Injury puts paid to Bristol Half Marathon....

Unfortunately I have no option but to pull out of the Bristol half marathon due to injury. For some time now I have been nursing an Achilles tendon injury in the hope that it would get better. As is often the case with this type of injury it has in fact got worse. I have had a weakness there for some time and it is an old injury that re-occurs from time to time. As a baby I was born with a club foot and had an operation to straighten it and spent the first two years of my life in plaster from my hip to my toe so I guess I’m lucky that I can run at all......!

I plan to go and see the doctor this week as I have developed a significant lump around the Achilles that is very tender. It’s all very frustrating as far as fundraising for Basingstoke Hospital Pseudomyxoma and Colorectal cancer trust fund is concerned.

My good friend and fellow PMP survivor Steve Treweeks will be running the race however (we planned to do it together) and we will of course be there to cheer him on.

I will still continue to take donations to those who wish to donate to this very worthy cause. And have just sent £250 to the hospital who has confirmed that they have received the cheques.

I have had some good news however. The first year or so of my blog that covers my appendix perforating, initial diagnosis, MOAS, Stoma reversal, the Snowdon fundraiser and my recovery has been turned into a hardback book by a friend- Mike Donoghue. Only one copy has been produced complete with colour photos and is being kept by the family as a record of our journey. Our worry is that the blog exists only on the web and as part of a third party site over which we have no control. Mike has done a fantastic job putting the book together and we are very pleased with the result. Thanks for all your hard work Mike!

I continue to feel very well at the moment (apart from the Achilles!) and am pretty much back to normal. We have enjoyed some great days out over the summer holiday with the family doing day trips and visiting places. As I am currently unable to do any running, walking or caving due to my injury I have instead concentrated on my quieter interest such as fishing and recently caught a personal best 19.5lb Mirror Carp from my local lake.



I have to say that PMP is further from our minds now than it probably has been since the whole ordeal. We do still think about things and from time to time it comes up in conversation. I look at the Christies forum daily along with the Cancer research and MacMillan forums to see if I may be able to offer some help somewhere. But that’s all. The PMP Albatross as I call it weighs light at the moment..........times are good!