But the important news is that the team and I successfully completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge in under 12 hours!! Why didn't someone tell me just how hard it was going to be though!!!!
Friday morning and 12 of us headed up to North Yorkshire in a minibus to face the trials and tribulations of the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge. That’s Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough in less than 12 hours. Having just received the news that week that my haemoglobin was low and that I might have to start chemo over the summer, I wasn’t the only one slightly concerned about whether I would have the puff to complete the 25 miles.
We woke on Saturday morning at 6am and started off in a light drizzle. 
Pen-y-ghent didn’t seem too bad and we got to the top of there in around 1.5 hours…..easy we thought! Little did we know. Whernside just didn’t seem to end. It wasn’t as steep as the 1st peak, but it went on and on and on….and not long after we started our ascent, the rain started, and didn’t stop for 2 hours. By the time we got to the top it was wet, windy and we were all a little miserable…me, more than everyone else!!!! My boots had started leaking and I had the prospect of another 5 hours + with sopping wet feet. But my family and friends rallied round me and off we went, determined to get off that mountain as fast as possible! I think that it was about 8.5 hours after we started that we finally got to the top of Ingleborough after a really steep climb up…the side of this one is pretty much vertical, but we knew that once we were at the top, it would be a reasonable descent down to the end, even if we did have another 2 hours to go! 
On our way down I got a call from my brother in law to say one of my sisters had pulled her tendon and so they’d have to walk slower, but for us to carry on. He was a hero and she was lovely to let us go on without her.
So, the first part of our group finished the walk in 10 hours and 40 minutes, with my sister and brother in law doing amazingly well to finish only an hour behind us….not bad since she had to descend on her bottom for some of it!! I am just so proud of everyone, for their personal achievement, and for the way in which they supported everyone throughout! It was a real team effort and a great weekend. I am so so lucky to have the family and friends that I have....but I already knew that.
The team have raised through sponsorship and through my parents doing events, over £12,000 so far and the money is still coming in to the various justgiving sites. If you would like to contribute please visit www.justgiving.com/debgascoyne. Thank you to everyone who has already sponsored us….we have been staggered by everyone’s generosity.
So, what next. Well the fundraising goes on hold for a short time while I work out what is happening with me with regards to treatment. I have arranged a second opinion with one of the leading specialists in the country on Tuesday and am hoping he will have enough information to give me a guide as to what he would recommend. Then I have the meeting with my consultant on Friday. So we'll be off on hols with some sort of recommendation either way....scary!!!
I feel quite calm about it all at the moment. Funny really. Maybe I've dealt with a lot of it in the first 6 months from diagnosis, or maybe it's still to come, but it's nice to feel in control for the time being.
Off to legoland today with the kids and my mum so have to leave it here but will write again after appointments!
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