"Why did you take up cycling??"
My simple answer would be "My Health" but let me explain further.
In 2014 I was having a really bad year health wise the worst I've ever had in fact. I had been in hospital 3 times and had been off sick from work for nearly a month at a time for every hospital admission plus multiple days off sick because I just couldn't do anything. I had caught mrsa of the lungs and another bug (the name escapes me at the moment) and just couldn't shift it and was struggling to get it under control.
Another major contributing factor was that in January 2014 I was finishing Gene Therapy Trials which I now believe is the reason my lung function had held on for so long because the trial drugs was trying to help my lungs and keep me healthy.
In 2013 my lung function had been around 75-80% and gene therapy was doing a really good job at helping me maintain that percentage (I didn't know this at the time but have learnt all this since from seeing my lung function results) but not long after I had finished the gene therapy trials I was starting to get sick a lot and my lung function was dropping like a stone and infections were feasting on my lungs like an all you can eat buffet. By the end of 2014 I was back in hospital for the third time looking for help, looking for answers and getting frustrated with the whole situation and the lack of answers I needed to try to stop my health declining, I was admitted into hospital and I couldn't breathe and had to be put onto oxygen to help my oxygen levels.
I have never felt so ill, so scared and so down mentally let alone physically, this was all new to me Id never experienced this before. I mean don't get me wrong because I know everybody who has CF is different and everybody's fight is different but this was my first time experiencing this and I was out of my depth thinking I could handle it, I didn't cope at all, its most likely taken me until this year 2017 3 years on of admitting to my problems and getting mental help to learn how to cope and deal with new things and how to think with a clear head (but i'll come to all that in another blog post)
I was my worst moment in my life with CF I felt totally awful about everything and the fear I had feeling that cold air rushing up my nose and into my lungs is something I do not wish to experience any time soon. Sometimes with CF you can escape the reality of an illness when your health is good, well escape as much as taking pills and doing physio feels normal and no worrying moments but having that pipe running from ear to ear and connecting up at my nose brings all your fears and thoughts of the bad side of CF to the front of your thoughts and its bloody hard to shake it.
I was starting to lose faith in the medicines I was on and the medical staff around me even though I know how much effort they were putting in to try and help me I felt like I was being failed or that my health was seriously failing me really quick. I had tried every Intravenous drug possible to help me and I felt like nothing was working. I had tried IV drugs, oral meds and steroids and nothing seemed to be helping. I was starting to have thoughts of "Is this the beginning of the End?"
This question in my head became a scary thought a lot but my doctor was really good to me, we sat and had a chat and she explained you know we can keep trying and if it isn't working we will work together to deal with this change in health and get me the help I needed to learn to adjust and cope with the changes.
Ultimately though I was fed up and angry and I wasn't ready to accept that things had changed.
I had lost around 20-25% of my lung function in a matter of months. I was now down to around 55% and it all felt surreal and I wasn't prepared to accept that. You could say my epiphany moment came when I was put on oxygen and told that we could discuss the options to help me cope with the loss of lung function. I just wasn't having it. I was ssssoooooo angry with the whole situation.
I was especially angry with myself because all I could think was "What did I do wrong? What have I done wrong? Am I to blame for this happening?? What could have caused it? Have I missed something?" So many questions and no answers I was in a world of pain, not so much physically but mentally I was really feeling it I was down and so disappointed but I really couldn't accept this situation, Could I?
I was also being told that my Diabetes wasn't being well controlled and that my numbers were still too high and I needed to go on a diabetes training course to help me learn carb counting as that was essential to help me learn the numbers better and get my numbers down.
Now people who know me will say I can be very stubborn and with all the above happening my Stubbornness was on full I will prove you wrong mode. I refused the diabetes help and I refused to accept from the doctors that maybe this was what the future was going to be like with me having to go to hospital more regularly for IV Treatment and put up with my decline in help. I was NEVER going to listen to that.
I sat with the doctor and said "once this admission is done I'm going to go away and assess things and Im going to prove you wrong that this isn't going to carry on and that I can help my health and my diabetes, if theres no more that you can do I want a go at trying something different". I appreciated that the doctors were trying to help but I think my words were "Im going to take things into my own hands and I feel this is something I need to do, if the drugs can't help then let me find out if I can do something".
But what would I try??
