A Word of Thanks from Jules to Precious Hearts

Our family had a lovely visitor on Saturday – someone I had only ‘met’ on Facebook until now.  Suzanne and her band of boys took the drive up to our gorgeous mountain (sunny for the first time in a long time!) with an unexpected surprise for Julian.  Nigel and I knew that something was coming for him, but we weren’t sure what, so our surprise was as great as his was!  Now, our lad is always unsure how to react when he receives a gift, so the huge smiles and excitement didn’t really show itself until Suzanne and the boys had left, but it was there, simmering under the surface until he was sure no one was looking!  Too cool to be really excited at 12 you know.  This is how it all went down, in his own words:  

"‘That bag looks familiar,’ I said. Well, it was true. The signature bag of Precious Hearts (Charity for kids undergoing Heart Surgery) looked very familiar indeed. After all, who wouldn’t forget the day they got a bag full of toys and puzzles to play with while you’re waiting for heart surgery? Anyway, in the bag was a large box... a large, heavy box. And then Susie said: ‘That’s for you,’ I didn’t know what to say. The something in the box was for ME. I hurriedly ripped off the paper and opened the box. And there, sitting in that very box, was a laptop. And not just any laptop. An Acer 750 GB Windows 8 laptop! I was speechless. The last time I had my very own laptop was at least 7 years ago now. I was so excited I nearly wet myself. So, I got stuck into setting it up. 

Well my fellow readers of Saving Jules Blog, that’s how it all happened. But enough about me. Let’s start on Precious Hearts. Precious Hearts: “Gives these children a reason to smile, and supports the families who are always right beside their little fighters.” The children the quote speaks of are the many children that have to stay in hospital waiting for heart surgery. 

The signature bag of Precious Hearts can hold a range of different things, like Toys and Crayons, to Puzzle Books and yoyos. The one that I received when I was waiting for heart surgery was the greatest thing I had ever experienced at the time. I can only imagine what it would be like for all the other kids.

Precious Hearts will buy these little rays of enjoyment and puts these into the bags. These bags are then given to the children lying in wait. 

I would like to thank Precious Hearts on behalf of all children with Congenital Heart Diseases. Thank you so much for going out of your way to bring that special spark to all those children with no battery.

Thank you so much for reading my little input to this blog.

Julian Summers."

Thanks Mum and Dad

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.
-- Henry Ward Beecher

I feel like my folks have a sixth sense when it comes to our sanity!  Julian has been quite the handful lately, pushing our boundaries on an emotional level and challenging our parental authority on a daily basis. Yay for pre-teens!

Maybe there’s an underlying exhaustion when we speak, or maybe Mum’s can hear the tremor in your voice easier than most.

Whatever it is, the unexpected offer to have Julian stay for a week (until his sleep test next Tuesday) was exactly what we all needed.  It’s gives us a chance to focus more on Ayan, Ella-Shae and Boey, and it’s gives Julian a chance to have some time to himself away from the pressures of younger siblings and a kitten that wants to play at 2 o’clock in the morning!

Thank you, Mum and Dad.  You are - and have forever been – our rock, our shoulder to cry on and our bolt hole when life gets to be too much.

We all love you more than you could ever possibly realise.

Quick Update

Just a quick update from Julian's catch up appointment yesterday.  All his numbers were stable and really haven't changed much from the last Pulmonary Hypertension clinic, although the distance he walked for his 6-minute walk was down almost 100 metres. 

I also wanted to say 'thank you' to my Mum, Cathie, for driving us in and spending our waiting time having a '7 Words' playoff (it was her and Julian against me, with the 7 Words app on our iPhones!), which I, of course, won!

My folks are our biggest and best support base, and always have been from the day of diagnosis to current day.  They have always dropped everything whenever we have needed them, and I would like to say a huge thank you for always being there for us.