Gastroenteritis

Well, before carrying on with our America trip, I am blogging about an awful 48 hours. My family have all been attacked by a violent Gastro bug. Even Tali and Andrew. I so far have been ok but my stomach started growling today. I am determined to befine though. I need to be well.

Yesterday we almost had to rush Tali to hospital - she had not taken any solids in for 36 hours - thankfully though we managed to get some liquids into her. We decided to leave it until the morning. Thankfully she has had a little fruit and toast and sips of water. Lets pray that she keeps it down. The site of her wretching scares me so much. She looks so skinny.

This morning though she is moving and chatting more so fingers crossed.

Thank God for friends and family - my friend Susan whisked off our middle child yesterday as she was better so that I could tend to the rest of te family. Mum came round Friday but I had to keep her away yesterday as I didn't want her to catch the bug - too much risk as she is going to a village in Nepal with no medical resources. She left for the airport this morning but after spending so much time with us, I am worried about her on the plane.

Andthen there is Dad - how I do miss him: He was always here. Such a constant in my life. When there is any turbulence, his very clear logical, dependant personality, is something I miss so much. he was so mathematical, so practical. Sometimes it drove me mad but now I miss his consistency more than ever. If you ever wanted a weighed up situation, he was there.

Time has come to make another important decision - do I continue to send Tali to nursery? I really think that although she loves it, there is too much risk. I will try and organise my own activities and try to attend toddler groups and build up her strength and re-visit the nursery issue in September. In facct my sister-in-law gave me loads of ideas in the States and between these ideas, my stimulation room, swimming and getting mum to do yoga with her when possible, perhaps this could be a new exciting start. Lets really get her strong.

Cleveland Clinic

On the 3rd June, Tália and I waved goodbye to the family and set off on our journey to the States. Apart from crying non-stop for the first two hours, Tália was really good and slept the rest of the journey.

Before we knew it we had landed in JFK. From here onwards I knew that everything would be easier as from here onwards my sister-law would be with me. That was just such a comfort. After the heart-breaking family news, I really was so grateful to have someone with me, someone I could trust and just be myself with. Really, having her with me made my life so much easier and Tália ever so happy, to be the centre of our attention.

My sister-in-law has worked with special needs so she was immediately right in there, stimulating Tália and working especially with her hands and hypersensibility, teaching her to hold food etc. It was ongoing, natural therapy and Talia was in her element.

The Clinic made quite an impression on us - I dont think either of us imagined the magnitude of it all. Our hotel was linked by Skywalks interconecting us to the clinic - we didn't even need to step out. Withtin the structures were cafes, restaurants - it was like a mini village. This was ideal for Tali as after tests, we could just rush back to te hotel room without having to put her in a car and commute for ages.

What does it all mean?

Well, its been a long time since I last wrote. Lots has happened - it seems like an eternity to me. Unfortnately on the 31st May we had some very sad family news. My heart and prayers go out to my cousin and all the immediate family, as she lost her son to a form of meningitis. Zubin was a beautiful, radiant and fun-loving 3 year old boy. A special gift.

Life is so transient and losing a child so young must be so so difficult. It is hard to sometimes understand why we spend our lives working to build our homes and lives and then suddenly someone is taken away from us. Nothing is permanent - I keep on having to repeat this to myself. We all seem so fragile and cannot control anything.

I only wish that I could have been with my cousin at the funeral but as fate should have it, I needed to be in the US with Tali and Tali canot fly to HK as she cannot be in a polluted environment and the smog there is pretty dense.