About us. There are 2 of us that will manage this blog - Sonja and Karin.
Sonja (in pink) has MSA. Karin is her friend. Karin and Sonja have been friends since they were 6 years old. Karin is more technically adventurous than Sonja. Sonja was more adventurous in the physical sense. So, Karin initiated and put together the blog, coaxed and encouraged Sonja to co-administer and share her story.
About Sonja - Sonja was born in the Western Cape at the tip of South Africa, in a town called Somerset West and now lives in the Strand, 5 km away. Sonja was raised in a typical Afrikaans home. She married young (19) to a man who charmed her way into his heart and has remained there ever since. (Johnny is a caring, kind and considerate husband. He cares for Sonja with the utmost tenderness and compassion and plans his work and his business around her. )
Prior to becoming ill, Sonja was an extremely active person and enjoyed life as a gymnast, a dancer, a gym instructor and an adventurer planning trips into the 'bundu' ( bundu /ˈbʊnduː/
▶nounS. African a distant or wilderness region.
– origin prob. from Shona bundo ‘grasslands’.)
or into the 'gamadoelas' - which is a word we Afrikaners use meaning bush / no-mans land / wild animals / no loo's / no cell reception - take your own water, fuel, food, snakebite serum etc. I'm sure you get the picture. Before MSA her life was an active and full of adventure.
Sonja was diagnosed in 2010. As a result of this blog as well as our Facebook Page, awareness for Multiple System Atrophy has grown in South Africa. Because of its rarity, very little information have been available. Patients, medical practitioners, carers and loved ones are now able to be guided to useful information and international links where we participate.
The honest blogposts are an inspiration to people of all walks of life. Despite her illness she manages to touch the lives of many people.
Thank you for taking the time to visit. Please share our blog - we know it will mean something to someone.
The honest blogposts are an inspiration to people of all walks of life. Despite her illness she manages to touch the lives of many people.
Thank you for taking the time to visit. Please share our blog - we know it will mean something to someone.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
― Nelson Mandela
" Multiple System Atrophy (MSA)* is a progressive brain disorder caused by loss of nerve cells in specific areas of the brain. This loss causes problems with movement, balance and autonomic functions of the body. (Autonomic functions are body functions that occur automatically, such as bladder control.)"
I am forever Sonja's friend.
Karin
Karin
'Come Sissi - I'll walk with you'
(Sonja passed away on 14 March 2017)
RIP Sissi
(Sonja passed away on 14 March 2017)
RIP Sissi