Hello,

Once again Nadine is giving up Facebook for Lent (Alfie too) and wants to raise as much money as possible for a cause that is close to her heart and has kindly agreed to let me write this page for her.   Giving up Facebook is quite a sacrifice as it can be a life line for people who have an isolating illness like Nadine and she deserves your support. 

So it must be worth at least a £1 of anyone's money to be Nadine free for 40 days.

Let's do it for ME is a patient group raising fund in support of Invest in ME and their plans to fund biomedical research into M.E. and to have a centre of excellence treating people in Norwich, the first of it's kind in Europe.  The condition which Nadine describes below affects around 250,000 people in the U.K. including many children.

Nadine has a very loving supportive family, hubby Steve, daugther Jemma and son Liam, all of whom she is very proud of, not forgetting Alfie the other man in her life. (their dog)

Nadine wrote

I first became ill whilst doing a teacher training course ,which affected my immune system, leaving me with the condition Myalgic Encephalopathy  all types of people at all ages are affected. Severe and debilitating fatigue, painful muscles and joints, disordered sleep, gastric disturbances, poor memory and concentration area few of the symptoms. In many cases, onset is linked to a viral infection. Other triggers may include an operation or an accident, although some people experience a slow, insidious onset.

Also I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body. But at this time another condition was slowly emerging called Dystonia a neurological movement disorder. Faulty signals from the brain cause muscles to spasm and pull on the body incorrectly. This forces the body into twisting, repetitive movements or abnormal postures. Unfortunately there is not yet a cure. However, in the vast majority of cases, dystonia does not impact intelligence or shorten a person's life span. (Some may say what intelligence!!) . I have generalised dystonia. It is estimated to affect at least 70,000 people in the UK (of who 8,000 are children).

With the help and love of my family, friends, and carers I hope to live my life to the best and fullest possible, having these conditions has meant other problems and many tests being carried out bringing more conditions to light, my arteries also go into spasms including the ones around the heart, they named this prinzmetal angina and syndrome x. This is being controlled with more medication .Many more signals from the brain have been lost but I won’t put you through those details, also I would be writing for a week.

You may notice I can walk a limited amount, with my calliper, and stick and support of a loved one. But as I become fatigued the dystonia worsens causing the brain signals to become confused, then I require my wheelchair and medication.

Through being ill I have made some wonderful new friends and they have helped me along my way with their love, advice and prayers.

Me again, anyone who knows Nadine will know that she is full of fun and a likes a practical joke, I dread to think what she would get up to if she was well !!

You can donate as little as £1 and help support this worthy cause.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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So please dig deep and donate now.