This time last year, we were in Edinburgh Sick Kids A&E, hundreds of miles from home, receiving devastating news about our son and the tumour they had found growing in his chest pressing on his spinal cord. What followed is a year I never want to repeat. 1/22
The cancer is, for now, in remission but the paralysis caused by the spinal cord injury remains, though our son's recovery is still evolving so we don't know yet how things will look in the end. 2/22
The hardest part of the last few weeks has been revisiting the anniversaries of the first time he complained of backache, the first time he said his leg was tingling, the first time he stumbled or fell over for no reason & the constant drumbeat of what-if, what-if, what-if. 3/22
But listening to that beat isn't constructive or helpful and it doesn't change where we are now. So for the last few weeks anytime I've felt it getting too loud and too overwhelming, I've added to my list of thanks... 4/22
because, despite all the terrible, frightening, devastating things we've experienced this year, there have been so many reasons to feel grateful and to say thank you. We have never felt so loved and supported by the communities we are part of (both in real-life and online). 5/22
Thank you to our wonderful #NHS, to the nurses, doctors, consultants, surgeons, anaesthetists, radiologists, pharmicists, physios, OTs, play therapists, school teachers & many more who looked after our son, saved his life & aided his recovery without it costing us a penny ❤️6/22
Thank you to all the charities that have helped in ways big & small: @macmillancancer @CLIC_Sargent @BeadsCourageUK @SupershoesUK @LPTrustUK @ChiIdreninNeed @RaysofSunshine @whenyouwishUK... 7/22
...and especially @backuptrust who are guiding us so well with mentoring, training, resources and activities, through the process of adapting our lives after spinal cord injury. 8/22
Thank you to everyone in our lives local, afar and online for all manner of helpful and supportive gestures. Thank you for filling our freezer with home-cooked meals for months and for baking cakes and cookies and generally making sure we were looking after ourselves. 9/22
Thank you for feeding our dogs and taking them for walks and popping in to check they were ok when we had to spend long days at the hospital. 10/22
Thank you for doing our washing & cleaning when we couldn't. Thank you for providing childcare during the day, overnight, for distraction, for babysitting so we could have a night out & thank you for helping our older son feel safe when we couldn't be there for him. 11/22
Thank you for bringing our son's friends to visit in hospital and for organising birthday parties and activities that he could be involved in, and thank you to everyone who took the time and patience to talk to their children about what was happening so... 12/22
... when they spent time with our son, they weren't afraid of how he looked or daunted by the medical equipment he was surrounded by. 13/22
Thank you to everyone at our son's school and the children in his class who have made his return to school so easy and allowed him to be the same boy he has always been and not defined by his wheelchair. 14/22
Thank you to work colleagues who offered support and help while I was away, made returning to work much easier than it could have been and for understanding when some days were hard. 15/22
Thank you for the thoughtful gifts - so many! - that offered distraction & entertainment during the hospital months. Thank you for helping us organise days out, get togethers & family celebrations. Thank you for researching activities & places & organisations to help us. 16/22
Thank you to everyone who travelled to see us - some of you coming from a long way away on many occasions, offering help and support. Thank you to every single one of you who kept us in your thoughts and... 17/22
...thank you for the phone calls and messages sending us love and encouragement, asking us how we were all doing and checking what you could do to support us. Thank you to those I only know online, and some I didn't know at all, who sent us messages of hope and courage. 18/22
Thank you, especially, to those people who were able to listen to some of our darkest thoughts, absorbing our fears and not reflecting them back to us. That was so invaluable and something we needed that so much. 19/22
Finally, thank you to our Ward 84 family - the parents, children and angels - we are so grateful for the support and friendship you gave us when you were also going through the hardest thing you've ever faced. You are all extraordinary and we send you so much love. 20/22
We know there are still challenges ahead but we head towards 2020 with hope and the knowledge that we are surrounded by the most wonderful bunch of people who we can rely on no matter what is thrown our way... 21/22
.... Thank you times a millon. We wish every one of you peace and happiness for the New Year ❤️❤️❤️22/22
