Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

A little about myself. My name is Lucy, I am a mother of two young boys, Oscar 7 and Charles 4. My husband is in the Royal Navy of which we are incredibly proud. I was in the Royal Navy myself for nearly 7 years as a warfare specialist. After changing my career because of the children I decided to go in to beauty. I now own a Salon in Plympton named Purity, specialising in exclusive, branded, award winning treatments.

2 and a half years ago I was a normal healthy 25 year old, then one day I woke up and couldn't move. I went to the doctors who treated me for sciatica, needles to say I never got better. I was in and out of hospital with severe migraines, nerve ending pains, muscle spasms, loss of sensation, light sensitivity, the list could go on. I was treated for meningitis a few times. The doctors began to suspect I had MS which is when they first sent me for an MRI. The MRI in fact showed I had Chiairi malformation type 1. This means my skull is too small for my brain so my brain has nowhere else to go but push down on my spinal cord causing these severe pressure headaches everyday and blocking my CFS Fluid so my nerve endings do not receive the correct flow. Even after being diagnosed with this I had another 12 months of doctors and neurologists telling me I was depressed, that the signs and symptoms would go away, that I must find it incredibly hard with two children and my husband away was incredibly frustrating. One day I just dropped at work I couldn't move. The pain was more than I could explain. My GP bypassed the neurologists and sent me straight up to a neurosurgeon who confirmed I had pressure in my eyes from the pressure in my brain and I needed brain surgery within in two weeks. However, I didn't last two weeks, I was back in hospital within two days for surgery. It was such a shock from being told I was depressed to 'you're having brain surgery to improve you're symptoms.' Unfortunately I am still suffering with health complications after surgery for which I am still under care and waiting to see another specialist who may have to operate again.

This Charity has helped me in such a big way that I just want to give something back and raise awareness for the condition. It is such a rare condition, there are only fourteen surgeons in the country who specialise in it. As you can imagine the waiting list is immense. This charity has helped me transfer my care to a more experienced surgeon, they have talked to me and understand everything I am going through. They have listened to me cry, given advice on how to deal with my children when they get sad because mummy's poorly again. I honestly do not know how I would have coped without their ongoing support and education about the condition.

As Purity has recently been awarded a five star rating with the good salon guide I have decided to give the salon a gorgeous new refurb and throw a re-launch party. I have decided to use this happy event as a way to raise awareness for chairi malformation and the brilliant charity that has helped me and my family through a very difficult couple of years.

100% of all donated money on this page will go to the Ann Conroy trust and any money raised on the day will be added here.

Thank you in advance.

Thank you for reading my story.

Let's help spread awareness on Chiari!

Lucy & all the girls at Purity xxx

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