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HealthMS patient getting up and going for hopeBy Melanie CummingsI loved my job. I have a beautifulSPECIAL TO THE BEAVERwife and new baby daughter, I was not crazy, I had everything going fore grateful for that get-up-and-go feeling in themorning. Barrie Erskine wishes he had it andme. It was not a psychological prob-Bis hoping a trip to the United States for pre-lem."liminary testing into experimental surgery will helpbring it back to him.Barrie Erskine, MS patientId like to get rid of the fatigue, says the 43-year-oldwho has multiple sclerosis (MS).In the MS Halton office on Victoria Avenue inBurlington, he parks his walker and takes a seat in frontHis wife of five years, and most ardent health of a computer to update the agencys website.Ersadvocate, Melissa finally went to Oakville-Trafalgar kine volunteers there two mornings a week andMemorial Hospital (OTMH) demanding that Erskine after each visit he requires an afternoon nap so that hebe admitted and given a battery of medical tests.can enjoy time with his wife, Melissa, and four-year-oldWith the seizures I was becoming a danger to daughter, Emily, when they return home from work andmyself and to my daughter Emily, who was just one daycare, respectively.On the bad dayear old at the time. I was afraid Id fall on her, said ys, physically getting out of bed is amonumentaErskine.l effort. His body feels slow and his words areUnable to drive for the same fears over his and the halting.Msafety of others, he sold his Jeep, too.S forced the multi-award winning photographer toThrough brain scans, one lesion was found. It leave his job with theOakville Beaver in the fall of 2007,takes multiple lesions to confirm MS. A psychiatrist after 15 years with the paper and its parent companyMthen stepped in.etroland.I loved my job. I have a beautiful wife and new I was tired even after a week-long vacation at the endbaby daughter, I was not crazy, I had everything of June (2007), he said.going for me. It was not a psychological problem.July 2007 would prove to be a pivotal time in the pro-He stayed in hospital nine weeks total. The first gression of the disease.Ctwo weeks he could not get out of bed and the mus-hest pain that extended along the right side of hiscles in his left leg had atrophied.body convinced him to see a doctor.When he finally heard the diagnosis of MS in In hindsight, Erskine now knows it was the MS Hug.October 2007, he was relieved. It is such an endearing name for excruciating pain, inwhich the muscles between the rib caI was prepared for it because Melissa and I had ge go into spasmmaboth suspected thats what was causing the numb-king breathing difficult. At the time, he left the clinicwith no answers. Within a few daness and tingling, and blackouts, said Barrie.ys the pain disap-In three years the Erskines have endured a lot of peared.change.Seizures then stepped in between July and SeptemberThey had to move from a great street in the 2007. They were unpredictable lapses in which hed blackERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVERAppleby and Pinedale area of Burlington where out for seconds or minutes. Again, despite neurological neighbours were friends, to a bungalow across from tests, doctors had no explanation for Erskine and his fam-MAKING THE CONNECTIONS: Former Oakville Beaver photogra-See In page 18ily.pher Barrie and Melissa Erskine, with their daughter, Emily. Re/Active offers a new approach to movement that treatseach client as an individual with a unique blueprint.Every program is designed for your specifi c needs, while developing proper alignment, balance, and strength foroptimum health and performance throughout life.Enjoy individual and group Pilates and Therapeutic Exercise MOVEMENT CENTREprograms covered by your Physiotherapy benefi ts. RETURN TO ACTIVE LIVINGCall to register today!Coveredb y yoPu1235 Trafalgar Road, Suite 401, Oakvillehry siotherinfo@reactivemovement.comabpeyn efi ts905-845-0161www.reactivemovement.com17 Thursday, March 10, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER www.insideHALTON.com