Twenty One Days: Mike Rocks Everest

The positive part of experiencing IVF treatment though, is that it turns you into a fairly calm parent, as personally I realise how lucky Mike and I are to have become parents at all. It’s actually a huge feeling of humility and gratitude to carry on one’s shoulders. This is probably difficult to understand for those of you who were able to bring children into this world naturally. Trying to explain the diagnosis of infertility is impossible. If having children is what you always dreamt of, to be told that having children may not possible, is the most shattering experience ever.

Myself, I felt like I had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer, after my consultant told me the news. I struggled to pull myself together and pick myself up off the floor. I felt blackness like I had never ever known. Thick blackness all around me. No hope. No future. Even Mike couldn’t understand my bleakness. I felt like my heart had been torn out. You see, I could imagine Dylan and Evan from the beginning. Back in 1986, when I first met Mike, I could visualise my blonde imaginary family. The idea that I had to wave goodbye to my imaginary boys was unthinkable.

Our infertility problem was my problem. I just assumed that Mike would be part of the problem, due to his cancer diagnosis (back in 1995, Mike was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma and again, we weren't given a great deal of hope at the time).

You can imagine my shock, when after a battery of tests and then finally a laparoscomy, I was woken from my post-general anaesthetic state to be told my fallopian tubes were blocked (as a result of an appendicitis operation just before I met Mike in 1985). IVF was our only hope.

So the reason I’m not up 'the' mountain, is because all my prayers were answered and IVF became our salvation. What would Mike and I have done without medical science?

Unfortunately, my miracle babies woke me up at 6am!! Consequently, there has been no time to miss Mike and I even forgot to call him at our pre-arranged time of 7am UK (12.30 noon ish) for Mike. Hilariously, as I discovered later, Mike had also forgotten to expect my call (ie. to step outside a building in order to receive my satellite call) and instead was happily ensconsed in a recording studio with his fellow musicians, Slim Jim, (Stray Cats), Glenn Tilbrook, (Squeeze), Nick Harper, Cy Curnin (The Fixx), Jamie West-Oram (The Fixx) Some things never change!

I spent the day rushing between the school runs, fielding calls and emails, taking a meeting with our insurance guy, Glyn Berwyn (Diolch Tonto!) who covers all our rock and roll insurance needs, with boys in tow and then finally helped out by Nana Marj (Mike’s Mum) and Nana Dot (my Mum). Thank you parents! What would we do without you???!

I tried and failed to hook up the Daily Post with Mike in his hotel in Kathmandu and then finally contacted Mike myself via James Chippendale and Alex Coletti (whilst both our boys were having a bedtime 'bath' ball in the background) as we exchanged with difficulty (amidst the bathtime high jinks) our news of the day. The time delay tonight made it difficult to get a good conversation rhythm going but Dylan was able to chat with Daddy and ask about his ‘gig in the clouds’.

Mike and the gang had experienced a terrifically busy day. Today they had been in the studio and had also filmed the first podcast (check it out at everestrocks.com). Perversely, just before heading up the wooden hill, I was able to watch Mike sharing his Everest experiences on line. It was so good to see him, looking fit, healthy and happy. It was gone 11pm for them and they would be up in a few hours to catch a plane and begin their trek finally! By the time, I wake up, they will be well on their way. What an amazing world we live in!