Brave Jo determined to prove doctors wrong
Living in hope..
In my last blog I wrote about the worst part of my life that was living in fear. And it's true, it is. But it is also the smallest part of my life.
I don't have a lot of room for fear when all around me I have and experience the total opposite, Hope. Hope for a future that has me and Rudey in it.
I wouldn't say I'm the strongest person in the world or the most resilient but I have an ability to cope with whatever is thrown at me. This is not something I could achieve on my own though. I have quite a large gaggle of incredible people on my side that seems to be forever growing.
Firstly, I have Rudey. I don't let him see anything other than a mummy that is doing her best to be a 'normal mummy'. He is what I focus on every day.
Then I have my family who run around after me like headless chickens, doing my shopping, my cleaning, cooking, driving me everywhere, making 'normal' easier to achieve.
Then I have my friends, who bend over backwards for me but not in a sympathetic, feeling sorry for me way. In a sarcastic, take the mick out of me kind of way that makes me 'feel normal'.
All in all I seem to be obsessed with being 'normal'! Well I'm not sure that will ever happen!
Through my best friend, Lace, and her ridiculous ability to do anything she puts her mind too, in this case fundraising for me to have a second chance at life (I say casually but I am actually incredulous that I have this chance at all), I have spoken to, met, heard about and read messages from thousands of people who have given me hope.
I'm not sure how I can express this properly but I will try. It's not only what gives me an amazing feeling of hope and honestly keeps me going through the not so good days but it is what makes that hope a reality.
When the doctors look at me, really look at me, and tilt their heads and sigh and tell me I'm going to die, not in years to come but very soon, I think 'can you actually see ME? Can you not see the life that's still in ME? Can you not feel what I feel? See what I see.. The thousands of people outside of this hospital that believe what I believe?' Or at the very least allow me to believe it, as they know what a massive impact a positive and vibrant mind has on the body and its ability to preserve itself and heal.
So I thank the doctors very much for their opinion and I tell them it's ok I am happy to go it alone. Of course I never mean alone, I am smug because I know you won't fall for their prediction of impending doom either. So I leave the hospital not scared, but excited, that I have been set free to find my own way, with my security blanket, my virtual hug, my life line.. You. The person reading my blog and supporting my journey and that makes me feel so stupidly happy.
So this is why me and Lace spent a bumpy and boring 9 days crossing the Atlantic Ocean and why I am now sat on a sleeper train somewhere between New York and Chicago on the first 30 hour leg of our journey across America. Looking out of the window at the beautiful scenery thinking 'Wow, this is actually happening.' I think it's starting to sink in.
When we get to Chicago we will then take another sleeper train for another 30 hours to Flagstaff.
Then a shortish coach journey to Phoenix and a hop, skip and a jump (I wish) to Scottsdale where the real adventure starts and the fun begins.
Stick with me
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Jo is the only person in the world with two rare terminal conditions where treating one would mean the other will kill her.
The 37-year-old suffers from a blood vessel disorder called pulmonary hypertension and has lymphatic cancer. Baffled doctors say that the odds of suffering from both is over 5 billion-to-one.
Jo, who lives near Stoke Cannon, needs a heart and lung transplant to have any hope of beating her PH. But she can’t be put on a waiting list for the lifesaving organs until she is cancer-free for five years.
Previous attempts to save Jo have so far proved unsuccessful, including flying to Thailand to receive medical treatment which did not materialise, and appealing to the public for suggestions of help.
But her hopes were raised when an opportunity came to visit renowned scientist Thomas Incledon who will carry out tests to find out the root cause of her illness and devise an individualised treatment plan.
However, she needs to raise £70,000 to make the trip and pay the medical fees.
TO DONATE PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW…
