“Motherhood is the hardest job you’ll ever love.”
I’m not sure who first coined that phrase, but its truth becomes clearer to me every day. And nowhere is that truth more evident than in mothers of children with a serious illness.
I often wonder how a mother doesn’t fall apart.
How do they find the words to explain to a child the condition or disease?
How do they hold and care for a child who is suffering?
How do they navigate the medical journey and keep their thoughts balanced between emotions and logic?
The truth is, they don’t know how they manage to keep it together, either; it’s just that they don’t have a choice.
They fight because their children need them to fight. They keep going because if they don’t, who will?
They learn to put their own needs and wants aside, because they value the life of their child much more than their own.
When I think of all this, I think of the relationship between Haley and Imogen Bolton. In a story by Daily Mail, we read about Haley and her child, Imogen, who suffered a lung infection a few weeks after birth.
Following a series of tests, Imogen was diagnosed with a rare illness alveolar capillary dysplasia (ACD).
Doctors put Imogen on the transplant waiting list, despite very low odds that a suitable donor would be found.
I would be in shock, living a surreal life where I gave birth to a healthy baby girl, and within months, my family and I were facing hospitalization, discussions of organ transplant surgery, and uncertainty.
After weeks of waiting, the Bolton family was given the gift of life—the news of an organ donation and a successful surgery for Imogen.
“The reality is that Imogen wouldn’t be here today if the donor family hadn’t made the decision to donate, and we are all hugely thankful to them,” said one of the doctors on her case.
To read about the Bolton’s family journey with ACD, click here.
