The Season To Be Jolly

My Mum was an only child, born to very conservative parents. As a kid, life was pretty dull. As Mum had 3 children of her own, Christmas soon became her favourite day of the year. She loves everything about it – the decorations, the food (especially pork crackling), being surrounded by family and friends, sharing…

And So It Continues ……

 Over the first few days, word of my condition spread far and wide. A special friend, Jen, set up a support page on Facebook in my honour. It not only served as a place for people to leave me well-wishes and words of support, but also a place where friends could find information on my…

Groundhog Day

I have been procrastinating over posting this. This post has no clear theme or structure. It is just bits and pieces that went on day to day and feels a little messy. I guess it reflects my reality in those early days. On my 5th day in ICU, Steve brought the kids up to see…

Reality Bites

The first few days in ICU were pretty surreal. I had a lot of adapting to do and a lot of small procedures to get through. A nasogastric tube was inserted so that I could be fed. I had a catheter in to catch urine. I had a pic line put in, which is an…

Locked-In

Eventually the morning came with the bustle of a shift change. What a relief to feel like I was not alone.I knew that I couldn’t move a thing. Steve woke up and straight away, I was looking to him for answers. I’m sure he could see the fear in my eyes. He was stroking my…

Meet My Family

STEVE Steve is my beloved husband. I met Steve in 1997. I was 22 and he was 37. Despite the age difference, I knew after our first date, that I was in love and he would become my husband. We have had an adventurous marriage – 4 kids in 7 years,  5 major moves and…

The Fall

It was the 13th December 2011. I was sitting at my computer, in my new house. 10 days earlier we had moved 2000km south. Life held so many possibilities:  new school community, new friends, Winters spent skiing together as a family, Summers spent at the coast with my sister and her family, lots of camping…