Mama Sick

Even thought we had a frost warning a couple of days ago here in Cleveland, I think it is safe to say that spring is finally here!

And to celebrate, I am so pleased to be working again with artist Robin Maria Pedrero!

I love Robin’s art; the birds and butterflies, the colors she uses…just seeing her art makes me feel peaceful.

Robin thought her “Pink Poppies in Paradise” would be the perfect piece of artwork for a contest.

“Pink Poppies in Paradise is a piece I worked on for 6 months, there are layers upon layers of details from botanical and bugs to bottle caps and a key and spool.”

The artwork is hand titled and signed.

You can enter in three easy ways:

So if you do all three, you will have three separate entries!

The contest will run until Tuesday, May 27th until 11:59 p.m. and a winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!

Congratulations to our winner, Deb Schaefer, who won a copy of Robin Pedrero’s “Pink Poppies in Paradise”! Deb needs to get in contact with me by 9:30 a.m. on June 6th or I will have to pick another winner.

Love,

Emily

I was totally psyched to write about my Disney World vacation, to post my pictures and to give my tips geared towards chronically ill mothers.

But then some other stuff happened.

I used every prescription that I had to get me through the trip. I didn’t want Grant and Tyler to be out having fun while I stayed in the air-conditioned room.

I expected I would be sick after the trip, I just didn’t know how sick I’d be.

Everything is flaring; Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Costochondritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis…you get my drift.

Things got so bad that I called 9-1-1. I couldn’t breathe, my chest was heavy and I felt like I was passing out. My heart was cleared but they did find out that I have Diabetes. Hah, I say to that, I can beat this! My diabetes is mild with readings never above 200. I am following the diabetic diet and have already lost one size! This works for me because my weight gain, which was caused by a medication I was on, was never something I could get used to. More importantly I worried about the health problems that goes hand and hand with being overweight. And so here I am. Diabetes runs on both sides of my family, but at 44 I am the youngest to inherit it.

I was also diagnosed with COPD. At this point I have so many diseases it’s just like whateverr!

I have an appointment next week with a diabetes educator who will give me my glucose meter, and an appointment for a pulmonary work-up, where I will learn how COPD is affecting me.

What’s happening by you?

I got back from Disney World on April 17th and was so excited to tell you about the wonderful time we had there! I was psyched to put up our pictures and to offer my tips for chronically ill moms thinking about a trip to The Happiest Place on Earth!

I hope you’ll enjoy this essay. Maybe you’ll laugh, maybe you will cry and maybe you will identify with it!

Bedridden: Day 10

Bit of a mishap today when I decided taking a bath would be easier and more relaxing than a shower. The thoughtful boyfriend sanitized the tub especially for me.

It was my first time taking a bath in my somewhat still new home. The tub had always looked small to me. It sure as Hell wouldn’t fit the six foot tall boyfriend but my seven year old seemed to manage pretty well.

I attempted to stretch out my five foot 6 inch tall self into the tantalizing hot water when I realized I appeared to be about a foot too tall for the tub. I tried to sit up but found that due to the pain and weakness from my illness, I couldn’t make it. I sat moaning for a few minutes, in a sort of twisted sculpture kind of way, and then I yelled for the boyfriend. After some effort he was able to pull me up to a sitting position. At least now he wouldn’t have to shampoo and condition my hair, it was all at my fingertips.

This worked well until the hot water ran out. I had neglected to remember that the boyfriend had taken a shower right before me. I again screamed for him. I still had conditioner in my hair but I’d be damned to Hades before I would rinse my hair off with that icicle making machine.

We decided to call my hair a loss and end this miserable experience. The boyfriend offered his assistance to help me out of the tub, but by now I was so weak and exhausted I couldn’t get up.

After 10 minutes of pondering over the situation, my boyfriend threw a few towels and a bathrobe into the tub to keep me from getting cold. We considered bringing my iPad in so I could watch movies.

After 20 minutes all that flashed through my head were the firemen staring at my naked and shriveled body, shaking their heads and thinking, “Just another fat woman stuck in a tub.”

At 30 minutes I decided I needed a quick boost of energy to power me onto the bathroom floor. I had the boyfriend bring me my son’s Easter basket. Although I had already eaten most of the candy, there were still some yucky tasting jelly beans that no one had wanted. I stuffed about 20 of those babies into my mouth at once. Be it the sugar rush or the placebo effect, I was soon able to get out of the tub.

Now I’m on the couch with the towels and robe still draped around me as I try to figure out how I’m going to put my pajamas on.

I can’t believe that tomorrow I will be taking my son to Disney World! Grant and I have been very amicable during our separation, so although it sounds crazy, the three of us will be going together!

Ever since Tyler was born it has been my dream to take him to Disney. I never thought I would, and although it’s not the smartest financial decision we have ever made, we decided to do it. I know I would have spent the rest of my life regretting it if we didn’t take him.

Since Kindergarten Tyler has been hearing about his classmates’ and teachers’ Disney experiences. He was so excited and I asked him if he thought we would go to Disney World one day. “Oh, yes!”, he said very matter-of-factly. How could I look into the face of my child who has been through so much in his young life and tell him we would never be able to afford to go? At seven years old, this will be his first vacation.

I will be using a scooter down there and I have a pack of steroids that will hopefully help with aches and pains and give me more energy. I am still scared that I may be too tired or hurting too much to be able to do everything we have planned, or that I could come down with a full flare-up of Lupus, Fibromyalgia or any of my other conditions.

It took a lot of time but we have planned our every move down there and have selected all the Fast Passes we can have. Due to so many abusing the policy, Disney no longer allows disabled people to simply go to the front of the line. Families were actually hiring disabled people to go to the parks with them, although why you’d want to see Disney with a stranger just so you can get past the long lines is beyond me. The new policy is that you speak to one of the cast members at the ride and he or she tells you that since the line is currently 40 minutes long, you can come back 40 minutes later and go on the ride with no wait.

While this does seem fair, I believe that the disabled are still at a disadvantage. When that park opens in the morning, I’m not going to be able to sprint like all the able-bodied people will. I will simply not be able to move through the parks like they will and will wind up doing less than them.

Besides writing a post-Disney post I will be uploading pictures on twitter and on my Facebook page. Please remember to “Like” my page!

Well wishes and extra spoons are appreciated!