“I was diagosed with MS the same week the twin towers came down.  My twin towers came down too. September 2010.

“There had been signs that something was creeping up.  But I didn’t connect up the dots.  I had fallen out of the shower…fallen out of the patio doors.  I kept tripping up on the slightest of uneven paving stones, and my daughter would say ‘Dad!  Pick your feet up’.

“The doctor had diagnosed either a tumour or multiple sclerosis.  I asked for a second opinion.  I had to go into hospital for a week of tests. I was coming back to the ward after tests on the Tuesday when everyone was around the telly, watching the twin towers in New York.  Then I got my diagnosis on the Thursday.

“I used to work in the community, setting up community credit unions.

“Now I have to have the electric chair.  I can’t even write any more.

“I’ve been twice on these boats.  Being outside and a free agent is the one thing I miss.  And this allows me to be more of a free agent.  I like the company of people.  It’s about being on an outing with people, doing something different other than the mundane. It’s a bit of variety.  With the illness you become a non-entity.  This is a change, and you’re with people.  It doesn’t have to be a big thing – just something different.”

Peter Tattersall
Hinckley MS Group
10 June 2010
on Symphony