Sponsorship and ice cream rewards

The justgiving page which allows people to sponsor us online went up a couple of days ago and thanks to wonderful support and generosity we are already up to £270! Yay!

Inspired by people jumping to sponsor us so early on, I went for my second big walk yesterday. It was slightly longer than Tuesdays, as I walked down my parents road and back. I think I was having a less good day as well, as I found it much tougher. My heart rate went well over 170 and so as I have previously been instructed to do, I paused to allow it to sink back down to human levels!

As we made our way back down the road, an Ice Cream van pulled up, music blaring away. Abs decided that an ice cream reward was in order so we purchased one each and for the parents, which bought me yet another recovery period as we deliberated, chose and paid, and then made our way back to the house.

So training session number 2 - a success, but much harder. Was left feeling more breathless and more tired, but as with everything with CF there are good days and bad days, so training session number 3 will definitely be a good day, I can feel it!

We are now sponsorable!

Yay!

Due to getting far too over excited I already have the justgiving page up and running. This means people can sponsor us online, which makes it a lot easier, so please take a look!

I have named the team "Emily's Angels" - I wish I could take credit for the name but I cant (well done Fi) but they are absolute Angels doing this and I am really looking forward to it!

So please please take a look at our page and sponsor us if you can! www.justgiving.com/emilysangels

Let the training begin

Two posts on the first day, I am fairly sure that this will be a one off!

Today I decided to test the water and go for a little walk. It may sound strange, but I hardly ever walk any kind of distance. Walking is extremely tiring, lugging a heavy O2 cylinder with me doesnt help, and so to allow me to live my life and do as much as I can, I use the wheelchair for any considerable distance.

I asked my sister to come round after school to be my oxygen bearer, and we set off for a gentle saunter down the road. Having someone else to carry my oxygen, I didnt find it too bad. I set off too fast to begin with (as I always do, it's impatience I think) and had to slow right down, but after a while found a comfortable pace, and managed to walk all the way down the close and back! WOOHOO!

I actually really enjoyed it, I havent gone for a walk in well over a year. Actually one of the things I am most looking forward to after my transplant is leaving the house, with just my keys in my pocket, and setting off down the road. No oxygen cylinder, no mobile phone, no one to assist me, just going for a walk. I cant explain how alien the idea is at present, and itwill be a very surreal and probably emotional experience, but I cant wait.

Back to the present...my aim is to gradually build up the distance I can walk, and I am very aware that this will be a repetative exercise, as every time I have a chest infection I will be back to square one. But today was great so yay for a good start!

The challenge!

On 3rd September the women's hydro active challenge - a 5 kilometer run (walk or wheel!) - will take place in Hyde Park.

Last year, my good friend Sarah got her act together and rallied the troops to run for the CF Trust. My mum and sister were amongst those running so I went along for moral support, and had the most fantastic day. The atmosphere was wonderful, everyone cheering and encouraging the runners, I shouted as loudly as I could, which was a strange experience as I still had my chest drain resulting in most of the air escaping out of my side rather than past my vocal chords!

Anyway! Inspired by last years efforts, I decided I want to join in this year! I will be in good old denzel (my wheelchair, so named because there arent enough denzels in the world) and be waving merrily to everyone as I am pushed round the track by some poor soul.

However I decided that I need to make a bit more effort than that in order to justify sponsorship, so after speaking to my doctors and physios, I have decided to train, and hopefully, if health allows it, I shall walk the final part of the course. I will have someone pushing the wheelchair nearby with someone carrying my oxygen walking along side me.

I feel that this is a good idea for a number of reasons but mainly the following two:

It is good to have an aim. There is a chance I will be too ill to do this come September, but there is no harm in hoping and believing I will be well enough. Obviously the perfect outcome will be that I am unable to participate as I have just received my transplant (YAY) but I have been waiting nearly 14 months and not even had a false alarm, so I need to set myself little goals to accomplish to ensure that I stay motivated and focused on something other than "waiting for that call".

This will force me to up my exercise! I am hoping that by having something to work towards, I will be more inspired to exercise regularly, which will be good for my general health, muscle strength and lungs, whether I am able to participate in september or not. Being as fit as you can be is vital to ensure the best possible recovery post transplant, so the way I see it, this is a good plan either way!

Some lovely and amazing people have decided to join me in this challenge, so we will shortly be setting up a sponsorship page online, and I am hopeful that we can raise loads of money for the CF Trust. We are currently discussing the most important details, such as what to wear (the idea of doing this dressed as pink sparkly fairies is so very tempting...)

This blog will contain updates about the team, our fundraising efforts, and my own personal training journey towards this challenge.

YAY!