My name is Paul Mc Cormick. I am 59 years old. I am originally from Monaghan town but have lived most of my life outside Monaghan. I came to Dublin in 1983 aged 17 years to study medicine and graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in 1989. I eventually trained to be a General Practitioner in 1997. I have been a GP Principal in a practice in Dublin since 2001 until late 2024 when I stopped working. I have worked in the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota and also in Sligo and Mayo. I met my wife Blaithin while doing my internship in Beaumont Hospital. We got married in 1991. She was my practice Nurse when I was working as a GP. We have 4 adult children aged 31, 29, 25 and 22 years, 3 boys and a girl. Two of the boys are Doctors. One is a Senior Registrar in Emergency Medicine. The other has just qualified and is doing his internship in Beaumont Hospital, as I did in 1989. The other boy works in administration in Trinity College. My daughter, the youngest, has just completed a degree in social science and has been offered a place to study medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons ( just like me).
My hobbies are sports, especially team sport. I have played soccer and Gaelic football since I was young. I have played tag rugby when older. I enjoy watching soccer, rugby and Gaelic football. My teams are Leeds Utd, Monaghan, Leinster and of course Ireland in any sport. I have been lucky enough to attend games at each of the last 3 Rugby World Cups. I also enjoy watching old film classics.
I experienced some weakness in my left hand in October 2023. I noticed that I could not snap the necks of small Vitamin B12 vials, use a nail clipper with my left hand or unbutton my trousers when going to the toilet. I was feeling exhausted and overwhelmed at work. I attended my GP who sent me for a nerve conduction study/electromyogram. I was then admitted to hospital and had some MRI scans of my head and neck, I also had blood tests and a neurological exam while in hospital.
"We had big decisions to make as I was a GP running my own practice with my wife who was the practice Nurse. We needed to really think about it. It became obvious to us that it would be impossible to run a busy practice with a progressive neurological illness such as ALS."
We had big decisions to make as I was a GP running my own practice with my wife who was the practice Nurse. We needed to really think about it. It became obvious to us that it would be impossible to run a busy practice with a progressive neurological illness such as ALS. Running a busy practice means you are responsible for staff and patients alike. I also was in
my 18th year of working as a GP trainer and was responsible for training and supervising a GP Registrar. You need to be in full health to do this.
We made a trip to Melbourne where my oldest was based at the time. Australia had been on my bucket list. We visited Sydney and the great barrier reef and I have the photos to prove it. Ultimately we decided to try and find a Doctor or Doctors to take over our practice and stop working as soon as possible to avoid leaving patients without a GP and so staff could continue working and getting paid without interruption. I could use my free time doing trials to help find a cure for this debilitating and life limiting condition. We managed this with some expert help. It took about 7 months from start to finish. My wife and I stopped working in October 2024.Fortunately I had some income protection to fall back on.
We have renovated our home to make it wheelchair accessible. I don’t need a wheelchair at the moment. I am involved in a phase 1 drug study for ALS in St. James's Hospital. There are no results yet.I am also involved in another study with the Beaumont Dietetics Department regarding increased calorie intake as a treatment for Motor Neurone disease. I attend Professor Hardiman in Beaumont. She and her multidisciplinary team are very supportive. My GP has also been great. I have received fantastic psychology assistance from Annette through the clinic. The IMNDA have also been supportive through their Nurse, Louise and their financial support for things like counselling and acupuncture which we have availed of. It’s great to know that they are there to provide assistance during my MND journey. My daughter Aoibhinnn organised a Walk while you can event on New Year’s Day 2025. It was a great success. She raised awareness and about €12000. I still have a ‘clumsy’left hand and there is some weakness in my left arm. I need to take a nap every day. At the moment we are enjoying our time off and have done some travelling.
Motor Neurone Disease affects the whole family. My children are still trying to forge their careers and I am trying to be as supportive as possible for as long as possible. My eldest has moved back from Australia with his girlfriend to spend time with me. My wife Blaithin provides unwavering support. At the time of diagnosis, my thoughts were 90% occupied by Motor Neurone Disease. At the moment I am only giving it 10% of my thinking time. I am very lucky to have a supportive family and friends as well as the help of the Health Professionals and the IMNDA.
Paul Mc Cormick
