Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My challenge is a virtual cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats which is a total of 970km.  My challenge starts on Monday 14 April, 2014. 

I'll be cycling through my one year transplant anniversary in July and aiming to finish the challenge before International PBC Day on 14 September 2014. 

I'm raising money for the PBC Foundation. 

I was diagnosed with PBC in 2007. 

"PBC is an auto-immune condition which affects the liver.  In very simple terms, the body's immune system sees the bile ducts within the liver as "foreign" and tries to destroy them.  Bile accumulates in the liver and the bile ducts are slowly destroyed, allowing further accumulation of bile and further damage to occur.  PBC is progressive and, currently, incurable.  Ultimately, a small percentage of people with PBC will go on to need liver transplantation but even then the PBC begins the entire process again with the new liver".

I received a liver transplant in July 2013. 

This will be a very physical challenge for me, due to complications during my first transplant on 11 July 2013, I needed a further surgery a few days later to repair my stomach which had ruptured. I was critically ill at this point. I slowly started to recover but then 2 weeks later I received the devastating news that the blood supply to my new liver had been lost and I needed a 2nd transplant. My 2nd transplant took place on 28 July 2013.  The transplant itself was successful but during the operation I suffered a bleed on my chest and needed a blood transfusion. 

Due to the 3 major surgeries in quick succession when I came home from hospital I was in a wheelchair and unable to walk more than a few steps.  It took weeks for me to build up my strength and stamina and it's something that I am still working on.  

My recovery, like this challenge, proves that lots of wee steps can mount up to a huge distance or achievement. 

The bike I will be using has an on board computer and I will take daily pics of the display to record dates, times and distances. 

As my strength and stamina improves (and the weather too!) I hope to also do some kilometres on a road bike :o) and these trips will be recorded on a GPS app. 

The PBC Foundation does amazing work supporting its members and leading the way to hopefully finding a cure for this relentless and incurable condition. 

Please help me support this very worthy cause. 

Thanks

Mo

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