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I am writing to you all to let you know about a personal challenge I hope to pull off by Christmas in aid of The Migraine Trust.

Many of you will know that I suffered a ‘Silent Migraine’ over 2 years ago. Little is known about them and most people that have one of these out of the blue, like I did, believe they are having a stroke. It was completely terrifying. What you may not know is the after affects I have been suffering with ever since. The best way I can describe it is this...if feels like my body is constantly reliving the event giving me strange bodily sensations, tingling etc, on a daily basis. No one truly understands what is happening, including me, and I have been passed between doctors and given diagnoses from migraine, to seizures, to anxiety (doh! I thought I was dying on the kitchen floor) to trapped nerves and most recently a neurological disorder - DND. It is getting easier to live with though and I hope that I, outwardly anyway, seem like I’m coping with everyday life!!! 

So rather than feel sorry for myself, I have decided to do something positive to raise money and awareness in the hope that future migraine sufferers will get better diagnosis, understanding and support. I also hope to lose some of the weight the migraine medication has caused me to gain (if anyone else asks if I’m pregnant...NO I AM NOT!!!). 

I have always loved swimming and the water has been a place in which I have felt ‘normal’ over the last 2 years. So I plan to ‘Swim The Channel’, well the distance anyway, it’s 24 miles (1,545 lengths) over 12 weeks, mostly in Charterhouse pool. If I can do it quicker I will, but as it currently stands I will start on the 6th September with a finish date of December 12th. Please do join me for a few lengths if you can.

Thank you in advance for your support. I’ll send out details of fundraising pages etc in a few weeks, after I have ascertained that I am fully capable of the challenge...!!!

Wish me luck...

With love,

Ronata xxx