Exercise has become a vital part of his routine. For the past four years, Mark has taken part in classes at the Centre, including Balance Warrior on Mondays where he sees real improvement in his stability and enjoys the “penguin waddle” exercise. He also does HIIT (high intensity interval training) classes with Vanessa on Fridays.
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Over the last 16 years I’ve leaned on Kent Neuro as a place to continue my rehabilitation and share experiences. I started off with a Pilates class in the old Centre and then once the new Centre was built I began to explore the other beneficial therapies on offer. Even now I see improvements in what I am able to do physically and I’m so grateful.
As far as the therapy goes, each and every one of the hydro therapists have now made such a positive contribution to my wellbeing through their professionalism, skill and care that it’s hard to put into words. (more…)
The Kent Neuro Therapy Centre’s hydrotherapy team is brilliant – consistently kind and encouraging, with many years of experience. In my initial assessment session, they put together a programme of exercises that were tailored to my needs; this has been adjusted as I’ve grown stronger.
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Looking back over the past four years I am amazed at how far I have come. The journey has been filled with highs and lows, but each step has been a testament to resilience and determination. The support from the Centre, my therapists, family and friends has been invaluable. (more…)
My name is Tanya Roots. I was born in Westminster in London where I spent my first years, moved to Wimbledon Common and spent my later years in Surrey until I met my husband and moved to Kent. I am married to Malcolm, and we have two lovely children Dominic and Natalie along with four lovely grandchildren, three boys and one girl. Malcolm is my best friend, rock, carer, we have been together for 35 years, supporting each other in all we do. He is a very loving, caring individual never moans when helping me no matter what it is.
I worked at Marks and Spencer for 25 years, starting my career as a sales assistant, progressed to a supervisor in my final years worked within training and HR/Recruitment. In September 2004 I started working in the educations sector as a Pastoral Manager in secondary education. I still work within the education sector today at Canterbury College, working part-time as I am unable to work full-time due to my MS. (more…)
In 2021, while we were still in and out of Lockdown, I rather unexpectedly got diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
I’d known something was wrong for over a year by this point: I was tired all the time, my muscles ached after very little exertion, and I was only able to tell my flatmate and best friend Andrew that ‘my brain has changed’ – I didn’t know what I was experiencing was occasionally intense brain fog.
Honestly, at certain points, I thought I must be dying, but that no medical professional was confident enough to tell me. Then a fabulous local doctor went through all my medical notes over the past couple of years and found the answer. So now I knew it was fibromyalgia. Then I realised it could be lifelong, and there was no cure. This was, pretty much, it. (more…)
Wendy Reid is a full-time wheelchair user and one of our MS Members here at KMSTC. She has been married to her husband Ray for 53 years. Together they have three sons along with four grandchildren, three boys and one girl. They moved down from Crystal Palace to Gillingham in 1973. Wendy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis on 4th August 1988 by Dr Pollock here in Canterbury. He told Wendy that she had probably lived with her MS since birth.
Wendy said that the doctor told her “You have two choices, you could sit at home and do nothing or just ignore it for as long as possible and carry on as usual with your life.” At the time, they had an 18-month-old son, so she just carried as usual on with her life. (more…)
Naomi was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting MS in December 2017 when she was 27 years old, although she experienced several MS symptoms prior to this diagnosis.
In 2012 during Naomi’s time in teacher training in Bristol, she noticed that she was becoming more tired than usual alongside constant pins and needles in both legs lasting for a month. In 2016, Naomi had Bell’s Palsy, followed by double vision, vertigo and loss of movement in her hands. This meant that she had to take time off work as a Music Teacher due to being unable to write, play the piano or drive. After undergoing many different tests, an MRI scan in October 2017 confirmed that she has MS. (more…)
David Kernan grew up in Lympne near Hythe. A small village at the time, and where I grew up getting to know lots of the villagers. Being in the countryside was lovely with so many areas of countryside to play in and explore. I have a younger sister Sue, and we were lucky to grow up meeting with other relations regularly. I’m still in touch with my cousins and we love meeting up. To me, family and friends are so important.
My first job was working for Sainsbury’s. To this day I’ll never forget the day I started ( Tuesday 4th July 1978 ). I worked there until 1994 when I was unfortunately made redundant. My last role within the company was assistant night manager at the Canterbury store. During my time at the company I made lots of lifelong friends. But also that’s where I met Christine (my lovely wife). I’ve been in a few different jobs since but mainly factory or warehouse roles. My last job being at Church & Dwight where I was lucky enough to bring along my daughter and meet Pixie Lott. 
She was doing promotional work for the company and visited the factory in Folkestone where she sang a couple of her songs and posed for pictures. We have two children and four adorable grand daughters whose company we enjoy. (more…)
Gavin Bartlett is an MS Member at our Centre, he lives with his wife Debbie and together they have three adult children as well as six grandchildren. Since the age of 16 he worked in the printing industry, then in 2017 he was diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS and retired one year later on medical grounds. It took a year to diagnose.
He says: “The result was a shock to me and I struggled to come to terms with it.” In 2019, after being found eligible for a stem cell transplant, Gavin spent a month at King’s College Hospital undergoing the procedure. The operation has suppressed his MS and although not seeing signs of improvement, it has not worsened.
Growing up at seaBrian Baker is an MS Member who uses the Centre on a regular basis for therapies. He was born in 1944 and tragically lost his mum at the age of 10 which he says “had a devastating effect on me, it sent me off the rails and I got into all sorts of trouble”.
After ending up in court at a young age, his father didn’t know what to do with him and at the age of 13, Brian was sent to the Arethusa ship. Shaftesbury Homes provided naval training and education to boys like Brian. Along with 240 other boys, Brian trained and learnt on the ship until he left at the age of 16 and entered the Merchant Navy. He disliked the Merchant Navy as he felt he “wanted to be in charge”, so he left and took on an apprenticeship as a carpenter. Unfortunately, the building industry entered a recession so he went back to the Navy where he was 2nd in command of a Salvage Tug. (more…)
