Last year my sister was supposed to take part in the Great London Swim - a 1 mile swim in the Thames estuary and a challenge that she had already completed twice since having her bowel removed (I think this was her proving to herself and everyone else that having a stoma would not stop her from achieving such things). She was unable to take part in the 2013 swim as she was stuck in the Intestinal Failure Unit at St. Mark's hospital for 13 weeks, and had a Hickman line which is a massive no-no for swimming, let alone in the sewerage infested Thames! At the time she asked if anyone wanted to take her place - I can't do it this year but why don't we do it together next year was my reply, obviously without engaging my brain as I had not been swimming properly since primary school, a mere 20 years ago! I went down and joined the local pool and I started to swim, only a few widths at first, stopping at the end of each width as I was so unfit. Over the months I gradually built it up and eventually moved myself up to swim lengths. I swim twice a week if I can and now 1 mile non-stop is a standard night for me (64 lengths), I try to get up to 80 as this should prepare me for the current and waves that I will experience when swimming in open water, and my personal best is 100 lengths which is 2.5km non-stop.

I wish there was a happy ending to the story, but unfortunately my sister is still having regular ‘mini breaks’ at St. Mark’s as she is prone to infections in her Hickman line and has a suspected ‘naughty pouch’. As she still has the line she is once again unable to do the Great London Swim – but I definitely will be! We decided that I would do the swim to raise money for St. Mark's Hospital Foundation so that they can continue all of the brilliant work and research to help people like my sister. Their aim is to eradicate all types of bowel disease, meaning in the future people won’t have to watch their sister suffer the way I have – every stroke will be worth it if I can help them get closer to this goal. The swim is on 30th August at Millwall Docks so do come along and show your support if you can - I'll be the one in the red St. Mark's vest and white crocs (which my sister despises!).

I have written an article about the reality of having a sister who has Ulcerative Colitis which is on the St. Mark's Foundation website: http://www.stmarksfoundation.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=160&cntnt01origid=57&cntnt01detailtemplate=sample&cntnt01returnid=77