My Fighter As I have held two of my three girls' hands in ICU, whilst they each fought for their lives I love them. I love them so much it makes all else disappear. I love every part of them so much it hurts. Coming close to losing a child is one of the most painful of life’s experiences. We were lucky enough to have walked out of the hospital with all of our three children, but it is an experience that you cannot prepare yourself for. The machines, the lines, and breathin

There is a saying that ‘life passes you by while you are busy making other plans’. Building for the next step, and being so focused on what that next step might bring. In the meantime life is happening all around you. Having a seriously ill child makes you stop and see the small things, possibly things that were taken for granted. While watching my children become more and more unwell, the simple things in life were slowly being taken away from us one by one. The things we we

I am very aware of the extra appointments we sustain for our chronically ill children. There is a huge difference in the organising, and record keeping that goes into managing a chronically ill child, than a child who is well and healthy. Our 7-year-old has never been admitted into hospital herself, and while this sometimes strikes me as unusual, not all children have. We don't have to keep folders of paperwork for her, or test results, or referrals, or reports. But for o

Watching the sun rise on the most eastern point of Australia Having chronically ill children means just that. It is ongoing, relentless. Losing your identity to motherhood can be hard, but even more so when you have one, two or more children who are chronically ill. Since my children have become chronically unwell I have seen my life turn in a direction I never envisaged. Sometimes finding the silver lining when all has turned to disarray can be quite difficult. As illne

In ICU with one of my beautiful girls Mother guilt is one of those things that can touch each of us at some point. All of us feel it for different reasons, or can relate to it. But can you imagine the weight of knowing that you are the reason that your child suffers on a daily basis. That you are the reason that they have had to fight for their lives, endured so much pain, spent years hospitalised, and have missed a lot of their childhood. Then times that by two, and you la