Molly Sheen

I'm taking on the Move it in May challenge because I don't want my daughter Mia to suffer like I have, and your support would mean so much to me.

This is a cause that's close to my heart having lived with rheumatoid arthritis for 28 years. It has been a long and painful journey that I wouldn't have been able to get through without the support of my friends and family. 

In the last few years things have changed quite dramatically for me. My husband Brendt and I had always dreamed of having a family together but we struggled to get pregnant. We eventually tried IVF and unless you've been through it it's hard to understand what an emotional and heartbreaking journey this is to be on for two years without success.

When we finally got the call from my doctor that I was pregnant, my husband and I burst into tears. We were so overwhelmed with emotion... but we had no idea that this was just the beginning for us.

I had awful morning sickness (or should I say all day sickness)for my entire pregnancy, and dealing with this, as well as complications from my arthritis, was incredibly hard to say the least. It was so bad that I had not one, but two doctors tell me I made their brains hurt!

But it was all worth it when in January 2017 we welcomed our beautiful little girl Mia into the world. And so we started the next phase of our lives... parenthood. In the past year I've had so many special moments that I will cherish forever... but it has also been incredibly hard.

My body decided to reject the arthritis medications that I was before my pregnancy, and since then I've been on a long journey to try and figure out what I can take to keep my daily pain at bay. It's gotten so bad that just last month I was back in hospital again this time with complications due to my arthritis medications.

I don't know how long it will take until I can get everything back under control... but I do know that I never want my beautiful Mia to ever have to suffer like I have. Life is hard enough without the pain that arthritis brings.

So I'm asking you to please support me by making a donation today. My dream is that one day we can live in a world where people do not have to go through the pain, suffering and heartbreak that I have.