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The Glasgow & Clyde Area Team offer support, advice and information to individuals and families who live with Huntington’s Disease. We each have our own skills and experiences developed over time from our personal and professional backgrounds.

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves and for the purpose of this blog each member will be discussed by the other team members.

Last in first up….Claudia Lang.

Claudia joined the SHA in August 2017; she has extensive social work experience. She has settled well into the organisation in a short period of time and integrates well within the team. Claudia is very much into the process of meeting families and building on her role as HD Specialist. One of Claudia’s qualities is her ability to resist sweets, chocolates and biscuits unlike her colleagues. We value her calm and assuring presence which most certainly complements other characteristics within the team. Claudia’s skills extend to the kitchen. She has yet to prove herself as a chef to her team colleagues however we will welcome our invite for a nosh up!! That is if she gets time since she is also the proud keeper of hens – maybe we’ll get to sample the eggs with our meal! Welcome Claudia to the SHA and our Team.

Next up Jessica Muscatt.

Jess is from an Occupational Therapy background and moved from South England to join the SHA in January 2017. She is now very much acclimatised in her role as HD Specialist. Jess is the bubbly one in the team; we value her ambition to work to a high standard no matter what aspect of her role she is undertaking. Unfortunately her ability to master the ‘Glesga’ patter has a long way to go, but it will, however, occupy her time while she is waiting for summer!! Jess has a keen interest in a choir but thankfully she doesn’t expose her colleagues to her vocals in the office.
Gillian Blair joined the service in December 2015. Gillian comes from a nursing background with particular interest in Palliative Care. We value Gillian’s eclectic interests ranging from Game of Thrones, bling & fashion to World Wrestling Entertainment. Who would have thought that someone so feminine would be so physical and vocal when watching live wrestling. Gillian brings so much fun, laughter, drama and experience into every day and we never know what the day will bring. We do know however that her commitment to her work and all the people she comes into contact with is always of the highest level. Gillian leaves no stone unturned, if it can be done rest assured Gillian will do it.

Sally Woolvine joined the service in November 2013 as team manager and Senior HD Specialist. Sally comes from a Social Work and Palliative Care background and moved to Scotland from North West England and like Jessica has had to adapt to the Scottish “culture” as well as getting to grips with a new job which she has done extremely well. Sally’s best friend is her sat-nav! (she’s the first to admit she has no sense of direction on the roads). We all value how Sally leads and motivates the team. She is very generous with her time and support. She nurtures our strengths and gives us good advice at all times to assist us in supporting families. Sally has had a pivotal role in developing self-confidence and competence in the team. In January 2017 Sally became a super proud grandmother of the most beautiful baby boy, Loughlan. In her spare time Sally enjoys dangerous pursuits such as wild rides on the motorbike and diving in exotic locations.

Anita is our Admin Resource Worker. She joined the service in November 2000 when John Eden was just a fledgling! She has seen the SHA grow significantly over the years and has worked through many changes. She has seen the SHA go from strength to strength. Anita is the oracle of our local team and her ability to recall information is astonishing at times and worrying at others. Anita provides a sense of stability in the team. She is often faced with problems, emotions and a range of people’s day to day experiences from staff and families who contact the service yet she always manages to offer support, advice and a listening ear. Anita runs a tight ship in the office, the team are well aware of what they can or cannot get away with. But more importantly Anita nourishes our emotional wellbeing with her supply of comfort and treats. She is the queen of high teas and cocktails. It is very reassuring for the team to have Anita here as our anchor to help us manage our day to day activities and we would struggle without her.

We hope this provides a sense of who we are as individuals but more importantly that as a Team we recognise and value each other’s strengths and diversity. The Team share a mutual sense of respect and inspiration in the work we do with families. We value the privilege given to us by families to be involved in their lives and we are all looking forward to a hopeful future in the world of HD.

Some words from Therese,

I once read, “If you have one true friend in your lifetime, you are lucky”. With that said, I have been extraordinarily lucky! When I met John in 1976 and we became a couple, I quickly learned that being with him meant having his three older sisters in my life as well. The four siblings had had a difficult upbringing and were exceptionally close and I was thrilled when they welcomed me into their circle.

Like their brother, Lora, Marcia and Cindy were kind, positive, unselfish individuals and I became closer to them than I was to my own sisters. Through the years, I would count my blessings for the loving relationship the three sisters and I shared, as they became tried and true friends. These brave, gentle souls would inspire and teach me many lessons that would enrich my life.

When the sisters discovered the Marin family secret in 1978, their mother had Huntington’s disease, I struggled with my commitment to John, broke off our engagement and walked away from the four of them. But, after much soul searching, and deciding life was too short to walk away from the man I loved, John and his sisters welcomed me back with loving arms. John and I married in 1980.

Thus began our journey into the uncharted world of living AT RISK for Huntington’s disease. Though we didn’t speak about living in the shadow of Huntington’s, I acknowledged the possible consequences of my decision to marry into a family where four individuals had a 50/50 chance of inheriting the mutated Huntington gene.

In my mind, based on statistics, this inherited neurological disease with horrible odds, translated into the fact that probably two of the four Marin’s would eventually show symptoms of the disease. It was a coin toss that we all tried to ignore.

Through the years, John and I shared many good times with his sisters playing softball, having barbecues and parties, camping, taking vacations together, and just hanging out at Lora’s house in Citrus Heights.

Unfortunately, in 1984, Huntington’s began its attack on the Marin women. Lora was the first to fall prey to HD with severe, deep depression that led her to self-medicate with alcohol, and she was stolen from us at age 41 in 1989. Marcia was diagnosed in 1986 after a terrible car accident that seemed to trigger and exacerbate HD symptoms and she died at age 49 in 1999. Cindy, who we thought was free from the disease, began showing symptoms at age 41 and died at age 54 in 2008. Because of our close relationship, all three sisters lived with John and I at particularly hard times in their lives and I cared for Marcia for many years until I needed to return to fulltime work.

John and I miss them terribly and we wish we could have grown old together, celebrating birthdays and the holidays together and sitting on the deck at our cabin in Lake Tahoe sipping wine and watching the sunset. Forty years ago, I took the biggest gamble of my life by keeping these people in mine, and it has made me the person I am today.

I have published a memoir, Watching Their Dance: Three Sisters, a Genetic Disease and Marrying into a Family At Risk for Huntington’s” to accomplish several goals. My hope is that the book will heighten HD/JHD awareness, as it will be promoted around the world.

To learn more about Therese, please see her Author Website: www.theresecrutchermarin.com