Episode Five, Multiple Sclerosis, My New Normal

This is part two of of wild swimming, health and healing. In this episode you are taken to Loch Lomond where half of the podcast was recorded in the water whilst Louise and I had a refreshing dip.

Louise was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis three years ago at the age of 25. She opens up about the impact of this relapse and remittent disease has had on her life. How it has effected her physical and mental health. She takes us through what first lead her to being diagnosed. We discuss symptom management, swimming for survival, shame and anxiety, stigma and guilt around having an invisible illness. Her account is frank and honest, poignant and moving.

Swimming has been a constant source of physical and emotional support for Louise and as a swimming teacher she gives me some tips in how to swim safely in a loch. She tells me how loch swimming has aided her through some of the most challenging times of her life and how it has inevitably changed her forever.