The best made plans
18 August 2018 | Tamsin Kingsley
I have three sisters, and things were rarely harmonious between us growing up. I particularly argued with my youngest sister who is 22 months younger than me. We are totally different characters and rarely ‘played nicely together’. That being said, almost all my childhood memories are based around having fun with my sisters; from hours spent on long journeys making our teddies sing in round in the car to zooming down the rapids at Center Parcs pretending to be...
Continue reading...IAQ 3 - Why doesn’t Izzy eat normally?
6 July 2018 | Tamsin Kingsley
‘Is Izzy alright with grapes?’ a friend asked me this morning at play group. I turned round to see Izzy, clearly taking advantage of me being distracted with Lauren to try and shove someone’s abandoned half grape in her mouth. This is the kind of thing that happens regularly with a one year old. They find things, and on finding, the obvious thing to do seems to be to put it in their mouth. If the object is vaguely edible, most parents end up turning a blind eye...
Continue reading...IAQ 2 - What is the deal with Izzy’s breathing, and what are all these different types of oxygen you talk about?
17 June 2018 | Tamsin Kingsley
This is a hard one to answer as we are still not sure why she struggles so much with breathing. Izzy has frustrated our respiratory consultant from day one. He’s always very keen for surgeons to have a look down her throat, and always disappointed when they don’t find anything particularly exciting. He wants to fix her but it’s hard when we don’t really know what the problem is...
Continue reading...IAQ 1 (Infrequently Asked Question 1) - Do you have extra doctors appointments and stuff?
8 June 2018 | Tamsin Kingsley
I do it myself more often than I’d like to admit. Nod along to a conversation that is going completely over my head. Either the subject matter is one of the many embarrassing holes in my general knowledge, or it’s a subject that’s so close to the heart of the ‘talker’ that they forget to explain fully in a way that someone else can understand. I worry that I sometimes make that mistake myself when talking about Izzy and our life as it is now. Maybe I have an overactive imagination...
Continue reading...How I’ve managed to cope so well!
26 April 2018 | Tamsin Kingsley
Something we hear a lot is people telling us how well we are coping. If I question this, it is usually followed up by something like ‘oh but you are, you’re doing so well/ I would be a complete mess in your situation/ I don’t know how you stay so strong’. Obviously, everyone means to be supportive and positive which I really appreciate, and often this has been a great encouragement. The strange thing is that I have been told how well I am coping both when I’m feeling...
Continue reading...Tamsin Kingsley
I am a 33 year old living in Leeds with my husband and two children. I am a full time mum and carer to Lauren, 7 years and typical, and Izzy, 5 years with Down's Syndrome. Izzy has complex health needs mostly due to her low muscle tone, and struggles with feeding and breathing, resulting in tons of appointments and hospital admissions. Both children are happy and full of life, and our family all love each other very much.
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