When I was first diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) it was a shock and it took some time for the news to sink in.  When I started to come to terms with this I then wanted to find out more and understand what this meant.  This is when I realised that there was not a lot of information about the cause, the symptoms and the implications of having the disease and so my investigation journey began.

Unfortunately the medical world is not much help either and more research is needed to fully understand how someone contracts IPF and how it can be accurately diagnosed,  There is currently no cure - hopefully that can change in the future - and they can only estimate what the life expectancy is after diagnosis so we can only hope that in my case it is the latter of the estimation.

There are days when I am not able to get out of bed or do the simplest of things which is really challenging emotionally as well as physically especially when I want to spend time with my beautiful grandchildren - although they can always bring a smile to my face.

What has helped is being able to talk to other people who have been diagnosed as this where you learn as well as getting that much needed support from someone who really knows how you feel.  It may sound silly but even simple advice about travel insurance options makes such a difference when you desperately need some time away to relax and try not to think about the disease.

Whilst I know that my fundraising and awareness raising cannot make a difference to my diagnosis, I hope that this can make a difference to someone in the future - we have to start somewhere.  I could not do all this without my family who I love so much and I am deeply proud of.  They know that this is really important to me and so we have joined together as Linda's Dream Team to spread the message and raise some much needed money for this worthy charity.   

My daughter, youngest son and two sisters are walking 50km along the Thames Path.  Whilst we will not be able to walk together with them the rest of the family will be supporting the fundraising with other events to raise money and awareness so watch this space for more information and updates.

I would like to say thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and our team pages and ask you to donate as much as you can - every penny and pound counts.

If you want to learn more about IPF please visit the website https://www.actionpulmonaryfibrosis.org and you can read personal stories of how this horrible disease affects the lives of people who are diagnosed and those around them. 

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.