TBT - 2008 Version

In lieu of a REAL post, I decided I'd do a Throwback Thursday picture post dedicated to the year 2008 (because I'm all lazy that way).  They are not in chronological order, because uh, lazy?  Here we go!



The mighty Cam, fierce soccer player.

Kelsey, before her first brain surgery.

And Kelsey after.  Look at girlfriend rockin' the plaids!

Hubs and the girls at church at Easter.

Kate all dolled up for Homecoming.

Pure, unadulterated joy through Bratz at Christmas.  Oh, yeah!

Band kid, Kelsey, who is 4'11" and marched with a bass clarinet.



The hubs, Cam and I waiting for high school band practice to be over!

The tree that ate my backyard and garage, courtesy of Hurricane Ike.

Still Alive!

The past couple of weeks have been brutal on the family with all the illness running rampant. As I alluded to in the last post, everyone in my household has had some form of upper respiratory infection, ear infection, bronchitis, etc. I blame this in part on the craptastic weather that we have here in our part of Texas. Our poor systems just can't handle the constant flip-flop of temperatures (rainy 30 degrees one day, up to a sunny 75 the next).

On top of all the ookiness (it IS a word - inclusively defined as all the phlegm, snot, and mucous filled sickness), Kelsey landed in the hospital due to cluster seizures caused by dehydration and electrolyte imbalance from being sick. To round the crappy month out, my dad's cancer has spread pretty rapidly and is beginning to affect his mental capacity. The altered mental status plus the uncontrolled pain from disease spread to the bone landed him inpatient, as well. Just like most of the nation, I'll be glad to see the back-end of this winter in my rearview. I've got a couple of posts scheduled for this weekend, a few product reviews coming up, and just life in general updates. Hope everyone is doing well!

Weekend Wrap and Epilepsy Support

This weekend was a slow one for us (which I prefer sometimes). We didn't do much Friday, errands and church on Saturday, lazy laundry day on Sunday, and then breakfast with the in-laws and grocery shopping with the hubs yesterday. I LOVE long weekends!!! The only thing I would have loved more is more sleep. I have been totally exhausted for the last few weeks. Exhausted to the point where I'm trying to fall asleep at 8:30 at night and STILL dragging butt getting out of bed in the mornings. This is how I would have liked to have spent more of my weekend:



On Thursday night I got a text from a friend while we were at the gym asking me to give her a call. When I did, she asked if I could contact a friend of hers whose son had been diagnosed with seizure disorder (age 2 1/2) and she is at her wit's end in knowing how to deal with things. I did give her a call and listened to her and then tried to alleviate some of her worst fears and concerns and provided a shoulder to lean on both then and at any point in the future should she need it.

 The thing is, I remember being where she is now. I remember the diagnosis and feeling like I was alone in the world in dealing with taking care of my daughter with epilepsy. I remember trying to navigate the health care system, trying to understand the drugs and their side effects, trying to stay the course of scholastic difficulties and assistance, all the while watching my daughter suffer from horrific looking seizures. I remember how very very difficult it was for me (pretty much from diagnosis forward I was a single mom dealing with this until my 2nd marriage) and how alone I felt. At the time I didn't know who or how to reach out for support. I didn't know how to access help for Kelsey scholastically. I felt like a huge failure in advocating for my child. I have provided that support for quite a number of families over the last 15 years not because of any reason other than "I remember."

 We are a Christian family and I do believe in divine miracles and have prayed for such a miracle for my daughter. I do believe that God could heal Kelsey in the blink of an eye if it was His will. I do have that kind of faith and I do believe that God answers ALL prayers. That said, I think that a lot of people believe that just because you pray for something, God will automatically grant it and if He doesn't, then a) he must not love you, b) he isn't listening, c) he doesn't really exist, d) insert your own conclusion here. God answers ALL prayers, but not all answers are "yes." Some answers are definitely a "yes," some are a "no," and some are "not yet." For Kelsey, I believe that His answer is "no" and it's not about her or us. I believe that God will use this disorder and how we deal with it for his glory. There have been too many instances where He has moved people into our lives (just like my new friend above) so that they can see how we deal with the disorder and the fall-out and ramifications that go along with it and do it all with our strong faith and our belief intact.

 Thoughts?

God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.  Peter Marshall