Raising funds for SRUK and Mesothiloma UK in thanks for the information and support given to my wife, Marg. Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Bald Support

May 1979 - was when I started my apprenticeship with a local engineering company. I joined the electrical instrument depart where, as was common for apprentices at the time, I became the butt of many practical jokes from the largely female work force. During this time friendships were made, one of which, un-be-known to us at the time, would become very special and life-long.

I left for pastures new at the end of my apprenticeship, but following redundancy in 1989 I rejoined my original employer on what was supposed to be a 2 week temporary contract, I eventually left 12 years latter. It was like coming home with friendships rekindled, in particular with Marg. A simple phrase "I Rekon" was the start of our lives together and despite undertones of "it will never last" we bought our forever home together and got married on the 14th December 1991 and we have enjoyed many happy years since.

Over the years we traveled a fair bit and saw the birth of four wonderful grand kids. Marg retired in December 2014 when Nigel our lovely Cockapoo joined the family. Unfortunately (and as you hear all too often following retirement,) Marg became Ill not long after. It took over two years and many doctor/hospital visits before a dermatologist recognised Marg's symptoms as being"scleroderma".

Scleroderma is a relatively rare condition that results in hard, thickened areas of skin and sometimes problems with internal organs and blood vessels. Scleroderma is caused by the immune system attacking the connective tissue under the skin and around internal organs and blood vessels and it can be life limiting. In Marg's case her arms and hands in particular were badly affected and I can only describe them as being like an over inflated and worn leather football.

As part of the specialist care received for the scleroderma Marg had regular CT scans. During one of these a growth was spotted in her chest. There was much head scratching from the medical teams following a biopsy result that indicated "Mesothelioma". Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by asbestos. It most commonly occurs in the linings of the lungs or the abdomen, in Marg's case it was a large single tumour sandwiched between the lungs, heart and vocal cord. This is a very rare representation of what is a relatively rare disease (hang on there's a pattern developing here, Marg has always been special, but this is taking the mick).

In December 2017 Marg was admitted to St Bart's in London for radical surgery to resect the tumour. Thanks to the skill of the surgical team this was successful. There is no medical evidence to support this, but Marg's scleroderma started to improve following the surgery. I am convinced that the two are linked and Marg's autoimmune response over reacted to the early development of the Mesothelioma and once it was removed the body started to corrected itself. However this is my postulation and it could equally have been the outcome of the specialist treatment received.

Life has been good since the surgery (if you ignore the pandemic) and in the interim period we welcomed our two great grandsons into the world and it's been a joy to see them growing into the little chaps they have become. We also celebrated our pearl anniversary, 30 years, who said it wouldn't last.

Unfortunately the mesothelioma has returned (as we knew it would at some point) and Marg has started a course of chemotherapy, with the possibility of immunotherapy to follow (if needed). We remain positive and aim to take each day as it comes and look forward to our diamond anniversary and beyond.....

The purpose of telling this story is three fold;

To thank Marg for our time together and to tell her (and the world) just how much I love her💝

To raise awareness of two relatively rare diseases and hopefully share some positivity.

To try and raise some much needed funds for Scleroderma UK and Mesothelioma UK.

Why have I written this?

Well there's not much I can do to make this go away, so partly to help me feel as though I am doing something positive and partly to support the ongoing research and positive work done by two related charities. To that end I intend to shave my head, beard and eye brows as a physical gesture of support for Marg, the charities and everyone else currently undergoing chemotherapy.

The big shave "BaldSupport" will take place on 12th April.

I/we would be really grateful if you were able to support this with a donation on our just giving page, "BaldSupportCS" https://www.justgiving.com/team/BaldSupportCS where you will have a choice of supporting one of the two charities. Ideally we would like donations to be equally split between Scleroderma UK and Mesothelioma UK, but ultimately that is your choice, every donation large or small will be much appreciated either way.

If you would like to know more about either Scleroderma or Mesothelioma please visit the sites below.

https://www.mesothelioma.uk.com/

https://www.sruk.co.uk/

Thanks for taking the time to read this and rest assured that any donation you may make as a result, is much appreciated and will be put to good use!

Stay healthy, stay safe and make the most of each day.

Thanks again, Chris

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