Hello everybody, how are we all? I hope you've all been doing okay. I know it's been a couple
of weeks again since I've last put up a podcast. It's been a busy couple of weeks, I'm going
to be totally honest with you. It really has been a bit crazy. So I will explain, I will
explain and to be honest, some of it is quite mind blowing for me personally, I'm going
to say that. Let's just jump straight in. So I've been doing a bit of a course for digital
marketing, just sort of trying to learn a new skill and see where it takes me. Because
again it doesn't hurt to learn new things and I'm going to be totally straight. There's
a lot of work involved, this course is really really in depth. There's all sorts of bits
and pieces. I've created a new website from it, I've created a new Facebook. Yeah, it's
very very intense. It's only one day a week is the actual course itself. But in terms
of the after work, there's loads. There's loads of homework and it's an at home course anyway.
Figure that one out. But it is what it is and I'm going to be honest, I'm enjoying it.
It's quite fun. So yeah, I'm kind of hoping that that's going to teach me some new bits
and pieces and hopefully push me towards being able to improve my content across the podcast,
the website and the social medias. Because there's always room to improve. Now in terms
of the podcast improvement, I've got to start learning to edit. Let's be fair, editing would
be a good thing. I've got all the programs, I've purchased all the bits and pieces you
need to do the editing. I've just never sat and tried it. Not properly. I've fiddled about
and whatever else and then got nervous thinking have I just broke it? I don't know what I'm
doing. So yeah, at some point when things sort of quieten down a little bit, I need
to take a bit of time to try and learn those new skills. Some hopefully will come from
this course which would be incredible. I'm going to be honest. I'd like that. I'd like
that quite a bit. But yeah, I'm enjoying it. It's kind of opening my eyes a little
bit to new ways to do things. So yeah, watch this space on that one. I think it's a 12
week course and I'm two weeks into it. So only another 10 weeks to go and we get time
off for Christmas thankfully. That's a bit of a result. Don't fancy doing a course on
Christmas Day. Yeah, I just don't. I enjoy family time on Christmas Day. Hashtag just
saying. Just floating that one out there. But going back to what I said at the start,
about some pretty mind blowing stuff. I mean okay, it might only be mind blowing for me
personally but it's unreal. I'll start with the slightly less incredible part. But talking
about my skydive on the 29th of October. I contacted my local newspaper. Just see if
they wanted to put a little story up. One to get the word out and two to see if I can
drum up some more people to donate to the cause. You know, at the end of the day I've
got an area that I need to hit. I've got to get to just a little bit over 400 pounds in
donations. And I'm not massively far away but you know, I could do with being a bit
closer. We're two weeks away now. I'm recording this. This is Sunday. We're two weeks away
now from that massive occasion. So yeah, if we could get a little bit closer from it it'd
be great. But yeah, so they put a little story out and it was okay. I'm going to say the
journalism could have been a little bit better. I'm not a journalist. Let's float that right
now. I'm not a journalist so probably don't have a lot of right to make comment on it
but it just, I just felt it could have been a bit better the way it was written up. I
mean at the start they actually got my name wrong. I know. I know. Probably the biggest
thing you need to get right is somebody's name. They got it wrong. But they did fix
it without any problem at all. It was sorted so on that fair play and I'm incredibly grateful
to the paper for actually taking the story on, taking the time to write it up and try
and help and it's been gratefully received. So massive thank you to them. Now then. Now
then we come to the big one and this for me is absolutely huge. I'm going to say that
this is massive. I was speaking to MS News today in regards to putting up a video for
them. They were doing like a video series trying to help people that are newly diagnosed
to try and sort of just give them experiences from others that are relatively newly diagnosed.
