Wednesday 15 December 2010

"SLEEP ,EAT,LOVE AND RUN"!!!!!!!!!!




Well Christmas is nearly here ,i am working nearly 50 hours a week and i am running as usual despite the freezing cold weather every morning as early as 4.30 some mornings before i leave for work !
Nothing stops me from running !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so tired yet i will still find the time ,running is my life and i know how important it is for me to keep doing this and how much it helps keep me fit for my challenges and also keeps me positive !
Positive mind ,healthy body !
I know this will prevent my tumour from growing .

"My blog has been published on a site for woman runners around the world ,this site is to inspire and support woman runners"

http://blog.women-running-together.com/?p=2878

"I`M AMAZING!! I`m a handful, i`m strong willed, independent ,a bit outspoken and i tell it like it is .I make mistakes, i am sometimes out of control and at times hard to handle . But if you can `t handle me at my worst then you sure as hell don`t deserve me at my best ".

Saturday 30 October 2010

I found out yesterday i missed out on 7 years of MRI scans due to the fact i changed address . I am amazed that this has happened ,i presumed my doctor would of noticed this and would have informed the hospital after all it is a brain tumour but obviously we have to except we are just a number but i am always a positive person at times like this and as i have no symptoms of headaches etc ,i am sure my tumour is the same size it was 7 years ago :)


Sunday 17 October 2010

This is my latest video raising awareness of RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA and my RP Support Group,all these people in the video have RP and are members of the group ,they are amazing people dealing with the fact they may one day lose all their sight .

I searched the internet for a support group for people with an eye disease Retinitis Pigmentos after meeting someone i knew with RP and could find very little help and support for them so i joined Facebook and set up my own support group for them and this has grown to to nearly 3,000 members ,people have joined not only from the UK but also America, Canada, Australia and countries all around the world .

I have received many messages from people with RP, doctors,opthalomogists ,and eye surgeons around the world thanking me for all i do to help them ,my group not only informs people with RP but also the experts because RP is so rare only people with this eye condition can inform us what is really like, for example they lose all their pheriphial vision and end up with a tunnel vision and find this very difficult and then they have to fight with the fact they will have to one day use a cane and the fear of the stigma related to using a cane becomes too much but having the group enables them to share their fears .

I make Retinitis Pigmentosa Awareness videos to raise awareness of RP and the Support Group .

To be told you may lose your sight is something most of us could never envisage but as we get older the statistics tell us blindness and deafness is on the increase .Retinitis Pigmentosa is a genetic and very complex eye condition .

I am doing all i can to help make their life easier by just being there for them and I look in on my group everyday and if i see a post and someone needs help i will do all i can to get them the answer they need .

I work full-time so i sometimes may fall asleep at the computer but it is all worth while just to see these people find new friendships and get all the support they need .

I probably know more about the pain my friends go through then any other sighted person on this planet ,i read posts that make me want to cry sometimes but i am fortunate to have enough empathy to be able to feel their pain and be able to help them :)

I made two versions of this video hope you enjoy them both :))

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Friday 24 th September 3 PEAKS CHALLENGE 2010 by the end of the challenge I had taken 70,000 steps and walked 22 miles ,Climbed 3 mountains with a combined height of 3407 metres ,travelled 475 miles ........................but the biggest success to come out of this very tough challenge was the fact my team of 6 raised £9,000 for the charity Sense:) Our journey begins leaving Glasgow airport and travelling to Ben Nevis
We arrive at Ben Nevis and here we are getting ready to climb our first mountain ! Our climb begins ..................... Nearly at the summit .................. Ben Nevis summit ,first mountain done up/ down in 5 hours and 45 minutes Below Ben Nevis Summit

Next mountain to climb Scafell Pike We begin our climb in the dark at 5.00 in the morning .................. Here is a video of us on our way to Scafell Pike ,it`s so dark you are unable to see anyone just hear my voice :)




After travelling through the night from Scotland to England we finally reach our next mountain with very little sleep ,in my case no sleep . Above we finally reach the Scafell Pike summit and climbed it in 4 hours up/down . It was also -12 degrees at the top of the mountain , ice on the rocks and boulders !


Next Snowden!


You can see the Snowden summit through the windscreen ...........................


Me on the top of Snowden extremely tired :) Only 9 of us out of 23 climbers managed to get up the top of the 3 mountains ,i managed to get to the finger point on top of Ben Nevis due to a lady in my group that was so lovely but kept on talking and had to stop due to tiredness which slowed us up and couldn`t have my pic at the summit but on the way down we rescued a family off the mountain who missed the Snowden train and were stranded whilst climbing down in the dark which more than made up for it .There was an eldery couple and a child ,they had no torches and it was dark so i was pleased that my ego and the same of our expedtion leader was smaller than that of the leader and the group in front who passed them by and left them for us to resue so they could get better times and bigger egos !

