A trip to Japan made possible with the right supports

Cara – who loves to travel – was excited to book the family’s dream trip to Japan, meant as a well-deserved reward for them all after enduring years of pandemic lockdowns. Then, four months before Cara and her family were scheduled to leave, she received her MS diagnosis.

‘I was diagnosed in March 2023, and we had booked to leave in July.

‘I was suddenly unsure about whether I would be able to go, and what a holiday might look like for me now.

‘I had done a lot of travel before being diagnosed but I knew this would be different, there was a lot of uncertainty,’ Cara says.

Reaching out to an MS nurse turned out to be a lifesaver, helping Cara to navigate her new diagnosis and giving her hope the trip could go ahead.

‘It was all very overwhelming initially but with my MS Nurse Advisor, Jane Gilliland’s guidance, I felt I could implement strategies to manage my MS symptoms,’ Cara says.

‘The trip came not long after my diagnosis. Before I went away, I had experienced the impact of heat on my body but at the time I didn’t know what it was, why it was happening and I was still very much learning to manage and understand my symptoms.

‘Fortunately for me, Jane’s suggestions were absolutely crucial to me being able to continue with the trip.’

Although her family could now look forward to the trip of a lifetime, Cara knew there would need to be some changes made.

‘It was a lot more difficult than it had been in the past but with Jane’s advice I was able to manage my symptoms whilst traveling.

‘Jane suggested booking a wheelchair at the airport and to also take a portable chair with me, and she was absolutely right. Once I got to Japan, I found I couldn’t walk to get off the plane and the wheelchair was vital to get me through customs and to the taxi.

‘When I got to the hotel, I had difficulty standing up and at that point I realised my trip to Japan was going to look very different, and I would need to implement the strategies the nurses had given me to get through.

‘I had a great time, but it was a lot trickier than I had anticipated, so I really appreciated Jane’s advice.

Jane’s tips around managing heat sensitivity turned out to be particularly helpful for Cara.

‘A lot of my symptoms are triggered by heat, and we knew it would be very hot in Japan. Thanks to Jane, I remembered to have a portable fan, a spray bottle and wet piece of material and a cold compress.

Cara knew that information was power when it came to her MS diagnosis.

‘When you’re first diagnosed with a disease that you don’t know much about, it’s very confronting and my first urge was to get more information about the drugs I would be taking and how things might progress.

‘The MS nurse advisor helped me with all of that. Jane educated me about what to expect and how to best manage my symptoms — ultimately, she put my mind at ease.

‘You can’t control the disease but by talking with an MS nurse advisor and having that trusted source of information on hand, it is possible to regain a sense of confidence in your future.

‘I want to share my initial struggle around whether to go overseas, to help people to understand they are not alone.

‘There is help out there and you can continue to try new things with MS, you might just need a few different strategies to get you through.

‘If I had not had those conversations with the MS nurses, I probably wouldn’t have gone to Japan.’