Return to Blogging

My family has had a busy few years, which has left me a bit overwhelmed and kind of crowded out my blog. In 2015, we moved to another state, and in 2016, we welcomed our third baby into the family: my third C-section, which has by far been the roughest for recovery and bouncing back. Three years later, the two boys are still in love with their baby sister. She calls them her boys. I am thankful I am able to be home with my children, overseeing their education. My oldest is now reading at a 3rd grade level, and doing first grade math and writing. Both of my boys are very interested in math, science, and the mechanics of how things work. This curiosity proved useful last fall, when we had to explain to them that something wasn't working right, and I was going to have to have surgery. I have hydrocephalus, and currently, there is no cure for this condition, just a treatment involving surgery. Last year, after almost a full year of headaches, and several months of steadily losing my memory, I had surgery to get my VP shunt replaced. This is another surgery that has taken quite a while to fully recover from, but I am finally feeling human again.

Through all of this, I have found new ways to adjust my routine, to conserve energy, and make the most of the energy I do have. I have not been able to work a full-time job outside the home since 2009. It never occurred to me that the memory issues that led to me making a mistake at that job and getting me fired had anything to do with my health, until I started doing more research after this last surgery. When I am over-tired, over-extended, or in any way stretching my physical limits for too long, I have to use bizarre amounts of concentration to do the simplest of tasks, and more often than not, I depend on a consistent schedule to even know what day it is. I figure out what day it is by what I'm doing or thinking what I did the day before. If this schedule changes, my days get mixed up, creating a cyclical effect.

I am thankful for my current job as my aunt's caregiver, and for the opportunity I have had this past year to supplement our income with another amazing endeavor. I will share more about that in the future, but for now, I am just happy to be back to feeling like myself again.