Old blogs 18 & 19

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I wrote on here! Really must try harder.

Quick update. Busy going through a mild relapse at the moment, numbness and tingling in my left hand. I am on steroid treatment for it, done nearly 2 weeks with another 4 or 5 days to go. It is slowly getting better but it still very frustrating at how slow!

Of course there is no guarantee that my hand will go 100% back to how it was, more likely around 95% if I am lucky. Some of my other symptoms are affected by the relapse too, I have noticed that my legs in particular are aching a bit more than normal. They should settle down with the steroids as well.

Apart from that I am doing fine, the usual aches and pains but I am used to them. Thinking of trying acupuncture, see if it will be any help at all. Not sure if I think it will be or not, but anything is worth a try.

Weather is definitely cooling down here, been mostly dull with a few showers last couple of days. Temperature still up to around 20c though so not mega cold yet. I know that when it does get colder it will affect me a bit. My joint’s will ache more but that’s not just the MS, old age and rough usage when I was younger contribute to that.

Long distance running, cross country and road running. Plus when I was in the army we still did most physical activity with boots on. Nowadays I don’t think they are allowed, think they do most of it in trainers. Plus several years of driving trucks and cars and then constantly kneeling down cleaning swimming pools! So there is no wonder my poor old knees suffer lol

Well I think I will keep this short for today and I promise I will try to get back into posting on here more regular again. Doubt it will be every day but I will see how thing go

If there is anything in particular you want me to talk about, and I do mean anything, then please let me know. And please leave me comments, I feel as if I am doing something worthwhile when you do!

Rob

Having one of them days were I don’t feel great. Nothing to do with the relapse, just not feeling 100% today. I do get days like this now and again. Obviously the relapse doesn’t help much, it does affect how I feel anyway.

Aching a bit more than usual, the numbness and tingling are a bit more noticeable as well. Nothing new though and it normally only affects me for a day or 2 at most.

Had a great comment from my friend to say I should add how my mood is when I do this blog. Really good idea, so my mood today is relaxed.

Most people that know me will know that I am an animal lover. Particularly cats but anyone who has or has had dogs will know I am very good with dogs too. Wouldn’t want one myself but I am absolutely fine with them.

Anyway, living in Cyprus and being a cat lover is very hard as anyone living here will agree. Both the cats we have now are rescue cats,

 Charlie in particular being rescued from what would have been a difficult and probably short life.

There are hundreds of stray and abandoned cats around, most living in not great places and struggling to survive. Some of them live in tourist areas, so during tourist season they get quite well fed most of the time. There are other colony’s that try to survive in not so populated areas so obviously struggle a little bit more. It is very common to see them run over on the side of the roads, the only way to deal with that it to realise that they no longer have to suffer! It is very hard to do but it is the only way I have found to not get depressed by it.

There is a colony of feral and stray cats not far from where we live and I have taken it upon myself to feed them. I don’t go every day as I don’t want them to get fully reliant on me. Some of them are quite tame and will come up to me when I stop to feed them. They have learnt to recognise the sound of my car and come running when they hear it.

That caused a big problem a few weeks back when a kitten, about 5 or 6 months old heard my car and ran out into the road. I was watching the other cats on my right hand side and didn’t notice it run out from my left. Unfortunately he ran right under the wheels of my car and was instantly killed. That affected me really hard as I had been feeding that particular kitten since just after it was born.

It was used to me and would love to be stroked and would purr when I did. If I had been able to take on any more cats at home, he definitely would have been the one I took home. I just have to think that he had a much better life than he would have had if I hadn’t fed him, and that at least he went quickly and didn’t suffer. But it was still very hard for me to deal with, and even now I get a lump in my throat when I think about it.

We have also just started feeding some other cats down near the beach, obviously food is not as easy for them to get this time of year so the bit we give them will help a lot. I wish I could help all the cats, but I know I can’t so just concentrate on doing what I can.

Well enough for today, don’t want to bore you too much!

Rob