Perspective

The past two months have been quite an adventure for our family. You name it, it happened. Everything from a water damaged basement (x2), to a broken oven, to a broken hot water heater, to several ER visits, to muscle spasms, and the very first broken bone. It’s been a real doozy!

On top of that Reagan’s seizures have been a little more frequent requiring some medication tweaks and we learned, after a very long day of appointments with the CP Clinic, she may need surgery in the next few months.

I’m not going to lie, it’s been stressful! But parenting a medically complex kid has given me perspective (not to mention purpose) on what is truly important in life. Was I pretty annoyed we had to re-do our finished basement twice, absolutely! But, fortunately it’s fixable. Same goes for the oven and the hot water heater, without those I felt inconvenienced, but was it going to take up the space I needed to focus on other more important things, no. Even that broken bone, while certainly unexpected, a quick surgery, full arm cast and a story to tell later, Reagan is on the mend.

You see as a parent of a medically complex kid, you hear worse, you see worse, you know worse. We lived worse a few short years ago when Reagan’s Epilepsy spiraled out of control. Of all these things that have happened in these past few months, truly all I care about is how we get Reagan’s seizures back under control and the steps we need to take to prevent an extensive surgery.

This year I think most of us have felt inconvenienced and maybe even slightly annoyed. As we move into, November, a month known for giving thanks, may we all take a moment to reflect on what’s truly important and what we are thankful for.

I am thankful that all those unfortunate events were fixable! I’m thankful for parenting a medically complex kid, that is resilient, strong and positive, who reminds me daily to smile and laugh even when things are stressful and overwhelming. I’m thankful for family and friends, who have supported us not just now but through the years. I’m even thankful for that broken bone, because for a moment I wasn’t a medically complex parent, I was just a Mom who’s kid broke her arm.