Hi!

Thank you for taking the time to visit my page and read my story!

I am really delighted that Lupus UK has given me the opportunity to take part in the Vitality British 10K this year on 12th July in London.  In return I have said I will raise some money for them.  This is where you come in with your generous donations - whatever you can afford or are willing to part with!  I will be grateful for anything you can donate.

Lupus UK is the only UK based charity that helps the Lupus patient and funds research into different treatments and maybe even a cure for the illness one day!  Lupus is an auto-immune connective tissue disease (mouthful!) that can affect any organ in the body including the skin, heart, kidneys, Central Nervous System...  It can be fatal if not treated properly and can be very tricky to catch with patients feeling like hypochondriacs or often being dismissed by their GP as being time wasters!

Symptoms can range from very mild to severe.  Common symptom are fatigue, rashes, joint pains, dry eyes and mouth, hair loss, mouth ulcers, anaemia, headaches and migraines, miscarriage, shortness of breath and chest pain.  With treatment people can lead near normal lives - although they will probably always be on medication and will need regular trips to the hospital and doctors to keep on top of their condition. 

I am looking forward to completing this event after what have been a few quite difficult years.  While I do not have just Lupus (I have an overlap with another condition which is quite common in auto-immune diseases), Lupus UK has been very helpful to me and I have benefited from attending a local support group and have used their website a lot for advice.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!  I'm looking forward to crossing the finishing line on the 12th Julyand excited to be able to support Lupus Uk in this way.  Thank you for your very kind donations!

Sharon