Multiple sclerosis sufferer Tracey gets a helping paw from clever Kofi

8:36am Thursday 1st March 2012 in News by Sally Clifford

Tracey Robinson, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, with her specially-trained labrador Kofi

They say a dog is man’s best friend. Tracey Robinson’s beautiful black labrador, Kofi, is much more than that.

Kofi collects the post and can open and shut doors – little things Tracey often finds difficult in her daily struggle with multiple sclerosis.

Tracey was 25 when she was diagnosed with the debilitating condition which her mum, Shirley, also suffers from. Shirley was diagnosed in her 40s, and Tracey says being able to talk to her mum and share experiences helps them both.

Tracey’s initial instinct that something was wrong stems from an episode of double vision when she was 15. she had an operation to correct a squint and saw a neurologist, but it would be many years later before she was diagnosed with MS.

around 100,000 people in the UK have MS. it is normally diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

MS is a complex condition with many symptoms which can include fatigue, dizziness and vision problems. Balance can be affected, along with the bladder. it can also cause stiffness and spasms.

While nursing, Tracey noticed her leg dragging after a shift and pins and needles in her hands, but she put it down to the effects of having done a long shift.

Dizzy spells and the loss of the use of her right side were symptoms she couldn’t ignore, and after being referred to another neurologist, Tracey was diagnosed with MS.

Her eldest child, Sam, now 25, who runs the family pub in East Bierley, was six months old at the time, but Tracey never let it stop her living her life and copes with it as best she can.

Her daughter Kate is now 20. Both have been to university and Tracey is proud of them and continues to give herself goals.

“I used to have goals in my head – ‘I have got to wait until they are both at school before I get really bad’, ‘I have to wait until they have both left home’ – and now I think, ‘I have to wait until they are married before I get really bad’. It’s moving goals on,” says Tracey.

Her mobility is severely affected. she has an electric wheelchair and a scooter to go out and she never goes out alone.

Tracey has a supportive network around her with friends and family and Kofi, of course.

he joined the family three years ago after Tracey’s husband, Nick, found out about the charity Dogs for the Disabled.

“You hear about dogs for the blind, but I’d never known about them,” says Tracey, referring to Dogs for the Disabled.

“Nick went into it and said the dogs could pick things up for you. Bending down can be really bad for me. if I knelt down to pick something up, I wouldn’t get back up again,” she explains.

Kofi is specially trained to help Tracey around the house, and he can open and shut doors for her.

“If I drop something like the remote control or the phone he will pick it up for me and he fetches the post when it comes,” says Tracey.

“He’s also company for me. I know he is there.”

Tracey tells how Kofi is constantly by her side. he waits while she gets showered and changed on a morning, making sure she is all right.

“He is a lovely dog. he is so gentle,” says Tracey.

Kofi has a special coat so people know he is a working dog. around Tracey’s home village he has become a mini-celebrity. “Everybody likes him,” says Tracey. “He is just somebody else to watch over me.”

since its inception in 1988, Dogs for the Disabled has trained more than 575 assistance dogs. There are currently more than 250 working partnerships and teams across the UK.

Assistance dogs are provided for adults and children. The charity also offers an autism assistance dog service for children with an autistic spectrum condition between the ages of three and ten.

at eight weeks old, the puppies are given to a puppy socialiser, a family who volunteers to look after the puppy for a year, getting it used to sights and sounds in preparation for it becoming a qualified assistance dog.

Opening and closing doors; helping a person dress and undress; barking to raise the alarm in an emergency; picking up items such as mobile telephones or dropped articles like keys or a bag; loading and emptying the washing machine; retrieving slippers, gloves or a remote control; switching lights on and off; fetching the post; pressing a pedestrian crossing button; reaching up to shop-counters with items such as a wallet and helping people to walk by providing a constant forward motion are just some of the tasks the dogs are trained to do.

but the cost of training an assistance dog is £18,000 and the charity receives no Government funding, relying on voluntary donations to fund its work.

since 2004, Dogs for the Disabled has had runners taking part in the Great North Run to support its cause and the charity is appealing for people to participate in this year’s run on Sunday, September 16, to help raise much-needed funds to enable it to improve the quality of many more lives.

To find out more, visit dogsforthedisabled.org/support-us and click on ‘Raise money for us’, e-mail , or call (01295) 252600.for more information about multiple sclerosis, visit mssociety.org.uk.

