A year ago, I began to feel unwell. I was dizzy, shaky, too hot, my heart was fast, and my vision was blurry. After a blood test, my doctor told me my thyroid levels weren't right. Since then, I have had lots of hospital appointments, medicines, and eye gels, and they always want to steal my blood from me.

I had never heard of a thyroid before and didn't know that it controlled all of my body's systems. It's something that might affect me forever. Now that I take regular medicine, I feel back to normal, but I know that I have lots more hospital appointments to go to.

BTF help people like me understand their disease, they do things like online Zoom information events and post things about thyroid disease. I would like to raise some money for them so that they can keep up their good work.

British Thyroid Foundation has helped me and my family understand the disease, so I would like to raise some money for them. I am going to join in with the 'Stride for Thyroid' challenge, my challenge is to climb Skiddaw, a Lake District mountain.

Philippa dolphin