‘I longed to play the Bach violin double with my daughter – but then I got MS’

Shakira Hussein: ‘Violin had never been my main occupation, but I could not imagine a life in which there were no more impromptu jam sessions with friends, family and sometimes total strangers.’ Photograph: Shakira Hussein

At first, I failed to recognise the significance of the deterioration in my violin technique.

I was preoccupied by other concerns – the crushing exhaustion that I would describe to my doctors as “not normal tiredness”, the unexplained falls from my bike. I did not draw any connection between these issues and my out-of-tune violin playing. Only when the right side of my body detached itself from my central nervous system to the point where I could no longer pick up a pen or walk without a stick to support myself did the words this feels neurological cross my mind.