Making plans...

Well, things are all go here! Fundraising is in full swing: what I want to say first of all is I am so deeply touched by people's generosity. Particularly financially on the Givealittle page and other personal contributions, but also with the support offered to help with arranging other fundraising events and initiatives. So many wonderful people are willing to give up their time to help me, I'm totally blown away by how amazing people are. So thank you, everyone, for all your help thus far!

Today I spoke with a reporter from the Dominion Post (set up by my beautiful friend all the way from Sydney, Jamie <3 ). I don't think I'll necessarily like the finished product much when I see/read it (people might have picked up so far, I'm not a fan of talking about myself), but it's a good way to raise awareness, not just about my plans, but about MS generally.

Over the last week we have secured an apartment for our time in Singapore. It was kind of a daunting thing, booking accommodation in a different country, for such a long stay. There were certain requirements: needed two bedrooms, two bathrooms, not too far away from the hospital, serviced (cleaned) regularly, and preferably not really expensive! So accommodation's organised now, fingers crossed it's just right!

We have also booked both Peter's and my flights, leaving in late-June. Peter will come back earlier than me, after about seven weeks, but Mum will have arrived by then to take over the role as 'carer'. My mum and my husband - two people dedicated to my well-being, one would hope! :)

So the other thing, preparation-wise, that I sorted out this week was getting a definitive answer on when my last Tysabri infusion is (was). I knew that it takes a three month period to completely wash the drug out of my body (this process occurs naturally, as the blood regenerates, and no more drug is administered). There was some confusion over when I should have my last dose, but that's been cleared up now (sorry to the doctors in Singapore for pestering them!), and in fact my last dose has been and gone - it was the one I had a couple of weeks ago, on 29 March.

So whilst I'm really excited to get this treatment, and just want the time to come already, I'm quite nervous about not having any more of this helpful drug that has really been my saviour over the past two years. I know I'm catastrophizing, thinking that my body is just going to be stoked that it can attack itself again, and I'll have terrible relapses. But in reality, when I calm down, I remember that even at my worst, relapses seemed to come every six weeks, and so since really there's only about one month that I'm completely drug-free until I get this treatment, I'll be okay. All I can do is keep the stress down, and remind myself about the bigger picture.

So that's me at the moment; thank you everyone again for your support, I couldn't do this without you! Talk later, Rach xx

(Here's ZJ as a kitten. Nothing to do with this post, it's just cute :) x)