Well I am sitting here quite literally with tears rolling down my cheeks and a lump in my throat the size of a watermelon! I have been transfixed by a blog that is so unbelievably amazing that I had to come and share it with you all. Dawny P mentioned this lady to me at her card club a few weeks ago and her name popped in to my head tonight so I thought I’d check her out. Her name is Summer Driggs and she has a blog called Summertime Designs. She is the most amazing digital artist and creates truly exceptional digi scrapbook kits which she gives away for free (yes, you heard me right) on her blog. That on it’s own is seriously impressive but what has me blown away is the personal story of both her and her friend and the agony of each having a beautiful little baby girl with serious medical problems. Summer’s little girl, Claire was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis disease and had a brain tumour removed last August. Since then she has been doing really well and has not long passed her 1st birthday. Her friend Kari had a baby girl, Bree one week after Summer and at 7 months was diagnosed with cancer! It is a hard read but one that makes you stop and check yourself. Was it really all that important that the kids didn’t tidy up their bedrooms when they were told? Or that you haven’t finished your heap of ironing that has been sitting piling up all week? When you read about people like these two amazing women and their precious little babies struggling to live it makes you realise that sometimes, you do take your health, wealth and happiness a little for granted. I have had my own taste of what this is like when my 4th baby, Sophie was born. A few minutes after she was delivered she started to have breathing difficulty and was rushed down to intensive care. The following day she was taken to Alder Hey hospital and diagnosed with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. This is basically a hole in the diaphragm and meant that the bowel, liver and kidney had travelled through to the chest cavity instead of developing in the abdominal cavity. At two days old she had surgery to repair it all and we were told she had a 20% chance of survival. She remained in hospital for nearly three weeks then was allowed to come home. Sophie is amazing and has rarley suffered more than a cold ever since. She will be 5 in June!!
I hope some of you do go and check out Summer’s blog for yourselves and take a wee bit of time to learn about her life and about her friend – get a box of tissues first though!
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