Well I had been looking into big physical challenges that I could maybe try and see if that helped my health, I thought about the London marathon but I didn't think I could cope with the running that distance plus with my weak left leg I was thinking it would be too much to expect my right leg to do all the work. What about a shorter distance? What about walking up a mountain kilamanjaro? I had been wanting to go there for a while but I had to be realistic 50% lung function walking up a mountain with the lack of air becoming more and more apparent. I wasn't sure. What could I do??
I could cycle, I could do that I liked cycling and i could go as fast or as slow as I wanted and it wouldn't put too much pressure on me (well so I thought how wrong I was).
SO cycling but what cycling challenge can I do?? It just had to be something big I had to find something that looked impossible but something I would remember forever and know that I had done it starting from nothing. It had to be something I could say to the doctors "See I f**king did it, two fingers to your complacency". I was trawling the internet and came across something that caught my eye.
The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100
I came across this ride in simple terms its 100 miles on closed roads through beautiful london and surrey countryside taking in the sights of world famous London. This really caught my eye.
I mean 100 miles is big enough for the challenge to be big, catch peoples attention and maybe few a few pennies for the CF Trust but firstly I needed a bike.
And I was fortunate enough that my partner at the time offered to buy me a bike for my birthday (Thank You) and in november 2014 I picked this up. It wasn't expensive it wasn't a fancy carbon fibre go fast bike but it was mine my bike that I hoped would pedal me to great things. I had no idea how far this thing would take me and what challenges I would achieve but I loved this bike the first day I picked it up.
I went for my first bike ride a few days later (the picture above is me after my first ride) and it shocked me. I managed a measly 6 miles, just 6 miles and I was beat exhausted and my lungs hated me but I had the bug, I knew I wanted to do this. I fell in love with cycling straight away, lycra isn't a fashion statement but knowing your dressed in it sort of gives me a sense of pride because I know i want to achieve something whilst dressed in my cycling gear. Overtime I put my training gear on I know I'm doing it for a purpose, to stay fit, to show others whats possible and to help the CF trust and hopefully the money raised with help of you lovely people has helped made a difference to others in some way no matter how small.
That day I signed up to the LondonSurrey100 with the CF Trust and the rest as they say is history.
Since January 2015 I have cycled about 7000 miles and I've completed
LondonSurrey100 Bike Ride 2015
KM Bike Big Ride 50km 2016
London To Brighton 55 mile bike ride 2016
And I've managed to raise around £3,500.00 for the cf trust along the way.
Also since I started training at the end of 2014 my hospital fortunes and health have stabilised. I wouldn't say its improved as such as my lung function hasn't improved since 2015 but it has most certainly slowed down in its declined and stabilised at around 50 to 55% for the last 2 and a half years. I am the fittest I've ever been even with my lung function and I'm still smiling look ahead to the future and what other challenges I can take on. I won't lie its been bleeding hard there been days still when I've not been able to do anything and my CF has affected me still even on good days but I feel better mentally knowing Id rather be in pain training than be in pain in hospital or coughing. All the miles, pain, tears and falls have all been worth it.
Since 2015 my hospital visits have decreased massively
2015 - 2 admissions in January 2015 and September 2015
And that is the last time I was admitted to hospital for IV Treatment its been 21 months since I had a stay in hospital. Its not been easy Ive pushed myself like mad, I've still been really sick at times and I've still had infections and other problems and bugs have taken their toll on me at time and I've swallowed a lot of tablets to fend off sickness but I haven't had to stay in hospital to do it in all that time and I intend to keep doing it for as long as I possibly can. Even if I ended up in hospital tomorrow I will know in my head and in my heart that I've made huge life choices and sacrifice to keep me going and get me where I am today and I'm the happiest I've been in a long long time knowing I'm doing the right thing.
All the training has also had a positive effect on my diabetes. I now have much lower levels which I'm still working on to improve and Ive got it under control and by having a good diabetes control it helps my chest and reduce infections because infections feed off sugar and can turn in to a vicious cycle of problems.
Can you imagine how good it felt the next time I saw my diabetes specialist and my doctor, I'd dropped my sugar levels by over 30% within a matter of months with none of their help whatsoever and id stabilised my chest and was staying away from hospital. As a person with a point to prove that felt damn good to say "see I did that, you thought it wouldn't happen but it did and its getting better" don't get me wrong I love the doctors who help me, I have a great working relationship with them and I have no bad words to say against them as they work damn hard with us cvs to help us but to know I did something for myself and it had worked felt pretty bloody good walking out of there knowing what was happening. I don't think I can ever put into words how satisfying it was to have something go my way, something positive something that felt surreal to have managed to have changed my fortunes. I had changed the downward spiral and I felt like I had done it on my own, hard work determination and maybe a bit of good fortune.
