A BIG decision, being Christlike, Fibromyalgia, and Happy Birthday Daniel

November 13, 2013

It's cold outside, the chill and gray colors have slowly replaced our warm fall leaves and yesterday we had our first little snow fall in the morning.

I remember last year, anticipating Daniel's surgery with great fear but with great excitement as well. And now a year almost later, he has shown that it was definitely a great decision.

Daniels spine AFTER

Daniel's spine before!!

 

Making great decisions is not always that simple. There can be great risks involved that really completely lie on your shoulders. The life or death decisions for your child.  But I have felt all throughout Daniel's life that having a concept of "giving him the BEST quality of life that we can" has to continue to be the focus.  It doesn't mean we want him to do things that we do, even if he can't, like forcing him to eat and aspirate. It means preventing illnesses and dangers that will make him sick, and possibly fatally sick.

My life has been a non stop road of managing Daniel's care, dealing with troubled emotional relationships, facing the demons of depression, living in a world as a complete anomaly as a Mom. For instance,always being the only Mom pushing the wheelchair across the Night Hawks football

Daniel at football, number one fan, always with an entourage

field, accepting myself as a caregiver and accepting that I left a career behind to care for my child, desperately trying to make ends meet financially since only one full time job doesn't pay it all when you have a medically fragile child in your home, non stop advocacy and management of so many issues in the special needs world I simply can't list it, being there for my daughter as she went through High School and into college,

Sarah's graduation day 

and being there for my youngest son as he moves into his teen years.  Of of course there is a marriage of 21 years full of ups and downs with many days where I just cry myself to the point of dehydration, and then we face eachother and agree that we need to keep trying and do still have love, but need to heal,  and managing the home.

Probably should also mention, that I have been stricken with incredibly bad fibromyalgia to the extent that some days I am so stiff and in so much pain that I can't function.  The pain limits my enthusiasm for exercise, and my tendency to eat my emotions leads to weight gain.  Weight gain makes it harder to breath at night and then you don't get enough oxygen, and that prevents or slows down weight loss.   I spend every day in pain.  And sometimes the pain management is helpful, but other times nothing seems to help.

So the cold just rips through me like knives.  It is bad.  But I never falter in my daily trek of getting up to change Daniel and get him ready for school. 

Now we face the end of the 2013 year.  So much has happened since this time last year.  Good things and bad things.  Today, I am focused on birthdays that are coming. Sarah is 18 on November 20th. And Daniel is 16 on November 22nd.  

John says there will be no bonus for Christmas this year, and honestly I can't even think that far ahead. I have too many things juggling in every crazy direction.  I am in such a bad financial state most of the time, that just keeping things running is a great achievement.  Sometimes, it gets good, but then whammy bam bang boom, something goes wrong. Again.  And I carry on.

Working flexibly part time now, has been an interesting adventure.  I became licensed at the end of September for Property and Casualty, auto, home, life, etc.  for Allstate Insurance with an agency in Monroe, CT.  I really like the agent in the office, but he hasn't been able to pay me since August due to cash flow struggles. He is a great insurance agent, but his partner died in December 2012, and its been a rough road for him.   So ironically I'm working for free when I really need to be doing other critical Daniel related things.  And the money I am earning, is supposed to be paying bills.  I don't know what I am going to do.   

Isn't it ridiculous that my dream is to get myself into an excelerated BSN program and become a nurse.  If I can embrace the ugliest parts of the medical world, many which I have seen, I know that would completely love it.  

All I want to do is find a career where I can give back to the world.  I'm not sure that insurance is that place.   So how do I wriggle my way out of this when I can't seem to get to the end of each of month with a panic attack followed by a few days of meditation and prayer to revitalize my soul.  

So many people over the years have reached out to help Daniel.  In my heart, every time it happens, I just want to turn around and say God, What can I do?  How can I be your vehicle to give back.   

And the answer to giving back is never quite clear. Except sometimes a miracle happens when a child will meet Daniel, and learn about the world of a medically fragile child like Daniel, and that child will take on the task of volunteering, and helping a child like Daniel.  Years later, I learn that some of these kids are doing all sorts of volunteer work, and in a round about kind of way...letting them know Daniel, has given back.

I am just a 47 year old woman.  I'm no where near perfect.  I have many flaws, but I'm also not the career driven person that I was back in 2000.  I have an MBA, in Human Resources.

Before Work one morning...

Not only did I complete my degree while working full time, I was integrally a part of executive management and I truly most enjoy the training and development part of my job.  People make me tick, helping people, seeing them succeed.  There was nothing more exciting that promoting someone who had worked so hard, and seeing their face light up during that meeting when we promoted them.  I loved my job.  

As time went by, however, little Daniel in daycare became bigger Daniel with seizures, surgeries, sicknesses, and school issues.  His needs would make me worry at work.  Phone calls would come and I would have to leave, always promising to come in at 6 the next day.  My company didn't care about Daniel.  And the race home to Newtown worrying about him, because so bad that I would pray for changes.  

