I’m sure I’m in the minority but just wanted to say: 2015 You have been one crap year!!
Crikey yes it has been totally crappy. Diagnosis out of the blue for me in June, one of our closest friends died of cancer in October and now my gall bladder is playing up.
Good riddance 2015 and roll on 2016
Same 2015 get outer here !..
yup
when i see the old year out it will be with a kick up its bum.
does anyone still do that thing where you open the back door to let the old year out, then open the front door to welcome the new year?
it doesn’t work because we did it last year and 2015 has been steadily getting crappier and crappier.
in fact it has ended with my son in hospital and myself doing the worried mum thing in an increasingly disabled body!
goodbye 2015 and f**k right off!
here’s to a better year to come!
carole x
Here here xx
Hoping it will be a better year for everyone.
pollxx
Nice one Carole. You tell it to f*ck off from me too.
Sue. x
It sure as hell been a well and truly shi**y year in my house. Some years are marginally better than this one. But for me 2015 can leave with a joyful wave goodbye and I really hope 2016 is better for as many of us as possible. We (lovely husband and myself) will be on our own on New Years Eve and if previous years are anything to go by, I’ll be tucked up in bed a good while before midnight. Just can’t stay awake that long!!
Sue xx
You’re not alone. I know things could have been soooo much worse, but I can’t look back and think of much really positive or joyful that happened, and certainly no achievements - unless you count still being able to walk as an achievement - which I suppose, it is, now!
Had a couple of nice lunches out with friends - whoopie-do! That accounts for two days out of 365.
Have persevered with the Art History, but that’s only two hours a week, and getting there and back nearly kills me. I do enjoy it while I’m there, but against a backdrop of uniform drabness and depression, it doesn’t do much to offset it.
No holidays planned. Got an “admirer” I hear from about once a year - usually when he’s pissed (yes, he remembered Christmas morning, but I don’t hear at all the rest of the time). Will be 50 this year, and very much doubt I’m having a party - or anything special at all.
Tina
x
Personally I can’t imagine anything worse than having a 50th birthday party. I have just over a year to go and I’m planning to keep myself to myself that day.
Sue
I don’t think I would really like a “party” in the conventional sense, either. Never had one, even as a child - probably not about to start.
But it would be nice to think I was going for a champagne tea or something. Or maybe even a show. Something a bit out of the ordinary.
Tina
x
same here hun
pollx
2015 saw MS put me into a wheelchair at the grand old age of 25 
so being able to walk without falling over would be a huge achievement … it has’nt been my finest year and although i can no longer do some of the things that i used to do, i have found new things that i can do - i used to play Badminton and do a lot of cycling so i needed to find something to replace these, my MS nurse suggested i joined a small group for wheelchair users that have regular meet ups for days out doing different activities, through joining the group i now have a passion for Kayaking, my social life has changed quite a bit to - i find that i no longer enjoy the busy pubs and clubs as its just to much hassle in my chair, so now i meet up with friends for lunch or dinner in a nice restaurant style pub or sometimes just a coffee …
MS will NOT beat me … i will play its game and respect it’s boundaries … but it WONT stop me from living my life
Jemma
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I’m sorry to hear you’ve been so severely affected so young, Jemma.
Don’t think I’m not grateful I’ve “got away with it” for so long, because I do try to count my blessings, but prior to MS, I did take things for granted (I’m sure we all did) and never even dreamt of being in the position I had to be grateful I could still walk.
I don’t think aversion to busy pubs and clubs is purely a wheelchair thing, as I tend not to like them either, even though I’m not a wheelie. I seem to find crowds very tiring, and a little bit intimidating.
I’m glad you’ve managed to find a group that suits you, and sounds very promising. I do agree that most of us adapt and still live our lives, regardless of the restrictions we find ourselves in - whether visible or not.
