Nominate to Appreciate

Tuscany Now are holding a competition to win a weekend in their Limonaia villa this October.  The competition is to pass on an act of kindness to someone special in your life #TuscanyNominate.  Readers may recall a post I wrote in March about my wonderful mum, well here is an update;

My mum has supported me through all of the light and dark times throughout my life.  As I’ve mentioned previously, mum was told at 19 she couldn’t have children, but fell pregnant a year after marrying my dad.  After giving birth, mum haemorrhaged and was rushed to theatre, I nearly lost her.  Roll on 7 years and mum required a life-saving operation, she was given a 50% chance of survival, but she’s a fighter and she made it through.

I’ve mentioned several times that I was diagnosed with panic disorder at 17, but had been suffering since the age of 13;

“At 13, my panic disorder kicked in. For me it starts with a burning sensation down my arms, then shaking from head to toe, hyperventilating, vommitting, and finally I pass out. Mum took me to the doctors, where she was told I was too young to be given medication. She looked into every alternative therapy possible to try and get me better and spent a fortune on Reiki, Hypnosis, Acupuncture etc. The disorder got worse and when doing my A-levls & bachelors degree, we ended up in hospital about 4 times as I would collapse in the early hours. Mum had to support me through this on her own, as my dad’s job would take him to the other side of the world. I remember telling her “I just want to die”, over and over again, just to make the panic attack stop. That must be SO hard for a mother to hear, but she was my rock. The only person who could calm me down was my mum.”