Patricia Gachagan, beloved host of the widely popular “The Positively Different MS Show” on MS & Me Radio Network is stepping down from radio due to MS health reasons.
PATRICIA Gachagan once was a primary school teacher. She loved her job, and she was good at it. It took her to London, then Barcelona, then back to her native Glasgow. She was something of a gym addict, too. She was fit and healthy. But in her late 30s, after she had given birth to her first child, a boy named Elliot, her life changed. Her immune system began to turn on itself, and her health began to deteriorate. From the very first day after giving birth, she says, she instinctively knew that something was wrong. Her illness reached the point where she had no option but to take early retirement.
Gachagan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition she has continued to find ways of living with. Still only 50, she has not only written a book that narrated her story of MS and motherhood but, became a host on the MS & Me Radio Network, launched by MS & Me Media. Working from a laptop in the kitchen of her home in Garthamlock, in the east end of Glasgow, her show grew to be a top rated show, which describes itself as a “informational series of radio programmes for MS patients, caregivers and families. “The Positively Different MS Show”, much like the book, shows people how to find the positives in their situation and not to dwell on the negatives.” Her sister, Margaret Anne, was the show producer.
Gachagan considered herself eminently qualified for such a role, having turned her own situation from, as she puts it, a prognosis of disability and vulnerability to one of hope and ability. “I had Elliot, in April of 2006, and almost immediately my body reacted”, she says. It was put down to post-pregnancy difficulties, but she never recovered. The illness showed no sign of going away and after a few weeks I realised I was losing feeling in my feet and the bottom of my legs, and I was having difficulty walking. At that point the medical world thought, ‘This might be something else’. Up until then, they had stuck to it being related to my Caesarean.
“I was referred to the old Southern General for a series of tests”, she continues. “It took nine months altogether, from the birth of my son to the diagnosis. It’s believed that my immune system had attacked itself in error following the birth, which had the effect of triggering MS. I decided to call my book Born Together, as it’s the story of how I have lived with my son, and MS, since literally the first day”. It’s a measure of her resilience that, right at the outset, she refused to give in to despair. She resolved that MS would not get in the way of caring for her son. “I have a good support network and was determined to bring up Elliot and live my life the way I wanted to. I refused to let MS get in the way.”
“I used to be a primary school teacher and I was a very organised and pro-active person”, she says, “and I carried that through in understanding what had happened to my body, and the changes that have resulted. I suppose that is what the book is about. It’s in my personality to be determined and positive. One thing I always say is that, if you can shift your perspective, you can shift anything”.
“In my daily life I try to put my MS into a separate place, so that it doesn’t define me or my life. For me, it is not about overcoming MS: it’s about living with it, and living well”. To this end, and to help others in the same situation, Gachagan has written her book and has also created a comprehensive website. www.patriciagachagan.com
One intriguing part of the latter is her MS “jigsaw” – a visual representation of everything she has tried over the years. Counselling, meditation, yoga, swimming, low-sat fats, lots of sleep, Omega-3, mindfulness, positivity, ‘family and friends’ – they are all there.
“The hosts at MS & Me Radio are all people with MS who are being pro-active, using their environment, their support groups, and different tools to access as high a quality of life as possible.”
“You can still have a good quality of life”. she adds. “That’s why I’ve called my show the Positively Different Show. I see myself as differently-abled: I’m still able to do almost everything.” Patricia is understandably saddened by her departure from radio, but she will continue her writing. MS & Me Radio will be re-airing favorite episodes for the followers of the show. All episodes will be available on the MS & Me Radio YouTube channel as a resource library for patients living with multiple sclerosis. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaLImm9tBMVcTIVFjgFtQ728HFbkrOf0E
