When Milla was diagnosed at birth with Down Syndrome Mr V and I knew that this would be one incredible adventure. And 4.5years later we are well immersed in this crazy, fun and rewarding life and couldn’t imagine it any other way. Some days are really hard but mostly we are like any typical family: we work hard, we play hard and we love each other beyond measure.

Milla is an amazing girl. She is loving, caring, hilarious and super clever. She can turn even the most uptight critic and make them reluctantly crack a smile. Despite all of this, she struggles with global developmental delay that is a result of her Down Syndrome. She has regular speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy so she works pretty hard for a 4 year old! But she relishes the support and makes great gains – the more help she receives the more she flourishes. As her mother I am so proud of her – she is doing so well in most areas of her development, however her speech is significantly delayed due to a condition called dyspraxia and she is only saying a few words on a daily basis, instead relying on non-verbal communication.

From pretty early on we knew that we would one day take Milla to the Feuerstein institute in Israel (http://www.icelp.info). We had heard such wonderful things about it and what it can do for children who need more intensive therapy. It’s funny but we never had a timeline in our head of when and how. We just knew that it would happen at some stage and we would know when the time was right. On Milla’s 4th birthday I realized it was time. I wanted to know what she might like for her birthday but I couldn’t ask her as she couldn’t tell me. Cue a flurry of emails and phone calls and within 24 hours we had committed to the program for 8 weeks and booked an apartment  – it was a funny conversation with one of my best friends “Hi, I’m sorry we didn’t chat yesterday but I was really busy… FYI I’ll be overseas for almost 3 months at the end of the year!”.

It was only after we booked that I realized the magnitude of what I was doing. The program would be wonderful – there was no doubt in our minds. It is 4 hours, 5 days a week of intensive speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, and intensive Feuerstein training. Despite the significant financial undertaking, the true cost of this adventure was dividing our family for almost 3 months! Unfortunately it wasn’t feasible for Mr V to leave his business and to join us and while I need to focus on Milla it means that Lulu will be staying at home. Separating a husband and wife, sisters or parents and children is never easy and it is a decision that we are struggling with, but we have had to reluctantly accept that this is about the greater good and the final outcome.

So today is about physically getting ready. Final packing of bags, final farewells to our beautiful friends and family and the final sleep in our own bed! I can’t control what happens on the plane (though melatonin and Valium might have some influence over that!!) or once we arrive in Tel Aviv but I can leave Lulu with as many cuddles as she’ll allow and as much food in the freezer as humanly possible.

So here it is, 9am on Monday morning the day before departure and I am sitting in one of my favourite cafes (OMG I will miss Melbourne coffee!) crying and getting emotional ahead of this adventure in the land of food and culture. I feel selfish being so devastated to leave Melbourne and the world that I know and love – my husband, daughter, dog and everyday life but I am getting glimpses of excitement of the opportunity that awaits us on the other side of the (painfully long) plane trip.

So, thank you for joining in this adventure with Milla and me. I hope it will be everything we have dreamt for Milla and that you enjoy tagging along for what will surely be a once in a lifetime experience.

J x