Daniel had his first hip surgery in 2004 I think??  I don't remember exactly. But by then I was no longer working.  I remember sitting with him, right after that double hip osteotomy and hamstring lengthening, and watching him in pain. I would demand that the nurses get the pain team, because he was having a reaction to morphine, and I learned how aggressive I needed to be to help my son.  It was during that stay at Yale when looking into Daniel's eyes I promised him I would be completely there for him.  No more nanny, just Mom.  No matter what it would take.

Now this also came at a time when our medical bills were so enormous, and our other bills were piled high, and we had exhausted all resources to make minimum payments, and more kept coming.  John's insurance didn't cover everything.  Daniel had to go on a long long waiting list for state insurance through a title 19 waiver.  So it was 5 more years of hell.  Of almost losing the house, of filing a partial bankruptcy to clear out the giant pile of debt, thankfully keeping the house and assets.  Well, whatever assets there were.  We had a very helpful and compassionate lawyer who helped us get through a bad time.   And of course, any past debt issues like that haunt you for years, resulting in problems from a parent perspective with Sarah's college.   I just keep going.  It's all you can do.  And I say it, again, and again, and again, and again, "this society, our social programs, our country, does not care about the middle class families who have this type of extremely debilitating circumstance." They want us to be living in poverty with absolutely nothing before they provide any help."   I posted an interview with Russell Brand a little while back, on one of my blog entries.  I won't keep going on that topic.  It makes me cry.

At some point, once I had become full time advocate, Mom, financial manager, care giver of Daniel, something inside my body triggered the Fibromyalgia.  I began hurting physically.  Hurting all the time.  Depression got worse, and I was not sleeping.  Everything got harder and harder, even though I tried to keep a smile on my face.  I kept wondering WTF am I being punished for now? 

As I've mentioned in the past, Daniel had a virus in utero called CMV, Cytomeglia Virus. It attacked the formation of his brain. The virus came from me, obviously.  And it is quite logical that the virus also was the trigger for the onset later in life, of the Fibromyalgia.  There is medical evidence, even though no one can admit it.  If YOU have never heard of CMV, and you are pregnant or planning on having children...please educate yourself about it.

So the journey goes on.

 Julie managing pain. Julie managing Daniel. Julie managing Sarah and Thomas with all of their unique needs and dreams. Julie managing the financial state of affairs. Julie reaching out for help. Julie going to years of pyscho therapy, which I am not afraid to admit.  And Julie begging her husband to deal with his own depression, anger, and physical issues...all to no avail.  So the anger cycle in the house was never broken, and Julie had to do all of the above, always never knowing when an explosion would rock the house.   With compassion, and patience, praying for her husband to understand things from her, well, from MY point of view.  I'm not sure that he has ever accepted the fact that I believe Daniel needs a full time care giver and "manager" per se.   He blames all of our problems on my decision not to work full time.  Which is completely ridiculous in my opinion based on all that I have done for Daniel's life.

So you see, there is so much when you peel away at the layers.  One thing attributing to another thing...  complicated.  I have always been a type A person, wanting to resolve problems. Desiring to talk things through. Advocate of therapy. Wanting to put things out there and face things.  But within my midst was the opposite point of view.  Such as, keep things private. We do not discuss our family issues in public.  Things should be kept quiet. People should take care of their own, and not others. And so on.  This, to me, is a torturous and lonely existence.  Because I believe that God calls us to be brothers and sisters.  I believe that we are on this earth together as one, and part of our love for Jesus is to let him live through us.  That is my spirituality. I don't prescribe to a list of specific "you must do this, and you must do that" or else you do not get into Heaven.  

ON my baptism day at Walnut Hill  community Church

I have let my spiritual self evolve by opening my eyes to the Lord and letting his spirit guide me.  A personal relationship.  And through our personal relationship with God, he calls on us to be loving and to help eachother.


So, no, I will never live in a bubble of "our family is a quiet, non spoken, private, affair".  As you clearly can see, I affirm that in my approach to life.

As do many many other great prophets, philosophers, and just people in general.  But needing eachother, and helping eachother, we are learning and growing in Christ.  To be Christlike, to me anyhow, does not mean to just care about yourself.  

And so, I reach out. I embrace others. I love the children, and the animals. I ask for help because I honestly and completely need help. The universe will present to me a miracle some times, and other times I face stress.  I love this town of Sandy Hook, CT. It is my home.  It is the home of my family.  I do not want to leave here, because the schools and the teachers are so incredible.  My friends and neighbors are beautiful people.  Yes, it is the place where tragedy struck on 12/14/12 and yet, the compassion and love that emerged from that surely made the bonds much tighter.   So I do everything I can to keep my house, to provide for my family, to support my husband while he works so very hard at his job, and to, again, keep the concept going of "giving Daniel the best quality of life that we can".

