Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity. Taking part in the London Marathon! Well I don't
look like the usual athlete, and certainly wasn’t fit enough to do this until I
started training and changing how and what I eat. So why do it? Because I am
now able to. Last year’s illness has made me determined to do all those things
I've put off doing, and to set new challenges and dreams.  I chose 'Bowel and Cancer Research' because it
covers bowel illness, diseases and cancer. As many know my mum and her sister
had bowel cancer and both died young. In my early 20s I started having bowel
investigations as my bowel wouldn't work properly and I was beginning to have
difficulty with bowel control, and I was diagnosed with Colitis. I began having
regular colonoscopies and one showed, when I was 30 that a growth was beginning
to change in my rectum. It was caught early. 



I found over the next 25 years that my bowel still
had problems working, and I lost confidence in travelling or spending much time
outside unless I knew where the nearest toilet was. I had surgery to correct
this, and various tablets and gadgets now give me better control than I'd had
before. It is still not perfect.



At 54, I was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis
which is inflammation in the spinal fluid, a neurological condition which has
reduced feeling down the right side of my body. At this point, I decided I
needed to get myself fit and health and encouraged by my daughters to start
exercising and running. I worked with a great personal trainer, whose approach
is ‘never say you can't’. I've found I enjoy weight and circuit training. I
also lost weight and inches. Now I don't get out of breath running upstairs or
chasing my grandson round the garden!  When
I began running in December 2013 I could only manage a couple of minutes
without getting tired and out of breath, but in March 2014, I'd run my first
1/2 marathon, I was hooked.


In April 2014, I had bowel surgery to repair an internal
prolapse that causes me pain and leakage and I'd hoped this would be my final surgery.
Due to scar tissue and previous surgeries, this operation didn't go as planned,
I had three operations within 10 days. I had developed a bowel leak and Sepsis.
There was an awful week or two, when things weren't good and we didn't expect
me to come home. This was devastating, confusing and isolating.  However, we were told the fitness and
strength I had gained probably helped me recover. It has taken me 12 months to
get myself to a good place of fitness and ability to run again, and it hasn't
been easy and I’ve had two small operations. Running has been the hardest to
keep motivated at and I've pushed myself and entered races to keep going,
including two half marathons this year.



The London marathon has been a dream that I've
wanted to do. My Consultant, Family, Physiotherapist, Personal Trainer and running club
have all encouraged me to keep going and have helped in getting me to this
point. To run for 26.2 miles is something that I thought impossible and, yes,
I'll need the toilet at certain times, but I've set myself a challenge and will
complete it and I’m looking forward, and proud to be raising money for this
charity.  I hope you'll donate towards
this.  It's one that is important to
people like me.