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Beating the odds EMILY NORMAN
If there was one word to describe Liv Robinson, it would be “survivor”. The Wairarapa College old girl has had neurosurgery twice, pneumonia three times, and is blind. But those setbacks haven’t stopped her from making goals and striving to be the best version of herself she can be. Her, and her mother Maggie say they have learned to take back their lives with the help of a free self-management course offered by Compass Health. The courses are designed for people with long term chronic health conditions like diabetes, heart condition, stroke, high blood pressure, arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and weight concerns. Maggie initially enrolled in the course in June to be Liv’s support person “because I care for her as my daytime job”, she said. “But as the weeks went on, I realized I was actually learning quite a bit for myself.” The Robinson family have been through a lot this past decade. Ten years ago, Liv, at the age of 20, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour behind her eyes where her optic nerves crossed over. She had been studying geography and development at a university in Wellington at the time. “Liv’s tumour was a rare tumour. One in 10 million we were told,” Maggie said. “I tried for three years to get it diagnosed and suddenly, somebody took notice of me. “I was being told I was an anxious mother. It was maddening. “In that time the tumour had grown to the size of a walnut, and I wasn’t being taken seriously.” It was only by chance that Liv was seen
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by a young locum who requested a CAT scan, and the tumour was discovered. From there, all the wheels were in motion and Liv was taken to Wellington Hospital where she had neurosurgery, accompanied by 25 doses of radiation over a span of a couple of months. “The thing about Liv is she is such a rarity,” Maggie said. “She has survived the odds, she’s had pneumonia three times, she had pneumonia and septicaemia at the same time in 2013 and I was told she was five minutes away from death at Wairarapa Hospital.” “They got the Westpac rescue helicopter in… and we landed on the roof of Wellington Hospital and she was taken to Intensive care where she remained for 21 days. “In that time, we were praying and hoping she would respond. “She was really sick. She was in this coma for about a week, and I knew she could hear me so I was talking about everything under the sun.”
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Maggie Robinson and her daughter Liv. PHOTO/EMILY NORMAN
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