It’s been quite some time since I’ve written my blog. Part of the reason is that things have been pretty much status quo with Dave’s health. There hasn’t been a significant change that has inspired me to write. I noticed that I didn’t write a single blog post in all...
Sometimes, when the darkness comes and you feel your world crumbling down around you, a sliver of light makes its way through the cracks of your life. The past month has been a huge struggle for me and my husband. Not only has he seemed to have gotten noticeably...
On Tuesday, November 14, 2017, I heard the words “You have breast cancer.” I knew the words were coming. Somehow, I just knew. I had had a routine mammogram the week before...a week and a half after I had noticed a lump. A lump that my doctor had NOT noticed 3...
A few weeks ago, I was at the beach and I saw a young woman walking with her two little boys and her husband. Her husband was disabled, walking with a cane and appearing to have lost some muscle function in his arms and legs. I keep thinking about the woman and what...
Exhaustion. It can hit out of the blue. You think you’re doing well and handling everything, and you have a hopeful outlook. It’s not always physical exhaustion. It can be mental or emotional exhaustion. But, mental or emotional exhaustion definitely adds to the...
I walked in the door at 7:30 tonight after being out since 8:15 this morning. My day consisted of working with kindergarteners for 7 hours, picking my daughter up from track practice, driving 40 minutes to her voice lesson and 40 minutes home, and a stop for Chinese...
When my husband’s tumor was first discovered, our children were only ages 9, 7, and 5. They were really too young to be kept in the loop about what was happening, and we went out of our way to hide it all. They were too young to hear about doctors, illness, tests, and...
Living in a household affected by chronic illness is challenging, stressful, frustrating, and sometimes next to impossible. It often feels like a jail sentence from which there is no escape. But over the past almost seven years, my family has experienced amazing...
A Prayer for the Caregiver by Bruce McIntyre Unknown and often unnoticed, you are a hero nonetheless. For your love, sacrificial, is God at his best. You walk by faith in the darkness of the great unknown, And your courage, even in weakness, gives life to your...
In November of 2007, I returned to the workforce after staying home with my three kids for ten years. My youngest child was in Kindergarten, and I needed something beyond the mommy and household stuff. I also wanted to start contributing financially. We had decided to...
One of the hardest things that I have gone through over the past 6 ½ years caregiving is the feeling of being abandoned.
The roller coaster of emotions never stops, but I have learned a lot about myself, the people in my life, and life with a chronically ill family member.