The guys (David and Richard) set off on their mammoth cycle from Lands' End to John O' Groats yesterday morning - and are hopefully sleeping right now, while I type this - and had a minor fall, but with no-one injured thankfully. David called me from St Ives for a progress report and to just check in on Alyssa and myself (as he very kindly contacted ALL the local and major Scottish newspapers just before he left for England ... leaving me with the publicity fallout!). So we've had quite a few photos taken in the last few days, as well as an interview with the Scottish Sun newspaper! Alyssa obviously took to the limelight better than me (no doubt helped by her Aunty Heather's constant photograph-taking, which is turning her into quite the little poser!) and lapped up the attention ... while I tried not to make the compulsary smiling shots of me look "forced."
I am hoping to update every day while the guys are cycling but - knowing Alyssa - am aware that this may not always be possible. However; David has set up a brilliant blog for the journey called "Lejog for Alyssa" (link below) where he will update (via his lovely fiancee Helen) the day's stories as they go. So a huge thanks to Helen McLean also, for her support while David and Richard undertake their challenge. Alyssa blows you kisses! :-)
I am also really excited to mention that - despite my hatred for all forms of photography (where I am the subject!) - I have already been contacted by another mum of an HSAN child! I am still waiting for the full details; but am presuming that this family also lives in the UK, and will be the first UK family with HSAN we have had contact with. I have always been aware that there are a couple of children in the UK with HSAN (various types; different to Alyssa, but still with the pain insensitivity as the main similarity) but despite my best efforts to contact them, have so far been unable to do so. So I would also like to thank David for pretty much completely ignoring my pathetic attempts to refuse the media interest, and going ahead with it all anyway. I have found another HSAN family from it, and that - in my book - more than pays for any donation we could receive via the story. To have another family who truly "gets it" is something that has no equivalent monetary value, it's a priceless commodity.
Ok, as I'm going to be updating fairly constantly over the next couple of weeks I'm going to keep them as short as possible. And will be back with you again ... very soon!
As always, thank you for sharing our journey x
Welcome to Alyssa's blog ...
- Alyssa's Mum
- My name is Moira, and I hope to share with you what my daughter's life has been like so far ... so you can all truly understand and appreciate the gift of pain, which we take very much for granted! Alyssa does not feel "peripheral" pain, which means she does not feel pain anywhere other than internally. This has led to many unintentional injuries and self-mutilation. My aim is to not only find others like Alyssa, and help those who may be going through what we are, as well as raising awareness about this condition, and how feeling pain is actually a GOOD thing! I am thankfully now part of a support group run on FB which is an amazing group of people, who all have varying types of experience with pain insensitivity. I can be contacted directly via understandingalyssa@hotmail.co.uk
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