The Puddles

Last Sunday Ben and I were sitting in the hospital hoping that we are going to get sent home on Monday. Now today I look back on the past week and I can’t believe the chain of events that have taken place. We came home Monday in a flurry of drama and tears. On Tuesday we spent the day celebrating Ainsley’s 10th birthday. On Wednesday Ben broke out in a mysterious rash which caused us to spend the entire day seeking medical help. On Thursday Ben and I went down to Texas Children’s Hospital and spent half the day testing, and meeting with doctors to deal with the mysterious rash. On Thursday night we confused and scared our neighbors when we had an ambulance pull up to our front door to take me to the hospital (they thought it was for Ben. ). On Friday morning we find out that my broken arm is going to take more than a pretty cast to fix and now it’s my turn to be helped by the medical system. Because next Wednesday I will have surgery to put my arm back together.

I have gone from being my son’s nurse to my son being my nurse this morning.  And he is doing an excellent job. Of course, he has been trained by the best. And unfortunately he is had to be a medic and a nurse for his parents before (he was also there when daddy broke his arm at Christmas), so he has learned to be calm under fire.  

If you know me at all, you know that I have a hard time accepting help from others. I like to take care of things myself and not be a burden on others. And although our family motto “suck it up, buttercup” can be seen to support not asking others for help and learning to do it yourself. It can also teach us that it is OK to accept help when that offer of help is genuinely given out of love.

Chris keeps reminding me that I need to take care of myself so that I will heal faster and we can get back to normalcy as soon as possible. I feel most sorry for Chris right now. He has to try to take care of both Ben’s medical needs and doctor visits as well as mine. Plus try to take care of her other children, the house, the meals, and oh yeah  . . . working a full-time job. Nothing to it. 

Despite of all of this drama there are blessings. At least this is happening in the summer when school is out. We have a great support system of family and friends. Our children are older and can help themselves and each other. I am learning to be more patient and more accepting of imperfection. There are families in a lot worse situations than ours. At least it’s my arm and not my leg. 

So we have many things to be grateful for. And I know that a year from now we’ll look back on this summer and laugh. And we will also thank God that he brought us through it all with our sense of humor and our love for each other intact.