Living with progressive MS means adapting at various points throughout life to still maintain independence as much as possible. I still maintain that everyone needs a Super Sarah in their life, my incredible wife and carer, but there are some things that I like to do by myself.

Access to a hot drink is very important to me as my temperature often goes from hot to cold from one second to the next. A kettle is very heavy and if it’s full of burning hot water is just asking for an accident in my case. As a result of this we have a One Cup kettle, it simply pours enough water to fill one cup.

Now my coffee tastes have developed into a more sophisticated palette and do enjoy good coffee. So for the last few years I have found myself enjoying Nespresso. Due to anxiety, I only allow myself to one caffeinated coffee a day however they do have decaf so that is brilliant news. Another benefit is that a few of the Nespresso machines are usable with one hand. This has been highly beneficial for me and the love being able to offer Super Sarah a coffee that I have made all by myself!

This is particularly helpful because Super Sarah is very handy and has actually built things for me to make life easier and an excellent example of this is my custom-built desk. As you’ll see from my previous blog post, I have spent the last eight years studying Psychology with Counselling at The Open University. I struggled to find a desk that was high enough for my wheelchair and had everything I needed in all of the specific places I needed them. Super Sarah came at me with a tape measure one day, believe it or not this is not unusual so I didn’t ask any questions! She did a couple of sketches and then presented idea to me. It was brilliant, and we just need a few supplies. Within about a week I had a custom made desk that fitted me perfectly. Thank goodness for Nespresso and the creative mind of Super Sarah! Now I’m not suggesting you send orders to Super Sarah but it is impressive what you can come up with when you think about things that will make things smoother.

Using a fridge as a wheelchair user can be incredibly frustrating, open the door two inches, moved to the side a little and repeat until the door is all the way open. This is where I introduced the mini fridge or wine cooler. This has been so useful for me! Not only is it an excellent space for milk for my favourite coffee but I also take medication needs to be refrigerated so this is ideal for me. A small wine cooler in particular is slim so it takes up less space in the kitchen and is much easier for my wonky hand use.

In the bathroom things can be a bit complicated. Depending on the day, the tap on the sink can seem miles away and on other days it’s easy. For the tricky days, recommend tap extenders. Fun fact, depending on the behaviour of my hands on the day these are useful and other days the are water fountains! Results may vary…Fatigue is common in MS and a daily shower even with a fully functioning wet room can seem out of reach. Another brilliant idea from Super Sarah was to buy a portable hairdresser sink. I think this is the best money we have spent! It means I can stay a wheelchair and have my hair washed without expending any energy.

Magnetic chargers are fantastic for the week handed. You can find these anywhere online and they’re usually really reasonably priced. I have one for my phone, there is an insert into the charging port and the magnetic end of the cable just pops right on. Luckily the Apple watch already has a magnetic charter, they really did think this through. I’d say it was fair that most things can be charged magnetically now, which is excellent news as long as don’t get tied up in the cables!

What are your life hacks?