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Hello and welcome to the 26th episode of Mike's MS Journey podcast. I hope everyone is doing

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as well as they can possibly do. To those of you that are watching me on YouTube, you'll

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see it's very very bright in the studio slash shed. I've got a window to my right hand side

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and the sun is absolutely beating in. It's beautiful, I'm not going to lie, it's absolutely

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gorgeous. So for those watching on YouTube, please bear with me, I know it's very very

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bright but I'd rather that than have it pouring down outside. As I say, I hope everyone is

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doing as best as they possibly can. This is the 26th episode. I must admit I'm really

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surprised that we're getting as far as we are. I would like to say the fact that I'm

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picking up so many new listeners, absolutely fantastic, incredible and I'd like to welcome

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each and every one of you to the show. I hope I can keep all of you as entertained as possible.

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On the show today, I'm going to talk about me pre-MS. I'm going to discuss my hobbies

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and interests and that sort of stuff that was in my life pre-MS. So hopefully that comes

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across okay. I'm not going to go into massive full details because I'll be honest with

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you if I did that, I'd probably be sat here chatting to you for about three or four hours.

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I know I'm 15-20 minutes of my voice. Yeah, you're all doing better than I'm doing. I'm

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then going to just do a very quick talk about my thoughts on MS as a whole. It's a very

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personal thoughts. These are not things that you're going to get off of any kind of website

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or whatever else. It's my personal thoughts and I will try and keep it as brief as I can.

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And also back end of the show today, I'd like to talk about the MS community online. That's

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going to be a very positive thing, trust me. So bear with me as we get to that. I'm going

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to start off today. As I say, I'm going to talk about me pre-MS and a pre-diagnosis

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of MS anyway because some of this stuff actually I would have had in my life at the time that

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MS actually kind of reared its ugly head in my life. Because as I say, we go back to 2012

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when I was working down at the Olympics. That's where MS really sort of shown itself in my

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life. But at that point, obviously, that really wasn't even thought about. I've discussed

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that plenty so I'm not going to keep going into detail on that. But what I would like

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to talk about is things that I just enjoyed. Hobbies. One of the biggest things in my life

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for those that actually sort of know me on a day to day basis, you'll all know that I'm

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a massive, massive football fan. Can't help that. I am a huge football fan. I'm a die

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hard West Ham United supporter. Believe me, that's not necessarily the easiest thing in

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the world to be. The last couple of seasons have been incredible. This one, it's been

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more like classic West Ham. But yeah, I mean, things like going to games. I mean, I've only

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been to the new stadium once. I wasn't overly impressed, I've got to be honest with you.

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That was for the game we played against Juventus, pre-season friendly. I wasn't that impressed

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stadium wise. I missed the bowling ground. I have to say that. It was one of the most

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incredible things you could do. Go over, I mean, for a season, I was a season ticket

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holder. I mean, I've been to no ender games there. It just was incredible, whether it

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was going to the pub before the game, sinking a beer or two. Never any more than that, honestly.

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You're honest. No, no, I'm being honest. Come on, give me some credit. Maybe it was more

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important to. But anyway, yeah, I mean, just that sort of side of things. Thoroughly enjoyed

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it, getting out and about, going to watch West Ham play, on the odd occasion seeing

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us win, cheer, shout, holler, all that sort of stuff. Absolutely loved it. And yeah, I'll

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be totally honest, I miss it big time. Thoroughly enjoyed going to games. Really, really did.

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Golf. I actually used to really quite enjoy playing golf. I was terrible. Believe me,

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when I say that, I was absolutely awful. I could have the odd half decent round here

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or there. I mean, I'd probably go round in at very best. 95 shots, which is pretty awful.

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Let's be honest, it's not great. I mean, on the whole, it was 100 plus. Off the tee,

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I mean, I could hit the ball an absolute mile off the tee. Not a problem. But it would go

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a mile to the right. I had the most incredible slice off my tee shots. It was unbelievable.

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Yeah, it was, shall we say, difficult. If I was hitting the ball off the tee, more or

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less, if there was people playing to the right hand side, I'd always be apologising because

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my second shot would nine out of 10 times be played off the opposite fairway. But that's

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one of those things. Around the green, I was not too bad, I must admit. I had a decent

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touch around the green. Passing, yeah, OK. Pretty reasonable. I could pass OK. But yeah,

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that tee shot wasn't good. It really wasn't good at all. We did actually, myself, Richard,

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my brother, my dad, we actually did once play the Brabazon course at the Belfry. That was

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quite an experience. Genuinely incredible experience. Beautiful course. Absolutely fantastic.

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But it was not easy. Not easy at all. But yeah, great fun. Really, really great fun

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to golf. Yeah, that's something that I used to love. Playing guitar was something that

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was massive for me. I mean, I gave it up for a very long time. I've recently gone back

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to it and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. So yeah, I mean, that's something that was all very,

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very much in my life. I'm going to talk about Airsoft. Airsoft was brilliant. And I'll be

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honest with you, I would have had EMS issues when I was getting into Airsoft. I remember

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the first time we went and played and I went to run across this part of the field and literally

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as soon as I went to sprint, my leg gave out and I ended up face planting. I was on the

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floor. But yeah, Airsoft, great fun. Just running around the woods with some pals. Just having

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a bit of fun. I used to love it. Really do miss that. I've got to be honest with you.

