"How unlucky you feel is all a state of mind" - Andy's MS journey
Andy was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS in 2006. Since then, he's experienced many ups and downs, and his outlook on life with MS has changed. Read about his journey and a new, exciting chapter in his life.
Bad luck – does it always come in threes?
Bugger. That was the first word that came to mind when I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS in 2006. It was just like the character Unlucky Alf from the Fast Show. For those that don’t know (YouTube is your friend here), Unlucky Alf was an old man who managed to attract bad luck in whatever he did. The neurologist uttered those four momentous words “You have multiple sclerosis”. And, little did I know, it was just the beginning of a journey into a world of bad luck even Alf would’ve considered particularly unlucky.
Just two years later, as I was coming to terms with having MS, I started to feel rotten. I put it down to MS fatigue at first. But it turned out I’d developed a ridiculously overactive thyroid. The treatment made me radioactive for a while but I got through it.
A year after that, it was time for another health crisis. I like to retain some mystery surrounding this to avoid spoilers for my book (more on this later). But let’s just say it was life-threatening.
But again, thanks to the NHS, I made it to the other side… where MS was still waiting for me.
Can I really say I’ve been that unlucky?
It was undoubtedly a bad run of events, but was I really that unlucky? I survived didn’t I? And okay, MS has hardly improved my life, but I could be a lot worse with it. After 20 years I’m still walking. Not very far and generally with a stick, but the wheelchair hasn’t found me yet. Bladder retention and muscle spasms are major irritants in my life, but I can handle it. After all, do I have any other choice?
No, it’s all just about looking at it from the right angle.
The positives I see in having MS
They’re there if you look hard enough. “You want me to do what? No, sorry, I’m not physically capable.” “You want me to park where and for how much? I have a blue badge, don’t you know?” Getting out of jobs you don’t want to do and free, convenient parking are two such examples.
Best of all, from a personal point of view, is the extra time MS has given me to write. Maybe with more dedication, I could’ve been a successful writer. But in my able-bodied years there were so many other activities that got in the way – sport to play, places to explore, jobs to do.
But now I can focus more clearly. As well as a blog about living with MS, I’ve managed to publish a book called 'Balls to MS: 20 Years of Discovering Your Body Hates You'. The book covers all those health battles of the last two decades. And, as the title suggests, it’s not a misery memoir. Rather, it's a statement of defiance with humour at its heart.
Reliving those events has helped me to reassess everything that’s happened to me. Laughing in the face of my personal trauma has lessened the gravity of the situation in which I now find myself. They’ve certainly been mad times and you could surely argue that I’ve been unlucky. But how unlucky? It’s all a state of mind.
Follow Andy's journey
Read more about Andy’s story on his blog and find out where you can buy 'Balls to MS'.
