WAIKATO NEWS

 Introducing a new Staff Member
My name is Donna Kay, and I’ve been appointed by MS Waikato as Information / Service Co-ordinator.  This is a new position developed by the MS Trust to develop services and resources for their members.
    Currently I am developing a library which will include up-to-date books and videos for members to use, as well as a web site for those of you who like to get information on-line.   I’m also setting the year’s calendar with various education / training days such as Carer Support Workshops, Volunteer Training, and Information Evenings.  Let me know if there is a particular topic or speaker you are interested in. 
If you are in need of information or service co-ordination, contact me at (07)839-5506, or email at mswaikato@zfree.co.nz . Although I am not able to make home visits, I can assist by making referrals or accessing resources.

 I’ve worked as a medical social worker for 15 years, so I usually can find my way around the maze of health and disability services! 
I look forward to meeting and working with you in the year ahead.
Donna

 VIDEO AVAILABLE

 In September this year, BBC1 showed a documentary entitled: “A Cruel Inheritance”.
This documentary charts the hopes and fears of two families and a pioneering team of British scientists as they embark upon a revolutionary and controversial brain operation, which could lead to a cure for Huntington’s Disease.
“A Cruel Inheritance” tells the personal stories of Peter, a farmer in his 40s, and Gaye, a mother in her 50s, who both have HD, a debilitating brain disorder which is passed from parent to child, affecting generations.  HD usually lies dormant until midlife, when it slowly begins to destroy a part of the brain that controls the way we think and move.  Peter has already lost his speech and Gaye her memory.
Until now there has been no hope for sufferers of this illness, however that is about to change.  Peter and Gaye are patients at the pioneering Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair.  Here, for the last three years, an elite team of British doctors and scientists have been planning a revolutionary and controversial operation, implanting fresh tissue into the brains of HD sufferers.  This is among the first treatment of its kind designed to actually repair the damaged brain.

 The Waikato MS Trust has a copy of this video and it is available to any of the Branches/Societies for showing at Support Groups or meetings.  If you are interested in borrowing the video (only cost would be postage and packaging) please contact Sandra Diekerhoff, MS Waikato Trust, P O Box 146  Hamilton, or call her on  07 839 –5506.  We keep a booking schedule and so would need to know definite dates for borrowing and return.