S2E22 Coffee Break with community member Rowan Baker

Geoff Allix  00:02

Welcome to Living Well with MS Coffee Break, I’m your host, Geoff Allix. We decided to do something a little different in expanding the range of content we produce here at Living Well with MS. Since our community forms the beating heart of Overcoming MS, we are commencing this special series called Coffee Break, which features short interviews with members of the OMS community, talking about their personal journeys in adopting and staying on the OMS seven step recovery programme, the challenges they encountered, and how they overcame them, and their tips and tricks for sticking to the path that leads to better health. We hope you enjoy and learn from these brief chats between our regular episodes and as always, your comments and suggestions are welcome by emailing [email protected], that’s [email protected] and don’t forget, if you enjoy these and other Living Well with MS podcast episodes, please leave a review on Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast listening platform. So Rowan, can you tell us a bit about yourself, your family, your life where you live and anything about yourself that you’d like to share with us?

 

Rowan Baker  01:13

Yeah, of course. So I’m 28, I live by sea, I’ve been a nurse for seven years nearly and work full time at a busy hospital on the emergency floor. I live with my wife and really enjoy running and yoga and then I’ve got other hobbies like crafting and cooking as well, I really enjoy. And I’ve just got into gardening as well, which I’m really enjoying and really care for my little vegetable patch.

Geoff Allix  01:40

Good thing to do and timing Coronavirus.

 

Rowan Baker  01:43

Yeah, exactly when there is no other time better to do it

 

Geoff Allix  01:48

So I guess from your accent you’re in the UK?

 

Rowan Baker  01:52

Yes, yeah, just south of London, by an hour. So yeah, it’s meant to be summer, but it’s quite grey and cloudy today. I’m doing a DIY half marathon that I’m training for which I never thought I’d be able to do so yeah. Really, really grateful to be able to do that.

 

Geoff Allix  02:10

And when were you diagnosed with MS? And how long have you been following the OMS programme?

 

Rowan Baker  02:17

I got symptoms in April 2018 and then had a big relapse in July of that year, so a couple months later. And then I was  diagnosed with very highly active, relapsing remitting MS a week later. And I think at that point, I sort of heard about OMS, but hadn’t really taken it in and I think once the shock had sort of subsided, and I was able to sort of take in information. I sort of found OMS, then started that from October that year. So about three months after I was diagnosed, it’s so embedded in my life now I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

 

Geoff Allix  03:03

And what’s your favorite thing about the OMS programme?

 

Rowan Baker  03:05

I think it’s all really important and I don’t think you can sort of pinpoint one thing. I’m quite good list person, so I quite like that I can sort of get my Vitamin D and my medication ticked off with breakfast and then I sort of feel like it sets me up for the day. Exercise as well, I’ve been finding that’s a really good confidence boost and I’m able to do more than I was before I was diagnosed now, which is really exciting. So it’s, I think it’s kept me doing regular exercise as well rather than sort of short bursts every so often and I can really feel the difference for that. And then I think maybe the one that I’ve enjoyed the most is probably the diet or the nutrition step and I think it’s helped me to develop sort of a way to like showcase veggies and things that I wouldn’t have done before.

 

Geoff Allix  04:16

It does turn you into a better cook, doesn’t it?

 

Rowan Baker  04:18

Yeah, definitely and you taste the things and you’re a bit more experimental, I think with it as well. And it’s just so flexible and I think seeing it rather than like with restricted diets where you’re saying, Oh, I can’t have that. I can’t have that. This one you can have so much, which is quite exciting, I think.

Geoff Allix  04:41

Yeah. And not just the not eating meat bit but it’s I think like the whole food bit of it. So because you can be a really unhealthy vegan.

 

Rowan Baker  04:49

Yes, yeah, that was me before diagnosis for sure.

 

Geoff Allix  04:53

But yeah, just the fact that the encouragement to cook fresh food, then. Yeah, the actual cooking bit, if you enjoy cooking.

Rowan Baker  05:02

Yeah, absolutely. Then there’s so much available if you don’t like cooking, like frozen fruit and vegetables and canned stuff. It’s just super quick and just as good for you, isn’t it?

 

Geoff Allix  05:13

And so that was the good bit. So what’s the hardest thing adopting OMS?

 

Rowan Baker  05:18

Definitely fish. I think I hadn’t eaten it for about 20 years. So I sort of cut out the junk, which I had a lot of the vegan cheese’s. But yeah, so I had to then introduce or reintroduce fish, which was really, really hard. And I saw a clip of George Jelinek saying that you had a 50% reduction in relapse rate, if you consume fish three times a week or more. So that was like a no brainer and I sort of had to tell myself to back it up a bit and just have to have to eat it, because I don’t think that was something that I’d want to compromise on. But I sort of try and do it as ethically as I can, so I’ll make sure that I only have it three times a week and I try to get wild fish when I can rather than sort of farmed fish. So yes, it’s just getting that balance, isn’t it?

