A week at altitude

Since my last post about stepping into the unknown of altitude in Bolivia, I have explored the Salar de Uyuni, spent 24 hours in Bolivia’s capital city La Paz and travelled to the former Incan capital of Cuzco – all of which are 3,400m or above. In this post, I have broken down my experience with altitude and myasthenia gravis into a daily diary covering the first seven days.

Day one

Landing at 4,100m in the La Paz airport, the highest international airport in the world, was a shock to the system. We had a day to spend there before our evening flight to Uyuni and considered getting a taxi to the lower city centre (3,660m) to make life a little bit easier. But on arrival, we found a hotel in the airport where you could pay by the hour… at this height, to conserve energy.

Observing my symptoms closely, I noticed that first came a flush to my cheeks and my skin stared tingling. This was followed by a slight tremor of the heart as if it was shaking with uncertainty and then a burst blood vessel in my eye. Next, the delight of an upset stomach. While all this was happening, we were having a Netflix binge while lying sprawled in the hotel room.

After 8 hours at that height, I was feeling rather spaced but nothing else more serious than the symptoms above. I could feel my circulation working a bit slower than normal as my hands and toes were cold and my lips had turned a strange purple shade.

My appetite had disappeared but we had read that you should make yourself eat as your body works harder than normal at altitude. After some chicken salad, I felt a sudden energy boost – a pattern of eating and feeling better that continued for the next few days.

The flight to Uyuni gave us a break due to the normal oxygen levels on planes. Once back on steady land, we were at the slightly lower altitude of 3,600m.

Day two

During a broken but not terrible night’s sleep, I felt my heart working harder than it normally would so I had to lie on my right side. I woke to find my face puffy and my pupils huge. My body was tired but not weak -I was hungry and I woke up with a thirst as if I had been smoking and drinking all night.

We allowed ourselves to have a day of rest to acclimitatise. This meant barely leaving the hotel and walking everywhere very slowly. After breakfast I felt better although my lips were still purple tinged.

While we lounged about the hotel reading, the fires were roaring but I couldn’t get warm. Putting on all the extra layers I had didn’t really help as it felt like it was coldness coming from the inside out. The hotel had a sauna and jacuzzi but I didn’t want to risk the extra pressure of heat on my body, so I had regular hot chocolates (caffeine and alcohol were advised against).

By 9pm I couldn’t keep my eyes open and passed into a coma-like sleep.

Day three

I slept like a log and woke up feeling nearly normal although my face was still a bit puffy and my lips still had a purple tinge.

After another relaxed morning and a FaceTime with some friends (which would have tired us out the day before), we went for a tour into the Salar De Uyuni.

Walking very slowly between the stalls in Colchani, between the Dakar monument to the salt hotel and then posing for lots of silly photos (see below) tired me out, but it was totally worth it. I found myself slightly breathless after doing a yoga pose, but thankfully I was able to catch my breath quickly.

We spent the last hour and a half having a picnic watching the sunset and taking our first taste of alcohol since arriving in altitude. My body told me clearly ‘don’t overdo it’ so I kept it to a small glass simply to enjoy with the best sunset I have ever witnessed.

Day four

After another good night’s sleep – deep and restful but with some crazy dreams in the morning – we flew back to La Paz.

Instantly on arriving back at 4,100m I felt the thinner air and the pollution speed up my breathing and heart rate. As we slowly descended with the taxi into the incredible city, which is in a valley surrounded by the huge mountains of the Andes, I felt myself relax.

For the first time since arriving in altitude, we did lots of walking (close to 14,000 steps) and because of how the city is laid out, we had to walk up a lot of hills. However we took our time and didn’t have any problems.

Saying that, I got a headache and my ears were popping like crazy when we took the teleferico back up over 4,000m but we didn’t hang about long at the top. That sudden headache reminded me how much difference 500m can make.

Day five

We flew to Cuzco, Peru, which is at the slightly lower altitude of 3,300m. I expected to find it easier to breathe right away after being back at 4,100m in La Paz airport. My breathing felt smoother inside the airport although the pollution of the city was quite bad. After a rubbish night sleep in La Paz due to a dusty, creaky room and probably eating too much too late, I felt a bit ropey and after eating my first meal in Cuzco felt thoroughly poisoned.

That meant being unable to do anything after 6.30pm so the first night in Peru was wasted and I was up with an upset stomach through the night.

