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Andrea Lindsley

If Andrea and Paul Lindsley want to make just one point, it’s this: Multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence. In fact, their life together — with their 3-year-old daughter, Anna — is proof life certainly goes on after an MS diagnosis.

“The first thing I tell newly diagnosed patients is that this disease is manageable. You can live with it. There is hope. No one said that to me when I was diagnosed,” said Andrea, 38, who received her MS diagnosis when she was just 24. Today, she is an account executive with Dye Van Mol & Lawrence, a Nashville public relations firm. “You need to make adjustments here and there and find a good therapy,” she added. “Thank goodness there are many therapy options now. When I was diagnosed there were none.”

One of her most effective therapy strategies is her husband, Paul, director of communications at Saint Thomas Hospital and president for the second year of the Mid South Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. “The interesting thing about MS is that it’s a hard disease to define and explain to people because it differs so much between individuals. Because it is a disease of the central nervous system, my wife’s MS is unlike anybody else’s MS anywhere,” Paul explained. “Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve really had to learn about Andrea’s MS, and that’s been the key to our success, understanding and knowing her symptoms.” Paul’s experience also prompted his involvement in the National Family Caregivers Association, which educates and supports caregivers across a wide range of chronic illnesses and disabilities.

Paul and Andrea met in Huntsville, Ala., where they both worked at a local television station. They were married seven years ago. Andrea credits a daily injection of Copaxone since 1998, and Paul’s daily help, with handling her MS. “Copaxone has really helped normalize me and stabilize my health, and it also just gives me hope that I can live the life that healthy people do,” she said. “When I was diagnosed so long ago, I really thought a normal life was out of my reach. I thought I would go through life with a disability. I really had a bleak outlook on life.” In fact, Andrea’s MS caused several weeks of blindness soon after her diagnosis. “Now, almost 15 years later, I’m doing normal things that healthy people do. I’m a mother now. I have a job. I get to travel,” she said.
Fatigue is her major challenge, she said, and numbness of her right side occurs during an exacerbation of the disease. The last time that happened was in March 2007, and a round of steroids handled the problem.

“The face of MS has changed drastically in 10 years,” Paul said. “You look at my wife, who’s a successful, beautiful, professional woman and mother, and you can’t tell she has MS. That says a lot about how far we’ve come.”



March 2008

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