To Prevail

2008-02-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

I’m a bit embarrassed as I welcome myself back to my blog. Every time I sat down to write a post, I just didn’t know where to go with it. I felt stuck. And I still do; but with the great tips and advice from the site www.writetodone.com , I am back to being a blogging tourist trying to find my way in a new land and trying to be O.K. with not knowing
how I will get from one place (post) to another and where it will lead.

I have mentioned my daughter’s medical crisis in my previous posts, but have yet to say what it was. So I guess that’s a good place to resume.

Nava was the one-in-a-million who came down with life-threatening complications from the very strong immune suppressant medications she was given in an attempt to quell a severe colitis flare-up. She was the statistic to develop ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) and nocardia pneumonia. Three months on a ventilator in a drug-induced coma and eight chest tubes later, miracle one occurred - she beat the odds and survived.

Here are three coping suggestions for dealing with an prolonged critical hospitalization:

Confer with doctors often. Having knowledge in a situation where you are totally helpless and have no control, gives you something to hold onto. I met with my daughter’s doctors everyday of the three month period that she was in the intensive care unit. It quickly became my lifeline in this foreign world of unknowns.
Find some outlet to help maintain your physical and psychological health. I am a walker. When the doctor offered me anti-anxiety medication, I made a decision to resume my walking regime so as to keep myself strong and help maintain my stress level without the use of meds. (I’m the antithesis of a pill popper.)
Hold onto even the smallest semblance of normalcy. In a world that’s turned upside down, maintaining some familiar routines helps keep you grounded. And if not for your sake, then for the sake of the other family members. Upon the advice of the doctor (this one I listened to), I took my younger daughter shopping at the mall, to the movies and other outings. As hard as it is to do while your child or other family member is critically ill, those brief times of engaging in the normal aspects of life, provides a momentary relief and respite from a world which reeks of death.

Living A Good Life Despite...

2007-12-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

{Here’s to my first blog blunder. I accidentally posted a date without a piece of writing and I don’t know how to delete it. Help! I only had a little blog tantrum. So you will see the date of December 3rd without a posting - sorry. I’m still navigating.}

Despite the pain, hardship, adversity and difficulties that life dishes out, we have to find and create the good.

1. Find ways To Do; it’s always easier to come up with ways not to do. That’s called excuses.

2. Allow for fun and silliness. It’s very freeing.

3. Seek out opportunities to do good; don’t wait to be asked. It feels good to extend oneself.

4. There’s always time for work; make the time for play.

5. Pursue interests and passions; it keeps one feeling excited and alive.

These are just a few of my "pearls of living" that I’ve incorporated into my life with zest and fervor. Because of my daughter’s miraculous survival and recovery from a medical crisis, I , her mother, feel as though I’ve been given a second lease on life.

2007-12-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

Mid-lifeing

2007-11-27T18:13:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going through my mid life crisis. I'm not chucking my marriage; did that already, but for different reasons. I'm not leaving home to travel the world or join the peace corp, although that does appeal to me. I am looking for a new direction, a new long term endeavor for my second half of life. This "crisis" has not simply come about because of the typical factors of age and phase of life, but more important it's been set off by a life-altering event - my daughter's medical trauma. Seeing and experiencing first hand the fragility of life continually brings to mind, "am I doing enough with my life, am I doing meaningful things, am I making a difference;" and at the risk of sounding like a teenager searching for my identity, "what is this life all about, what is my purpose here?" I might as well be back in the 70's again pondering life. This angst has hit me full force. It's what defines my mid-life crisis.

2007-11-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog. I am very excited that I actually set this up by myself. I don't even know how to tape a T.V. show onto a video or DVD. I rely on everyone else in my house to do it. Call it laziness, resistance; but I do consider myself slow in the field of technology. I've thought about the idea of blogging for a while, but was intimidated by the "techy" part of it. After my Wednesday night writing class where three bloggers spoke about their blogs and presented the simple mechanics of setting it up, I was motivated to go for it. So here I am writing my first post (I figure I should write something on the day I set it up so it's not a blank page) after my 20 year old daughter gave me a hug of pride. She knows well my screams of frustration as I went from typing on Word to basic E-mailing to learning how to navigate the internet. We'll see how often I "computer tantrum" as I hopefully evolve into a blogger.

So what will be the content areas of this blog?

My middle daughter's year long hospitalization
Keeping oneself strong through a crisis
Coping with adverstiy
Miracles
Turning Why's into How's
Living your best life