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It was so much fun. It was unreal. But again, it's something that actually I used to really

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enjoy. And at times I was actually half decent at. I've got to be honest with you. Again,

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excuse to get out with some friends. Family barbecues. Again, that's something that still

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happens obviously not in the current weather because it's winter. Albeit, as I say, it's

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glorious sunshine out there today. It's beautiful. I've got to say that. It's absolutely gorgeous.

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I do love a bit of sunshine. But yeah, family barbecues. I don't need to say any more than

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that. Fantastic. Honestly, probably the highlight of summer for me when we do that sort of thing.

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Sorry, just dropped my pen on my cup of tea. But yeah, highlighting my summer when we get

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together for barbecues. I enjoy cooking. It's good fun. But yeah, I mean, some of these

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sort of things that I've had taken away due to not being able to physically do them. Things

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like the golf. Let's be honest, I'm never ever going to be able to play golf again.

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I'm quite confident of that. Maybe over the driving range with a sand iron or something

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in my hand. Just do a bit of chipping or a bit of putting. I could probably manage that.

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I certainly couldn't manage trying to smash a ball 300 yards off a tee. That would be

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quite amusing. I'll be honest with you. Maybe just maybe I might have to have a try, film

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it and then put it online. It would be quite amusing. I've got to be honest. It's the sort

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of thing, me personally, because it would happen to me. I would actually find it quite

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amusing. So yeah, I mean, that's the sort of things that were very much in my life.

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There's other bits and pieces. I mean, one of the biggest and I've mentioned it in my

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Halloween show. I was once a paranormal investigator. Something I did enjoy. I've still got all

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of the equipment that I used to use. And maybe, maybe one day should the need arise, I might

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dust them off and have another go. But we'll see on that one. But yeah, I mean, that's

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the sort of thing, the sort of things that was in my life, sort of things that I used

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to really enjoy. Say there is other stuff as well, but I don't want to cram everything

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all in. I'm quite mindful. We're already at 11 minutes of this show and I've still got

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other bits to talk about. So I don't want to keep you too long. But yeah, at some point

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I will discuss other bits and pieces that I used to enjoy. It's leading me on to the

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second part of today's show. And it's just a few thoughts. I've got others, but just

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a few thoughts I've got on MS. It really is just so individual. Now I know we all know

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that MS is incredibly individual. No two people are the same. You know, you might have the

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odd thing, issue, pain, whatever else in the same place as somebody else. Actually, you

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will feel that pain differently to how the next person feels it. You will have feelings

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that are totally different to how the person beside you with MS might, might feel things.

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You have thought processes that are totally different. This condition, this condition

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is incredibly personal. Now I am so new to all of this. Do not think for one second I

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am thinking I'm the height of authority because I'm not. But I'm learning quite quickly. I

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am genuinely learning quite quickly what, where this condition goes, what it does, all

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that sort of stuff. And the word I would use for this condition is, it's insidious. Because

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how many of you could be doing okay? You know, you're not brilliant, but you're doing okay.

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All of a sudden, bam, it shows up again. Whether that be something new, whether it be something

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old, it hits you. And it's almost like it's waving to you going, wait, don't forget me.

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MS, my friend, we ain't never going to forget you. We know you're there. You don't need

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to keep waving to us like that. Otherwise, believe me, we could wave back and it wouldn't

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be the most polite wave. You know, I've written this script for today's show. One of the things

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I've not written down, but I'm going to say it anyway, I'd love to be able to look MS

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in the eye. It's a real shame you can't, isn't it? I'd love to look at it in the eye. I can't

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guarantee, but I think I'd punch it on the chin. Yes, don't tell it that, but I think

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I probably would because it is just the most insidious, evil and just horrible, horrible

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thing. It really is. Now, I'll laugh, I'll joke. And I'll be honest with you, I am that

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kind of person. I am a laughy, jokey, fun kind of person. I hope that comes across in

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these podcasts. Okay, at times I do get a bit upset. Who wouldn't? We all do. It's perfectly

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acceptable. Perfectly acceptable. But you know what? Most of the time I try and be happy

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and cheerful and I will continue to do so. And I hope, like I said, I hope that does

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come across because I am kind of a fun person. I am, honestly. You don't believe me, do you?

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Okay. All right. All right. I'll have to try harder. I understand. It's fine. Yep. I'll

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get you. I'll get you. No, okay. And breathe. I'm going to lead on to the third part of

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today's show because again, I know time is sort of ticking away. This one is actually

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quite a big shout out to the MS community online. And again, I am incredibly new to

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all of this. But what I am seeing, ham, it's because I'm thinking about West Ham again.

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See, I'm thinking about lunch, one of the two. I've got to say it, online the MS community,

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you are absolutely incredible. Absolutely different class. Always, always there. And

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again, I will say I am new to all of this. But I am learning quickly. And it is such

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a beautiful thing to see people going online, asking questions that are new and newer to

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it than I am. And they just get support. They get care. They get attention. You know, they're

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just having other people that are going through the same thing that we're all going through

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jump to be right beside them to give them all the support that they could possibly need.

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So to the MS community online, you're incredible. Absolutely different class. And do you know

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what? I'm going to give you, all of you, all of us, a massive round of applause. Because

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it's the very, very least that I can offer. Honestly, thank you so much to everyone in

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the MS community online. Because genuinely, the help that you offer, not just me, each

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other, everyone, it's just different class. Again, thank you all. Together, we got this

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fight. We got this fight as a team. Well, I think I've probably kept you all long enough.

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Just to say, I wanted to sort of get the fun side back a little bit. And I hope that's

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come across in parts of this show. I hope you all have a fantastic week. And I will

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speak to you soon. Bye bye.