After my hair raising abseil at Olympic Park in London I am taking on another challenge for my year of fundraising to reach my £1000 fundraising target!

The Pituitary Foundation is a small charity who support tens of thousands of people in the UK with a Pituitary Condition.

There are lots of small charities who provide vital support to people with rare diseases. During Covid-19 and with the pressures felt by the NHS - their support is more important than ever. And when my health was at its worst, they helped me put my life back together.

Consultants may provide you with a diagnosis and nurses may monitor your health, but it is these charities who help you learn to live with the condition day to day, offer peer support and find your new normal.

The pituitary is a pea sized gland which sits behind your nose, at the base of your brain. It controls all of the hormones in your body and its a complicated beast! I didn't know much about hormones until I didn’t have enough in my body.

There are over a hundred different hormones pumping round our bodies at any one time - they send messages to our brain to keep our heart pumping, our brain active and our organs working to name a few pretty important jobs they do!

When I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumour in 2012, I had no idea how the condition would impact on my life. 'Okay' I thought, 'I'll have to take a few tablets, go for regular scans of my brain and a few tests. I'll need a big operation one day, but I don't feel ill.

6 years later, one day, like a switch had been flicked I felt different. I went from thriving under pressure in my busy job, to feeling stressed and very overwhelmed. I started to ‘freeze’ in meetings, my mind would go blank. It was distressing and confusing to not feel able to do my job. I loved working in the NHS as a project manager and I was driven and ambitious. I was constantly exhausted, felt sick and had lost weight.

I contacted the Pituitary Foundation and they provided me with information which led me to eventually getting the right diagnosis and treatment. I spent close to 6 months every lunchtime on my phone in my car outside work ringing hospital secretaries, writing to consultants. Often I’d just sit there and cry, calling the Pituitary Foundation for emotional support.

In my experience having this condition means;

- Minor accidents, falls, operations and illnesses can be life threatening without the right treatment

- Doctors, consultants and nurses may not know what treatment you need, or understand your condition.

- There isn't as much research compared with other health conditions like Diabetes, and lack of research means less funding, less understanding and less progression in treating the condition

The foundation have helped me so much;

Their information videos gave me the information I needed to ask my GP for the right medication.

The information from their Occupational Therapist helped me to rebuild my energy levels and fitness.

The volunteers on the helpline gave me emotional support - it was amazing to speak to people with pituitary conditions themselves who understood what I was going through.

This year my condition is stable, and its about time I gave something back to this amazing charity!