Support my challenge for Australian hearts

This October, I’ll be doing my personal best to raise funds to support The Heart Foundation. Why? Well, two reasons are the excellent care I've received for my cardiovascular health, and my hope that others may also benefit from advances in knowledge and skills through research and advocacy. 

Cardiovascular refers to the heart (cardio) and blood vessels (vascular). Despite being what I thought was pretty healthy, I've had a brush with both not systems working all that well, and it was not much fun! To look after my heart I've had three ablations for atrial fibrillation since July last year (and a fourth back in 2018 for a different heart rhythm). Ablations are procedures where they feed a catheter through your femoral vein from the top of your right thigh into your heart. Then they use heat or cold energy in your heart to block the faulty electrical signals and restore a normal heartbeat. In July last year I also developed an impressive DVT in my leg which led to pulmonary embolisms (blood clots on my lungs). It was all a bit scary.

Thanks to the care I received, I'm now off all medications and I hope to keep it that way! It's been a kick up the bum to remember we shouldn't take our health for granted, so I've been trying to add some jogging (often more like shuffling between my walk breaks) to look after my heart, lungs and bones. Classic midlife crisis!

So - because I still can - I’m going to conquer 84 km of jogging (and some walking) this month to raise funds for heart disease research that can help save lives.

Donate! Every little bit helps.