Day six

After another rubbish sleep, I was awake early and did what I probably shouldn’t have – caffeinated the problem away. This gave me a false sense of energy and the tiredness at altitude felt like a distant memory.

We spent the morning and early afternoon organising activities for the rest of our time and then visiting some of the city’s attractions. Unlike anywhere else we’ve been in South America, except Ipanema Beach in Rio, the people of Cuzco relentlessly try to sell tourists stuff. Once we politely said no to our 14th massage, 20th restaurant, 37th hat and 42nd selfie stick, we were drained and found a quiet bar for respite. The peace of the bar was so nice that we couldn’t resist a second drink and then having tapas for dinner would have been a crime without a glass of wine.

So basically Cuzco was where my caffeine and alcohol consumption went back to normal. You’re really encouraged not to drink at altitude – because it’s a depressant and because you’re already dehydrated. So after initially passing out, I woke up with a racing heart in the middle of the night.

Day seven

When the alarm went off at 6am for our first trip out of Cuzco I had slept on and off but didn’t feel rested. Thanks alcohol!

As a result, by the time we got to our first stop – a lake in the town of Chincerro at 3,700m I was out of breath and felt very weak. The stairs to the first Incan settlement in the same town were a real struggle. Each one feeling like a mountain – similar to how I feel on really bad fatigue days.

As we moved down into the Sacred Valley, things got easier – although climbing the stairs at Ollantaytambo was still a challenge that required a pause halfway. By the end of a full day in Pisaq, a settlement around 3,500m, I felt thoroughly exhausted and was not looking forward to the 4am alarm clock for Machu Picchu the next morning.

In reality, the wake up was tough but our eighth day was much easier as Machu Picchu is around 2,500m above sea level. As a result, I was able to bound around the mysterious ruins, while other people were walking around grey-faced, looking as if they could be sick at any time.

This feeling of having all the energy in the world is common when you come down from altitude and so I’m looking forward to how amazing I will feel when we reach Lima, the final stop of our trip.

In summary

We have now managed to spend 10 days at altitude without any real problems and without having to take any special medications.

I have managed a tough yoga class, a lot of walking and have climbed thousands of Incan-built stairs.

I think the following made my first extended period at altitude easier:

• taking the time to acclimatise properly by having two full days of relaxation
• not drinking alcohol or caffeine for the first three days
• eating light meals
• allowing ourselves to go to bed early and not overdoing it

Now that I have seen how my body reacts to altitude, I would be less nervous about going above 3,000m again. Saying that, I won’t take it for granted and will definitely take the same precautions and have a back-up plan in case I react differently next time as altitude, like myasthenia gravis, is unpredictable.

Altitude and myasthenia gravis

Today I’m stepping into the unknown. Not only am I flying from Chile – the most developed of the countries I’ve visited in South America so far (in my opinion) – to Bolivia – a country I know very little about and that has been described to me as the least European of all the countries in the continent. Now that’s an exciting thing in itself and the kind of description that sells a place to me rather than puts me off. But also the airport in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, is 4,000m above sea level. We have eight hours here until our flight to the slightly lower Uyuni (3,600m).

General impact of altitude

It is widely acknowledged that the impacts of altitude start when a person passes around 3,000m – although some people start to feel it around 2,500m. This is because the air is thinner – it contains less oxygen. The higher you go the less oxygen it contains.

There is no predicting how and when it will impact a person but some common side effects are:

• headaches
• nauseous and/or upset stomach
• vomiting
• shortness of breath
• trouble sleeping
• tiredness

From what I’ve read it can take about three days or longer to acclimatise to the thinner oxygen.

Implications for myasthenia gravis

When I asked my consultant before taking the trip he told me there was no specific implications but I was to take care just as anyone else would.

Obviously the difficulty sleeping could trigger MG symptoms as it has done in the past for me, so it will be interesting to see how my eyes behave over the next few days. As you can see from the featured photo, I’m arriving strong with no physical eye symptoms.

However, from what I’ve read and I must remind you that I’m as far from a medical expert as humans come, that it might be particularly problematic if you’ve had lung problems or if you have an additional lung problem on top of your MG.

Experimenting by giving it a go

After a last minute panic at the airport and then on the flight, we are here in La Paz doing everything, including writing this blog, incredibly slowly. The only way to know how we’ll respond to this altitude thing is to be in it so armed with the names of drugs we can take to alleviate symptoms, we’re giving it a go.

