Overcoming negative thoughts and pain
My name is David and I am 63 years old. I have a progressive muscle wasting condition called Inclusion Body Myositis – most people have never heard of it but, in my case, it slowly and progressively affects my legs, arms, hands and neck and I fall over a lot if not supported by something or someone. Life has recently been somewhat overwhelming and this is my story:
I was happily married for 30 years, living in Bournemouth with my lovely wife and our son. I had always been a very keen sailor and, in the early days, we enjoyed a very active lifestyle which included windsurfing, water skiing, kayaking, generally messing about on boats and cycling. At the age of 51, my wife became very poorly with a unique thyroid condition and was able to do extremely little. She spent most hours of every day lying on her bed unable to socialise or even watch television. I was her carer for the last eleven years of her life and, except where necessary on occasions for work, seldom left her on her own in the house for more than two hours at a time. My wife contracted a form of breast cancer known as Paget’s Disease which was inoperable because of her thyroid condition. She died just under two years ago at the age of 62. The combined effect of my wife’s illnesses and my own left me feeling extremely low, relatively reclusive and exhausted.
15 months ago I moved back to the New Forest to live closer to my sister and my brother and his wife, all of whom have remained extremely supportive throughout. Apart from family support, the key thing which has enabled me to reclaim my life is the New Forest itself.
I am lucky enough to still be able to stand and live independently at the moment. I managed to find a secondhand car with an electric ramp into which I can fit my mobility scooter. This has enabled me to explore the New Forest really thoroughly. However I may be feeling on a given day, if I manage to get myself out of the house with my mobility scooter and camera I get temporary relief from negative thoughts and from pain. I use footpaths and cycle tracks and head across the plains in search of great photographs. Photography is the most wonderfully absorbing hobby which keeps me venturing outdoors with a clear purpose. I often refer to it as my “therapy”! And there is no better place to take my photographs with such an abundance of opportunities and environments. On my doorstep I have coastal paths, salt marshes, open plains, ancient woodlands, streams, rivers and the sea – chances to take landscapes, seascapes, birds, animals and insects of immense variety.
As well as the absorption of my photography, the New Forest offers me the chance to socialise and interact. Since moving here, I have taken up model yacht racing at Setley Pond. As a keen sailor in my more able days, the feeling of wind in my sails and the excitement of skippering my own boat again is intoxicating. I take part in formal, competitive racing as well as informal practice sessions and have met like-minded people with whom I thoroughly enjoy a drink afterwards in the New Forest pubs and cafés, where we compare notes from our times on the water. I am so grateful that I was able to make the move back to the New Forest and enjoy all that it has to offer.
