Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to check out this page. On the 8th July this year I will be running the 5km Colour Run in London. I will be doing this to raise money to support a family member; Megan Toni Hunter, with some of her medical bills which are not fully covered by her medical and gap insurance.

So if you can please support me by sponsoring me to do the event itself and/or for £££ for the number of kilos lost from Monday 14 May until the end of the race.

Megan Toni Hunter is a lady of amazing positivity in the face of sometimes what appear to be insurmountable odds. Diagnosed with a condition called Myasthenia Gravis , Megan herself is best placed to share her life story so far. She wrote an article at the end of 2017 which she has allowed me to share with you......

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My journey with Myasthenia Gravis

Growing up I was a healthy, happy child. I never had any of the usual childhood ailments – mumps, chicken pox, measles etc just didn’t come, & in fact I never even had the flu.

At the end of 2003 when I was 15, I felt my cheeks becoming “numb” & put it down to extreme exhaustion & stress of exams & an upcoming move. Over the next 2 months things got progressively worse very quickly, & soon I was battling to speak, swallow, lift up my arms; & walk any distance. I had no energy & slept majority of the day. My mum took me to our local GP who initially said he thought it was an eating disorder, & then Globus Hystericus – another psychological condition. I was referred to an amazing psychologist who saw that this was something more, & was so patient with me as I slurred my way through our sessions. I would often hear my mum crying on the phone at night time to our relatives saying that she didn’t know what was wrong, & she didn’t know how to help me. I didn’t understand what was happening to my body & started withdrawing more & more as time went by.

At the beginning of 2004 we managed to get in with one of the top neurologists in South Africa. She performed a few muscles strength tests & got the history of the past few months. Within 15 minutes she gave us her diagnosis – Myasthenia Gravis. Myasthenia Gravis is a neuromuscular autoimmune disease where the message between my nerves & muscles gets blocked (by my own body) – so pretty much my body attacks itself, & even if I want to perform certain movements/tasks; my body wouldn’t allow it.

I was admitted into hospital immediately & sent for countless blood tests, an MRI, CT scan & so many other tests that my head was spinning! At this stage I was only managing a quarter of a jar of babyfood a day as I simply couldn’t swallow; so in order for them to give me my medicine they had to crush it in 5ml of water & syringe this into my mouth – this took over 3 hours to get the full dosage in. When I cannot swallow, it doesn’t matter if it is my saliva, a cooldrink or food – nothing will go down. I felt a huge difference & for the first time in over 3 months I managed to get some food down.

I was put onto immune suppressants immediately, along with cortisone & Mestinon. In the March of 2004 they performed a Thymectomy – with this they have to cut through my sternum & remove my Thymus gland. This should atrophy with age, but mine had grown little “arms” & spread out across my chest cavity (which is common with Myasthenics). This has been proven to cure some people with MG, but unfortunately 2 days after being released from hospital, I was admitted back into High Care for observation with muscles weakness.

Since then I have undergone countless treatments – from different immune suppressants, chemotherapy, cortisone, polygam & plasmapheresis (a process whereby a CVP line is inserted into my heart, & my blood is spun through a “washing machine” where the red & white blood cells are separated & my sick white blood cells are replaced with donor plasma).

In 2011 I ended up with septacemia after the surgeons nicked my bowel during removal of ovarian cysts. I was very sick & had an abscess covering almost half of my upper body. Due to my lowered immunity & muscle weakness, I developed pneumonia & started drowning within myself - I flatlined a couple of times & had to be placed on a ventilator & in a medically induced coma whilst my body recovered & I could strengthen. It was terrifying. I woke up with tubes down my throat, unable to speak & having no idea what had happened. Luckily I had an amazing medical team who worked tirelessly to get me healthy & strong again.

I was in a form of remission for 2 years – my MG was under control on the medication that I was taking & I was able to live a normal life. I went to gym, got married & could make the most of everything that came my way. It was wonderful!

We then decided that we wanted to try for children, so I was taken off some of the medicine (this can cause major birth defects & was not a risk that we were willing to take) & went for all the check-ups etc. Due to my years of medication, my reproductive system had been badly affected & we were told IVF was our only option. I worked on getting healthy & strong for over a year, going for acupuncture & taking all my necessary vitamins & we then went for our first IVF.

We were told we didn’t have time on our side as my body is not strong, & my hormones are all very low, along with very few eggs. This was a scary thought, but we didn’t want to give up. We were so excited when we found out that our first run with IVF had worked! Our hearts were full & we were excited for the future.

Unfortunately, we lost the baby at 10 weeks. Once I had recovered from this & got a bit stronger, we tried another round but this time we weren’t so lucky. Funnily enough, the extra hormones seem to keep my MG under control & I felt super strong & happy during this