*Edited extract from Through Thick And Thin by Rosemary Conley (SPCK, £19.99), published on August 18. To pre-order for £16.99 with free UK P&P, visit expressbookshop.com or call 020 3176 3832 ...

It is every parent's worst nightmare: being told by doctors your sick child is unlikely to reach her 10th birthday. But that's what mine, Oswald and Celia, were warned after years of poor health ...