An Edinburgh woman was left devastated after her migraines and eye pain turned out to be MS.
Roby Walsh, 34, has travelled to her home country of Italy to undergo a stem cell transplant in the hope it will give her a new lease of life, after her condition took a turn for the worse.
An optical assistant in the capital, Roby had been diagnosed with the condition in 2017, while she was living in Australia following a bout of severe headaches.
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After her sister was diagnosed with MS at 14, Roby told Edinburgh Live she knew "everything" about the condition, but hadn't realised she was suffering from the same thing until undergoing an MRI scan.
Speaking to EL, she said: "I had always suffered from chronic migraines, but then I had never had such a horrible pain like I had behind my eyes.
"I went to the optometrist as the pain was unbearable and they looked but couldn't see anything. Then I started losing my vision in the left eye and I went for more tests and then the MRI saw the lesion in my brain."
Although far less severe than her sister's condition, Roby had tried a series of different medications and treatments to manage her MS, and originally was able to keep up a relatively normal lifestyle.
However, after moving to Edinburgh with her wife Brooke to escape the intense heat of Australia, Roby shared a decline in her health meant she was eventually forced to give up work.
Now, in the hope of seeing improvements, Roby is going through the process of a stem cell treatment and transplant, after watching her sister see huge differences from it.
Roby explained: "I was going through a treatment but it was difficult and there was times where I wouldn't even be able to walk and I thought, is it worth it? Or is it time to stop and start a procedure like looking at the stem cells.
"I know the procedure very well because it saved my sister's life, she was 27 and couldn't walk or feed herself or move from the bed. But now she's another person, she's walking and talking and improved so much.
"I realised if I want to keep my lifestyle, be independent and not get worse, i don't want to end up like my sister so I made the decision to do it this year.
"You need to your own bone marrow not a donor, so they collect and separate your stem cells, then freeze them and you go through chemo, then they put them back in your body and you do three weeks in an isolated clinical room and it takes about three to six months to recover properly.
"I'm calling it my Roby reboot because for me, this will be a rebirth of my life. It's not easy, I've done chemo and collected half my stem cells.'
With her disability often appearing "hidden", Roby has been documenting her journey on social media with the hope of reaching others in the same situation.
Extremely positive about her ongoing treatment, she hopes other MS sufferers will learn from her experience, or get in touch so they can support each other.
Roby said: "Not many people know about the stem cells and I'm hoping it's going to raise awareness and show that I can beat MS and live my life.
"MS is tricky and can seem almost invisible for some, but a lot of people don't know how much pain we might be in.
"Everyone is different but my attitude is to aways to be positive, I don't want the MS to define me. Yes you can have a cane or a wheelchair but it doesn't define you, you can still be yourself and do what you like.
"You don't want to close yourself in a depression and let the MS takeover.
"Of course I'm afraid but you have to take the chance for a better life."
You can follow Roby's stem cell journey here.
