My husband burst through the door beaming as if he’d just won the lottery! He had been offered a job in Dubai, an offer he couldn’t refuse, he was almost packing his bag as he told me the news!
But it wasn’t that simple….our daughter had two years left at school before going to University,and it wouldn’t have been fair to uproot her at such an important time in her schooling.
So we made one of the biggest decisions of our lives! My husband packed his bag and flew off to Dubai, while I stayed at home till my daughter left home to go to University. It was only going to be two years and I could see myself flying out to join him when the two years were up, it was going to be amazing….but it didn’t happen!
A month after he left I was diagnosed with a chronic medical condition which meant endless trips to my GP, hospitals, pain clinic and pumping my body full of drugs. It is a painful and debilitating condition and in the end, it cost me my job two years after my husband went to Dubai.
It sounds like perfect timing but because I had a pre-existing condition I can’t get private medical insurance in Dubai and we couldn’t afford the doctors, the hospital visits and the medication. So I stayed at home. Seven years on and I’m still having a long distance relationship with my husband!
It’s not all doom and gloom, because I could no longer work for a company I set up my own business which I could fit around my condition. I have since set up another two businesses. In addition, I am a trustee for a local charity, a trustee for a local community development trust, I run a women’s networking event and I’m a co-author of an international bestseller.
If that decision hadn’t been made I would now be living in Dubai but I wouldn’t have achieved all of the amazing things I have. It certainly changed my life.