We’re going to take it very easy – relaxing for the first few days until we acclimatise and then see what we’re fit for. We’ve got a nice hotel so that we can just relax and enjoy being in the desert; another new experience for me.

If things don’t go well, our plan is to skip the Salar de Uyuni and fly to Lima, the sea level capital of Peru, where we can take a meandering bus to Cuzco. This means a more gradual acclimatisation to the slightly lower Peruvian city (3,300m), from where we plan to spend a week exploring Incan history including Machu Picchu.

I will give an update on how we’ve found it in due course, but for now we’re off to enjoy the relaxation booths with Netflix that an absolute hero created in the La Paz airport.

Going to hospital in Buenos Aires

After a frustrating discussion with travel insurance as I wrote about in the previous blog, I went to a Buenos Aires’ hospital to get help for my increased myasthenia symptoms.

As you can imagine, going to a hospital in a country where you only speak ‘un pocito’ of the language was frightening. I don’t think I’ve ever had such rapid deterioration and I had no idea of how to explain this or even if they would know of the condition.

Luckily, we found a private hospital where they had staff who could speak English. We went to the emergency waiting room thinking we should follow the same process as at home, but we were quickly redirected to the neurology clinic. The receptionists, although baffled by our ‘Spanglish’, were quickly able to establish that I needed a translator. Because it was so late in the day after all the messing around with the travel insurance, the translator had left however one of the staff members spoke enough English to help us.

Less than an hour after arriving, I was sitting in front of an empathetic neurologist who was telling me to relax and that I was in safe hands. My condition was explored and my symptoms documented – then the normal tests of muscle strength were carried out for the whole body (holding legs up, pressing up with arms, scrunching up facial muscles etc etc). The checks were more thorough than any I’ve had at home.

Having established that the flare up was only affecting my vision in terms of muscle strength, I was taken for blood and urine tests. The final tests were from a lung doctor to test if my breathing had been impacted. That was an interesting experience and not one I have had before – blowing as hard as you can into a piece of equipment like a breathalyser is bloody difficult. It gave me a lot of sympathy for anyone with asthma as apparently they have to do these tests regularly.

Finally I was asked to go back to speak to the neurologist. She was able to tell me within two hours of doing them that I didn’t have an infection and then we worked out a plan for my treatment.

The doctor prescribed me to increase my steroids to 10mg a day and two mestinons a day. If this had been in Scotland, I would have been disappointed to be jumping back up on the steroids. But when I was handed the prescription, I felt such a relief that I could have cried. I probably would have if I wasn’t so exhausted – by this point I could hardly keep my eyes open. And that night, for the first time in almost a week, I slept right through and woke up feeling a hundred times better.

I returned to the hospital for check ups after this and was given the same level of excellent care and support. Not only that but when I left, I was told if I needed anything to get back in touch and given the names of neurologists in the next place I was going.

While I know I was lucky to be near a capital city like Buenos Aires when this happened, I was very impressed by both the standard of care and the cost of the treatments. It may have been my travel nightmare up until the hospital, but as soon as I was in that neurologist’s consultation room I felt in safe hands.

The picture for this blog was taken outside Manzana de las Luces in Buenos Aires where I did a tango class a few days after the increased meds kicked in. Since those few days at the hospital, it’s been back to having fun and trying new things!

A bad week in Uruguay

After five days in breathtaking Rio De Janiero and a couple of days on both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of the Igazu Falls, we had a night in Buenos Aires before heading to Uruguay for carnival.

To get to Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, we had to take an overnight bus from Puerta Igazu to Buenos Aires and then an early morning boat to Montevideo the next day. It was exhausting and I think the combination of the extreme heat, the lack of sleep and the different climates led to what happened next.

On day 1 in Montevideo, I had the start of double vision and felt pretty unwell. This developed rapidly over the next few days to the worst double vision I’ve had in years, a nasty headache from the swirling and really bad fatigue. Elaine said I was getting less and less like myself each day and the hours where I was fit to do anything kept getting shorter.

Still, we tried to enjoy the cool carnival nights in Montevideo.

This photo above is on our first night in Montevideo. It was the night of the main parade and here we’re climbing scaffolding to get a better view.

After five nights in Montevideo, we moved on to Colonia Del Sacramento, a former colonial town across the river Del Plata from Buenos Aires. Luckily, there is not much to do in Colonia, so I was able to relax there as I didn’t have much energy for anything else.

After a week of getting worse each day, although I had doubled my steroids, we caught the boat back to Buenos Aires a day earlier than planned to get some help.

