Needle excitement

Well I have had the most amazing end to my week – it has had me buzzing! The MOST exciting piece of news came on Friday evening when I got invited by text to have my first covid vaccine. I was jumping around the house for joy and telling the whole family immediately (thankfully Nick wasn’t on a work call 😂). So I’m going in on Tuesday evening for something I really believe (and hope) will be the start of our life coming back to us. I know that we’ll still be shielding (for at least another 15 weeks until the second vaccine has done its job), but it feels like, fingers crossed, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel that is finally getting brighter.

We obviously still need to see what they find out about vaccines. For me, being only 4 months post transplant, there is a chance that the vaccine isn’t as effective as for healthier people with a working immune system. So we can’t let our guard down totally until we know more. But even if we got to the part where we could have other vaccinated people in the house I’d be over the moon…and I think that this will definitely allow us to encourage the kids back to their clubs with their friends. Something they both really would benefit from so long as those clubs are encouraging social distancing where possible.

So that’s my main piece of excitement! But also it’s been a really fab few days for my London to Paris challenge. First of all, I have finally ordered a bike with the help of a large discount from Tredz Bike shop! They also were kind enough to offer some equipment and really importantly, a personal trainer, Jack from Pedal Passion Coaching, who will help me to get fit enough to do this ride! Really kind of them! And it’s got me started on my training which is brilliant!

And then, I got about four packages through the door from Madison / Pearl Izumi / free wheels who had donated THE most generous amount of kit to me to make sure I have everything I need to actually get out there on the bike. Such lovely kit and such good quality it really bowled me over. I have thanked them from here to Timbuktu (well as much as I can) but they didn’t want anything at all in return for their donation which was so kind. And they’re continuing to help me.

Kit donated by Pearl Izumi / Freewheel.co.uk/ Madison

So I hope all my biker friends will really support these companies moving forwards. The biking community has been so friendly and welcoming to me already (someone else sent me old Myeloma UK training tops for photo ops as the charity can’t get into the office due to covid restrictions) so I know you’ll all get behind these companies that have helped me!!

Anyway, as if all of that wasn’t enough, my actual fundraising has also moved forwards. Anyone who knows me knows that I am grateful for absolutely everything that people donate to me. Whether it is a penny or a pound or a hundred pounds, what is important is that someone’s been kind enough to do it. On Friday, a friend came round with a bag of change that she’d been collecting at her place of work. But also a box that one of her customers had brought in later…with nearly £50 of change in it. All for Myeloma UK despite the fact I’ve never met this man in my life.

In addition, an artist I don’t know responded to a Facebook message a friend had shared about a whisky amnesty and us collecting unwanted sample bottles/ full size bottles that people might have been given for Christmas. She didn’t want to share her whisky 😂 but did want to offer to paint an A2 canvas for our fundraising, and had persuaded a friend of hers to also donate a print. So we’ll have both of those to auction on Sam’s #15B415 site before too long! Take a look at Hilary Terry and David Sims at Art Showcase but don’t buy anything till you see what we’re auctioning of course!!

And then I had an amazing donation from someone that I had talked to when they were first diagnosed. So amazing that I’m still waiting for a call to say that there was an extra zero on the end that was a mistake. I hope not as it has meant I’ve already reached what I had to achieve to do the ride, and am now just aiming for my own, self imposed target of £5,000 (10% of my #50KB450 target).

So, as you can understand I am really buzzing and really pleased. It has obviously helped my mood too and has helped me to keep my head above the water level at this time that I’ve found really hard. But I’ve always known that my fundraising not only gives me purpose, but also helps me to manage my depression. It’s my own treatment for it and whilst it has the downside of sometimes making me worry that I’ll let people down or not do as well as people think, at times like this it can be a real life saving help. Literally.

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