I'm running the Big Half marathon in September 2022 in memory of my mum. All money raised will be going to the British Lung Foundation to aid research in pulmonary fibrosis. We watched her succumb to an illness that was unrelenting. My mum wanted to raise awareness and wrote this in February 2021. Sadly she passed away a few months later in July.

My Pulmonary fibrosis story so far, by Sumita Banerjee February 2021

"It was the best phase of our life when in 2016 when we went to India for a family wedding and my husband’s Medical College Golden anniversary meet in Ranchi.  We met all our friends and relatives and went to Kathmandu for Pashupati Nath darshan and up the mountains in Pokhra to see the Himalayan sunrise.

Then in March 2017 the day before we were flying out for a holiday to Athens and Santorini, I had a severe pain in my wrist, hand and legs and after a quick visit to Accident and Emergency department went off for the holiday.  It was excessively painful but I was determined to make the most of the holiday.  On our return I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and given the most common drug Methotraxate.  However within 2 weeks I started having breathing problems and my husband Dr Banerjee thought it might be a reaction to Methotraxate.  My consultant did not agree but a HRCT confirmed the worst, it has given me Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF).  PF is a non reversible life limiting disease which has 200 different forms and mine is drug induced.  

Pulmonary fibrosis is the scarring of the lung tissues.  It is also called interstitial lung disease. The air sacs and tissues in the lungs swell, scars form, and the tissues become thick and stiff. This affects how much oxygen one gets and makes it hard to breathe.  Once lung scarring occurs it cannot be reversed, so there is no cure for existing fibrosis, whatever the cause.

Steroids or other immunosuppressant drugs are used to suppress inflammation in the lungs which have their own side effects including weight gain and puffy cheeks.

For a very few people, having a lung transplant might be an option if the pulmonary fibrosis progresses and isn’t stabilised by treatment. Transplants are rare - just 214 lung transplants were carried out in England in 2017-18. And not all of these were for people with pulmonary fibrosis.

Google says life expectancy is 3 to 5 years but it varies from person to person from a couple of months to double digit years.  I have had it for almost 4 years now and currently have to rely on oxygen support.  I am strong and positive and will persevere on and make new and lovely memories as much as possible.  We have lived every day of these past years making wonderful memories together and even squeezed in a very difficult journey to India in 2019 for a very close family wedding and I am so glad of it as it not only gave me a chance to see my close relatives but also to meet my sister Mamun and my two sisters in law, unfortunately all three of them are no more with us.  Although my breath is limited, my strength is immense and I wish to reach out to all my friends and family and to everyone around me to lead a happy life and make the most of my time at hand 🥰

I am ever so grateful to God to be blessed with a wonderful husband who has given up his job since last year to look after me and a lovely daughter and the two of them are my greatest strength.

I have decided now to raise awareness about Pulmonary Fibrosis as many doctors and nurses are not aware of it and it is often mistaken for COPD or asthma and the real diagnosis is never achieved for those patients.  I shall take you all on this awareness journey with me and would like to reach out to as many people as possible and hopefully one day a cure will be found and PF patients shall breathe easy."

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My mum showed great resilience and bravery whilst facing her illness. Hopefully one day there will be better treatment, or a cure for pulmonary fibrosis so others do not suffer in the way that my mum did. 

This is the first time I have done any sort of long distance run (ever!)  so I will be grateful for any donations, moral support and running buddies!

Due to getting covid (after 2 years if avoiding it) and a chunky 6 weeks of being unable to train in the run up to April I’m now doing the Big Half in September!

Shikha xoxo