31/12/2024 - 'My 2024' by David

Christmas came and went as quickly as ever, as it has done since our children have given up any faith in the existence of the big guy in the red coat and fluffy beard. Waiting for Christmas was excruciatingly slow as a child, but these days it's upon you and beyond you in a flash, which is a shame as I still look forward to and get excited about it, especially since my diagnosis. Alice and I made the most of it though, and we enjoyed ourselves. 

We finished our Christmas jigsaw just days before Rudolph and the boys were ready to take flight, but unfortunately, for the first time, with the box empty, there was a piece missing. More of that later. 

It was quite poignant wrapping presents this year as I realised it would be the last time that I would be able do so. I wrote a couple of very wobbly inscriptions in books for Rachel and Anna and after a fight with both paper and sellotape, I added the names of my three favourite girls on their presents, and placed them under the tree. 

After Fin had opened his presents, Alice and I went off to Southampton Common and we joined 1199 others for a Christmas day festive parkrun with more santa costumes present than you could shake a candy cane at.

It's always a great way to start the day. Everyone is in good spirits, wishing "Merry Christmas" to people that they would not usually pass the time of day with, and once home, we were ready for coffee and our presents. 

I'm invariably awful at choosing presents, but even Alice had to concede that this year, I had done well. This summer, we had unfortunately not been able to get to and around Blackgang Chine, situated on the rugged south coast of the Isle of Wight, so sadly, we couldn't get our annual photo of the two of us there. As we weren't able to add to the last 12 years of the same recreated photo, I had the ingenious idea of presents that represented and transported us back to the site of the world's first theme park.

Alice was very happy with a necklace, a photo, and a painting by my daughter of us beside one of the mushrooms within their nurseryland area. 

A quiet relaxing Christmas day at home was followed by a Boxing day boat ride to see my my daughters and my mum on the island. Anna's Jake was there too, but unfortunately Rachel's Max was working which was a shame, but unbelievably, we were able to see him in his hi viz jacket on the boatyard in East Cowes from mum's top floor flat over the river in Cowes through binoculars! 

The festivities continued the following day for Fin's 16th birthday, and he yet again opted for a trip into town for the Lego shop and pancakes.

Our second parkrun of the week was rather different than usual. Martin, who owns Delicon, the company that manufactured the running wheelchair that Alice pushes me in, met us at his local parkrun in the New Forest, and he pushed me, while Alice pushed his Ewan, a fellow assisted runner in his chair. Martin also produced the chair that Kevin Sinfield pushed Rob Burrow around the Leeds marathon. It was great to meet him and Ewan's mum, and it was a pleasure to be pushed by him. We also made a new friend in Ewan, and I'm sure we will all meet up again for another run.

We had bought my mum a ticket to the Wind In The Willows musical at the theatre but unfortunately she has recently been hospitalised, and despite now being home and recuperating, she wasn't able to go. So my brother, his son and I went, and we had a good afternoon watching Toad, Ratty, Mole and Badger on and around the river. 

Unfortunately this week I had my second fall. Like the first about a month ago, it was minor and I managed to fall in stages, roll onto my side and take the impact equally between my arm and leg. Unlike the first, Alice heard my groan as I fell and came downstairs to find me on the ground. She was probably more upset than I was and after helping me up, we carried on as we were and I didn't feel any painful after effects.

After stating in the last blog that my symptoms had plateaued, my legs have since felt much weaker and I have spoken to Alice and we have agreed that as from New Year's day, I will start to use the wheelchair outside. It's something that, although I wasn't looking forward to, we all knew it was inevitable and it's something I'm quite willing to accept.

I have phoned my occupational therapist and she is going to come and reassess my mobility and my needs for maybe an electric wheelchair for outside, a riser/recliner chair for the living room, and a higher seat and frame to get on and off the toilet. 

To have been able to continue walking 4 years after my first leg muscle aches, and 18 months after my diagnosis, is something I'm very happy about and I'm determined to continue enjoying life from a wheelchair. 

With my legs as they are, and until I have the independence of an electric wheelchair, I am virtually a prisoner in my own home, but Teddy and I continue to enjoy our time while waiting for Alice to come home from work. I have books to read, pieces to write and a list of films and TV programmes that were circled in the Radio Times that I am looking forward to watching. I'm not sure if it's the knowledge that I'm running out of time, but I seem to be nostalgically regressing to my childhood in the reading matter and TV that I choose. I am making my way through a pile of my old Tiger, Roy Of The Rovers, and Shoot comics that I devoured as a child, and I'm watching old episodes of ITV’s The Big Match, and BBC's Match Of The Day, and I'm re-reading my Tintin books for the last time.

