In October 2011, I was diagnosed out-of-the blue with a rare disease - Churg Strauss Syndrome - which is a form of vasculitis. This means that your blood vessels become inflamed and it can damage any of your major organs - in my case it was my lungs and nerves which caused asthma, lung shadow and severe footdrop so that I could hardly walk.

The disease is very difficult to diagnose as symptoms are different in individuals which means people can deteriorate a lot before getting medical help. I've been lucky and made a very good recovery, although I will always have some symptoms as it's a lifelong condition. Many people with this disease, including children, have a much worse time than I did, they suffer long-term damage to their heart, kidneys and other organs and have a poor quality of life.

Vasculitis Uk is an amazing charity run solely by volunteers who provide support and information to people with this disease - and their families. They have provided answers to my many questions -  as there is still so little known about the disease, a support network both online and in person, which both Andy and I have used and they fund vital research into all the types of vasculitis. They make  representations on behalf of  vasculitis sufferers to the Department of Health and lobby the Government.

They have adopted May as their awareness raising month.

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