21/04/2025 - 'Race day ready' by David

Our Team Baker running tops that I have designed, arrived ahead of next week's London marathon, and they look great!

They are light blue, with dark blue and green waves, representing the sea, and have our names printed on the front, and 'TEAM BAKER Pushing Against MND' on the back. They also carry the logos of the organisations that have played a part in getting us to the start line, and of course '#mnd can get in the sea' with a QR code link to our blog.

Crazily, they are made from 100% plastic bottles! 5 bottles per garment apparently. Our friend Martin, from Delichon has kindly paid for the shirts, and we are very grateful for all his continuing support. 

Alice, Martin, our friend Andy, and my daughter Anna, have all completed their training, and are now tapering. If any marathon runners are reading this, you will know how good that feels. We all met up for the first time last week, and Martin brought our race buggy that he lends out for races.  It's more comfortable for me, lighter, and has larger wheels than our trail buggy, and they all had a go at pushing me.

Martin's family joined us on scooters, and had fun shooting us with nerf guns! 

The builders have been here for the last two weeks, and are making good progress. They ripped down our conservatory in just one day and are using the footings to build back up.  My new bedroom, with a wide door so I can wheel myself out onto the back garden is quickly taking shape.

Neither their tools or their mouths are quiet, and Fin, I, and most of the neighbourhood have heard lots of spicy language, and quite a few interesting stories - I guess it comes with the territory? I also have a date in May when the front door and ramp will be installed, which in turn will allow me to apply for an electric wheelchair, which will make things much easier for me. At the moment, I'm shuffling around the house with a frame and a couple of legs that just want to give way. 

Before I move on to the pleasant side of my life, my latest symptom related to my condition is laryngopharyngeal reflux at night, which is the medical term for acid reflux, or heartburn. It started about a month ago, and only at night. It's related to the deteriotion of my swallow, and could damage my throat or voice box. It's easily settled with a Rennie tablet at the moment, but I've been advised that as it gets worse, I may need stronger medication. My feeding tube, that I'm having inserted in June, will alleviate this problem, but I want to continue to eat and swallow normally for as long as possible. 

The one job that I am still able to do around the house, cooking the evening meal, is unfortunately becoming too hard to do alone now. Alice has to be in the kitchen, or at least within earshot of me, while I attempt to slice, stir, lift, and pour. I love cooking, while Alice hates it, but between us we've made some nice meals. She's not a bad sous chef! Our friend Tom foraged us some wild garlic, and we made a lovely pesto sauce, which we had with pasta, potatoes, and 'chkn' pieces. Yum yum!

Right, let me tell you why my life is still beautiful in Bakerland.

I was surprised and very pleased to receive a message on Instagram that I had won a competition. I always assumed that the posts asking to join the mailing list and tag someone on their page to enter a competition to win something, were just a con to get followers but not apparently. Catherine's chocolates and Honestly Tasty vegan cheese were running a joint competition and I was pulled from the hat!

Alice sent Catherine a message of thanks, and mentioned how timely it was after my diagnosis, and she very kindly said she would pop a few extras in, and she did! She sent 2 eggs, 6 bags of buttons, 2 selection boxes, and 3 bars! The cheese company sent five items, so it's cheese and chocolate every day for a while!

I've had a couple of meet ups with lovely friends of mine from younger days. I have been friends with Mave since my college days in the 80's, and we have sporadically exchanged messages on social media over the years. After my diagnosis, she challenged herself to 'Swim 6km in May' last year for the MNDA, and even made an MND Can Get In The Sea dry robe for the event!

She popped round with cakes and Easter eggs for Alice and I, and it was lovely to catch up and laugh about what we were all like back in our youth. 

I have known Vikki since middle school and haven't seen her for over 40 years! She got in touch, totally out of the blue, after reading my blog, and we have been emailing each other since. Unfortunately, she has Multiple Sclerosis, and is also just at the 'nearly in a wheelchair' phase so we had lots to discuss. Alice and I met up with Vikki and her hubby Nigel, for a coffee, and again, it was great to reminisce about our school days.

I've also been out on a pizza night with my ex-work colleagues for Edisa, who is going on maternity leave, expecting their second child. I told her the first time that she should call their boy David, but unbelievably, she didn't so I've told her that she definitely should name their soon to emerge girl, Davida. She won't let me down this time.

I've also done a DJ set with my fellow DJ friends Dazzer, Cockles, and Barker, and travelled up to Buckinghamshire with my brother Rich, and my nephew Isaac, to watch the mighty Wycombe Wanderers beat Stevenage with a 92nd minute winner - boom!

The latest, fantastic news is that Teddy the naughty cat, is now just Teddy the cat! Since we've been allowing him outside, after 3 years of being an indoor cat, and after getting over being scared of things like wind, rain, and cars, that he has never before experienced, he is now loving life. He has become much calmer, has given up wrecking the house and hasn't bitten anyone for weeks, apart from Fin, but he antagonises poor Teddy, so deserves it. 

He is so inquisitive, smelling everything, and loves to jump into any open car door, including the builder's van. He even got on to their van's roof, and just trotted around for a while. 

Unfortunately, now that he has more interesting things to do, and explore, we see less of him, and Alice is sad that he doesn't sit on her lap as much as he used to but we are pleased that after being rescued from an inappropriate home, he is now a happy (and well behaved) cat. And he still loves a snooze on the bed after a busy day outside. 

We had a very relaxing Easter period. Alice had 4 days off which she really needed. Working full-time, training for a marathon, and looking after me, isn't easy, so apart from a quick trip to my mum's flat on the island for a family Good Friday hot cross bun and Easter egg meet up, and parkrun on Saturday, we haven't left the house.

Alice is recovering from another chest infection too, so spent most of the bank holiday weekend relaxing in bed. Hopefully the antibiotics will work their magic, as our London marathon adventure is just six days away now! Wish us luck!!!