 

Geoff Allix  06:20

Yeah and it is. I mean, I tried to avoid big fish, if you see what I mean, because they tend to have more heavy metal. There’s other trade offs as well, which is not an OMS thing, It’s just like, and yeah, the whole farmed fish, and because some of the sort of salmon farms don’t look great.

Rowan Baker  06:53

I think if you’re not prepared to sort of farm in that way yourself to get your food, it’s difficult to then eat it.

Geoff Allix  07:00

Yeah. But there are so many choices. It is such broad thing as well, It’s not fish. It’s seafood, isn’t it?

Rowan Baker  07:09

Yes. I’ve not really been brave enough to sort of venture out of fish yet.  The day might come, you never know.

Geoff Allix  07:19

And you’re very active in your MS community and I’ve seen that you’ve got lots of blogs on the Overcoming MS website. Can you tell us a bit about being part of the OMS community and how that’s changed your journey?

 

Rowan Baker  07:33

Yeah, I think I’ve got so much from it, that I think contributing is my way to show my gratitude for the OMS programme and hopefully to be able to sort of provide some support to people maybe coming in, I guess I write my blogs with that mindset is from maybe more newly diagnosed, or people coming to OMS and really sort of show that it really does work. And to give that sort of faith that it’s a programme that really does give you that control. Yeah, and I just get so much from it that hopefully I’m able to pass it on or or pass it back.

Geoff Allix  08:19

And and you work for the National Health Service in the UK. So could you share a perspective on how that interconnects with MS, how that is affected by MS and your experiences with OMS?

 

Rowan Baker  08:34

Yeah, absolutely. I think with my background, I think the more I was taught the importance of sort of a strong evidence base, which is maybe I think, what brought me to OMS, over maybe other programme’s, because I’ve sort of understood the importance of the evidence base, rather than it being sort of anecdotal. And I think as well, it’s meant that I’ve been able to have that conviction to put everything into OMS and to follow it because the patients that I am able to look after, have sort of maybe more developed or have more progression and sort of the more severe disability, which, yeah, helps me to sort of stay focused on doing the best thing that I can for my own health, which will hopefully, let me last last longer. And I think it’s made me a better nurse as well, because I am able to sort of really understand what patients go through and to sort of to be able to connect with them on a level that I wasn’t able to before. Yeah, definitely improved my practice.

Geoff Allix  09:55

And so we’re currently going through the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic and how has that caused you to adapt your your daily habits? I mean, in the UK, we have recently stopped shielding, which is where a lot of people with conditions, I don’t think everyone with MS, but a lot of people with MS certainly were encouraged to pretty much completely isolate themselves and that’s sort of just stopping now. But there’s still a lot of social distancing restrictions, and certainly an uneasiness about gathering with other people. So how’s that changed your daily habits?

 

Rowan Baker  10:45

So, probably one of the biggest or the biggest thing was that I’m able to work from home now. So I’ve been reallocated sort of managerial tasks, rather than floor nursing, which is sort of inadvertently led me into sort of refocusing my career, and I’m really enjoying the roles and the tasks that I’m doing. So that’s been a really positive change and sort of working from home, you can have meetings in your pajamas and drink coffee all day. So it’s brilliant. But then I think one of the most difficult things was my wife is also a nurse and so she’s had to move out, which has been, yeah, really, really challenging. So yeah, it’s been tough but it’s sort of, as you said, sort of coming out of it now, so things are lifting and things are starting to be a little bit normal.

Geoff Allix  11:38

And so she’s exposed, because of her work and because of that doesn’t want to then risk you, Is that the case?

 

Rowan Baker  11:49

I think the the risk of me not being able to work then equates to her working and bringing it home to me, in our minds is equal. So we weren’t happy to make that sort of take that risk.

 

Geoff Allix  12:07

But you’re still managing to exercise?

 

Rowan Baker  12:10

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, yeah, another difficult thing has been to sort of reintegrate into society, which has been a really, yeah it’s been difficult, but I’m getting there. And just slowly, lots and lots of planning. I’m able to sort of get back to being and doing more things with other people. So I’m starting to meet people now and my wife is coming home, and it’s just feeling a little bit more like an adjustment into a longer term adaptation.

Geoff Allix  12:48

And do you have any other tips or tricks that you could share with your audience that might help with their journeys?

 

Rowan Baker  12:55

I think for me, it’s having faith in the programme. So just that I’m two years into OMS and I’m the healthiest that I’ve ever been and the fittest as well. So just find your motivation and hold on to it while you adjust into it and it will then come naturally and that you want to do the things that make you feel good. And then using your support as well, so reaching out to family and friends and OMS circles and there’s a lot online as well if you’re not getting out and about, having to see people, so just using all of that has really really helped me.

Geoff Allix  13:36

Okay with that, Thank you very much for joining us on OMS Coffee Break.

Rowan Baker  13:40

Thank you for having me.