CRY Fundraising Adventure

PLOP! I slipped over and fell hard on my bottom. The ground was wet and cold on this side of Hadrian’s Wall, and it had been raining solidly for six hours. My partner handed me a slab of Kendal Mint Cake, and as I munched it, sniffling, a hearty Hexham native strode past us. “Having a domestic on the Wall,

Hadrian’s Wall – Completed!

We did it! My partner and I walked along Hadrian’s Wall from Carlisle to Newcastle in just four days, and raised nearly £350 for CRY in the process. We bounced out of the door bright and early on the first day, full of energy and ready for the challenging 20 miles ahead of us. But by the time we’d been

Hadrian’s Wall

When I was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome in the middle of my final exams for my Classics degree, Cardiac Risk in the Young helped me through that difficult time. They supported me all the way through my ablation operation, and through the additional tests in the year after that which finally diagnosed me with sinus tachycardia. Now that my heart

All Better Now

Just before Christmas I got the results of my extra tests back. The good news is that the ablation was completely successful – I definitely don’t have WPW anymore! However, the tests did throw up a few little anomalies. It seems as though my heart has a mind of its own. Sometimes it’ll start racing for no reason – once

Parliamentary Reception

The beating heart of British democracy was certainly an appropriate place for the Cardiac Risk in the Young reception! And what a beautiful location. The imposing statue of Oliver Cromwell greeted me at security, paintings of significant moments in British history lined the corridors on the way to the reception. The room itself overlooked the Thames – it was so

Great Cake Day

I got to work early on the CRY Great Cake Day. I carefully opened two big cake tins, one full of coconut macaroons, each topped with a glace cherry and resting on a square of CRY rice paper, the other full of Deliciously Ella almond-and-sea-salt brownies. This was only my second week at this new job, so I was a

Making Sure

As it approaches a year since I had my ablation, I’m coming to the end of the extra tests my cardiologists wanted me to have to make sure my heart condition had been completely fixed. I had two exercise tests and an echo, which all seemed to show normal results, so I’m very much hoping I’ll get the all clear

A few more tests

For those of you following my story, you will be aware that I went to the doctor worried that my WPW had returned. Since then, I had another consultation with a cardiologist who confirmed that it wasn’t WPW, but explained that what I was feeling was most likely an ectopic beat. This is perfectly normal, but can be what triggers

WPW – the risk of return

I had been doing pretty well in my training, but on a couple of runs my heart went a little faster than usual. To be on the safe side, I referred myself for an ECG. I took the result to my GP, who took a look, said it seemed fine, but then paused. He looked something up, drew himself a

Running in the Rain

The Easter weekend brought chocolate for many, hot cross buns for some, but for me it brought a 30k run through the wrath of Storm Katie! It was a hard, hilly run, but made infinitely better by the kindness of a family living in a tiny sandstone Cotswolds village who re-filled by water bottle for me when I reached the