Pick Me Up! 22-Oct-2020

Giving birth to my precious son Ben, I was glad the experience was over. I’d had an awful pregnancy and the birth was traumatic for both of us. During my third trimester, Ben had dropped dangerously low in my pelvis, which meant he was being starved of oxygen. Thankfully, he made it through, but back at home, me and my now husband, Gary, 43, noticed he was missing all of his milestones. Despite being our first child, we knew something wasn’t quite right. For the next two years we were back and forth to the doctors, begging for answers, before finally, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. It was a huge shock to the system, but I was just glad to have answers. After that, we were told that Ben’s…

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Pottering around the house, I fancied some fresh air. ‘Do you want to go for a walk this afternoon?’ I asked my husband, Scott, 46. ‘Sounds great,’ he replied. ‘Let me just get the dog on the lead and we can set off.’ We’d always loved getting outdoors together – especially going on long walks through the rural Pentland Hills, not far from our hometown. While they were young, we’d even roped our kids, Blake, now 19, and Rosie, now 17, into joining our hikes – but now they’d grown up, it was just the two of us once more, accompanied by our pup, Clint. Fridays were often our walking days, to destress from the busy week. But one Friday morning, on 7 February 2020, Scott was feeling unwell. Being…

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Glancing over the room to make sure the kids were happy, I smiled. It was January this year, and I was grateful to have a job managing a children’s home. Working with teenagers with educational and behavioural difficulties, I loved being able to help them get back on their feet. For the past few days, though, I’d been struggling to fight off a niggling headache. I’d taken loads of painkillers, but nothing seemed to work. And now, just as I was about to have my lunch, it suddenly got so much worse. Searing pain rushed through my head, literally stopping me in my tracks. I tried to power on and continue my work, hoping it would go away. But it only got worse. After a while, I couldn’t even think…