As we approach a new year, it's worth looking back at what has been achieved and looking forward to what there is still to do.

In the last 12 months I have walked my daughter down the aisle, bought a house, been on a cruise, sold my Citroën 2CV, finished walking the Island's coastal path, curated an MND charity album, found Worzel Gummidge's field, travelled on the Waverley paddle steamer around the island, ridden the IOW Steam railway, and renewed our wedding vows!

The beginning of the year saw me going from running to walking at parkrun until in April, we got our beloved Bakermobile and I became an assisted runner. Funded by two charities, Challenging MND and the MNDA aswell as kind donations from our friends, the Bakermobile has allowed me to continue to be involved with my running club and I have been shown nothing but love, respect, and support from the wonderful parkrun community. 

I've taken part in 18 parkruns in the buggy, being pushed mostly by Alice, but also by friends and I've even racked up two course records for Moors Valley and Whiteley for fastest male wheelchair!

I have ticked off a number of things from my bucket list like watching my football sides Derby, Wycombe, and Forest Green Rovers. I've also seen the Crystal Palace victorian dinosaurs, visited the world's only Hovercraft museum, the Royal Albert Hall, and stayed at the Grand Harbour Hotel. The outstanding items on my list is still encouragingly long.

Bushy Park parkrun 

The Royal Hotel in Ventnor 

Volunteer at an Animal Sanctuary 

King's Theatre Southsea

Southampton City art gallery

Portsmouth docklands

Dartmouth and the Watercress line steam railway 

An IOW holiday 

A cruise 

A train trip

A West End Musical

A Prom at the Royal Albert Hall 

A spa break 

A day in Southsea 

Lyme Regis

Lynton and Lynmouth 

Our Just Giving charity page for the MNDA has so far raised over £11,000 while another £15,000 has been raised by friends and family in my name. This blog has been read over 42,000 times in over 40 different countries worldwide, which is absolutely incredible. I've recorded 3 radio shows and we've even been guests on a podcast!

So even though the final chapter of my life story has already been written, I have lots of living still to do in 2025. I'm still walking, talking, eating and breathing, and for that I am truly grateful. 

Thinking of the 5,000 people living with MND in Britain at any time, a third of which will have died within a year of their diagnosis.

A few people have said that our mischievous cat Teddy should have his own blog, so here are his latest adventures, antics and mishaps. 

He is nosier than an elephant and was intrigued by us doing our jigsaw, and was determined to 'help'. He would jump up onto the table, lick the pieces, attempt to eat them, then flick them onto the floor. Despite him, we did complete it, all but one piece that we just couldn't find. Is it behind the radiator, in his tummy, or has he taken it off and hidden it? Only he knows! We normally take finished puzzles to the charity shop, but we can't this time can we? Would that be cruel?

He's been trapped twice this week through no malice on our part. Once in a draw upstairs for a couple of hours, and once over night in the kitchen. To his credit, he neither ate any food or went to toilet on the floor, so we were very thankful and apologetic for imprisoning him. He can't or doesn't meow so we had no idea he was missing, poor thing. 

Next, he fell from the upstairs landing all the way down with a big bang as he hit the floor! We were all worried, and I was sent down to assess the damage, hoping not to find broken bones and blood, but happily, he was absolutely fine, if a little embarrassed for falling. He's certainly used one of his nine lives up now.

Next he got paint in his eyes after scratching at Fin's bedroom door trying to get in. He allowed Fin to pick it out and he was again, fit and ready to do some more wrecking! 

Fin wasn't so helpful (or in Alice's good books) though, when he caught Teddy's paw in a door. He may not meow, but he can scream when he wants to! He slunk off to a quiet corner for while before he forgave us.

Finally, he got totally spooked and angered by a life-size black and white Lego cat that Fin had bought with his Christmas money. Teddy was a house cat when we rescued him in the summer, and we have kept him so, and to the best of our knowledge, has never met another cat, so this was a horrible shock to him. He hissed and raised his hackles at the plastic feline, and despite tapping and pawing at it, and surely realising that it is no threat to him, he really doesn't like going near it. Poor, poor, naughty but adorable Teddy.

Teddy's blog may become a regular thing but if like Herge and Conan Doyle, their creations become all consuming and start to affect the mental health of the author, I might have to reconsider. 

Happy new year punks x