No matter what it takes.  

Please send a birthday card to Daniel, he is turning 16 on November 22 and we are having a "Card Shower" for him.

35 Bennetts Bridge Road
Sandy Hook, CT  06482

Thank you, if you are one of my friends who has come to the end of this blog entry.  I love you.  I am so grateful for friendships, for prayer, and people who genuinely understand how hard this journey is.  I will be forever grateful and forever have you in my prayers.  

Wow.  All that I just wrote there..  Came out of me like lava.  lol.

My motivational Moment of the day

Facing the Giants - It's all heart from here

Everyday when I wake up, there are giants looming all around me.  Waving weapons of responsibility, advocacy, fixing things, bills to paid, phone calls, piles of papers, things to review, appointments to get to, procedures to schedule, earn money$$$, work harder, house is falling apart, kids need clothes, therapy, college, mortgage, utilities, doctors, supplies, medicine, laundry, manage it all giants.  Giants each wearing a jersey that says what they are. They intimidate me and make me want to pull the covers over my head.

But I have no choice but to face them.  There will be a day when the giants become virtually insurmountable and the decision to push will not be an option.  We are that way, when we protect a child.  Nothing else matters.  And when you have a child with special needs, who is incapable of doing anything for themselves for the rest of their life, indirectly that is a giant you have to dance with for the rest of that child's life.

This video is not about a highschool football team.  It's about the gift of leadership.  This coach pushes Brock farther than he ever thought he could possibly go.  Because Brock couldn't see, and he just had faith in himself and in his coach.   "It burns", "I know it burns!!!".... "It's all heart from here"

I feel like life does that to people.  People go about a life, that is safe, controlled and comfortable.  They have what they need, and they proceed in a routine way.  No disabled people, no sick people...just normal life.   

And then there are the people who face great trials. The birth of a severely disabled child, cancer of a loved one, loss of a child, losing a job and all security, and whatever Giant "Giant" falls upon them.  

You then put your faith to the test.  It's then that you realize the true meaning of  "its all heart from here".  Blood, sweat, tears, pain, and you just keep on pushing.   Putting yourself out on a limb and leaving it all in God's hands you just keep on going.  Then you fall down.  It's give up time. It's time to just say forget it, I'm too weak, it burns, it hurts too much, I can't do it.  And while you lay in your defeat a voice says to you...  "Give me your best Julie.  This is NOT your best.  Get up.  Don't stop. It's all heart from here.  I'm here for you. I am with you. I love you. I will sustain you. Get up. You are better than this. Don't fall to despair and don't fear, because when you get to the end of this difficult road, it will simply turn into another difficult road.  Winding and winding and winding.  But I will be here.  Don't stop.  You will be rewarded.  I know it's hard.  I know.  Don't look at others.  Their choices are different.  You have no choice.  I know you won't stop. 

So, I take a shower.  Drink 3 cups of coffee.  Pull my messy hair up in a clip and sit down at my desk, facing those giants.  Or sometimes I just ignore them.  Or sometimes I just pray for help.  Or sometimes I need help.  But I don't go back to bed. I don't sob into my pillows until Daniel comes home from school.  I make calls to doctors, I call about bills, I negotiate with creditors, I figure out the oil price plan, I order more diapers, I order more medicine, I schedule a 6 month assessment with DSS, and then I go outside to walk my little dog Henry.  We practice his commands, and we take a walk.  I am definitely not alone.  

Faith lifts me back up, every time I remember to ask God to please please please lift me up.  

I can't wait until Daniel gets home from school each day.  It's a gift that he's healthy and with me.  And it's all heart from here.

Monday. What...no BIG STORM THIS WEEK???

Today is November 12, 2012.  Monday.  About 16 days until Daniel goes in for his surgery on his spine.  I feel like the world is kind of closing in on me. Between Sarah's college applications, my schedule of MOM things...

Today Daniel's bed is being repaired, later his lift system. Routine wear and tear, the boy is getting older, and taller.

It was a blessing yesterday to bring Daniel back to church, and for me to have time to worship.  I had not been in so long...  months and months.  I felt revived and connected to Jesus when I left, and I'm trying very hard to maintain my faith and positive feelings.

At least there is no SNOW or bad weather predicted.  We can accept that.

Parties to plan... Daniel is 15 on November 22, and Sarah is 17 on November 20....

MY creative side is napping right now so I am going to end this post.  My MOM "things to get done" side is taking over because I have things to do, places to go....    as always.

We were still cleaning up from Hurricane Sandy this weekend....  I think finally everyone is back to normal, even with another nor easter that hit last Wednesday, gave us snow...but the snow melted fast.  We won't forget this Superstorm...   and I have to keep reminding myself that our home really really needs a generator.