MS Support lives here

MS Lives in your local community, affecting everyone you know. So does MS Support. Everyone who is affected by the disease is welcome at Multiple Sclerosis independent “Self Help” or Society dependent “Support Groups” that meet routinely in many communities to discuss issues related to living with the condition. The MS-SHG or MSSG is only one part of the line of support that an MS Affected person has. This is the Front Line peer support we need that carries us through this journey to our individual ends and makes the need for the other support sides to exist.
Support begins at the first diagnoses of the disease when the patient meets with the medical team of professionals who will care for them for life. In an ideal world, the patient, once diagnosed will meet with a Nurse practitioner specialized in Multiple Sclerosis at an “MS Clinic” at a central hospital. This nurse introduces the patient to the altered world they now live in, perhaps educating about disease modifying drugs like the “ABCR” treatments. The MS Clinic sees all of the MS Patients in their area of responsibility. In larger regions, the Nurse may conduct “Outreach Clinics” to provide remote support to MS Patents otherwise “cut off” and are at the front line of the cutting edge research that one day will find a cure for this disease.
Tying this triangle of support together is your chapter office of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada (usually located in the largest city in your area); we have the National office in our nation’s capitol and a provincial Division office located in every province and territory. The National office directs the provincial Divisions who control chapters located in major centers around the provinces / territories.
Here in British Columbia, the division office is located in Burnaby and has the added responsibility of MS clients in remote northern BC. The Chapters are at the front line of educational support for the patients. They provide educational material and have limited funding available for educational seminars and patient requests for needed equipment. They also provide a place for MS Patents to plan events that will go into funding research to end MS and chapter operations that make life easier for someone with MS. The Chapters work with the MSSGs and SHGs as well as the clinics to keep their MS clients in touch with the latest news in the MS World. Most even have a well stocked library of material that fully explains MS and all of its manifestations.
In Prince George British Columbia, the MS Clinic of the “University Hospital of Northern BC” (AKA the building formerly known as “PGRH”), the Prince George Chapter of the MS Society of Canada and the Prince George MS “Self Help” Support Group have teamed to produce the “Multiple Sclerosis Wellness Event” occurring in April since 2008. This partnership towards MS education is unique in Canada.
The Wellness Event hosts Experts in MS Medicine and making life with a disability comfortable, who educate MS Affected people from across Northern British Columbia about the latest technology and breakthroughs in the search for an end to MS. Medical supply places and businesses that specialize in wellness products are invited to set up booths for the patrons to have their questions answered as well.