I’ve now had medical care in a private facility in Argentina’s capital (more about that in another blog soon) and after upping my steroids and pyridostigmine I am feeling much better. However, this Uruguayan episode served to remind me that the MG is more of a sleeping beast than a distant memory and that I can’t take a day of being well for granted.

The photo for this blog is at the lowest point of my last episode where I wanted to hide away from the world. Thankfully in that moment, I had Elaine to keep my spirits up and pull me out of my self pity. So it has served to remind me how lucky I am to have her by my side too.

Despite this bad turn, the reason we are here – to experience other countries and cultures – is what kept me going. Here are a few of the amazing things we experienced in Montevideo and Colonia Del Sacramento. I hope the beauty of the country and its people is what I remember when I think back on our time there.

Travelling and myasthenia gravis

I’m back in Scotland after travelling around south east Asia with my wife Elaine and I have one thing to say to you: long term travelling is possible with a condition like MG. But more about that later. Over the three months, we spent time in seven countries:

• Nepal
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• Cambodia
• Singapore
• Indonesia
• Laos

Although many of the countries were neighbours, they were very different culturally and politically which meant there were big differences in how developed they were and, as a result, what the medical facilities were like. The last point would not be a consideration for many of the travellers we met along the way, but Elaine and I were constantly aware of how likely we would be to survive a hospital trip if it was required.

During my time in Thailand, our second country, I made a decision – that blogging about the trip was getting in the way of my ability to be in the moment. Often we only had a few days to truly immerse ourselves and I didn’t want to spend that time doing the reflecting that I felt might be more meaningful from a distance. So I stopped, hoping that I’d have a few things to say once back in Scotland.

Now that I’ve had time to process it all, I’ll cover different topics that came up during the journey over the next few blogs. I’ll be posting these between now and when Elaine and I head over to South America at the end of January for our final three month stint.

For now though I want to say loud and clear; travelling for an extended period is do-able for someone with myasthenia gravis (MG). I repeat, it is do-able because I definitely have MG and I’ve returned from three months away happy and healthy. Saying this, I had the go ahead from my consultant after coming off the drugs that suppressed my immune system and getting all the relevant injections. I would NOT suggest trying it unless you can get the same thumbs up from a medical expert.

Naturally, I was nervous about how I would cope and while I was planning I couldn’t find anyone with MG saying you can do this. But as travelling for an extended period to far flung continents has been a dream of mine since long before I was diagnosed with MG, I had to try. And I knew it was important to try while I was feeling healthy and strong as with this condition nothing is guaranteed.

Fine, I had to adapt my dream: from a solid year of backpacking down to two three month periods because I am still taking medication (prednisolone) and that’s the longest prescription I could get. I also won’t be able to go to any areas with yellow fever in South America (the Amazon for instance) because I can’t get the yellow fever jab as it’s a live vaccine.

Although it’s cost us more money to go and come back home and then go again, it’s given me time to catch up with loved ones, get blood tests done to make sure I’m really doing ok, to sleep in the same bed for more than three nights in a row and to recover my strength before the next leg.

I already know it’s the best thing I’ve ever done and may ever do. Don’t get me wrong: there were hard days and times when I wished I was back in the safety of my pest-free and tropical disease-free flat by the seaside. But then there were days when I felt more alive than ever before; like when we snorkelled with wild turtles in Indonesia and spent the day looking after rescued elephants in northern Thailand. These two things alone were worth every possible risk and will stay with me for as long as I live.

A photo taken on our rented Go Pro off the coast of Gili Meno, Indonesia.

So if there’s one big takeaway for me, challenge your I cants and be willing to adapt your plans to make them fit with your MG or whatever it is that you’re struggling through. There may be a way of making your dream come true if you’re flexible and brave.

Bangkok

Arriving in Bangkok is organised, air-conditioned bliss after the anarchy of Kathmandu…even if you’ve grown fonder to the craziness as I had. Everything in Bangkok is signposted, efficient (take a ticket number for an airport taxi and go to the booth with the same number, voila!) and there are plenty of people around to ask for help. Still, after an intrepid first fortnight of travels, I felt a slight sinking feeling as we stepped back into an intensely structured universe.

Thankfully, that sanitised order ended at the airport door – the area around our hotel in China Town was more like a bustling street bazaar full of exotic food for sale like Durian, sticky mango rice and Jack Fruit. Delicious!

