4 years since radiotherapy and 2191

I probably do this every year (so I will not go into real detail), the 21^st May will be 4 years since I started radiotherapy for Ledderhose. My treatment was at the Royal Surrey County Hospital with Dr Shaffer, more details can be found here:

http://ledderhose.blogspot.co.uk/p/interviews-with-specialists.html - Interview with Dr Shaffer
http://ledderhose.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/radiotherapy-in-surrey-uk-day-1.html - My Experience

Looking back now it was quite a journey, thing were tough at the time. I knew that I was going to have to give up my PhD, something I had worked hard for, about 7 years including my undergraduate I was newly married and felt I was letting my wife down as she was going to have to work extra hour to make up the slack. My foot was giving me so much pain that I was using a walking stick, I couldn't go anywhere without thinking of where we would park or how much time we would have to spend on our feet. 

The start of radiotherapy was a turning point for me. Sure it was not instant and in fact it angered the condition to start with but when the improvements started they were dramatic. In the 6 months after I finished radiotherapy I went from using the walking stick and constant pain to being able to walk and run more or less pain free. Last year I started running properly and turns out I am not too bad at it. 

Today I am also announcing the start of my 2191 challenge, something I am embarking on with my wife to raise money for the British Dupuytren's Society. It is still a work in progress but more information can be found here: 

http://2191challenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Please help, even if you cannot donate you can help raise awareness of the conditions by tweeting or sharing the page on Facebook. I would love to get some media awareness to bring a larger audience to the condition. After all we have gone from a lump in the foot and walking stick to running a marathon and thousands of miles.