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My name is Emma and throughout the week of Monday 26th March - Sunday 1st April, I am going to complete a week in the life of my cousin Laura who suffers from two different forms of Eosinophilic Disorders or EGID. 

Laura is 16 years old and currently taking her GCSE’s, however she is not taking her GCSE’s like any other child at a secondary school in an examination room with many other children. This is not possible for Laura as she is too ill to go to school everyday like any other child and has to be home tutored. She is currently on 13 different medications and has a gastrostomy tube inserted directly into her stomach to administer a feed that gives her all the nutrients and calories she needs. This is because the list of foods she is actually allowed to eat is very short and no where near enough to provide essential nutrients or calories she needs to live. Laura also has a tens machine and morphine patches for pain relief. She attends Gt Ormond St Hospital as well as her local hospital where she has had many long stays over many years. 

So what am I doing to help? Well during the week of 26th March-1st April I am going to complete ‘A Week In The Life Of Laura’ to help raise money for FABED, a charity which is helping to support families affected by eosinophilic disorders. I will still be attending college and going about my normal routine but I will be living off the diet Laura has to follow. So for a week I will only be eating chicken, pork, lamb, potato, rice, banana, pear, melon and cucumber. You might be thinking “Well thats alright! She can eat chicken! She can eat quite a lot there!” but would you be happy with just eating these plain foods for the rest of your life? A plain chicken breast accompanied by plain potato with no sauces or extra foods to make the meal more interesting. No chocolate, no sweets, no extras to make you happy. 

Throughout the week I will be uploading a video diary of how I am getting on as proof I am actually doing this and show you how little I will actually be having to eat.

I want to help raise awareness of this illness and hopefully one day there might be more research into this disease. There is barely any research and without it then families affected by this are just going no where. Please help raise money for this charity by sponsoring me to complete this week. Every penny counts!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

 

Visit my Facebook Page for regular updates

http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Week-In-The-Life-Of-Laura/354862624554018