Long ago, in 1972, I took a year off from my new plasterer job to enjoy working with my brother at Berkshire County Council on a road team that promised hard work and the biggest bonus. The call to £££ was stronger than my call to start a small business at the time.
The work was hard but fun and the builder was good, I was laying fourteen inches by eighteen-inch concrete pipes, making curbs, bracing, digging holes by hand, all the good stuff, and a lot of banners all day.
On one job, we set up Hollow Lane in Shinfield, Berks, and I was tasked with Head Set-Layer (Granite Blocks laid at a 60% angle as a curb). We'll call it "fresh" air, but since I like to work hard, I'll wear a shirt to avoid overheating. Of course, the old boy will tell me "You will get cold sores and you will be disappointed" but like all 20-somethings, I did not pay attention to anything ... OOPS!
I came home one night and my wife was having dinner and I was sitting on the couch and I went to get up - but I couldn't - I asked the missus to take my hand to get me out of the chair and she just stood there. . he chuckled, and thinking I was confused, and rather assured me that I was not.
That's where the story begins. A week of unpaid work, and slowly return as I slowly ease back to work. After a month or so, I went off the board and started watering multiple years, because it seemed like a more "sensible" option.
I started doing more site work and it was really good for me physically and financially. I got some extra plaster and workmen and started working like it's going out of style - After that! - Yes, I'm struck again by the old threat - I'm wrong.
I went to the doctor and he said I needed rest, but he gave me Rhumox 'Super Capsules'. This is amazing! He told me that my back was made of "Sorbo rubber" and that the pain had just melted away and I could start working again. I had been taking these capsules for several months. when my prescription suddenly stopped and my doctor said they were being withdrawn due to neurological side effects.
Now, as "lucky" as I was to have them, after I stopped taking them, my back was fine, so maybe it was a habit rather than a necessity because they made my back feel better. Anyway, it's "business as usual" - get as much work done in a day as possible because work accumulates and needs to be done every day.
In the mid-eighties, I had to go out regularly because the old bad reared its ugly head. Every time I downgrade my work, it's just "personal" work that can be delayed for a few days without a "hard" reason - extensions, improvements, etc. until I had to do it, it looked worse than the previous episode. he is angry with all concerned.
Come December 1987, I thought I had a stroke, maybe a brain tumor or something, even though I had been very HIT. I was working on a job at Shiplake House, Shiplake, Oxon, and I couldn't get the damn thing back, but I lost all coordination and was partially paralyzed on one side of my head. I immediately went to the doctor who contacted a neuro consultant who asked me to do complex tests, lumbar puncture, brain scan, full body examination, blood test, etc. asked to do - Not a happy occasion.
In February 1988, I heard the results - Multiple Sclerosis was diagnosed and the consultant said, that a full post-mortem examination had shown irreparable damage to the lower spine and nerve damage had started there. I was surprised and didn't work for a while, but since, we can't live with a little benefit from the sun, I slowly went back to work. The interest rate on our mortgage is up to 18% and if you're self-employed it's nothing. This is why I have to go back to work without complaining.
I returned to work at the end of 1988, and at first, it was very smooth, but I felt a little sorry and soon pushed the limits to make as much money as possible. This is a no-win situation because the more money I make, the more I have to keep working because of the spasms my MS is causing. I once worked for two months and was hospitalized for five days when I returned to "super-spasm" - I thought I was going to die, the pain got to me!! I had never screamed before in my life.
After I got out of the hospital and went back to gentle work, I would work for a week, work for a few days,, and have a few more days off, and it lasted until April 9, 2007 ( Yes! I remember that date ) old MS.
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