The neurorehabilitation service of the Fundació Esclerosi Múltiple de Catalunya in Lleida will celebrate its 25th anniversary on May 30, the same date on which World Multiple Sclerosis Day is commemorated. The center, located on the second floor of the CAP Onze de Setembre, serves about 250 people each year.
The coincidence comes at a time when pharmacological treatments are advancing, but the center insists that neurorehabilitation remains key from the first symptoms. In its 25 years of activity, it has served about 950 people with multiple sclerosis, a disease in which three out of every four diagnoses correspond to women.
The service moved from Arnau de Vilanova to CAP Onze de Setembre in 2017
Mònica Nieves, director of the Miquel Martí i Pol center, recalled that the service began at the Arnau de Vilanova hospital under much more limited conditions. There it started in a small space and with a very small staff before moving to its current location.
"We started in a very small space at the Arnau de Vilanova hospital, with barely three workers" - Mònica Nieves, director of the Miquel Martí i Pol center
In 2017, the team moved to the CAP Onze de Setembre, where it doubled the available space and incorporated technology for neurorehabilitation. Since then, the service has served not only people with multiple sclerosis but also patients with ALS, brain damage, traumatic brain injuries, and Parkinson's disease.
The center's director also emphasized that rehabilitation has not lost importance with the arrival of new treatments. Nieves maintained that with the first symptoms, neurorehabilitation is very important, even in an era of new drugs.
A commemorative canvas brought together patients from Lleida, Torres de Segre, and Almenar
Yesterday, a group of affected individuals participated in the creation of a large commemorative canvas that will be hung in the center when it is finished. The activity brought together users linked to the service in Lleida and in municipalities in the Segrià region, such as Torres de Segre and Almenar.
Among the participants was artist Rous Laveda, who advocated for painting as a therapeutic tool and explained her own clinical evolution. Laveda stated that she has recovered 80% after a brain meningioma diagnosed two years ago.
"Painting is a very good healthy therapy, like music or literature" - Rous Laveda, artist
Beatriu, a 60-year-old hairdresser and resident of Torres de Segre, who has lived with the disease since she was 37, also participated. In her case, she linked the benefit of the day to other proposals promoted by the foundation.
Conchi, 53, a resident of Almenar, explained that she has had the disease for ten years and uses a walker or wheelchair. Jose, a 56-year-old transporter diagnosed with Huntington's disease just over two years ago, summarized the experience with a phrase unusual in an art workshop, admitting that he had never painted a picture and had only painted walls with a roller.
The canvas painted yesterday by the service users will be hung in the center on the second floor of the CAP Onze de Setembre when the work is finished.