I did that. Massively grateful to have the opportunity to do a video like that just to
get some of my thoughts out and try and sort of give people a bit of a positive thought
being newly diagnosed because let's be fair it's a scary thing. Being diagnosed with
any chronic illness is scary. Really quite scary. So trying to make a bit of a positive
from it if you can, if that makes sense. While we were talking about that video it got mentioned
about my skydive on the 29th of October and the conversation kind of turned a little bit
to potentially doing a little bit of work with MS News today. Blogging for them up to
the skydive and maybe putting up a video after it and long story short it happened. It happened
yesterday. We had conversations. I was speaking to some incredible people from them, from
their network and yeah I've written my first blog for them as a guest columnist. A guest
columnist? Columnist! Just the thought of me being called just a columnist, a guest
columnist, whatever. I am so proud, genuinely, genuinely so proud to have that opportunity
just to get my thoughts out and again try and explain to people what I'm doing and why
I'm doing it and how I'm doing it. So the first column went up. I've seen it, I've
looked at it, I've read it many times, countless times. Yeah I can't explain to you how many
times I've actually read the column, looked at it because of how incredible it looks,
how brilliant it reads. It's one of them. It really has blown my mind. When I started
doing all of this, I'm trying to put my story out. The whole point was to make it worldwide.
Now this podcast has hit some incredible places in the world. It really has. Some places I
never ever expected it to hit. You know this podcast has been downloaded as far away as
Australia. Yep. It doesn't get much further than that. I've been downloaded in Iran, Bahrain.
Literally there is places that I've been downloaded I would never have dreamed of happening. So
for this opportunity to arise and be able to again write my story and okay it's the
story leading up to my jump but it's still getting that out there. It's getting what
I'd like to say is my positivity out for people to see. Because if that positivity can help
one other person to see that as evil as this condition is and it is incredibly evil, we
can still try as hard as possible to live the best life that we possibly can. And that's
part of what I'm doing, why I'm doing it. And again for a network like MS News today
to take that on, to give me the opportunity to write for them and I am so grateful. It
is unbelievable. I just can't explain to you how it feels to see that blog up. The next
one I believe goes up Wednesday. By all means nip across to MS News today. Have a little
look. See if there's anything in it you like. See if there's anything in it you don't like.
But by all means nip across, have a look, see what you think and in two weeks hopefully
we'll be at a point that the video goes up of me actually jumping out of an aeroplane
at 10,000 feet. Give me a second, drink calls. Water. That's the thing we're talking lots.
Tend to get a little bit dry mouthed. But you know, it is what it is. But coming away
from the mega excitement because again I could talk about that all day, I really could. I
would like to talk about now is what I'm doing in prep for the jump. And again I'm not going
to go into massive amounts of detail but there's bits and pieces that I'm doing. I've signed
up to the gym, I know I've said that previously I believe and I've been going to the gym,
working on the seated cross trainer and that to be fair is really helping. It is helping
massively because I've gone from when I started on 12 minutes I could sit on that seated cross
trainer and you know I'd be trying my best. Actually now I'm doing 25 minutes on the seated
cross trainer and do you know what I could probably do more, I'm just desperate not to
push myself too hard. So yeah in all fairness I'm getting there with it, really getting
there and it's never going to cure my foot drop. Let me make that right now, put that
straight out for everyone, it's never going to cure my foot drop, I understand that. It's
never going to cure the issues I have with my legs. Fact, it's just a fact. But if I
can strengthen the muscle a little bit it might just help, just that little touch on
the foot drop, just making it a bit easier when I am trying to walk around places. And
at the moment yeah that does seem to be happening. I can't walk any further than I would normally
but I'm more confident and I'm more capable of doing what is there for me to do. I've
been doing the leg extensions, only very light weights, I'm going to be fair I mean I'm not
going to be crazy with it, I'm not going to start using really heavy weights and put myself
in a position where I'm hurting me. No no no no. So I've been doing that and again I
tend to try and get about 30 reps done around the 18 kilo mark. I do sometimes drop that
down, depending how my legs are coping with it at the time. But that's roughly where I
am as I say, about 18 kilos leg extensions and it helps. I go onto upper body where I'm
doing all sorts of bits and pieces because again I want to be able to wheel myself a
little bit in my wheelchair because as much as I appreciate my family grabbing the wheelchair
and pushing me, do you know what it's got to be hard for them to do because it's not
the easiest thing in the world in terms of physically to be able to push me in a wheelchair.
