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#GiovanioltrelaSM: hundreds of young people with MS and NMO meet in Rome
27.11.2023On 2-3 December, GiovanioltrelaSM, Young People beyond MS, will gather in Rome for their annual meeting of young people under 35 who are experiencing a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis or neuromyelitis optica in Italy.
These meeting provide an opportunity to share experiences and learn with experts.
This initiative is designed and carried out by young people with MS for their fellows, and its aim is to fulfil the need for information, discussion and sharing of everyday life experience.
Promoted by AISM (Italian Multiple Sclerosis Society), it takes place annually in Rome since 2009 and represents an opportunity to engage with newly diagnosed people.
Each edition has a theme, and this year’s theme is “time”. Time as the measure of each moment of our existence.
Sometimes we perceive it to be too quick, other times not at all.
It’s a matter of perception.
When we receive the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis or neuromyelitis optica, time seems to stop. Life, emotions, the world around us crystallise. And when everything starts flowing again, nothing appears as it once was.
After the diagnosis there is time for anger, sadness, and fear; and then there is a time for questions, but also a time where this new journey becomes familiar.
And then, there always comes a time when we desire to react, to confront the illness, to take control of this new life.
In these moments of awareness, we search for answers to our questions and engage with those who, like us, are experiencing the same journey.
But there is also other kinds of time: the time of mankind evolution, the time of civil society, and the time of science. These times of course affect our lives even if we do not perceive it immediately.
Finally, even the perception of MS and NMO has changed over time, and that is one of the topics of GiovanioltrelaSM.
For more information, visit www.evento.giovanioltrelasm.it.
