Back from my holiday.

I had a great time in La Rochelle, just what I wanted, sunshine and warmth, good food, and relatively quiet.  It was good to spend some time with grandchildren too.  From an MSA point of view the travelling was not as problematic as I thought it might be, I think this because they were too small airports so I didn't have to walk long distances.  I had a bit of a wobbly session at the beginning when we're going out and a bit of balance problem when I got on the plane going home, and that was about it.  I cannot carry very much, only hand luggage.  I was dreading the security checks because they might ask me to take my shoes off, which would be a challenge and take some time holding everybody up, then putting them back on again another saga.  But I think the picture.  I painted of myself with a stick and bent over, got a sympathy vote.  So I went through without any difficulty.  Another advantage of MSA is that you are given preference in check-in!  I love that!  On the way back we again had to go through passport control, it is quite a walk and my noisy breathing got louder and louder so passengers were looking at me and thinking what is wrong with him.  Anyway I got to the queue the security guard was so concerned he took me straight to one of the desks to have my passport checked.  So there is some advantage to this disease.  The highlight of the week though was a bicycle ride because it was bicycle country.  I can no longer ride a bicycle because of my balance problems, but luckily we found a bicycle hire shop that had a wheelchair attached to the backend of a bike.  It looked like a Heath Robinson designed machine, and James my son-in-law was prepared to peddle me around saying it was good exercise for him.  We all went on a coastal path and James had to be at the front of our little party.  In so doing he went over bumps at high-speed, where my bottom regularly departed from the seat and I was on the front of the machine, with no seat belt.  Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention that this machine hardly went round corners, so I had to move my weight around just like sidecars , but it was a a lot of fun. The rest of the family had already hired their bicycles and been busily exploring the island we were on, so for me I could join them do something together.  MSA gradually erodes movement reducing participation and makes everything much slower, life in the slow lane as I describe it.  Consequently I have become a spectator rather than participant in things family and friends are doing even the most mundane tasks like shopping or gardening becoming increasingly difficult to do and it is an effort!  I am now looking for more exciting adventures so if you know of any good ones suitable for a disabled person let me know.

Finally, Adam, the eldest son of James and Eve asked where and how I caught the disease,  I couldn't reply with a full sensible answer.  Next week I will continue my story.