Hello there, welcome to my next podcast. To be honest with you today, a few little bits
and pieces that I really want to talk about. One of them being today, World Mental Health
Day. Now mental health, it does tend to affect most people, whether that be yourself having
issues or whether that be somebody else that you know having issues. And honestly there's
not really a great deal that I can say on that except one, if you're struggling, there's
always people out there, there's always somewhere for you to talk and the best thing you can
do is talk. I know it might not always seem it, but bottling things up is only going to
make things worse. There's people out there, there's charities out there. I'm not one that
has got all of the answers, I've not got all of the phone numbers, but onto Google and
there's places out there, there's always somewhere where you can talk, there's always somewhere
where you can get help. And you know what, if you personally are not struggling but you
think somebody might be, just ask them if they're okay. It's not difficult, just to
hello mate, how you doing? How's things? Give someone the opportunity, because sometimes,
not all the time, sometimes that's all it needs is for someone to open the door to give
that person that's struggling the opportunity to get things off their chest. Maybe that's
going to help them. But that's enough about that for today. Onto the MS side of things.
I am still waiting for my MS nurse to be in touch, so I'm still not quite sure what's
going on in terms of treatment. It would be very nice if I was to get that information
soon because quite honestly, the sooner I can get onto some form of treatment, the better.
Because at the moment, it's just me struggling away and trying the best I can every day.
Yeah, okay, there's no miracle treatment, there's no miracle cure, but hopefully I can
sort of slow the progress a little bit and get myself on a bit of an even keel. Because,
again, from my point of view, things aren't easy. I'm having a good few issues in terms
of mobility and staying on my feet, but I'm trying my best, waking up every day and fighting
along because no matter what, I'm not giving in to this. Not a chance. MS has got a fight
on its hands and do you know what? I'm getting ready to put the gloves on. When I put them
on, we get in the ring. And then me and the MS, we scrap it out. I'm not one that gives
in easily. So good luck MS, good luck. I'm wondering how everyone else is getting on
because the weather's turning a little bit now. It's getting a little bit cooler. So
I'm just wondering if with the weather changing, is that helping anyone? Because again, it's
a known thing that extreme temperatures can cause you an issue with your MS. I know in
the summer, me personally, I love the sunshine. Absolutely love it. But I did find it was
quite draining for me. I'd go out in the sun. Again, I'll never stop doing that. But I'd
go out in the sun and yeah, I'd get incredibly tired, incredibly fast and it would make moving
around really difficult. I'll be honest with you, it wasn't easy at all. But still, I cracked
on. I gave it a go and I was out there. If you've got me on Instagram, you'll see that
I was out in the garden doing the gardening, which again is something that me personally
I found is actually really helpful. Really helpful. It gives me something to do, something
to keep myself ticking over, something to move about. And being as I'm in my own garden
doing it, if I do fall over, at least I'm on my grass. It's a bit softer and there's
not too many people around to see it. But yeah, I mean, I was out in the garden yesterday
actually. The sunflowers we've got getting to the end of their life for a year. So I've
harvested the seeds. I've got those locked away nice and tight ready for next year. There's
no way I'll use them all because there's hundreds of seeds that are just waiting ready to be
used. So yeah, not all of them are going to be used and I'm not one that's going to eat
them. I know there's people out there that do eat sunflower seeds for me personally,
not something I'm going to do. But again, out in the garden doing what I needed to do
yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I suffered for it a little bit afterwards, but it was
worth it. It was worth it. I just need to work out what I'm going to do with the garden
next year because there's a few bits and pieces where I want to put some new bits in. Not
quite sure yet then. But it means trips to the garden center. I can't help it. I love
the garden center, but shh, don't tell anyone. In terms of how I'm currently doing as I've
said, I really am waiting on this information for treatment because I could do with it.
