In November 2016, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This November marks 10 years of living with it.

Ten years of invisible symptoms, unexpected relapses, and figuring out what my body can and can't do — often without any warning. MS is sometimes called the snowflake disease because it affects everyone differently. My version includes fatigue, numbness and tingling, brain fog, and the occasional relapse that stops me in my tracks.

This October, I'm running The Dramathon — 42 kilometres — to mark that decade and to raise money for Shift.ms, a peer support community built by people with MS, for people with MS.

I've supported Shift.ms since my diagnosis. When MS was first mentioned as a possibility during 10 months of tests and appointments, their community was one of the first places I turned. Peer support — the simple knowledge that someone else has felt what you're feeling — is genuinely invaluable when you're dealing with something as unpredictable as MS.

I've run the Dramathon before, but this time the challenge is a bit different. I'm training around being a toddler mum, with all the disrupted sleep, packed weekends, and energy juggling that involves. Some training runs happen at 6am. Some don't happen at all. But I'll get to the start line. As motivation I'm throwing in 2 half-marathons - Hamburg in June and Strathclyde Country Park in September.

If you can spare anything, please donate. Every pound goes to supporting a community that helps newly diagnosed people feel a little less alone — just like it did for me.

Shift.ms is the social network for people with multiple sclerosis (MSers). We exist because a diagnosis of MS is life changing. It strikes when you’re in your prime.

Hearing from people like you helps you listen, adapt and take charge. MS doesn't mean giving up on your ambitions, just rethinking how to achieve them.

Our online peer support community provides a forum for conversations, a map of members that illustrates you are not alone, and stories and films that help MSers make sense of the world and the chaos a diagnosis can bring.