Hi, this is Melanie, Amy's team-mate.  I'd like to tell you Amy's story (for those of you who didn't get a chance to see it in the Metro, Pick-me-up Magazine or on Channel 5 news!)  and why we'd really like you to sponsor her. 

In 2004, Amy was a law student at Sussex University.  In April of that year she developed a dry itchy cough for which she was given antibiotics by her GP. Her cough became worse and she was given more antibiotics. In 3 months she lost over a stone but put it down to stress of study. No-one mentioned TB as a possibility, except her uncle, but she dismissed this since she'd had BCG.

From Sept-Dec 2004 at Uni she became more and more tired but didn't go to the doctor. She went home for Christmas and everyone noticed she'd lost a lot of weight. She went to her GP and was referred to hospital - by January night sweats had started. Her appointment took 6 weeks to come through because the first letter had got lost in the post. She had an x-ray then the hospital decided to do a bronchoscopy and sputum test.

Amy was finally diagnosed and put on treatment for TB in April 2005 – a full year after she first had a cough.  By this time she weighed 5 and half stone (previously she had weighed 8 stone).  One month after diagnosis an x-ray showed that one of Amy’s lungs had collapsed. She was hospitalised for 2 weeks and given physiotherapy to help with her lung. She continued treatment until January 2006 when she was given the all clear.

Over the next couple of months Amy saw red circles on her legs, her cough came back and became increasingly worse, she was being sick and felt very tired and was losing weight. She went to her GP and A&E a number of times and was evetnaully admitted as she had a lot of pus surrounding her lung. This was found to be a pneumonia related infection and that her TB had also re-occurred. This was put down to the fact that her lung had collapsed and the bacteria had not all been killed off.  Amy was put back on treatment and in April 2007 had an operation to remove her left lung.

Throughout this experience Amy had a lot to contend with.  She lost her hair at one point, and missed so much of her course and exam work that she is still trying to complete her first year while many of her friends are graduating. But throughout it all she has remained positive and just a month after her operation she signed up to do this 5k run in aid of TB Alert. 

Amy told us that when she was diagnosed with TB she was simply relieved to find out what it was - she had thought it was asthma. She didn't consider TB as she thought it was a Victorian disease, she'd had BCG and wasn't coughing up blood. She wouldn't have known what signs and symptoms to look out for.  Since her diagnosis Amy has been volunteering for TB Alert as a Patient Advocate – she wants to raise awareness of TB to make sure that other people don’t end up losing a lung like she did because they are diagnosed so late.  
   
So anyway now its been a few months since the operation to remove her lung and she is bouncing back in true Amy style - not only volunteering whenever she can for TB Alert but train (with the approval of her medical team!) for this, her first ever 5k.  I am in awe of this - its going to be a hard enough slog for me and I have two lungs and havent had any major surgery! 

So please, dig deep and sponsor us.  Not for me, but for the awesomely brilliant Amy.  

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: TB Alert will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor usnow!

Many thanks for your support.

PS- Hello everyone this is Me - Amy. Thanks you Melanie for editing my story! There is just one last thing i would like to add, and that is the reason why I am doing this. There is are many people in certain countries that don't get access to treatment or good healthcare for a variety of reasons. TB Alert fund various projects oversees which help to ensure that more people get CAN  get access to these life saving drugs enabling more lives to be saved . I am lucky enough to live in the UK where getting access to treatment isn't such a huge problem and good healthcare is far easier to access. If I had been born elsewhere my fate might have been very different.

Despite all my complications I still consider myself very lucky to have been treated by a great team of doctors both at Ealing Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital not to mention the lovely TB Nurses and numerous other support staff who have stuck by me over the past two and half years. By running the Hydroactive and raising lots of money for TB Alert so they can so continue to fund the excellent work they do,  this is my way of giving something back to those less fortunate than me,

Please, please, please dig as deep as you can and spare some money for those who desperately need it!!!!

Thank you all in advance!

Amy

;)

PPS- One last thing to remember- TB is a CURABLE disease. Yet 2 million people a year die from TB. It shouldn't be happening.

Please think about this..