Subject: 5 M Man Aapo

From: Bertel Stenius <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 15:02:04 +0300

Hi folks,

Aapo Halko is a well-known member of our group and editor of the MS Web
site that many of you read. It might be of interest to you that the last
issue of Avain ("The Key"), the journal of the Finnish MS Society,
carries a feature story about him: two pages, with one large picture and
one small one.
	Aapo, 33, is introduced as "the man of the five M": (1) MS, (2) maths,
(3) Mac (Macintosh computer), (4) music, and (5) me.
	M #1: Aapo had his first symptoms in 1979, but they were more or less
dismissed as imaginary illness. In 1990 the disease got aggressive. In
1994 Aapo was offered an electrical wheel-chair, which he accepted. He
never regretted the decision.
	M #2: That maths is Aapo's subject is known in this group since Aapo
acquired his doctor's degree. He wrote his dissertation on a branch of
the theory of sets. He is now a researcher at the University of
Helsinki.
	M #3: The Mac is the vehicle with which Alpo travels the world. He
thinks it's handicap friendly. A member of this support group since the
year 1992, Aapo specializes in collecting scientific materials about MS
for his Web site. The site has about 4000 visitors a month.
	M #4: Maths and music are generally close to each other, and so they
are in Aapo's life as well. After having lost feel and dexterity Aapo
exchanged the guitar for the electric piano, which, however, now runs
the risk of being taken over by the daughters.
	M #5: Me? The author of the story says, rightly, that some of this "me"
can be found between the lines by the one who knows to interpret in the
right way what he or she reads, but alas, this note is just a
minimalistic summary. You must content yourself with Aapo's postings and
his Web site.
	Aapo is married to Heli, a psychologist, and has two daughters, Noona,
6, and Ida, 2.
	As I wrote in an article some time ago, Aapo was the one who pointed me
in the direction of this support group. In Avain, I read an article
which Aapo had written about MS and the Internet. He helped me on the
phone with a technical problem, and well, here I am.

Bertel in Helsinki