The profile of the month is chosen by the MSIF editor from those submitted.

Jackie Weight

Email:Contact Jackie
Year of Diagnosis: Officially 1999, but symptoms started in 1998
Occupation: Ex IT Manager turned Cattle Farmer
Country of Residence: England
Type of MS: Relapsing / Remitting
Sex: Female

Hi, my name’s Jackie and I have MS. I sound like someone with an alcohol or drug problem, but I’m not and nobody is to blame. But here is how it has changed my life…

It was February 1998, a typical English winter – damp and cold but something was not quite right with me. I had pins and needles in my feet and felt a bit strange. Within a week the pins and needles had spread up to my chest and I had little sensation anywhere below that area. It was time to see my doctor. I visited my GP who, with his usual ‘bedside manner of a mortician’, told me all of the things it might be. He warned me that it could be a rare condition he had heard of which might even kill me!! He then referred me to a neurologist. Never at any time was MS even a distant thought.

I visited my neurologist – a lovely man – who told me that I should have an MRI scan, which I did. Again MS never even crossed my mind. Anyway, I was getting married on 1 May that year so I had more important things to think of. My neurologist suggested hospitalisation for three days for IV steroid treatment (typically of me I got bored so I escaped after one afternoon and went back daily for the treatment).

I was married in May as planned; we had a lovely day and all thoughts of illness went out of my mind. We went to British Columbia, Canada on a ‘Cattle Ranching’ honeymoon. It was great, life was great and I felt great, if a little saddle sore. I still had the occasional attack of pins and needles, but I decided that it was nothing and ignored it.

In August 1999, I started to have more problems. I got off the train to go to work in London one morning and lost all sense of up and down. Luckily I was travelling with my husband and I leant on him for support (well almost fell on him actually). We put it down to my lack of breakfast that morning and he took me to a café for tea and toast.

The balance problems soon got worse and in October I decided to visit my neurologist again. More MRI scans were done and this time the results came back positive. I had MS. I was shocked I had never even considered that I may have MS (stupid really, having read up on the symptoms afterwards, I really should have known). I felt very alone and frankly I didn’t know what to do. I was driving home when my husband called me and I told him the news (I had insisted that he needn’t come with me for the results). He rushed home and we talked about things sensibly. He has a great theory on life and illness, he calls it being given a ‘Yellow Card’ (as in football/soccer). You go through life being given the occasional yellow card. It doesn’t stop you, you keep going; but one day you will get a ‘Red Card’. You don’t know when or what will be the cause of it, but you will get it, it’s guaranteed. So I use that as my philosophy.

Anyway, to continue the story… I carried on working in London until January 2001 and then decided to take a couple of months off to look after our farm. Tragedy struck in February 2001 when Britain was struck by ‘Foot and Mouth Disease’ (a highly contagious disease affecting livestock). As our Stockman worked on many farms and was a prime risk of spreading the disease I asked him to leave. I was now on my own. We were very lucky, the cattle herd a mile around the corner were culled and burnt in the scare but our farm was spared. It was hard, both emotionally and financially.

My husband continued to work in London and I became a ‘Farmer’ to our herd of around 100 head of Pedigree Limousin and Sussex cattle. It was hard work at first. I was due to start calving the following month so I threw myself into my new role. The animals had to be fed, cleaned out, bedded down, checked for any illnesses (and treated), monitored to see if they were about to start calving. It was an endless cycle, truly 24 x 7, but I was loving every minute of it.



The calving went well on the whole. I only had to deliver about six out of the 30 calves born, a very interesting experience to say the least. There were nights when I camped out in the cow barn with my trusty Border Collie Ellie, because one of the cows was showing signs of calving. It’s amazing just how comfortable a straw bed can be!!

After all those experiences, I decided that I needed more knowledge of my new job, so in September 2001, I enrolled at my local Agricultural College for a one year ‘Day Release’ Course in Livestock Production and Livestock Management. All was going well, I was learning lots on the course, getting Distinction grades in my assignments and generally enjoying the experience. Calving came again in April 2002 and a slight disaster struck in May. I was feeding some young heifers and they got a bit impatient for their food and knocked me over – I felt my leg break before I hit the ground!! I was in the middle of nowhere. Luckily my husband had come home early that day and I had persuaded him to come with me when I fed the animals, he took over now. The Kent Air Ambulance came out (we were about a mile cross-country from the nearest public road), and they were fantastic. Anyway to cut a long story short, I ended up spending 8 days in hospital. It turned out that my lower left leg was broken into 7 pieces so I had a plate and 11 screws put in to hold it all together.

When I got back to farm I was out in my wheelchair feeding the animals again. In fact I was doing as much as possible to help my poor husband who was having to get up at 04.30 hours every morning to feed the animals, before he went to work. Luckily it was May and they were out in the fields again with only a few more due to calve. I kept an eye on them during the day, ready to call for reinforcements if they needed help! My husband even bought me an old second hand car (I could drive an automatic) so that I could get out and about and check most of the animals every day.

I finished my college course in June, hobbling around in plaster and on crutches for the final classes and the exams, which I still managed to pass, both with Distinctions.

I’m back on my feet again now and have been for a few months so all is under control again. I’ll never forget the experience in the wheelchair, it’s one I hope not to repeat. But if I ever do at least I’m a bit more prepared for it, in fact I think I will probably design a ‘skid-steer/cross country wheelchair’ if necessary.

Well, it’s January 2003 now. We have 37 calves due this year and will start calving next month. The cows are thriving. I have one special bull calf born in November last year, who I have hand-reared after his mother died. His name is Invicta Temeraire (named after Turner’s Fighting Temeraire) but he is lovingly known as Tiger. We go for lovely walks together and I hope that one day he will be a champion at the Royal Agricultural Show and I will be showing him!

Like everyone in life I get aches and pains. It would be easy to blame MS for these, but it’s probably part of life’s ups and downs. I’ve decided to live my life by the ‘old soldiers adage’ “Live for today for tomorrow we may die”. The one thing I’m sure of is that one day I will get the Red Card; although I’m still not certain that I believe that the Yellow MS Card will be it’s cause. Until that happens I will continue to enjoy my life to its fullest!

Regards and best wishes to you all

Jackie