Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page!

I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease aged 22 in June 2003 just 5 month's after having Felicity. I spent much of the first few years of her life unwell and had 3 operations in a fairly short period of time. I knew very little about Crohn's and so used Crohn's and Colitis UK (or the NACC as it was back then) as a resource for information and support. Over the years, I have had to endure many procedures, operations and medications to try to manage the disease. Often the side effects of the medications were worse that the symptoms of the Crohn's Disease. Immune suppressing medications (often used as chemotherapy medication) resulted in me being susceptible to illness and infection. Having an allergic reaction to one treatment and then getting whooping cough was a fairly low point! 

Towards the middle of 2016, it was apparent that I had exhausted pretty much all the medication options and my Crohn's Disease was flaring quite badly. It was impacting upon my life and Simon and the children's as we would have to plan a day out based upon my health. Discussion's with my consultant made it clear surgery was my only option. So on September 13th 2016 I had major bowel and pelvic surgery. I spent a week in hospital before coming home. It was a slow and frustrating recovery - particularly as I am not a good patient!

Fast forward a year to September 2017 and I decided to join a new running group to try and get healthier and stronger. It was without doubt the best decision. I have met a great bunch of people and made great friends - whilst getting fit! I even started entering races this year, 5k, 10k and then the Winchester Half Marathon in September 2018. I even got caught up in the excitement of entering the London Marathon Ballot, not even considering that I might get a place on the first attempt of applying!! How wrong I was! 

So here I am about to embark upon my marathon training with 17 weeks till the big day! This would have been impossible a couple of years ago due to my health, so I am embracing the madness as this will be the ONLY marathon I will be running, EVER!!

Any support to raise fund's for this great charity is much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Rachel

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