Rude boys

Talk about rude health. I'm probably feeling better than I have for years. I'm firmly into remission with little sign of MS. The hamsters have settled down nicely. I'm 7 months without any baccy, wacky or not. I haven't got diabetes. A raised cholesterol level in a recent blood test has sent me running to the soya milk and benecol department. I've given up cheese (which is more difficult than anything I've done thus far for my health). I'm a slave to five a day and oily fish. The receptionist at the gym even recognises me.

In fact, so good am I looking that friends have started to comment....you're looking well...This of course is only said by female friends. Male friends are very different. In fact when a diagnosis of illness comes about the difference between men and women becomes stark. Female friends want to know all about it...what were the symptoms?, what did the doctor say?, how do you feel?, how are the injections?...

The conversation with male friends is markedly different:

I've got MS.

Oh. Did you see the football last night?

Occasionally it reaches such emotional levels as
Oh dear. That's bad news. Did you see the football last night?

Male friends that have no interest in football (I know a couple, weird I know) will steer the conversation on to how much they hate football. It's not that they don't care, but men don't like to talk illness. Men don't like to talk health. We just like to talk rude.