With its rich-poor divide, its drive for convenience and modern comforts (particularly good coffee) and its seedier side nestled down dark alleys, Bangkok is like many cities I’ve visited before. But it has its own vibe too. It has alligator-like lizards swimming in its canals, Tuk Tuks dressed up with flashing lights zipping down busy alleys, anything you can imagine available to buy on its streets and an architecture style that is completely new for me. 

The lizards of the canal – Water Monitor lizards.

Day 1 sees us decide to walk the 30 minute journey from our hotel to the Grand Palace as a novelty after it being near impossible to walk in Kathmandu due to pollution. The humidity gets in on me and it’s clear why most people ride mopeds rather than walk here. I worry that this heat may bring about some issues with my MG as I feel exhausted almost right away. But I learn on that first day that an air con break with a delicious fruit smoothie and a salty sandwich is what will revitalise me here, not my normal caffeine fix. 

Over the next 4 days we try to take in as much of the city as we can including temples, art exhibitions, a boat trip, shopping, night life and a ladyboy cabaret. We also dedicate a day to our hotel’s rooftop pool and bar; watching the boats on the Chao Praya river and trying to conquer the inflatable flamingo. Thus in Bangkok we try to cement the balance of ‘doing’ and ‘being’ that we want to keep throughout the trip. This trip is about rest and recovery as much as it’s about adventure.

I’m not sure what I expected, but Bangkok is definitely better. From a privileged tourist perspective, the value for money is unreal compared to home, it’s easy to get around and no matter where you are at what time of day or night, there’s a Tuk Tuk or taxi driver waiting to haggle with you – and 9/10 times for me they were polite. While there are quite a lot of Seven 11s, Starbucks and McDonalds, there are a lot less chains here which allows different areas to have their own feel.

I have no doubt that Bangkok has its own issues (many of which lurk down those dark alleys), but as someone passing through its relaxed atmosphere, variety of attractions and affordability mean I’m certain I’ll be back here.

Extended honeymoon

It has been a while since I’ve posted here and in truth that’s because I’ve been busy. I’ve been working away from home Monday to Friday and in my free moments I’ve been preparing for my wedding (most definitely the best day of my life) which happened in August.

More recently I’ve been preparing for my upcoming extended honeymoon.

That’s right – Elaine and I have decided to do something extra ordinary for our post- wedding break and so we’ve given ourselves up to 8 months off work to travel.

After many years of one of us working away from home, we’ve decided to start our marriage with some lengthy quality time together and to go to parts of the world we’ve dreamed of seeing:

• Nepal
• South east Asia
• South America

Far flung foreign climes with completely different eco systems and germs  – that’s pretty terrifying for a person with MG. Particularly someone who was immunosuppressed for years. 

But now feels like a good time because: 

• I’ve been in good health over the last number of months and years
• I’ve trained hard to get strong enough for the adventure
• I’m on very low medication meaning that I am able to survive without trips back for meds
• If not now, then when?

I plan to write this blog regularly when I’m away to show the highs and the lows of life on the road with MG. I’ve not met anyone with MG who has travelled for long periods and so I want to share my experiences about it (if you have, please share yours with me). But I’ll also be sharing general experiences of being on the road.

I’ll get into all the different aspects of preparation and the actual going over the next few blogs, but for now I have a 2 page to do list that will not sort itself! Pictured in preparation mode – testing my equipment in the Pentlands.

Down to zero

After 4 years of MG symptoms and 3 and a half years of the diagnosis, I’ve been given the go-ahead by my consultant to reduce my medication to zero. Nothing, nada, zilch.

Earlier this week, I gave my consultant an update on how I’d got on with going from 100mg to 25mg aziathioprine. The short version is that I don’t feel any different now – there was a time when I wasn’t sure between 75mg and 50mg as my symptoms were worse than they’ve been in a while. But I waited it out realising that a month between stepping down doses wasn’t long enough so I’ve been waiting 2-3 months between reducing my dose.

Now comes the real test – my next step is down to zero then down to 1mg of steroids every second day then nothing. So totally drug free. 2017 will be the year I tested going drug free.

This is what I’ve been wanting for years, what I’ve been working towards, but this week I’ve felt a little numb to it. I’ve not been sure how to feel about it so I’ve put off thinking about it knowing that I’m away this weekend. In the middle of nowhere, with lots of time to think. But now I’m here and I’m still struggling to feel it. 

