Yet another sponsored run

Hello...long time no blog...

As you may know I run the Race for Life every year for Cancer Research UK. In addition to my usual 5k for Cancer, last year I ran 5k in September at the HydroActive Women's Challenge for Action for ME, the national charity for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

This year I'm stepping it up...I am entered (and have received my orange & purple running vest - lovely) for the British 10k, a run through the streets of London. I am, again running for Action for ME because ME is a hugely misunderstood disease. No one knows this more than people with M.E., like myself.

I have just had to explain it to my boss in the light of me having a possible relapse. I ran just over 2 weeks ago and have been having a low period ever since. Hopefully this won't last too much longer, because I really do need to do more training!! More on that later...

Anyway, any generous readers out there can visit my sponsorship page: www.justgiving.com/runforme

Thank you xx xx xx

ME and me

with MS, it is better to concentrate on what you are able to achieve with
relative ease and leave to others those things that will only make matters worse

Shirl

I have put the quote from Shirl above because, although its about MS, it is also very applicable to ME.

Probably most of you know that I have ME. Probably most of you don't know what ME actually is. Please forgive me if I seem to be patronising, but nine times out of ten people think that ME is "just being tired".

When you're ill t's like having the worst flu of your life. Every single cell of your body (no joke) feels like its on fire. If you stand up you're dizzy. If you lie down you feel sick. Your body aches with fatigue, your brain is made of cotton wool. If you can get to sleep you're lucky - and if you do you won't feel any better for it. There is only one thing to do, and that's wait for it to pass.

I am one of the lucky ones. I can study full time, I can work full time (ish), I have an active and (possibly too) busy social life. I have friends and relations who look after me, and almost understand what's going on when I say "sorry, I can't come out, I'm too tired". Because being too tired on a normal day means being dizzy and feeling sick. Being too tired on a bad day means retreating to bed and trying not to think. I often have "brain fog" - not being able to string a sentence together, or getting halfway through a sentence and having to leave it because I can't remember what I was saying. This makes me come across as very stupid, which is incredibly frustrating.

You may be wondering why I'm telling you all this. In September I am running 5k for Action for ME, the national ME charity. I would dearly like to raise a lot of money for this wonderful charity who make life worth living for people who are severly affected by ME. This is another cheeky request for sponsorship. You can sponsor me here:



I will be incredibly grateful for the smallest amount to help me reach my target.

Thank you xx

But you don't look sick...

I found this fantastic website: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/

I think that Shirl in particular will appreciate it, but it really rang home with me. Especially since at the moment I am considering (actually I've made up my mind, pretty much) moving home, because it's just getting too much. I don't think my house mate (lovely as they are) really get that its making me ill because (you guessed it), I don't LOOK ill.

Anyway, I thought it was a website worth sharing!
xxx

Uh oh...

...the ineveitable has happened. My throat seems to have spontaneously filled itself up with razor blades. This is an annual (and sometimes, if I've been really good, aroung 5 times-annual (quintannual?)) occasion, where my body says "Yay! Germs!!" and I get ill. My asthma is playing silly buggers and my glands are making me look like an obese chipmunk.
The thing with ME is that your immune system is, not broken as such, more just really really welcoming. It positively invites all sorts of germs to come and habitate your body, to breed, to settle down, and to be happy. The thing about my ME is that it started with undiagnosed glandular fever, and so any sort of throat thing is welcomed back into the fold, like a long lost friend.
One of my housemates has been ill for a few days, and I have been studiously avoiding him, in an attempt to not catch it. Obviously, I've not helped myself by working "extremely hard" (heh) in the library most nights this week, but needs must.
On I must battle with the essay plan, but today, from the comfort of my own bed with a mug of hot lemon and honey...
wrap up warm!