Girls. You know, I've been in my Hot Girl walk era. I've been running. I was looking at joining a run club.
You've got a headband, I got a headband, I got so you've got all the gear, no idea.
I got all the active wear, and this weekend I'm putting it on and doing it all for a good cause. I'm walking this year in the MS Walk, Run and Roll. It's a brilliant initiative and it's something that is very personal to me, very close to home. Very recently, my beautiful sister Becky was diagnosed with MS, and you guys were following along in that journey because it really has happened.
In the last couple of months. She was diagnosed with MS, she lost her first baby, she had her first first miscarriage, first baby in the family, all within the same month period, four weeks.
Can you tell her?
Yeah?
Tell everyone that's listening that might not know what MS.
Is, Okay, So. MS. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often very debilitating disease which attacks the central nervous system, which is the brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves. It's the most common neurological disease in young adults. And often attacks people at times in their lives when they're planning families, building a career. Really does strike around that thirty to forty year old period, and it often affects women more so than men.
And they don't really know the cause, do they.
It's one of those things that just sort of happens and you don't really know why, and there's not really a lot to stop it.
Is that that's the hardest part, and I think that's what's been so scary. I don't want to talk for Becky. I've spoken to her. She's happy for me to talk about it, and we're doing the walk and the run on the weekend. We're all excited. But she went in and out of doctors for years with the same symptoms. Nothing changed. She had bizarre optical changes. She would feel stroke like symptoms, She couldn't walk for days, she would her mood would be up and down, her speech would change.
All these things that they'd put down to stress, they'd put down to hormones, being a young woman, the miscarriage they put it down to, and from doctor to doctor, to neurologists to neurologists, like tears and stress, which only makes these symptoms. Worse, she finally got a diagnosis of MS, which isn't even there's no blood markers really that say you've got MS. You've got this, you've got this, you've got this, knowing all that you think it's MS.
I know you don't want to speak for her, but you are so close to your sister. You live with your sister as well, obviously for period your whole Yeah, we travel the world together, but you're so so close. What has this diagnosis been like for her? Because I can only imagine how frightening that must be. It sounds so scary to be diagnosed with MS.
It's been really hard for her, especially losing the first kid. She got married as well two years ago. She's got a beautiful husband. She's got a great support unit with the family, the Cheery family. You know, men, it's a reality show in the Cheery family. But we are so used to these these fun periods in our life.
And we had a life of privilege.
But we've all been very healthy. Touchwood. I've got my grandparents, you know, my parents are still around. We all live in suburbs away from each other. This really really threw us and it was really hard to watch her go through that, and that's why I wanted to talk about it, because yeah, no, it's tough to see your sister and your big sister right like I'm the little brother, like I'm the little bro, and then to see Becky go through something that like, it just throws.
You, especially when you think all you want to do with your loved ones when you can see them struggling or going through something tough, is help them, is make it better?
Is take it away?
And knowing there's nothing that you can physically do other than be there for her, like you can't take it away.
It must be really really hard. She's pregnant now.
Right, she's pregnant, and how has it affected her pregnancy?
Well, the weird thing is it's actually halted the symptoms. She's feeling the best she's felt, which they say happens.
What does it mean then for her? I mean obviously being a new mum and she has so many things to look forward to. What does it mean for her in terms of how she can manage it moving forward? Now?
They don't really know. The advice from the doctors was to have the babies. She said, do I have kids, It will make it worse because it's so MS. It can be so tied into hormones and changes and flare ups. Their advices have the babies. Like, that's what we tell everyone that has MS that wants to have kids, is to get them done. So she's just doing it and she's living in the moment right now.
I deal with the rest later.
Yeah, I mean she's got to get the C section and there are certain things that has to do with someone living with MS. But we just want that baby out. We want to be healthy, and we love it so much. And I just think we're so lucky. Becky's so lucky that we have the family. If you're out there and you've got MS, I mean, like you really should look into the MS walk, roll and run. It is a brilliant community. I had no idea about it until the
last couple of months. This weekend we're all getting together in Sydney and if you can't walk, if you've got a disability, they're let you roll. You go in the wheelchair. You can't run. There's a ten kree.
For some reason, which I pictured. You meant like roll, like you laid on the ground and rolled.
No, you.
Genuinely, however, you make your way, you can do it. So where is it?
It's in Sydney. It's in Sydney yet, So twenty twenty four MS A walk, run and roll I in my Instagram on the bio, will put it on the pickup too. We're fundraising. The Cheery family goal was three thousand dollars. We're so close to getting that three thousand bucks.
How far away off are you?
Do? You know, like a couple hundred bucks.
Well, I am going to put that in and I'm going to take it up to three thousand stocks yea, and I will match that for it.
But also everybody, but no, I mean there's so many people across the country who can't necessarily get involved because of location. But if you do have money that you can spare, it's an incredible cause to get involved in totally.
And times are tough like cost of living, we get it. But it's also a brilliant way for those who don't have the family, like the juries, to feel a sense of community because MS is bloody scary, but you know, with donations like this, we can get on our way to getting some answers and some hope for people that live with it.
Oh, you're amazing. Give our love to Becky.
We are going to top up that account now and if you guys can spare a couple of dollars, you know where to go.