At first glance, you wouldn’t know that Emma Tinkler suffers from two incurable illnesses that require constant monitoring and medication.
The Sydney mother-of-two was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 33 and Parkinson’s disease 15 years later, at 48.
“Many people think that Parkinson’s is a disease that has been around for 80 years and that only affects men, but it is not. Young women also suffer from this,” he told FEMAIL.
Emma’s health problems began in 2005, shortly after returning from her honeymoon, when she began to feel tingling in her fingers.
She wasn’t worried and ignored the symptoms for a week before going to see her GP. The test results were clear and Emma assumed everything was fine, so she canceled her next appointment.
Emma Tinkler suffers from multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. The mother of two from Sydney has no family history with either child.
In 2010, he felt a “waterfall in his eye,” numbness in his toes, and noticed his handwriting was crooked. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
The side effects were minimal, so she continued to live a relatively normal life and had two children, daughters Elodie and Aggie.
It wasn’t until 2010, when she felt a “waterfall in her eye,” numbness in her toes and noticed that her handwriting was crooked, that she decided to go to the doctor.
What the doctor said next was something he never expected.
“At worst, it could be MS,” the GP told her, before sending her to hospital for further tests.
The following week he had an MRI that confirmed the worst: he had MS.
The diagnosis was a complete shock. Emma has no family history of the disease and she planned to have children with her then-husband.
MS causes the body’s immune system to attack and damage nerves throughout the body. It is most frequently diagnosed in women between 20 and 40 years old.
It can cause serious symptoms as signals to the brain are affected. Symptoms include inability to walk properly, loss of hand and arm function, pain, vision changes, and memory loss.
Fortunately, Emma’s side effects were minimal and she continued to live her normal life before having two children, daughters Elodie and Aggie.
“I ticked a lot of boxes for MS: I was a woman in my early thirties, and three out of four patients diagnosed with MS are women,” she said.
Fast forward to 2019 and Emma noticed strange things happening to her body. On one occasion, at a yoga retreat, her legs started to shake. Then, on another occasion, her left foot felt “floppy” and she found it difficult to lift it when walking.
It wasn’t until he got a second opinion from another neurologist that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 48. In 18 months, he went from walking perfectly well to needing a cane and, finally, a mobility scooter.
Fast forward to 2019 and Emma noticed strange things happening to her body. At a yoga retreat, her legs started to shake. Then, on another occasion, her left foot felt “flexible” and found it difficult to lift it when walking.
At first, doctors had little idea what was causing the symptoms and thought it was a functional neurological disorder (FND).
Because there are no medications for FND, Emma received physical therapy, psychology, and went to a rehabilitation hospital for several weeks, but her symptoms worsened.
It wasn’t until he got a second opinion from another neurologist that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 48.
In 18 months, Emma had gone from walking perfectly well to needing a cane and, finally, a mobility scooter.
‘One of my hands was shaking constantly, the other felt like all my fingers were stuck together. “I couldn’t text, I couldn’t eat properly, I couldn’t hold a burger or a cup of tea, I wasn’t in good shape,” she said.
Emma was prescribed medication and within a few days she noticed a drastic difference.
Both conditions are incurable and Emma has to learn to manage both with medication.
“Over Christmas I tied my shoelaces and sent a photo to my mum… it was amazing,” Emma said through tears.
‘After the holidays I went to my daughter’s school and was able to walk to the main office. The woman at the counter started crying because the last time I went I was on a mobility scooter. It was a beautiful moment.
‘The support I have had around me from friends, family and the NDIS has been incredible. I couldn’t have done it without them.’
Despite everything she has been through, Emma considers herself lucky that she and other Australian patients have access to medication.
But he is aware that there is still a long way to go to find a cure.
‘I am very passionate about defending Parkinson’s. It is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world, but many people don’t know what it is.
‘As I went downhill very slowly, my children made the journey with me.
‘When I told them I had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s they didn’t know what that meant, so I explained it to them. But now the complicated thing is the unpredictability of all this.”
Since both MS and Parkinson’s are incurable, Emma needs to control her symptoms with medication.
You may go from feeling flat and walking with a cane to having a quicker step after taking your medication.
Emma shares her story in support of Shake It Up Australia. To donate to research, Click here.