And as I've said, I'm struggling a little bit mobility wise. It's not particularly easy
currently. I've got a lot of pains in my legs, in my back, my left forearm. It's something
that's been going on now and then over the last few months, but it's really been a little
bit more recently. I've got a pain in my left forearm and it shoots all the way down and
makes me make a fist. My middle finger of all fingers curled up and it just uncontrollably
twitches. It only lasts a few minutes, but I tell you what, it's quite uncomfortable
and it's something that's happening a little bit more often. So I'm just trying to find
a way around that. But yeah, as I say, that's currently the sort of things I've got going
on. I will say that again, anyone that's got me on Instagram and anyone that's listened
to previous podcasts will know my mobility scooter, Eleanor. Yes, I'll let you guess
where the name come from. It was a good film. She really has been a bit of a lifesaver for
me because again, I wasn't really able to get out and about much if we needed stuff
from the shops. As much as I wanted to go, quite rightly, people were saying to me, look,
you just can't manage it. Now I can. And with regards to that, I was a bit embarrassed
at the start. 39 years old using a mobility scooter. Do you know what, that embarrassment
has long since passed and it's been replaced with pride because, okay, I'm 39 years old,
I'm riding a mobility scooter. But do you know what, if I didn't ride that scooter,
I'd be stuck not being able to do anything. And I was riding that scooter home actually
the other day. Been at work. Weather had been a bit ropey. It had been hammering down to
be honest with you. So I put my waterproof poncho on which covers myself and the scooter.
And as I'm coming home, I get to a point where I need to cross the road. So I'm sat waiting,
looking and as I look to my left, there's a car sat there, there's a lot of traffic,
there's a car sat there. And this woman, she's sat in the passenger side of her car. And
I literally watched her point at me and start laughing. Now part of me thought, do you know
what, oh wow, is that what people think of me? Within a few seconds, that changed to,
yeah, okay, if that's what you're thinking, you crack on. Because quite honestly, I could
not care less. This is me, this is what I need to do to get around. And do you know
what, all I did is I gave her a thumbs up. And within a second or two of giving her that
thumbs up, that smile on her face went and she turned around and looked the other way.
Do you know what? I ain't embarrassed. Neither should anyone be. We do what we have to do
to keep ourselves going. Never give up. No matter what, never give up. Because there's
so many things that you can still do. It's as simple as that. I'm genuinely not one of
these that's ever going to say, okay, I'm done. Not me. And anyone out there that ever
feels like things are tough, well, I saw a little thing online and do you know what,
it was a good little saying. And it's a case of no matter how dark the night is, that night,
that darkness is always going to be followed by light. And we can always come through that
night time and start seeing the daytime. There's always something somewhere that can show you
that no matter how bad things are, things will get better. Things will get better. Me
personally, the old me, if somebody had been pointing and laughing at me, actually I'd
have got really self-conscious over it. Nope. Nope. Not playing that game. Not playing that
game at all. No reason for me to be self-conscious about something that I need. Something that
actually gives me an ability to be me. Because that's all I want. I just want to be able
to be me. I think that's all any of us want personally. Now, what I will say, I know this
is a bit of a different podcast to be honest with you. I just wanted to sit and talk. Not
so much thought out. I've not actually thought about any of this content at all. I've just
sat here and spoke about things that are going on in my brain. Things that I actually wanted
to talk about. And it's helpful. And I will say that doing this podcast in general is
incredibly helpful. It gets things out of my head. It gets them out in the world. I've
said it so many times. I look at that download count creeping up and the level of pride is
just unreal. It really is. So thank you all again. I'll say it again. Thank you all again
for downloading and listening. Because honestly, I just want to get my story out there. I want
to be able to feel like me talking about my stuff actually might help others that are
struggling to talk about things themselves. So again, thank you all. Massive, massive
thank you all. And it is incredible to see that there's people all over the world downloading
me sat talking. Well, believe me, I'm going nowhere. I've got every intention of making
this podcast last. I want to make this out there for everyone. I want to try and help.
I want to give people an opportunity to listen and say, do you know what? I've been through
something similar. Or I want people to listen and go, actually, this guy is going through
a bit of a rough time. And I am. I'm honest. I am going through a rough time. Things are
not easy with DMS. It really isn't. But do you know what? I keep that smile on my face
because that's who I am. So I want to be. And again, I do not give in. I want my life
to be a happy one. And you know what? It is. I've got great family, great friends. And
this condition has picked me for a fight. We fight. It's that simple. Right. I hope
you all have a great day. Thank you all again for listening. It is massively appreciated.
And I will talk to you all again soon. Have a great day. Bye bye.