For the first time in just over 6.5 years we decided to go swimming. A lot has happened since I was last in a pool. In fact a quick look through my phone pictures shows me in a pool during a holiday to Grand Caymen in July 2018.

For todays trip we went to Dunlop Park Memorial Pool

One thing they do brilliantly in Australia is their swimming facilities. 23 public pools, 20 of which are accessible. As it was an overcast morning and children are at school, we pretty much had the pool to ourselves.

We were using the pools wheelchair to take me down the ramp into the pool. I actually found this difficult as I am normally a dive straight in person, however MS has stripped me off that ability. Instead we made our way down slowly whilst I adjusted to the temperature of the water. Eventually I was able to get out of the chair, however, I wasn’t able to get comfortable so Hilary had to go and buy me a buoyancy aid.

However, even with the aid, things were difficult. As it has a tendency to do from time to time, my left leg went into a major spasm and there was no flexibility in it at all. It was as solid as a rock and when it gets like that, there is absolutely nothing I can do to make it any easier. I wasn’t having much better luck with my left arm and the lack of rotation through my shoulder meant it was fairly useless to me.

All in all a fairly demotivational experience. Yes, it was nice to be in the water and being able to float about a bit, however, I wanted to be able to manage a few strokes. Instead I have discovered yet another thing that this useless fucking disease has taken away from me.

I will carry on fighting as hard as I can but there are days when the MS slap around my face is unbelievably painful. Today is one of those days. Reality really does hurt.

Tomorrow is another day!