Source MS Trust: How your children will cope with your MS, is an ongoing concern for the majority of parents following diagnosis. Here Martin Baum, who was diagnosed with MS over 20 years ago and his son Josh, discuss how they coped and the impact it has had on them over the years.
Many years ago, when our son was about four or five, my wife and I were given a booklet. It was called, I think, My dad has MS, or something like it. It was a guide to help a child understand the complexities of having a parent living with Multiple Sclerosis.
As far as it went, it did exactly what it said on the front cover by explaining about the effects of MS in a child-friendly way. This was something we appreciated greatly. After that life, as they say, carried on while we tried our best not to make a big deal about my relapses no matter how much my MS was impacting upon our family life,
The last thing we wanted to do was to add to his growing pains. Life’s hard enough for a child as it is but, nevertheless, we never hid anything. We tried to be as honest as we felt we could about why dad didn’t go bike riding or have a kick around in the garden. This was his normality. This was our reality. Read on.