And now you know why I took up cycling, thats the long and short answer but without deciding to get on two wheels and put my feet on the pedals I have no doubt I would be in that terrible place I had feared two years ago getting more and more used to hospital beds and going insane because I just wouldn't cope but thanks to cycling and maybe my stubbornness to prove people wrong, I'm here talking walking and still breathing through my lungs without any further grief.
And what next??
It had to be another big challenge. I felt it had to be a triathlon, an olympic distance to be exact.
With 2017 fast approaching and feeling in a good place in my life I had to decide what to do next, so I've decided on a triathlon. And not a short one either. Olympic distance
On the 24th September 2017 Im taking part in the Hever Castle Olympic distance Triathlon to in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust
1500m swim
40km bike ride
10km run
One after the other all in one go.
I started training in in about October last year nothing too serious, the odd ride, the odd run but I didn't start swimming until January this year and thats when I started really upping my training and thinking seriously about attempting a Triathlon. I knew this would be big. The biggest challenge Ive ever attempted. Hardest thing Ive ever wanted to finish and the pain and training hasn't disappointed in challenging me and making me doubt myself thats for sure.
Training for this has been a whole different world to just biking and its getting harder everyday.
I'm swimming twice a week running twice a week and cycling twice a week plus doing short exercise at home. And not small distances either. im now swimming 2 to 3 miles every week, cycling 50 miles per week and running about 10km a week at present, I know that may not sound like a lot but I'm still learning still improving and still increasing my distances.
And so far I have managed to complete a sprint Triathlon in April as a practice run but that is nothing compared to the big one and I learnt a lot from that, mostly how hard and painful it is and that was only 250m swim 10mile bike ride and 3mile run. That is nothing compared to what I want to attempt.
I now have 14 weeks approximately to keep training improving and hopefully dodging hospital until the big day and its already tough but ill do another blog soon about training soon to keep you all in suspense.
Whats pushing me through this training and attempt is my health, my stubbornness and wanting to raise awareness and funds for the CF Trust. This is what inspires me to keep pushing.
And I'm getting support along the way which has spurred me on even more to get it done and keep on training.
I have to give a huge shout out and Thank You to Ribble Cycles, I wrote to them last month asking if they could help me at all in lending me a bike and they went above and beyond what I expected. They kindly contacted me and offered to give me a new bike to help me complete this challenge and my future challenges that I want to take on. I really cannot thank them enough and talking with them and meeting them on the day I visited their new shop in Birmingham was amazing. They are all so lovely, so supportive and couldn't be any nicer. Their offer of support will never go unappreciated, they have inspired me to keep pushing and wanting to achieve more. Without their help I could never have got a bike like this. So thank you thank you thank you to everyone at Ribble. You are all amazing for helping me and supporting me on this journey and I will forever be in your debt.
Just look at my beautiful new Carbon Sportive racing bike. Its a mechanical thing of beauty. Im in love with its looks and lines and oho my the colour matte black just looks the business.
These guys deserve a huge thank you for everything they have done for me and I hope to be able to return their generosity one day.
Id also like to say a big Thank you to Speedo UK who have supplied me with all the triathlon kit I could ever need. All I asked was if I could borrow a wetsuit not expecting a reply and not only did they reply they offered to help me with a huge offer.
They not only sent me a wetsuit but two tri suits, tri shorts and new goggles. And Ive tried them all out and they feel amazing and the wetsuit really keeps me warm in bleeding cold open water.
Its things like this and support like this that spur me on. These companies don't have to do anything but they take time out of their busy days to talk to me and help me in ways I could never of imagined.
I could never have afforded any of this equipment and without them I couldn't have even thought about attempting these challenges. Its really spurred me on to want to do this and not let them down.
I lastly want to say thank you to everyone who has liked and followed my Charity Facebook page and pledged a donation to my fundraising page. You guys are the one that will really make the difference by donating your hard earned cash you are going a long way to helping me hit my fundraising target and to raise money that will go a long way to helping others. I do these challenges for fun, you guys do the important bit.
So thank you to each and every one of you that support me, offer me help and inspire and spur me on to take on the huge challenges.
If you want to follow me on my training and triathlon journey and pledge a donation to my fundraising page then please click on the links and follow and support me along the way
Thank You
Just giving Page
https://t.co/oWkYrpgeit
Facebook Page
Jamie's CF Challenges for Charity
