biggest challenges yet, completing the 100-kilometre Charity Walk through Tuscany to raise funds and awareness for MS.
It was physically and mentally challenging, but also incredibly empowering. With every step, I was reminded why I was there, to raise awareness and show that MS doesn’t get to define what we’re capable of. Reaching Rome was such a personal achievement.
Today, Deanna works at the intersection of lived experience, advocacy, research and creative storytelling. Drawing on both professional expertise and personal experience of chronic illness, she has become a strong voice in the MS community. She is a national advocate with MS Australia, serving on the Lived Experience Expert Panel (LEEP) where she contributes to conversations around research, healthcare design and policy to ensure the voices of people living with MS are included in decision-making.
Deanna also shares her MRI-inspired artwork, which reimagines brain scans as colourful artworks, you can find her work at @circularblooms. Through this, Deanna helps people see beyond the clinical image and consider the human experience behind the diagnosis.
My life may look different to what I imagined at 17, but MS has also shaped the work I do and the impact I want to have. If sharing my story helps someone feel less alone, or helps clinicians understand MS a little better, then it’s worth it.
Events like the MS Walk Run + Roll are especially meaningful for Deanna.
Living with MS can sometimes feel isolating, as many symptoms are invisible. The MS Walk Run + Roll is such a powerful reminder that the MS community is bigger than any one person’s experience.
For Deanna, the best part of the event is the sense of community.
You see people participating in all sorts of ways through walking, running, rolling or cheering from the sidelines and everyone is there for the same reason. It’s a reminder that while MS can be challenging, there is a strong network of people working together to support one another.
Her message to those taking part and raising funds is simple:
Thank you. Fundraising plays a vital role in supporting research, services and programs for people living with MS. Every step taken and every dollar raised contributes to better support today and better treatments in the future. It truly makes a difference.
And as Deanna likes to remind people: Keep S’Myelin cool.
