just under halfway and finally the whiskers don't itch as much !! I am growing fond of this organic balaclava !!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Here is a piece I wrote about Iona, my inspiration for undertaking this challenge.

Iona was to breathe by herself when they said she won't.

Iona was to wake when they said she couldn't.

Iona was to recover from mild addiction to morphine.

Iona had to relearn all the things we take for granted that a 19 month old toddler can manage to do, come to think about it EVERYTHING from when being born.

Iona learnt to swallow liquid again, before attempting solid food.

Iona learnt how to turn her head, something that seemed impossible for her at the time.

Iona learnt to raise her head and use her arms , so painful to watch as she struggled to master this.

Iona fell ill time and again with the meningitis that devastated her in the first place, despite being flooded with very powerful IV antibiotics. Something the doctors said "Shouldn't happen"

Iona mastered all the things she was robbed of during that time, it wasn't to happen overnight but she did it.

After that we found Iona to be robbed of her hearing and her balance, a new fight another hurdle. We tried to kid ourselves it was a small price to pay, given her initial prognosis.

Iona received a cochlear implant aged (almost) 3 years old (right ear), a second one (left ear) July 2010.

Iona continues to make progress and  slowly but surely masters the things she wants to.

Iona has a good vocabulary in sign language and a growing vocabulary in spoken word and understanding of hearing spoken word.

Iona can trampoline and make the grade for styles and turns, something which is amazing really when you consider she struggled to walk to the middle without falling over when she first started.

Iona has mastered swimming to a level which I never thought she would, again balance being her biggest opponent.

 

Iona my eldest daughter, born to achieve, lives to prove wrong, continues to succeed.

 

If ever you ask me how I am, I will tell you I am fine, for always a little part of me is still in St.Mary's PICU willing Iona to recover.  It is then when I realise how lucky I really am. Even when times are a struggle.

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