"Sorry, you have MS” was how 19-year-old Rania was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Reflecting on symptoms ranging from migraines, dizziness and numbness, she didn't cry but rather reached to comfort her mother, who now had two daughters diagnosed with this “invisible illness".
From that moment on, she vowed to always stay positive, to lessen her mother’s heartache and pain. Her symptoms first appeared while Rania was studying her Bachelor of Communications and Public Relations degree at Monash University, but she lived many years in denial.
A self-confessed control freak, Rania reached many milestones around the time of her diagnosis. Leaving her teens, trying to feel like a grown up, learning to self-inject medication, crying about her diagnosis for the first time and feeling so much loss of control.
With the devoted support of her husband, family and MS community, Rania may keep getting knocked down by this condition, but always gets back up and keeps fighting. This stoic woman keeps fighting for her sister, for her mum, for her husband and her kids, and advocates on behalf of all Australians living with MS.
"Multiple sclerosis affects my day-to-day life in many ways. Probably the most difficult one is the fatigue. I try not to let it affect my day-to-day life but when you're feeling that really terrible feeling, of not just tired but the brain fog and the pain, it's quite difficult to get day-to-day tasks done."
Rania has been involved with the MS Walk Run + Roll for a number of years as our national ambassador for the event.
"The MS Walk Run + Roll means to me a beautiful community that comes together to support people like me living with MS so we don’t need to feel alone. It’s just a really great day to get together and be part of an amazing community.”
You will be joining Rania and thousands of other members of the MS community this May at the 2024 MS Walk Run + Roll events in Canberra, Melbourne, Launceston and Sydney.
"The thing I love most about the MS Walk Run + Roll is the amount of people that come together to show people like me living with MS that we are definitely not alone and that evenn through the hard times we can still have a great day raising money for a really important cause."
Rania knows first-hand the difference fundraising makes in helping people living with MS live well at home, in the community and in the workplace.
"MS Plus has provided amazing services they've set me up with an occupational therapist who I speak with weekly. They've been able to set me up with going to yoga or a personal trainer to really help my physical ability when I’ve got weakened sensation on the left side of my body. And they've also been able to help me work-wise to make sure that I am able to work from home comfotably with supporting my home office setup.”
