Hello all you lovely generous people! Thanks for visiting my little JustGiving page. 

Let me explain. My mission, is to try and raise as much money as I can for James Cook University Hospital Neurosciences department, which after falling very poorly I hold very dear to my heart.

I plan to Zip slide across the Tyne on the 1st of November starting from the Newcastle side 30 metres above the River where I will travel diagonally across the River Tyne for 230m before finishing at HMS Calliope on the Gateshead side. Originally, I was only doing the zip slide. However, the Great North Run came along and I decided to up my game and complete both challenges. The GNR is on the 13th of September which marks two years to the day I was discharged from James Cook after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Although I am ultimately doing these challenges to raise money personally, it will be a fantastic challenge.

I'm hoping most of you are nosey enough to read on! Please do! Have a read, a think, and then decide if you want to sponsor me. So let me tell you a bit about my story and the reason for my fundraising.

I had what is called a subarachnoid haemorrhage. This is an uncommon type of stroke caused by bleeding onto the brain. Half of all cases are fatal, and people who survive can be left with long-term problems. Mine was caused by a brain aneurysm which is a bulge in a blood vessel where there lies a weakness in the wall. Blood pushes the blood vessel and it balloons. Until it pops. I had no idea it was even there. Like a teeny tiny ticking time bomb.

After waking up one morning to my baby's cry I winced at the headache that was thumping. I stretched, yawned and my ear popped. Except it wasn't my ear.That was two years ago this month, the 8th of August 2013. I Passed out and the Ambulance was called.........nee naw, nee naw!

Once in hospital and the CT scan discovered my bleed I was monitored and kept sedated on pain relief. Bleeding onto the brain kills brain cells and can raise the pressure in the brain to dangerous levels. Unfortunately, the bleeding only paused for a little while and during the night my aneurysm started to re-bleed. 

Re-bleeding carries a high risk of permanent disability or death. The re-bleed formed a large blood clot (subdural haematoma) between my skull and brain. This puts enormous pressure on the brain and can lead to devastating brain damage. Because of the re-bleed surgery was needed as soon as possible to repair the offending blood vessel. No problem, just a little brain surgery!!

Because of the large blood clot on my brain, the only chance I had of survival was a decompressive crainiectomy. This is a neurosurgical procedure in which part of the skull is removed. Then the clot could be extracted and the vessel repaired, allowing the brain to swell without being restricted and squeezed against the skull reducing damage to the brain. The chance I was given of survival for this op was only 30%. My husband was called in to sign the consent forms for my emergency brain surgery with our baby who was only 3 months old when all this happened. Sucks right?

They shaved my head and set about drilling burr holes into my skull, then completed a kind of dot to dot with a special wee saw and  opened up my skull. About the size of my palm. The haematoma removed and microsurgery used to find the offending aneurysm and a tiny titanium clip was used to seal the vessel. I was sewn up, minus piece of skull, sporting a new wonky head (see pics below). Off I popped to intensive care in an induced coma for 10 days while the amazing staff watched my vital signs and everyone waited to see what would happen when I was taken off the ventilator.

Thanks to my neurosurgeon and his team, my life was saved. He made an awesome call that day. I did wake up. My left side which had been temporarily paralysed began to move. Over time the feeding tube came out, I learned to swallow, to sit, and then walk. Thanks to the neuro- rehabilitation staff I set off on my journey to physical recovery. Six months later the same surgeon replaced my missing piece of skull with a titanium plate. I went home only to return 2 weeks later when I suffered a seizure in the bath. I  now take anti-convulsants everyday to stop further seizures.

We take our brain for granted. It is the ultimate command centre. It controls and coordinates our bodies actions, reactions, our speech and allows us to think, feel, learn and store memories. 

So how do I say thank to the people who saved my life and took such phenonminal care of me? There were many specialists involved in my recovery. Such as, Neuro- rehabilitation specialists, Neuro-physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, neuropsychologists and not to mention the dedicated nurses who went above and beyond. These people who are "just doing their job" have no idea what they have done. A box of Roses just doesn't cut it. Thanks to their care, expertise, skill and dedication my folks still have a daughter, my brother a sister, my husband a wife and my son a mummy. 

This is where you come in and I ask for your help. My case is only one of many neurological conditions. Perhaps you know someone who has had a stroke, or maybe has Asperger's, ADD, Autism, Alzheimers, ADHD, a brain tumour, carpal tunnel, cerebral palsy, dementia, dyslexia, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, Huntingdon's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinsons,  a subarachnoid haemorrhage, Tourette's, maybe an aneurysm, or a head injury from an accident? 

If you do know anyone with the above illnesses or conditions you will know that they don't just disappear over time. They affect all ages. Some will get better and some will progressively get worse. This list is only a handful of the conditions neurosciences deal with.

I want to do the Great North Run and zip slide across the Tyne Bridge to raise money because I can! I'm lucky that my body still moves when I ask it to. I can laugh, talk and cuddle my son. To look and talk to me you would never know this happened. My injury is not visible and its easy for others to assume I'm fine now. This it what makes recovery so frustrating. .I am fiercely independent and I have battled my way through the last two years trying to prove this to myself. I have good and bad days. Coming to terms with my limitations has been difficult especially when it came to being a mum but I refuse to be beaten!  Brain cells don't grow back but new connections can be made and so I believe that the best is yet to come. In the meantime I am continuing my life creating memories without devastating consequences. My brain damage is minimal and I'm getting better. I'm so happy to say I'm doing great. I am alive and I am so grateful.

 I want to raise money for James Cook Neurosciences department and give something back to the wonderful staff that work so bloody hard to save, prolong and improve life and who make tough decisions everyday. They saved my brain, isn't that incredible? I hope whatever I raise will benefit this department in some way to help future patients with neurological conditions.

 Please with all my heart help me say thank you and in turn support patients who suffer from neurological conditions. All I can do for you is promise that I won't let you down. I will keep up my end of the bargain and complete the Great North Run and the zip slide. 

So, that's all folks! Thank you for taking the time to have a read. My hope is that my little story inspires you to be totally awesome, reflect on our NHS service and sponsor me. Go on.....pretty please?

Kerry xx

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