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aℓisha

@acjinabhai

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🎗️dx multiple sclerosis, 10 years strong
🧩chronic illness & mental health advocate
🫯surviving through the chaos
🐾 @ourstaffykovu

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Summer 2015, the year before I got diagnosed, I had no idea my life was about to change… I cherish life so differently now. When you get diagnosed with a chronic illness your whole perspective of life changes, especially with a diagnosis like Multiple Sclerosis.

9 years ago, July, I started my second MS drug/disease modifying therapy (DMT) - Lemtrada which led to monthly labs that finally came to an end this past June. Lemtrada destroyed my body but got me into remission - it taught me so much about having patience, what strength looks like and how my health will always be the priority.

For the first time in 10 years I am not going for monthly labs or having to remember to book my lab. I am learning [again] what my new normal is. I am learning [again] what my body needs. I am learning [again] what grieving looks like now. 10 years of living with MS and it still hasn’t gotten easier. The depression comes in waves just like the grief. Resilience bounces just like a ball. Here I am - glowing different.

*Lemtrada monitoring is technically 48 months but because I did 3 rounds of Lemtrada it lasted 108 months.

#multiplesclerosis #chronicillness #mentalhealth #chemotherapy #spoonie by @acjinabhai

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3 months ago

5 years together, 4 years married, 3 years with Kovu, 2 years of chaos, 1 year in our forever home & together in every lifetime ♥️
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#soulmate #mywhy #happyanniversary #iloveyou by @acjinabhai

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4 months ago

06/21/2026
10 years of bloodwork finally complete - which is 120 monthly labs (not including all the extra labs I had in between). It is 120 times of scheduling, commuting, waiting and dealing with needles or issues with my labs. Showing up month after month for the last decade has taught me a level of patience that came with many lessons I will carry forward. Being able to close this chapter, at least for now, is a huge milestone that I am so grateful to have reached - and to still be here.
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cheers to my final post monthly lab snack and thank you JPOC for being my second home, always. Lemtrada labs are DONE!
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#multiplesclerosisawareness #chronicillness #mentalhealth #spoonie #semicolon taken in Jim Pattison Outpatient Care And Surgical Centre by @acjinabhai

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4 months ago

34🎈…
Being diagnosed with MS, your life completely changes & mine did more than I could have ever imagined. When I was diagnosed at 24 I didn’t know what life was going to look like anymore. I didn’t think that I would make it to my future birthday’s. For the last 10 years I have done 8 different drug treatments, had over 100 infusions & spent more time recovering than enjoying life. When I got into remission 3 years ago I told myself all I want to do is be happy & enjoy life now. I am so grateful & blessed to finally be doing that. Yes I still deal with my ongoing MS symptoms & yes I have flare days but I finally have more days filled with happiness & joy.

What changed? I met my husband @nkjinabhai who showed me I could enjoy life even with my limitations. He really did show me a whole new world; & with that I realized I do have so much more to live for - especially for my little fur baby @ourstaffykovu 🩵.

#ThisIsMS #chronicillness #mentalhealth #invisibleillness #birthdaygirl

hair: @hairbyliandra // @honey.and.ash.studio ✨
shirt: @aritzia
makeup: @saiebeauty
glasses: @marcjacobs by @acjinabhai

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4 months ago

How did I get so lucky? 10 years ago my life changed, yet the bonds only strengthened. My heart is full knowing how much all of them have supported me over the years - whether it be a shoulder to lean on, a companion through my infusions or just much needed laughter. Some of you were right there from the start, others came along the way, your love and support has been greatly cherished. Also here’s to the ones that have supported me from afar. Each of you have impacted my life in many ways. I really wouldn’t know where I would be without you all.

A very special memory created this day was meeting my MS PenPal @aaaleash online friends & support finally meeting in person. I can’t imagine the last few years without you.

& to my hubby - you make life worth living.

I am so lucky to have you all in my life.

🧡

#multiplesclerosisawareness #chronicillnessawareness #mentalhealth #mswalk #life taken in Osprey Village, Pitt Meadows by @acjinabhai

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5 months ago

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#staffy #sbt #dogsofinstagram #dogmom #fyp by @acjinabhai

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5 months ago

Last May, I went through something that shifted a lot for me, both physically and mentally. My health took a giant toll and for the last 10 months it has been quiet battles with my mind — the depression came in harder than it ever has and my anxiety worsened. For the last 10 months I have felt more broken than I have in the last 10 years battling my MS. After everything I have been going through, last week was the first time I finally felt a little like “me” again. I am going to hold onto that feeling as I slowly allow my angels to guide me back.

I am still here ; healing.
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#multiplesclerosis #chronicillness #mentalhealth
#spoonie #invisibleillness by @acjinabhai

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7 months ago

My past still whispers.

This time, it sounds like pills I’ve held before.
I started a medication again -
one I took 10 years ago.

Back then, I didn’t know what was wrong -
I just knew something wasn’t right.
No diagnosis.
No language.
Just quiet fear and hoping it would help.

Now I meet it again -
not as the girl grasping for answers,
but as the woman who understands her own story.

It’s humbling to come back to something,
I thought was behind me.
But forward doesn’t always mean never returning.
Sometimes it means choosing yourself again -
so here I am, still moving forward.

#multiplesclerosis #chronicillness #mentalhealth #spoonie #foryou by @acjinabhai

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8 months ago

POV: 2016 the year that changed my life.

I loved my life. I was so grateful to be travelling, fulfilled with my work, driving my car, have my independence, have my circle and just be so grateful for the life that I was living. But everything came to a halt when I woke up one morning and the headaches had started.

I didn’t understand why I felt so sick & kept having to go to the ER. I didn’t understand why my walking, writing & speech was deteriorating. I didn’t understand why my body kept failing me when I had just graduated, got the job I wanted & had been accepted to my Masters program I had dreamt of. I didn’t understand why it was all happening until it lead to me to 6 days in the ER December 2016. It was then I finally understood…

10 years ago I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
10 years ago was the last year of my independence.
10 years ago was the last time I truly felt like me.
10 years I have been grieving me in waves.
10 years ago broke me - yet I am still here.

#multiplesclerosis #chronicillness #spoonie #invisibleillness #2016 by @acjinabhai

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9 months ago

2026, I’m falling in love again & again. by @acjinabhai

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10 months ago

Hindsight really is 20/20.
10 years ago today I experienced (what I learned a year later was) my very first MS symptom. It was the MS hug, and at the time I had no idea that the horrible tightness in my chest would be something to lead to so much more. Now I describe the MS hug like wearing a corset and someone else is pulling the strings tighter and tighter - it’s unimaginable pain, constant, and, hard to breathe. Not one symptom alone can diagnosis MS, so this was the beginning of my journey, that I didn’t know at the time to get diagnosed. This one symptom has lasted 10 years, sometimes disappearing for a short time and then coming back 10x worse. I have learned to hide the pain, even when I’m smiling. This is my invisible battle.

In spite of everything I have endured over the last 10 years, I am still here - living. by @acjinabhai

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10 months ago

In my lucky girl era: celebrating another year in remission as I head into my 10 year MS anniversary 💫

3 years in remission, 6 months left of bloodwork, 117 infusions later, currently living with all my MS symptoms, continuously grieving my body & yet I am grateful to still be here - breathing.

sweatshirt: @arose
my SDiT: @ourstaffykovu

#multiplesclerosisawareness #chronicillness #mswarrior #butyoudontlooksick #spoonielife taken in Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health by @acjinabhai

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10 months ago