"Lets do something worthwhile" I said at Scotty's wedding.

So here we are, Sara Fitzherbert, Georgina Headley, Sarah Williams, Sarah Crowther, Joanna Close, Vicki Holgate, Rachel McDowell, Chris Marsh, Tina Dullaghan (walkers) with Clarkie and Scotty our drivers setting out on the 3 Peaks Challenge. This involves climbing Ben Nevis, Scarfell and Snowdon, all in one 24hr time period. It includes travelling in a mini bus with a speed restriction of 62mph. Look it up, its not going to be easy! We will be starting our challenge on 13th July 2012. We are raising money for Myeloma, for our dear friend Scotty. Please read on......

Hi, I'm Scotty. Up to the age of 39, a pretty average person - living with my chap in Wimbledon, playing hockey, working, was planning a big party for my 40th, all the usual stuff. During 2007 I'd been having problems with my ribs - 'pinging' out of alignment, generally being badly-behaved- but the various docs had no clue what was causing it. 6 weeks before my Birthday, one consultant tried some extra tests - and my life changed.

In September 2008 I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (not Melanoma, which I'd heard of), but Myeloma. A blood cancer, related to Lymphoma and Leukaemia, most common among men, amongst black people, and with an average age of diagnosis of 69 - so not exactly expected for someone like me. It's nothing you can 'cause' by drinking, smoking etc and there was no history of any cancer in my family, till this. I learned that over recent years there has been a marked increase in new cases of MM among 'young' patients, from people in their twenties, upwards. As all the info at the time was for older patients and every waiting room was full of Myeloma patients my mother's age I set up a group for Under 50's who have MM. Now with 100+ members, it's been incredibly important for those of us trying to find a way to cope.

It's called Multiple Myeloma because it's in multiple areas of the body - it's a blood cancer after all. So you can't operate on it, remove it, or as yet - cure it. There is treatment (I've had a Stem Cell Transplant, been through multiple rounds of chemo, which includes being treated with Thalidomide - so no kids for females who have this drug, obviously). But it will always come back - and not to have the hope of a cure is very hard to live with. Life expectancy is hard to judge as many patients are already elderly, but on diagnosis, the stats were 2-5 years, utterly terrifying, as I'm currently 3 years and 5months in. The good news though - after my transplant, I did get remission (not everyone is so lucky) and even better, I was 'drug-free' for my wedding last year to Hawksey. But the average remission is 2 years, so I and many like me, live in constant fear of its return. I've lost several good friends (normal people, probably like you) already to MM, and would like to thank you for adding whatever you can to the critically vital 'magic pot' that might just bring all of us a cure.

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