Even more annoying was the fact i could have had time to get to the summit by the time we rescued the family but it was a great joy to see the family we resued so happy to be safe and we gave them a lift in our mini bus :)


One of my favourite challenges because it was so tough and i want to do it all over again ,never thought i`d say that when i was doing it but it was an absolutely fantasic experience !!!

Thursday 2 September 2010

The Woman and Home magazine is now out

The Woman and Home magazine is now out .................... I feel very honoured to be inside this very posh glossy magazine , the story is all about me and 6 other women making time for what is im portan tin our lives i talk about my passion for running so i can keep fit and positive :)

Sunday 22 August 2010

Friday the 20th August

I had a phone message given to me today in work saying that my husband had phoned and was in the local hospital after a visit to the doctor`s .
He had lost the vision in his left eye and was just having it checked but it was to be the biggest shock in our lives he was sent to the hospital where they told him he was now blind in one eye and they couldn`t operate or do anything for him .
He has a heart condtion and it`s connected with that and his age .
His thoughts straight away were what if i were to lose the sight in the other eye .
I was ready for what would come next but it still upset me to hear it ,he said" if i had to go blind or deaf i would rather be deaf ,if i go blind i might as well jump off a cliff,i couldn`t bear it "
He wakes up every morning now wondering if he will be able to see when he opens his eyes .
Ironic ,fate ,call it what you may i have spent the last two years helping ,supporting people on the internet who have RP (Retinitis pigmentosa) an eye disease that results in blindness and have an unofficial degree in this disease and i am well equipped for what he needs if the latter should ever happen but like i said to him ,you have to live for today ,tomorrow is another day and always stay positive :)
I told him if i was to sit down and think what if my tumour grows i would be very depressed so i keep busy and don`t have time to think about me .
He has taken that option and is back at work busy and hopefully will focus on not thinking about the if`s and but`s but live for today and enjoy it !!
Next month i will be climbing the 3 highest mountains in the UK for people who are blind/deaf for the charity Sense .

I thought i had better throw in a couple of pics of the family ,my two sons and the husband of course :)

Monday 26 July 2010

Last week i was contacted by a journalist from the Woman and Home magazine via charitychallenge for some info about me and my challenges and my new adventure voluntary work in Africa next year .
She is writing a feature about 7 women over 30 something and what they have always wanted to do.

I am travelling to London on Thursday 29th July to have a photo shoot with 7 other women and feel very excited to be made over with make-up ,hair and new clothes,can`t wait!

I also hope the short story they write about me will inspire other people that are confronted with a life threatening condition or disease to try and keep positive:)


Saturday 17 July 2010

In July 2011 i will be flying to Ghana, i am very nervous and very excited about this new project. I have never done anything like this before ............ In Ghana i will be working with children in schools to help them speak the English language and play lots of games and have some fun!!!
Just a few days ago i searched facebook for the charitychallenge page and could see a comment from Sandra Lumbard ,somone i had met and became friends with when i cycled 400 kilometres in India .We had almost lost touch except for the odd email or two but i left a comment about what she had said on the charitychallenge page and added her as a friend . She could see when she excepted my friend request i had made plans to go to Africa next year and asked if she could come with me and now this time next year we will both be going to Ghana in Africa to do some voluntary work helping children in schools and orphanges to speak and write English.

Sandra is the one on the far left of the photo and i am the mad one in the red helmet with a pink scarf around my neck due to all the dust i had a very bad cough and had to keep wrapping the scarf around my mouth :(

Sunday 11 July 2010



Fundraising has gone really well considering i have been doing this for 11 years ,i`m amazed how each year i can still get the support!!

I have reached the £800 mark which is 80% from my target so feeling really pleased and hoping to get some help from a local pub next for the last £200:)



A big cheer to my bosses at Superdrug for allowing me to fundraise there ,without this it would of been alot harder for me to raise the money!

Pictured above is me and Mel ,my friend and colleague who will be taking part in the challenge with me :)


Below Mel and i having a bit of fun during a stocktake in work, Mel is the one you can hear in the background :)


I have just recovered from broken toe so training for the 3 Peaks has not been brilliant !
I did start running again just 2 and a half weeks after breaking my little toe but it seems fine now so will have to catch up on some long walks !
Mel and i are really looking forward to our challenge and the flight to Glasgow ,we will make the most of travelling up the day before and take a look around the big city:)
I`m looking forward to meeting the rest of the group, Molly and Jack`s dad`s will be wearing a mankini on the top of Ben Nevis for extra publicity ,can`t wait !!LOL!!! and i`m also looking forward to meeting up with the organisation Charitychallenge again!
My only real concern about this challenge is i get motion sickness and the journey from mountain to mountain is going to be tough for me without being sick :( so i will make sure i get some travel sickness tablets :)