So a Funny Thing Happened...

​It’s been a long time since my last blog entry, March 2018 to be precise. I reflected on a recent National course and being injured, with the last line being I would take time to recover and then “it will be time to get back on the horse”. It’s hard to believe that course was over a year ago and getting back on that horse turned out to be a much bigger challenge than I expected.

To cut a very long story short, after getting back to training I then had a stint in hospital over the summer and by December 2018, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. As someone whose main interests all involve physical activity, this felt like my worst nightmare and there have been many low mood moments over the months since then. I genuinely did not know if I would be able to return to training, running or hillwalking.

I started treatment in February and slowly, but surely, I’ve been feeling better. In May returned to the club and took some tentative steps back to running. A few months ago I thought this would never happen and it feels great!

My left leg is a bit wonky (a medical term) so I can’t run or kick as well as before, but my movement, balance and stamina are improving. I saw an MS specialist physiotherapist who tested my balance. When I explained that I trained in martial arts, the response was that this was more effective than any exercises she could give me. That gave me the motivation to continue!

Guidance from my excellent MS nurse is to continue training as much as possible, so that is what I intend to do. Things have been feeling good over the last three months or so, and whilst I don’t know what is around the corner with this unpredictable condition, I’m going to enjoy training whilst I can. As a result, I ventured to Newcastle with the club as part of a course hosted by Hugh which was a fantastic weekend. I’ll put a course report and some photos up here.

The wonderful members of BMAC have been a tremendous support to me through all of this, with many encouraging messages and visits as well as a very warm welcome back to training. I appreciate this support so very much. We often say we are a BMAC family, and it feels like that more than ever.

​So, with normal-ish service resumed, I hope to get back to updating the blog with my progress. It might have a slightly different slant to it than before but getting back on the mats has been so huge in dealing with this new reality.