Why my son is my hero

A month ago today, our son Torben was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect, it was a complete shock to us all as Torben had shown no signs or symptoms that anything that serious could be wrong with him. A heart murmur was only brought to our attention when I took Torben to the doctors in early December for a persistent cough.  After the diagnosis we found ourselves facing the reality of heart surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital and I am pleased to say we are now eleven days post Torben’s operation and Torben is quickly returning to his normal self.

Needless to say this last month has been incredibly stressful, emotional and darn right scary. I am absolutely amazed by Torben’s resilience and recovery, he’s only two and is far braver than his parents! This is why he’s my hero.

Torben will require lifelong monitoring and regular check ups but that’ll become our new norm. For all that we’ve been through this last couple weeks, we are grateful for the Doctors that diagnosed his condition and referred him. Without it, we could have faced a very different reality.

So why am I posting this?!  Once again to praise some of the most hardworking and amazing people walking this planet. The GP’s, the Doctor’s, the nurses, the admin staff, the volunteers and pretty much everyone involved in getting us to this point, all of which work for the NHS.  As for Great Ormond Street Hospital, the things they are able to do are beyond words and the care we received especially from some of the nurses who were working 12+ hour days at just the age of 22, wow, what a responsibility, you amaze me and we are forever grateful.

Our gratitude extends to all our family, friends and work colleagues who have helped us stay sane (well almost), offered us support and have been there for us. The 3.5 of us are so incredibly lucky to have people like you in our lives and to have parents like we do, without them or their support we’d be crumbling messes.  I’m not sure words are enough to express our thanks to everyone but we truly are thankful for every text, visit and help we’ve received.

When you come across a bump in the road like this, you realise how important life is and how some of the little things are so insignificant.   So for all the reasons above, we wanted to give something back. If we could raise even just £150 for Great Ormond Street, then we’d be grateful as every little helps and we can vouch for that after our week's stay in hospital.  I’d love to say I’m going to run a marathon but when I’m due to have a baby next month I think I’d be kidding myself.  But there’s always next year, hey Ben?!

I know there are lots of worthy causes, but this is our one and if you fancy sparing a bit of change please do or if not, no worries.  If you’ve read this post and suddenly think to yourself, maybe I should go get checked out whether that’s you or your child or you know what, I’m not going to sweat over that little thing. Then it’s been worth writing.