Life, if that’s what you call it

Ok I haven’t updated this since April so here goes….

My last bog was posted while I was in Florida for my dear friend Kat’s wedding. I went to this alone, I really wish I had had my family with me but trying to buy five plane tickets from Hawaii to Florida on a tight budget is a pain. The visit was actually quite bittersweet for me because even though I enjoyed every minute I had with my friends we all eventually had to say our goodbyes again.

It was shorty after I got back from Florida that my neighbor, whom I didn’t like and she didn’t like us either, got back from her “vacation” and the began her pack out to move away from me. I don’t know exactly where she went to and I don’t really care I’m just glad that she is not living next to me anymore. Well because to the tension that she created George and I we really worried that our new neighbors would be the same way. Thankfully they are nothing like she was. The four of us became fast friends and so did all of our kids so it is great to be living in peace again in our neighborhood.

That brings us to around June when school ended. I tried to get Quinlyn in some of the summer camps but I was unable to so once school got out I tried to keep her occupied. Unfortunately we didn’t spend much time doing anything because of the gas prices we tried not to do too many outings. This was not good for three very hyper children. Quinlyn spent most of her days at the playground behind our house which is why she currently has a really dark tan.

The morning of July 13 Quinlyn got up before us, got herself a bowl of cereal and watched a movie. I came downstairs around 8:30 and she was already dressed and wanted to go out an play. I told her that this was ok. It was around 9:00 when I was cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast and trying to get Kevyn and Caelyn settled down when i heard Quinlyn crying at the front door asking me to come open it because she broke a bone. I turned to the front door and saw her holding a “U” shaped left arm and went into a frenzy. I ran next door and banged on the door so I could ask them to watch the babies until George got home from duty (I didn’t wait for them to answer) and quickly started to get Quinlyn in the car when a confused looking Jim asked me what was up I very quickly told him that she broke her arm and asked if he could watch the kids. As I was getting in the car, just now realizing that i was still in my pajamas, George drove up I quickly told him the situation and left. At the hospital we went through a lot of waiting. They couldn’t set her arm because she had recently eaten and since she was going to be sedated for it she needed to have an empty stomach. For me the hardest part was when they set her arm. I promised her that i would be with her whether she was asleep or not which means I had to be in the room. She doesn’t remember any of it but I will never forget it. It wasn’t until almost 12 hours later that we finally got home. I didn’t get much sleep that night because I wanted to stay with her in case she needed me. So since she slept on the couch I slept in one of the La-z-boy chairs. That was our big ordeal and since then she has gotten a pink cast (everything in the world of Quinlyn has to be pink) and she has gotten pretty good at doing some of her normal things again. Unfortunately she is left handed so the first month or so of school is going to be rough.

As for me the stress of that day and the days that followed made my lupus flare something fierce. I am still recovering from it, thankfully I’m feeling the end coming soon but it has been hell. For me it’s hard to try and rest when I’m feeling bad because I have my munchkins that need me and unfortunately the Navy won’t always give George the time off to help me out. So I have been trying to rest when he’s home and not push it when it’s just me and the kids. I am getting some relief right now because school started today and Quinlyn is riding the bus now so I don’t have to go back and forth with the kids.

I realized in the past couple of weeks that even though I have gotten pretty good at budgeting my time and energy there are still times when life throws you a curve ball. It is during those times that everyone, not just those with chronic illness, is tested. We get every aspect of our being tested during these times and no matter how hard it is all we can hope for is that in when all is said and done we grow wiser from the experience. Personally I have learned a lot… first: DO NOT be present during a bone reset (fracture reduction)  second: find the time to rest it’ll be worth it  third: DO NOT BE PRESENT DURING A FRACTURE REDUCTION!!!!!!!!!!