Thinking about it, it’s probably because now comes the scariest part. The ultimate test of whether the thymectomy and healthy lifestyle (early nights, good diet and lots of exercise but not too much) will allow me to stay in remission. Proper remission. 

I’ve been told it’s fine to take 1mg if I’m feeling weak, which is a good back up. But when I finish my latest prescription in a few days time, it will be time to step into the unknown. Wish me luck!  

Treating a set back like an experiment

So it’s happened again – just when I started to feel completely unphased by my myasthenia gravis I’ve had a set back. This is the way with a condition that fluctuates but it doesn’t make it any less annoying. 

Two days before I was due to go on a relaxing break to Spain my right eye starting playing up. I had a good night’s sleep and it seemed improved but then, the day before I was due to go, I had a later night than expected and woke on my first day off with a bad case of ptosis – dropping – on my right eye. 

My ptosis is usually mild now – a slight droop which is annoying – so I’d forgotten what a bad case feels like. I count a bad case as when my eye lid is almost or completely closed. No matter what I do it can take days or weeks to right itself and in the mean time it makes everything a bit more of a challenge. It means:

• looking anywhere other than down becomes problematic – looking straight ahead there is double vision as the right eye tries to adjust with a more limited field. This means I spend most of the time with my head tilted up and have more problems getting around
• having conversations becomes challenging – you can’t really look people in the eye because when you try their eyes move around their face. Oh, and you over-analyse every look of your conversation
• the eye lid feels really heavy and is constantly uncomfortable – I used to wear cotton patches during these times for comfort. It’s not great when working in front of a computer screen all day

I’m fairly sure that I’ve run myself down in the build up to the holiday – taking on too much and not giving my body the rest it needs. Then there was the sharp change of climate and routine which probably didn’t help either. 

Rather than waiting in a depressed stupor for things to return to ‘normal’, I’m taking a scientific approach. I’m testing out the impact of different things and will hopefully have more knowledge about how to treat myself next time. So far I’ve tried:

• Sleeping longer than normal – on holiday I had between 9-10 hours sleep a night. This is more than the  7-8 hours I get normally. This seemed to make it worse rather than better.
• Cutting out alcohol – after a break from booze, I had slowly reintroduced it to my routine and was having at least 2 drinks a day on holiday. Over the next week I’ll be removing alcohol again to see if it has an impact
• Upping my steroids – I’ve upped my steroid intake from 2mg to 3mg and hoping that extra tablet will help. If I don’t see an improvement over the next few days, I’ll increase it again
• Eating healthier – while I didn’t eat a lot on holiday, what I did eat wasn’t particularly healthy. I’m on a detox this week to aid healing including keeping it simple with just lean meat and green veg and lots of lemon water
• Cut down on caffeine – before I went on holiday, I was drinking more coffee than I ever have. While away, I cut down to 1 cup a day and I’m going to try to keep a reduced intake now that I’m back
• Rest – on holiday I did very little that could be described as ‘active’ for the first two days. I then slowly reintroduced exercise – gentle walks and relaxed paddle boarding. Now that I’m back I’m going to do less exercise than normal this week 
• Heat – unlike many others with MG, I find heat from a sauna, bath or weather works well for my body. Now that I’m back in an Autumnal Scotland, I plan to use the sauna every few days (as I had just before the photo above)

329/365 – Looking and feeling better for a rest

It’s amazing what three days off can do if you don’t really have anywhere to be or anything to worry about. This weekend of quality time for Elaine and I was well needed in the build up to crazy season. What I didn’t realise was how much I needed a break just for myself. A chance to sleep for more than 10 hours a night, have afternoon naps and take everything at an easy pace. 

Over the last few weeks, despite taking it pretty easy with the nights out and getting lots of exercise, my eyes have slowly getting affected again by the myasthenia. Thankfully I’ve not had bad double vision, but typically it looked at its worst on the day of my work Christmas night out. While I’m used to them acting up, it’s also a little frustrating when this happens when I want to feel and look good. 

That self awareness continued into this trip. But, as if by magic last night after a few drinks with my girl, my eye is suddenly better. The rest and the lack of stress clearly helped, and on this occasion a drop of whisky did too.

After a lot of fresh, cold, air, and possibly in the aftermath of last night’s drinks, I’m feeling exhausted today. As we walked through the airport, I had to drag my legs and use a trolley to put my weight on. But after a good sleep again tonight, I’ll feel ready and able for the last push to Christmas. I can’t thank Elaine enough for giving me that space and time to recover.