So I'd like to be able to lighten the load a little bit for them. When we're out as a
family I'd like to be able to do my bit and wheel myself. So working on the upper body
a bit is a very very good thing to do, it just feels right and I've got to say it, I
really have missed it. I mean working on the upper body I come out of that gym and I feel
incredible. I feel happy, I feel I would say calm but that would be a lie because I'm buzzing.
Honestly I come out and I am buzzing. It's just everything from excitement to just feeling
so confident, it's just worthwhile. Coming away from the upper body I'm managing to do
a plank and I'm up to a minute now, I can actually plank for one minute which I'm kind
of proud of because it's only been a few weeks that I've actually been learning to do the
plank. So again unbelievable, I'm really really pleased with how that is going. It's working
and it's working beautifully. Sit ups, again I try to do 3 sets of 10, so 30 sit ups which
at times I do have to temper that down a little bit, at times I do have to, not a problem,
I will, it's not an issue because I don't want to overwork myself. And if I can give
anyone any piece of advice in terms of when you're doing exercise, push yourself, don't
do it too far. You know your limit, in yourself you will feel where your limit is, don't quite
get there, stay below it so that you are not overdoing it and you are not at risk of overdoing
it because as good as it is to put the effort in and to work hard and whatever else, if
you do it too much you're just going to damage yourself for no good reason. There's always
another day to come back and do some more, don't push yourself too far. That's just my
little morsel of information and my little bit of advice. I'm just floating it out. I
don't work in a gym, simple as that, I'm just giving you my personal advice that is all.
But yeah, coming away from that a little bit, I've done a bit of research on skydives themselves
so I know what I have to do when it comes to land. Yes I will say again it's a tandem
dive, so there will be a professional that I'm strapped to that will do all of the work.
I'm just there for the entertainment value and to raise money for the MS Society. Fact.
But when I land I know I've got to get my legs up and my heels go down first. I get
that. I've done the research and it's just making me excited. Fact. I just want to get
out and actually start doing the jump. I just want to get out there on that plane, get to
10,000 feet and have my, I don't know what you call them, whether it's the professional
or the person in charge of me. I just want to get there and them say, shall we jump?
Yes please. Let's go. Let's do it. And we're off. Simple as that. So again, just my little
bit of research I've been doing. I want to know what I'm in for. Let's be fair. I want
to know what to expect. But there we go. Coming away from that a little bit, there is a couple
of bits that actually I do want to talk about in terms of what the MS has been causing of
late. And one of them is quite new and it is actually incredibly upsetting. I'm going
to be totally straight. I'm not going to hold anything back and I'm not going to pull any
punches. Speech issues. Never really had them to any major extent previously. There's been
a few occasions of late where I've been talking and I've stopped talking and I'll stop talking
because I cannot get any words out. I can't, I physically can't speak and it's not for
the one to try in. The words just aren't there. The ability to get the words out just aren't
there and it doesn't last long. I think the longest it's lasted was a couple of days ago
when I was in the kitchen talking to Lisa and it probably lasted maybe five minutes.
Normally it's probably, I don't know, less than a minute. But again, it is incredibly
new and I don't quite understand it if I'm honest and I'm still trying to get a little,
I'm trying to get on top of it a bit. Try and make myself understand it and try and
figure out why it's happening. But yeah, I mean it literally will be. It's not even a
case of forgetting what a word is. I mean that happens all the time anyway. What I'm
talking about is literally not even having the ability to speak at all. It just, it's
a bit scary. I'm going to be straight, it's a bit scary. It's not something that I can
just gloss over. I know I do a lot of that at times but with this I can't. It's one of
them that I'm hoping is a temporary thing and it just rears its ugly head every now
and then. Because like I say, it's not all the time it's happening. It's new and it has
happened a few times but hopefully, hopefully that's about it for the next little while.
