For the last day of Myeloma Awareness Week

Today is the last day of Myeloma Awareness Week so here is a picture of something orange. For my mum, who has Myeloma, and for Myeloma UK.

No, the something orange is not my tan, it is the scarf him indoors had to wear on his head when we went to the golden temple in Amritsar earlier this year, which you can read about, here. I am not that keen on having my picture taken, but may have it done from this angle from now on. What do you think?

All this, as you have probably worked out by now, is in aid of Myeloma UK and our half marathon attempt, which will take place in October. You can sponsor us, here. 

We went on a training run this morning, setting off at about 6.45am, I managed 5k, him indoors managed about 7k. It was ruddy hot. The current official temperature (I won't go into the differences between official temperatures and actual temperatures in Dubai again) is 34degreesC but it feels way hotter than that due to 38 per cent humidity. We did have an outdoor thermometer on our balcony but it appears to have melted internally and has ceased working. Not even joking. So, 34degrees my a***. We'll have to see if we can find a tougher thermometer from somewhere.

It is interesting to see how the levels of difficulty change the more you run. It used to be that muscle problems and bad knees were what stopped me, but these days the heat is the main issue. Running in it is straightforwardly quite horrid, and immediately after you stop, it's even worse. A sort of confusion comes over you, you feel sick, dizzy, like the worst hangover ever, due to dehydration, and hotter than when you were actually running. Luckily the feeling passes fairly quickly, particularly if you drink plenty of water.

So, it's important to remember why we're doing this, because of Myeloma, and the need to raise awareness of it (my Mum says quite often when she tells people she has Myeloma, they think she means she has skin cancer, Melanoma, which is a very different kind of cancer) and help fund research, improve treatment including earlier diagnosis rates and provide support to Myeloma patients and their families.

Myeloma is a strange condition, I would say is it is unusual rather than rare and it is hard to explain, but this film, which I hope you will forgive me for posting again, does a good job of that. Most people haven't heard of it, even though just over 4,700 people were diagnosed with it in the UK in 2010, according to Cancer Research UK, and in 2008, more than 103,000 people were diagnosed worldwide. It is slightly more common in men than women, and seven out of 10 cases are in people over 65, meaning it does sometimes end up being viewed as an "old people's disease". 

However, it is something that can happen to younger people, including my mum who was 60 when she was diagnosed and Cancer Research UK stats show that between 2007 and 2009, there were cases reported in people as young as 25. People in the public eye who have Myeloma include Candian/Indian actress and TV presenter Lisa Ray, who is 42, diagnosed in 2009 and BBC food journalist Sheila Dillon, diagnosed in 2011. 

Now that it is the last day of Myeloma Awareness Week, I will be bombarding you with orangeness a bit less, but if you can find a spare dirham, pound or dollar or two for our half marathon, which is on October 18th at Emirates Golf Club, then we would be hugely grateful.