FOREWORD

Due to Covid Chaos, we have had to alter our plans to redesign and enter this new fundraising page to 'justgiving', please rest assured though the people who have kindly supported and donated to my chosen charity, 'Rheumatoid Arthritis', I have your money and I will pass it on once I've completed my challenge. This is why the overall sum of money I have raised is now back to zero. There is also a chance that we may have to change the original date to take on this challenge until relevant governments allow.

I am still on track and training hard for this event, I'm both humbled and grateful to all the people supporting me.

There is no doubt that this is going to hurt....... a lot, !..... but this challenge has been on my bucket list for years, and I WILL complete it.

My cousin once said to me, “What do you mean you have Rheumatoid arthritis,! You do triathlons and stuff, !.... you‘re well fit, “!

Haha, always makes me smile that comment !

This just shows that this, and many other diseases can hit anyone at any time, ! And just because we (look) well, doesn't mean we are !!

One morning I woke up with flu like symptoms, in pain throughout every joint in my body, by the end of that day my knees, elbows, ankles, wrists, fingers and toes were so swollen and painful I felt sick, !

I've never been so frightened in my life, What was happening, ?, I couldn't walk or cut up my own food,

I spent 18 months like this while the specialists were trying different drugs to control it, I couldn't even hold a toothbrush,

Thankfully now 3 years on I have settled down with the help of the NHS, and my extremely expensive and very powerful drugs to control it,

The drugs will only slow the progression of the disease, I‘ll never be free of it, and I have regular flare ups of my joints, where by the drugs just stop working for a few days, and I have to just give in to it,

A few facts about autoimmune diseases;

It takes an average of three years and five doctors for a person to get a proper diagnosis of an autoimmune disease. It is a disease where instead of your white blood cells protecting your body from invaders, they turn around and attack your cells, tissues and organs. Chronic fatigue is another symptom. It is not a cold or the flu, you will never get better, and even a nap will not help. Just eating a salad and hitting the gym won’t slim your face or get the pounds off. Sleeping 10 hours doesn’t leave you well rested, ever. The last minute changes in plans because that “just got ran over” feeling never makes appointments, it just walks in whenever you aren’t ready. Painful joints, muscles and bones, dry skin, breaking hair, hair loss, mood swings, and depression are just the tip of the iceberg. You are also prone to having multiple autoimmune diseases, they typically come in pairs of two. You easily catch viral and bacterial infections. You have days where no matter how hard you try, you just can’t smile for anyone,