But I just wanted to get that out there because again, part and parcel of me doing all of
this, the fun stuff is great but the real also needs to be said. That's a fact. On top
of that, you will see every now and then I'm just sort of looking to my side because I
have written myself just a tiny little list of things I wanted to talk about on this show
today. Because it's been a couple of weeks and because what I'm about to talk about,
memory issues, I've just written myself a little list and get everything in. And like
I've just said, memory issues. Now I wasn't sure whether the Lion's Mane tablets that
I've been on for quite some time now were actually having the desired effect. So I did
stop taking them for a little while. I came off them, not for a massive amount of time,
just for a little while and just see what was going on. Yeah, I don't think I'll come
off them again. Just going to say that straight out there, let's not hold anything back. I'm
not coming off them again because being totally straight, my memory has been awful. Coming
off them, it just didn't work. Simple as that, it doesn't work at all. I personally will
be staying on them because it is helping my memory. I mean I've been forgetting all sorts
of stuff. I mean literally, I am talking, I can put something down, turn around and
within a second, I don't know what I've done with it. In terms of paperwork and things,
I'll put paperwork down, no no no, I'm never finding it again. So in all truth, I'm giving
myself that opportunity, I'm going back on them and I'm going to carry on going because
they for me seemed to be helping. In terms of other bits and pieces I'm on, give me a
second, what was calling? I will say. For the middle of October, for those of you that
are watching me on, where you can actually see me sites rather than listening in on audio
only, you'll see that the sun is absolutely beating down into my studio. It really is.
It's beautiful, I'm going to be honest, it's gorgeous. I've done a bit more work on the
studio actually, I've put some more sound proofing up and yeah, it looks great. Just
going to throw that out there, it looks great. But yeah, there's some bits and pieces that
I've started taking. Again, just to do little bits of helping me on the physical, mental
and every other aspect that you can imagine. Taking some apple cider vinegar gummies, now
it is only apple cider vinegar in them. I know when people hear the word gummies they
think other stuff, no this is totally and utterly apple cider vinegar, that is all.
And just see if that's going to help me with kind of burning the weight off a little bit
amongst other things, there's lots of different bits and pieces that apple cider vinegar can
help with. I'm having a go. And also, I can't name the site because of how many different
places this podcast goes to, but I've been sent some turmeric gummies, again turmeric,
black pepper and ginger in it, that's all. To give them a go and I've said previously
I've been taking turmeric tablets and they helped a bit, I'm going to be honest, they
really did help. So I'm hoping these gummies are going to be pretty useful. I've only been
on them a few days so time's going to tell. I've got my fingers crossed, I'm really hoping.
So I've been sent them as a free sample to promote them on a certain other site. And
if anyone is on that other site, you will have seen the video. And over time I will
keep you up to date with how they are going. Because yeah, what Will says, they taste nice.
You're only allowed to eat one a day, I could go through the entire pack, they taste beautiful.
Just saying. But anyway, looking at the time, we're 25 minutes in. I know, I couldn't believe
it. Well anyway, like I say, it's been a couple of weeks so I wanted to update you, I wanted
to get everything out. I am desperately trying to get back to one podcast release a week.
Watch this space, I will try my best to do so. As I say, I'm just really busy at the
minute. Can't believe it. But I love doing this podcast. Anyway, that will do for now.
I hope you all have a really good week and I do look forward to speaking to you all again
soon. And just while we're here, very quickly, any of my social media accounts, I have linked
on there, the Just Giving for the Skydive Big Leap. Please, if you are in a position
to do so, if you are able to donate, that would be incredible. It would help. It would
help EMS Society. All the money goes straight to them and they use it to try and find ways
of fighting this condition. For me, that's nothing but positive. Anyway, that will do.
I hope you all have a good one and I will speak to you soon. Bye bye.