My name is Phil Thornton and I live in Kelso which is a delightful small town in the Scottish Borders. I am not Scottish but a "Geordie" from Newcastle upon Tyne. I retired to this part of the country when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1986. Before that I was a Picture Editor with BBC Television News for 25 years living at various times, in London, Hertfordshire (Cheshunt) and Surrey (Ashtead).

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1986 after a horrendous two years being passed from Consultant to Consultant until I thought I was losing my mind. In fact the diagnosis came as something of a relief because I now knew what was wrong with me and could plan my future life accordingly.

After my diagnosis the BBC decided that I would be unable to carry on my duties as a Picture Editor which was highly stressful and required trips abroad, usually to war zones or other places of high risk. I was, at that time 46 years of age and the thought of retiring at such an early age filled me with dread. How would I be able to support my wife?

In the event the BBC was quite generous in their retirement terms which removed some of the worry but, of course, I still had the problem of how I was going to fill my time. I had been fairly active before my diagnosis and although I couldn't do many of the things I could before the diagnosis I was determined that my life had not come to an end!

My first venture was to take an Open University Course. I had always been interested in Geology and so I embarked on an Earth Sciences Course. Because of my past studies and qualifications I was awarded credits towards my degree which meant I could start studying half way up the scale. I passed the Foundation Course with credits and then went on to study "How The Earth Works" and "Astronomy and Planetary Science". The first I passed but unfortunately 1 week before the exam for the second I had a heart attack and was not allowed to take the exam. This, in effect, was the end of my Open University Studies. I was awarded a certificate  in Natural Sciences but this was well short of the degree that I had set out to win.

My OU studies did have a very positive outcome however. My wife who had started studying with the OU around the time I was undergoing the medical tests which resulted in my diagnosis of Multiple Scleriosis, had been forced to give up because of the pressures of her work and my illness. She accompanied me on my Foundation Course at Stirling University as my carer  and during the spare time she had while I was attending classes she again found an interest in continuing her studies. She enrolled with the OU again and went on to gain an honours degree in Social Sciences.

After this success she went on to begin another part-time career as a writer of illustrated articles and short stories. This. of course, enabled me to continue with my hobby of photography as I was available to take the photographs for her articles. Despite her success with the articles she decided to concentrate on her short story markets and so my photography became rather redundant.

It was around this time that I took up my second love, music. I have always been interested in music and was taught the piano up until the age of sixteen when I successfully passed the Grade Seven examination of the Royal Schools of Music.

During most of my married life I had allowed my interest in playing music to dwindle, mainly because of lack of space for a piano. However, during the eighties, my health was deteriorating and I had a lot of time on my hands whilst I was undergoing various medical tests. In order to maintain my sanity I felt that I had to have something to occupy the long periods waiting for the results of these tests.

It was around this time that I bought my first electronic organ. A Yamaha C 55 with a real rotating Leslie speaker. I found that despite my previous piano training which stood me in good stead I did have to rethink my style of playing. Nevertheless with much hard work I was eventually able to knock out a few tunes at the keyboard.

I progressed through quite a few electronic organs, mainly Yamaha, until after moving house and downsizing I found I couldn't get the organ into the house. This meant a complete re-think of what I was going to do about my music. The obvious conclusion was to trade in the electric organ for one of the new electronic keyboards which were appearing on the market. My first purchase was a Yamaha PSR 730 which I found to be a superb musical instrument. By diligent practising I became quite proficient and was invited to play at our local Social Club for the  Millennium celebrations. I must have been doing something right because they have invited me back on many occasions.

My latest acquisition, and probably my last, is the Yamaha Tyros Keyboard. What can I say that hasn't already been said. This keyboard (or work station) is the ultimate as far as I'm concerned (although there is now a Tyros II  on the market). It does everything I want and more once I become proficient in all its intricacies.

I am now occupied arranging, recording and playing music with the Tyros Keyboard connected to my computer and using the Cakewalk Sonar Software. It certainly keeps me off the streets!!!

My latest health problem has been a detached retina of my left eye. I was very worried that I would become blind in that eye and not be able to carry on with my hobbies. However, after a few days in the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion the retina was put back into place. Although the vision in my left eye is not good (I can only see shapes and colours, at the moment) I can still see the music on my keyboard and can still operate my computer, so that is something to be thankful for.

My purpose in writing this rather long description of my activities since diagnosis is to try and encourage those people who have just been diagnosed.

I'm not suggesting that it is easy. It is not. It takes a lot of real determination to achieve what you want to get out of life. If I have encouraged only one person out there to say "I'm not going to give in" then I will be happy. What you make of the rest of your life is entirely up to you. You can give in or you can say "I'm not going to let this thing defeat me and I'm going to enjoy the rest of my life".

Good Luck