Anniversaries...

A year has passed. One year. It has been better than expected, I suppose.

I’ll never forget that fateful day, one year ago today, when my darling, beloved Wife came home from a not-so-routine Doctor’s appointment. We both knew something was not right (not just not right, but well, wrong..) but the Docs couldn’t figure it out.

Her right leg had become weak, meaning that walking long distances had become difficult – not painful, but just difficult. Her right hip was affected too. We thought it might be a trapped nerve or something like that.

Various tests were carried out, a couple of MRI scans and blood tests galore.

She came back from that doctor’s appointment, burst through our front door visibly shaking, and in floods of tears. Eventually she said the words that would change both our lives forever….

“I’ve got MS. Multiple Sclerosis.”

Much tears and soul-searching ensued. I spent a few sleepless nights, worrying about the future and what that might hold. I can’t even contemplate how The Wife was feeling through all this….she certainly coped better than I did.

After the shock had worn off a wee bit, we knew we had to face up to it. The nurse had told her not to look at all the MS websites, as they can give a somewhat false impression of the condition, and after ignoring her advice and checking some of them out, I knew I should have listened! MS is a condition that is different for every single sufferer, and some of the websites paint a very black picture indeed.

Anyway, a year has gone by. She is still fit, active, and full of life and is as strong as ever.

Her condition (I’ll never, ever call it a disease, like one of the nurses called it – that annoyed me somewhat!) hasn’t progressed much at all, and I for one think that that has much to do with the way she has combated this threat to her health.

She has an indomitable, indefatigable (© you-know-who…!) spirit of positive defiance that astounds me, and long may that last.


So, here’s to the next year – and whatever it may hold.