Looking back to move forward into 2017

It’s New Year’s Eve and so tonight we bid farewell to 2016 and prepare to welcome the infant 2017.

At this time every year, we hear some people say that they are glad to see the back of an unhappy time and look forward to a hopefully better year ahead. On the other hand, there are others for whom the last 12 months have been good and are hoping for that to continue.

That made me think about how 2016 has been for my beloved Lisa and I. Not usually being one to formally sit down and take stock, this seems to be a good time to do just that. So, let’s take a quick look back at the old year as it draws to a close.

Having moved from North Wales in the UK to Andalucía in the south of Spain in November 2015, this year has been spent largely adapting to the different lifestyle, local customs, dealing with a change of language, a new currency and so on.

Home

Our home itself is superb, being detached, all on one floor with level access at the back and a purpose-built wet room installed in place of the bathroom. It also has extremely low maintenance gardens, front and rear, as well as off-road parking.

The living room and kitchen/diner are joined by a wide arch while another links the living room to the interior hallway that has doors to the wet room and two bedrooms. The arches give more than enough room for wheelchair access if required. Overall, we have twice as much room here in Spain than we did in our apartment in Wales.

Health

The year did not start out too well when I had to be rushed to hospital when my urine turned to blood with a little urine mixed in. It turned out to be nothing to do with multiple sclerosis but as a direct result of blood thinning medication prescribed in the UK as part of treatment for a heart condition. Unknown to me at the time, the situation was more than serious; it was life-threatening. Amazingly, the Spanish health service had the problem under control in just six hours and discharged me after only two nights in hospital.

Since then, my blood thinning medication has been changed and has been kept under control.

As far as MS is concerned, of course it is still here – and always will be – but things have changed for the better. I visited the AA Maximov centre in Moscow in October to be assessed to see whether or not I would be likely to benefit from having HSCT. Four days of intensive health tests led to me being told, on the downside that the chemotherapy drugs might pose an unacceptable risk because of my heart condition. However, on the upside, all the MS lesions in my brain and spine are old and inactive; there is no current inflammation.

Interestingly, in order to help maintain this inactivity, I was advised by Dr Fedorenko to avoid all vaccinations – including the flu vaccine.

He also revealed that my vitamin D level was far too low. It was not just insufficient, it was even lower. It was classed as deficient. He advised taking a daily vitamin D supplement to correct the situation. Since starting to take this, I have seen improvements in balancing and walking ability although not endurance, have found muscles to be getting stronger (well, less weak), have suffered far fewer falls, and generally feel more ‘able’.

Writing is a passion of mine and to have expanded from this blog of mine to Multiple Sclerosis News Today is therapeutic in more ways than one.

Finance

The cost of living in Spain is certainly lower than in the UK. Groceries, car fuel, even the cost of eating out – everything seems to cost less here than in Britain, except electricity. And the knock-on effect of those cheaper costs means that our income goes further than before. Indeed, earlier this month, I managed to pay off a credit card!

Language

Linguistic skills have never been my strong point. At school, I spent five years studying French to quite a poor standard, and living in Wales for 23 years left me really unable to speak Welsh, although I can sing its national anthem Mae hen wladfy’n hadau and, from memory, can reci.e the countrhy’s longest place name, the Anglesey village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwerndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch – oh, and I can spell it too.

The Spanish language is a lot easier and, although I am by no means fluent, I can take part in basic everyday conversations and can understand basic newspaper stories.

To sum it up

So, all in all, 2016 has been a positive year for us. How was it for you?

Happy New Year

50shadesofsun.com is the personal website of Ian Franks, who is Managing Editor (columns division) of BioNews Services. BioNews is owner of 50 disease/disorder-specific news and information websites – including MS News Today. Ian has enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, from reporter to editor, in the print media. During that career he gained a Journalist of the Year award in his native UK. He was diagnosed with MS in 2002 but continued working until mobility problems forced him to retire early in late 2006. He now lives in the south of Spain. Besides MS, Ian is also able to write about both epilepsy and cardiovascular matters from a patient’s perspective and is a keen advocate on mobility and accessibility issues.

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