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What are the symptoms when someone has cancer and it goes to their brain?

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mainly confusion but also lack of concentration, ramblings that make no sense or repeating the same thing over and over. can look quite vacant and eyes are sort of glazed over.

All of the above answers are good. it would depend what part of the brain the tumors are pressing on. it could also cause violent behavior and loss of motor control like a stroke etc.

in my experience it was slurred speech or a slightly 'drunk' countenance.

The uncle of my mother just died of longcancer that went to the brain, and he was functionalizing perfectly normal until the end of his life, but I'm not sure if that's allways the case

Headaches, vomiting, dizziness, blurred or double vision, falling, confusion.

what is MS? MS is a short-term given to a debilitating disease called multiple sclerosis. this disease is very unpredictable and can actually vary from benign to something that was very devastating. this is because the model of communication that typically occurs between the brain and the rest of the body is very damaged.According scientific research, multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease. this means that the immune system launches an attack against its own tissue and cells at the base. In multiple sclerosis, the most affected is the myelin sheath is a myelin.The myelinThe that covers nerve fibers to protect it. In addition to protection, but also acts as an insulator. Y 'myelin is attacked directly in a case of multiple sclerosis. Many reports have been published saying that attacks the myelin is triggered by environmental factors as a kind of bacteria or their onsetMost virus.About of those who complain of multiple sclerosis belong to the age group between twenty and forty. Initially complain of double vision, blurred vision, blindness in one eye or both, and also a distortion of color between red and green. In addition to visual disturbances, there are also muscle disorders, such as muscle weakness in the limbs of the person, accompanied by a lack of balance and muscle coordination.The symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis can vary in severity. for example, some cases may be severe, often causing the person has a history of permanent impairment. In fact, some have the misfortune to also have its own standing balance impairment. In the worst cases of MS, the person is left with or partial or total paralysis, accompanied by paresthesias. this symptom is basically the feelings that accompany the abnormal sensation usually along the edges. The ends will feel numb and tingling, as if a thousand pins and needles.In other cases of multiple sclerosis who experience pain manifestation. And the pain is a subjective matter. Therefore, if you say it is painful, then it must be really painful.People with MS also experience speech, dizziness and tremors. Recently I mentioned the symptoms are often those who complain. sometimes these symptoms are accompanied by hearing loss and cognitive impairment of the person. With this type of problem, the person will have a difficult time with concentration, memory, and the minutes of attention.Treatment MSA, for now, has not yet been the discovery of an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis. The search was continuing and the results were very consistent. however, there is no cure for the time established.some people really prefer not to take any treatment for MS, since many of the drugs for multiple sclerosis have some serious side effects that high levels of risk. An example of these drugs is the Beta Interferon.There three famous brands of the drug above, ie, Rebif, Avonex and Betaseron. These three drugs have been approved by the FDA or Food and Drug Administration regarding the use of those with relapsing – remitting multiple sclerosis type.

My friend said that sometimes whenever he is very busy especially when is trying to beat his work deadline he feels that an area at his lower head portion, at the left side, at the back & just about 1 – 2 inches above the uppermost portion of his neck feels very warm to a slight hot. He is wondering what could be the reason for that.

He is working also with computers and because he has double vision lens eyeglasses (upper one for nearsighted & lower one for reading) he is always tilting up his head for a better focus in his reading.

Now for about a month, he feels as if he has a stiff neck though not as painfull. He is afraid and thinking he has sort of brain blood clot although the doctor said it could only be due to fatigue and routine sleep head position.

Please give your medical comments. What could these be —blood clotting? Are the two cases related? What medication or therapy can possibly eliminate the symptom of feeling like a stiff neck?

A clot in the brain is a stroke. Only a CT scan or MRI will show this. If a stroke is suspected.. Call 911 -BTW a bleed in the brain is also a stroke. sometimes a head ache can accompany either one. sometimes no pain. Symptoms can be Confusion, Weakness in one side of body, Slurred speech. this is a medical emergency. I am a multiple stroke survivor. one clot one bleed.. no pain either time.

Blood clots can be caused by any injury that leaves a bruise or cut, by inactivity, or obesity. it sounds like your friend has simple muscle stiffness though…a hot shower or massage by LMT should fix it.
Clots have few symptoms that can be detected without radiography or pulse doppler studies.