Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
It's 11 years since I last ran a marathon, and since then I have gone to the other scale of fitness, following (around 10 years ago), a serious back injury that took a few years to fully recover from, and, 4 years ago, becoming pregnant with twins, and the ensuing chaos!
A large part of that chaos was due to one of our twins being born with kidney failure, diagnosed day 5 following a scan, which had been organised as our 20-week scan had shown a kidney-related anomaly.
He spent the following 24-hours critical in the Whittington, and the two days after that very seriously ill in Great Ormond Street Hospital, before he was stabilised. We owe these two hospitals more than can ever be expressed here. He is the loveliest, sunniest, happiest little chap, and everyone's world is a better one for having him in it. To think how close his story came to being a different one almost doesn't bear thinking about.
He went on to spend a month in Great Ormond Street Hospital, while his twin was at home, and received amazing specialist care on their renal ward. The care he's received since as a regular outpatient in his three years - through hundreds of blood tests and injections, a highly medicalised first year that included 12 months of debilitating chronic reflux, vats and vats of daily meds, and two operations - has been truly extraordinary, and to say we're indebted is an understatement. His journey there is ongoing; with a kidney transplant looming, Great Ormond Street Hospital and the care of its staff will be a large part of his and our lives in the time ahead. He's doing incredibly well at the moment, having all the same experiences as any other boisterous three-year-old, and this is due largely to Great Ormond Street Hospital, and their management of his condition.
That gives the background. As for the now...
My marathon journey is two-fold:
1) help raise money for a hospital that does more for kids that can be imagined. Every donation helps Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity to provide the best facilities and equipment, research and develop new treatments, and support their remarkable patients and their families. A parent hopes they will never have to go there with their child, but, when you're one of the parents that have to, knowing that your child is getting such top-level care for their condition makes a horrendous journey slightly less so. I've committed to raising a minimum of £2,000 so working towards at least hitting that target, and everything above will be an extra bonus, for a fantastic cause;
2) get back into fitness, in the hope that, when it comes to me being tested to be a kidney donor, I'm the healthiest I can be, both physically and mentally.
Next weekend I will complete three months of training, from jogging 2 miles, to running a half marathon. And from there begins 6 months of marathon training, which - having mapped out my plan - will see me cover almost 700 miles of running, hopefully shedding the pounds as the miles rack up!
Thanks for your support - to those of you donating here, and those of you who have been with us on our journey so far, and will be there on the road to come. xx
Follow my progress at:
https://www.facebook.com/ThisMumsOnTheRun
www.thismumsontherun.com
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.
