Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your amazing support over the last few months. We have been blown away with the amount of help and generosity we have seen from people.

Since I arrived in the US for treatment, we have been staggered with the amount of support from people who want to help me and my family raise money for the medical costs for the treatment of Lyme disease. This potentially life saving treatment was the only option for my family and me.

I am about to start month three of treatment and things are going to ramp up. With this treatment, things get worse before they get better. We are getting through it day by day, with the help of some of the most amazing doctors I have ever met. They expect to see steady improvements over the coming months and years, so fingers crossed!

I’m sure you’ve all noticed that my sister, Maria Robinson has been on a Lyme disease awareness and fundraising campaign ‘Lymelight4Vanessa’. What an incredible job she is doing! The fundraising page has now reached over £4,000.

There are some brilliant fundraising nights planned, as well as individual efforts to raise some cash. Here is a list of events:

- Fundraising night @ Hilltop Sports & Social Club, Dronfield on 18th February organised by my sister, Maria. This is sure to be a great night with 4 entertainment acts (drummed up by Howard Copley), all giving up their free time. There will be a raffle and auction hosed by Peak FM's Craig Bailey and Jon Chubb with prizes donated by too many local businesses to name, as well as from Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea Football Clubs. Tickets are £10 and can be purchased from Hill Top Sports & Social Club, Coffee Central and The Manor House.

- Fundraising night @ Mint Leaf Indian Restaurant, Dronfield on 29th February, organised by my friends Katy Snell and Alex Snell. Mint Leaf are doing a delicious three course meal at £12 per person, £7 of which will go to the Lymelight4Vanessa fund. Night to include vocalist and auction/ raffle.

- Family Fun Day @ The Pioneer Club in Dronfield on 20th March with a children’s fashion show organised by The Shoe Loft and entertainment for the kids from Dronfield's Music with Mummy.

- My friend, Helen Bidwell is running the London Marathon on 24th April.

- My cousin, Tracey Morris is cycling 50 miles in one day. Date to be confirmed.

- My cousin, Julie Boyd did an intensive exercise regime everyday in December for 24 days and raised £600.

- My school friends, Elizabeth Benson and Louise Stannard are doing the Dronfield 10k in March.

- My Brother in Law, Luke Robinson, along with my friends Anna Hibberd, Ben Owen and Jessica Burns are doing the Sheffield half Marathon on 10th April 2015, which is also my birthday!

- My friends Maggie Nunn and Bill Cotton are cycling part of the Tour De France route on a Tandem! They will pedal (largely uphill) to Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux in aid of Lymelight4Vanessa.

- My friend, Faye Bartholomew is a holding a cake sale. More details to come.

- My work, Mott MacDonald Limited in Sheffield, ran a raffle back in December raising funds towards ‘Lymelight4Vanessa’. Kindly organised by Kim Lesley Antcliff-Hewitt.

- Abbeys Younique Makeup have a special offer on 3D Fibre Lash Mascara with a donation of £4 for every purchase going toward Lymelight4Vanessa between now and 10th February.

- There is a fundraising night being held at the Akademy Gym in Dronfield on 12th March, by Fallon Dana Marlow and Andy Marlow to include a raffle entertainment and Younique makeup stand. More details to come.

- My Nephew, Jack Boyd, who is just 9 years old, wants to do a fundraising event and is currently in discussions with his head teacher at Eckington Junior School <3

If you would like to sponsor any of these events please go to: https://assets.gogetfunding.com/support-vanessas-fight-aga... and state the person you are sponsoring in the ‘backers and comments’ section.

Thank you to Rachel Mason and John for all your hard work with producing logos tickets and setting up and managing the lymelight4vanessa twitter account.

Thank you to all my family and friends who are helping behind the scenes. You’re all #lymewarriors now.

We have also been working hard to raise awareness about Lyme disease. My story has been published in The Sheffield Star, The Mirror, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Huffington Post UK and even the Turkish News! My sister, Maria, was on BBC Radio Sheffield in January talking about my 12-year misdiagnosis and ongoing battle.

Hopefully this will help towards raising GP awareness and highlight the need for early diagnosis and better treatment options for thousands like me, with late stage disease. We have had people from all over the world contacting us about Lyme disease asking for advice, proving the desperate need for change.

Thank you to everyone who is helping me and my family fight for my life. You really don’t know how much it means to us.

Lots of Love from the US, Vanessa & Laura Wake xXx