Who Was I This Summer Break?

Welcome back!

The summer blog pause is over, and I'm back to writing.

Summer break this year was (pause.....think of an adjective) unique.

Many things happened in the two months I have been away from the blog. Some of these intense events were planned, which is why I took a break. I'm not a writer who typically writes about current events in my life that are serious. I need time to process and emotionally work through them. 

There were times this summer when I sat back and asked, "Who am I?"

Seriously. Who was I?

Well, I seemed to be:

A sweet kiss in the hospital

-A Nurse: Being Jaycee's nurse is not a new role for me. I dose out medications and run her medical equipment daily. However, Jaycee had a fairly big surgery at the end of June to make space in her airway to treat her severe sleep apnea. We were told her recovery could be 3-10 days. It took 25 days for Jaycee to make a full recovery! Twenty-five days is long, by the way, when you are trying to give pain medications several times a day to a child who does not want to take extra medications and counting every ounce the child drinks. Not to mention, Jaycee had 2 different post-surgery bleeds that resulted in 2 additional hospital stays during this 25 day recovery. I'll write more on this subject another day, but my mommy nursing skills were challenged this summer!

-A Travelor: My family took two mini-vacations. We fulfilled my son's dream to visit our state capital (Springfield, IL) and enjoyed a three day history lesson. Well, my son and I enjoyed it. My daughter and husband maybe not as much. Our second little trip was to visit my family in Indiana. Family visits may seem boring, but my extended family is super fun. We had lots of laughs. My son got to see another state capital too, so he was in Heaven! We didn't travel far or have a large budget, but I did get to travel somewhere. I was thankful to be anywhere besides a hospital!

Jaycee at Lincoln's tomb with some assistance with Daddy

-A Mom of a Princess: My sweet little girl participated in a pageant for people with intellectual disabilities for the second time in her life. We loved watching Jaycee perform on stage and getting all dolled up. She absolutely loves it too! (You can read about last year's pageant here.) I like being the mom of a princess, and it's a memory we will treasure! 

Post Pageant picture with the family

-A Mom of another Child with a Diagnosis...AGAIN!: Most of my writings have been regarding my daughter's health issues and diagnoses. My other child, Elijah, has had (what I have always considered) minor issues with his motor skills and muscles. In June, it was confirmed that his issues won't be something that he will outgrow as he was diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I'll write more on this subject another time, but I had some emotional issues to work through when I discovered that both of my children had life long diagnoses.

-Someone who Struggled: There were some happy times this summer. But, the hard times were hard. During Jaycee's time in the hospital, I struggled with anger. No really, I wanted to slap a few staff who I didn't feel were treating my daughter properly or professionally. How do you walk into a room and not know what surgery a kid just had? And how does that happen more than once? There were very frustrating moments during Jaycee's longer than expected recovery. It was stressful on my husband and I, and we didn't get a break for three weeks. In a crisis, I have this tendency to want to throw a pity party when things aren't going well. Those parties spiral me down into despair farther, which isn't helpful at all. Anyway, I struggled some this summer. But, now that some time has passed, I am feeling more optimistic and almost back to my normal self.


Well, that was me in a nutshell during my blogging pause. It feels good to be blogging again and back to my normal regular self. I'm ready to share some experiences and thoughts with you every week again.



See you on Thursdays for Therapy Thursday, my weekly tip on a therapy related subject. Tuesdays is my general blogging day on parenting and my life. As always, thanks for reading!