Personal Journey and Adventures of Nina

Today, it has been two years since mum passed but I still think of her every day. Sounds silly because I'm a grown woman but I feel like an orphan. That last person you know who will undoubtedly and unconditionally love you forever, gone. August 2015 with an Oxygen Tank at home now Mothers Day 2014 Unlike my Dad who was struck with a massive heart attack, Mum's demise was slow and painful.  Diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) or the more familiar condition Emphysema. They gave her 4 years. She lasted 5. There were her countless daily medications.  The immunosuppressant Prednisone, Morphine for pain, Ventolin to ease the airways, Bactrim to ward off infection and Seroquel for depression and more.. On occasion, all this was not enough. Her lungs would collapse and we had to call the ambulance.  She'd have interesting reactions to certain drugs. Hallucinating about being surrounded by angels then whispering to me that we had to

  My son was a patient at The Children's Hospital  at Westmead. First at 8 months of age when his kidney failed and then at 10 months when they removed it. It was a difficult time for us all.  Visiting again, this time as a volunteer photographer, I had to confront the crockpot of intense anxiety and other emotions that envelop you as a parent. But more revealing was having to face the children. The head hanging to their chest and pain glazed eyes, head tilted with a curious expression. "Why does this hurt mummy?" On this visit, however, the intensity was quickly dissolved by the pure joy brought to the faces of these young patients by the highly skilled and very funny clown doctors. What a wonderful gift! Whether finishing a round of chemotherapy or waiting for a kidney transplant, every child was able to find a smile for the clown doctors. Each bedside visit was pure delight. In addition, I witnessed momentary relief among the visiting family. As Gr