I met a friend Adam in Los Angeles in 2003, I was staying in Hollywood, which was fun. We went to Las Vegas where I did a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. Our stay in Down Town Vegas was an experience too, my friend and I were walking through down town Vegas when this homeless man stopped us saying he had just got out of Prison, have we got 5 dollars, we made a quick exit from there. We next flew on to New York, we visited Ground Zero which was an emotional place.
My friend was flying home a few days later as the Gulf War had started, he did not feel safe flying but I was unable to change my flight. So I decided to get a coach to Toronto by myself, where I visited Niagara Falls. I met this lady in Toronto, later that year I visited her in Singapore, we then went onto Kuala Lumpur and Thailand.
I started to get pain down my left leg towards the end of the year, this pain got worse over next few days. I went to see my local GP, who said it was Sciatica. I was told I needed to stop being impatient which I was not happy with.
I was working in London at the time, I had to stand on the train, as it was painful to sit down. When I was at work I use to kneel down to use a computer, people must of thought I was proposing to them! When I was on the train to London I saw my Neurologist, I told him about my back so he wanted me to arrange a private appointment to see him.A few weeks later I was due to see my Neurologist, I decided to have a nice warm bath, as my muscles were all tight. This was not a wise move as it made me all weak but I made it to my Neurologist. He did a few tests like lifting my legs slowly off the bed, he straight away told me that I had a slipped disk. I had an MRI scan, it confirmed that I had prolapsed my disk L5 S1. Once I got over the operation and the scar had healed, I slowly regained my strength by exercising most days.
I was asked by my MS Nurse in 2005, did I want to be placed on the Drug program Beta interferon as I experienced a few relapses in a few years. I was unsure at first, but I decided to give it a try. I self injected on a Sunday which then gave me Flu like symptoms the next day. My energy was very low and I had these symptoms for 2 days. I felt strong for 2 days then my energy levels started to become low again by Friday.
This was the same every week so I did not want to exercise whilst my energy was low. My muscles started to tighten, this is what happens If you do not exercise. I had another (MS) relapse several months later so it was evident that I needed to stop taking this drug Beta Interferon, as this drug was not agreeing with me.
Sadly, my mum was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in June 2007, she had an operation to remove a Tumor from her Pancreas. The Operation was called Whipple procedure, this was a very worrying time for us as a family but thankfully all was okay with my Mum. Not surprisingly though I had a Relapse at the same time, I was due to go on a cruise to Australia and New Zealand in Six months, so I was on a mission to get my strength back .I wanted to be able to swim in the Great Barrier Reef, I had lost the ability to swim since my Relapses but a friend helped me to swim again, she got me to lay on a float in the pool, kick my legs like you do in a breast stroke so I did these pool exercises every day.
I went to the Gym before the pool, there I worked on my Core and my Hips. Several months later I started to perform a breast stroke motion laying on the float, l did several lengths a day. A couple of weeks later I was swimming a length doing the breast stroke with no floats.
I was not concerned about traveling on my own, exercising every day had maintained my strength so I was still able to walk unaided.
I used Airport assistance when travelling by myself, this really is an extremely useful service to use.
l flew out to the other side of the World by myself in early December 2007 for AUCKLAND, New Zealand. This was where my Cruise departed from, i travelled down the east Coast of New Zealand, going to all the major cities.
I bought a fold away walking stick whilst I was away but I only had to use it on occasions, I left it at a place we visited but it was still there when we went back! Most memorable experience I had was when the ship travelled up the truly inspiring Fiords land. Shame it was raining all the time, at least I saw hundreds of waterfalls cascading down the mountain side.
The ship travelled to Newcastle, and the final destination was Sydney. When the ship arrived in Sydney l phoned my Mum opposite the Sydney Opera House where the ship had docked.
l stayed in Sydney for 5 days where l spent Christmas Day having a Barbie, nice way to spend Christmas day! I left Sydney travelled to Cairns where l achieved my goal...swimming in the Great Barrier Reef! I went to Daintree Rainforest and visited aboriginal encampment where I threw a Boomerang, it did not come back to me!
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