It’s helpful to remember that most of us don’t keep the same hobbies for life, anyway. I lately met up with an old friend (not with MS) who had been passionate about shooting (as competitive sport, not hunting), and diving - and was surprised to find he did neither anymore. Not due to ill health, but his interests and priorities changed. He decided it was no longer worth getting wet and freezing at the weekend, on a UK dive, when he could have a cosy weekend in!
Of course, it’s impossible to know which hobbies would have been a lifelong thing, and which we’d have gradually lost interest in anyway. But I think it’s fair to say most of us aren’t still doing the same old stuff after ten or twenty years - whether we have MS or not. Things change.
Hope you have a lovely time with your group!
Tina
x
I too will be glad to see this year gone…
Here’s to happiness in 2016 for all.
Ellie
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I can’t say 2015 was all bad for me. Some bad times and some good times but it just seemed to go past in a flash.
I had all Christmas off work but have to work on the 1st and 2nd so it will be an early night for me.
Hope you all have a really good 2016.
Mags xx
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good riddance to 2015,its been one of the worst years of my life, and like many,i am old enough to have had many a bad one.
lets hope 2016 is better for us all.
J x
To be honest i would’nt trade my numb legs for some of the symptoms that others suffer from on here, i am still very active and enjoy physical activities, i attend the Gym 2 or 3 times a week to keep my upper body strength up, so the Fatigue that so many of you suffer from would absolutely kill me, i can live with being in the chair and being a bit forgetful and occasionally wetting myself 
as long as i can be active
apologies if it sounded like i was having a pop … it was’nt intentional
Jemma x
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I cannot truly say that 2015 has been horrendous; in fact some of it has been very enjoyable. However a number of significant things happened, one of which I count as a milestone.
On 6 December I took early retirement on medical grounds. I had been working part time for just over a year, having worked full time all my life. I finished my illustrious career working as a civilian for the police. Although I had only worked for 6 years with them, the settlement was surprisingly good. Luckily I qualified for the highest award; I have just a form to fill and return. Retirement is my milestone for 2015.
My wife and I did manage to go on two short holidays, both in Norfolk and they were both very enjoyable.
On the down side, my mobility has worsened significantly. In March I was able to walk a significant (to me) part of the RSPB reserve in Snettisham. By November, when we took a city break in Norwich, I could only walk a few yards with a stick, and I was using a mobility scooter. I used to be able to walk and cycle miles.
I also waited most of the year for an appointment with my neurologist that had been arranged for November, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Still no new appointment to date. The only upside is that I have developed a better relationship with my MS nurse as a result: she is much better at offering immediate, sensible advice.
As long as my brain continues to work I always think there is hope. I love reading and music. I still go to the theatre and concerts. They are ok as they have an interval for essential job of emptying the bladder. I have given up films, not just because of urge incontinence. My view on cinemas and their clientele would take up a lot of space.
My family have bought me a season ticket to the Sainsbury gallery at the UEA in Norwich, where I studied History of Art in the early 70s. The main collection is free but they have regular visiting exhibitions, for which they charge a fee. It is also very wheelchair and scooter friendly, and a favourite of ours. I am looking forward to seeing the Alphonse Mucha Art Nouveau collection in 2016. We live less than an hour away in Suffolk.
Like many of you I no longer enjoy parties, especially ones where I know very few people. I went to one this year and I have vowed it is my last. The anxiety was too much. I prefer now just to keep in touch with the people that matter to me.
Let’s hope 2016 is better for all of us. I am sorry to have rambled on but if you are still conscious, thank you for reading this monograph.
Alun x
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hi tina (anitra)
don’t fear your 50th, it’s only a number.
i got my diagnosis the week before my 50th.
i had spent the previous year wondering what the heck was wrong with me, so i invited all my old mates from way back plus new friends and family to a greek mezze.
the restaurant was awful but it made my day (year) to see my 82 year old dad deep in conversation with a long haired hippy friend (one of the ones from way back).
ms has put my ageing process into overdrive.
i have aged 20 years in the last 8.
but what the heck i was never interested in winning beauty contests.
happy 50th for when it comes.
carole x
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