Reflecting on this past weekend has taught me 3 things

The four day weekend is almost over and we have lived to tell the tail. :-) All joking aside, it seemed like a longer weekend than it actually was. The boys were the boys and that's not a bad thing. They were all challenging at times but I have great memories with each of them over the past four days. Challenging doesn't always mean bad.  What challenging typically means for me is exhausting. This weekend was exhausting even though we didn't go anywhere. It was exhausting listening to Gavin and constantly trying to stay at least a few steps in front of him. It was exhausting trying to get the two youngest to eat what we bought at Aldi's. I would say that in most cases, we were unsuccessful in making Aldi's…

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Some Good Gavin News

I wanted to share a snippet of good news. Yesterday I mentioned that Gavin was having bladder issues once again. He was frustrated by this and understandably so. My concern was that we were going to see this becoming a trend and that wouldn't be a good thing. Thankfully, today seems to be a better day for him. He hasn't said anything about having to constantly go to the bathroom. My hope is that yesterday was just a fluke and things will continue to remain stable in this particular area of his life. Gavin certainly has enough on his plate, and if we can keep even one thing from piling back on, that's a very positive thing.      

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I’m being interviewed today

Fun fact, I'm getting interviewed this morning by Susan Wheeler-Hall BSW, NGH. Susan is an Author, Coach, Educator, Speaker and Radio Host.  She'll be interviewing me around 11 am this morning. I'm not sure what we'll be talking about but it should be fun. The boys are home from school today and I'm hoping they will cooperate.. ☺

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2 behavioral oddities reminded me that I’m only human

Unfortunately, Gavin's had a rough day. I feel I need to stress that this wasn't behavioral, at least in the way it would have been a few years back. The first issue is in regards to Gavin's bladder problems returning today for the first time in a long-ish time.  This is par for the course with Gavin because these things pop up now and again. The first thing we will do to address this is work with the Miralax again. We had backed off a bit because everything was going well. That's all we can do at this point. As for the second issue or challenge, I think that was probably harder for me than it was for him. The problem was that Gavin required a great deal of patience…

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Aside from that I have no complaints 

After a night without sleep because Emmett kept having nightmares, I began my day way earlier than an human being should. When Lizze woke up about 8 am, I was sent to bed and slept about four hours. While I feel better, I'm still exhausted overall. Thankfully, there are no plans today that will require me to drive because I'm too tired to do that. I will say that I'm in a really good mood. Sure, I'm tired but aside from that, I have no complaints. ☺

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How #Depression impacts my life

Depression has been a constant companion of mine since I was a teenager. I've spoken very openly about this war I'm waging, and I'm going to try and provide you with some further insight. I've always referred to my struggles with Depression as a war because depression is a life long struggle, consisting of many battles. Some battles will be won, and others lost, just like any other war. It's important for me to share these battles because there's such a lack of understanding in regards to mental illness in general but more specifically, Depression. My hope is that my story will inspire others to share theirs as well. I've fought many battles against Depression over the years. There are times I feel like I'm gaining ground and others where I feel…

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Bad News news to share about Gavin

I've been putting off a really important update recently because I'm still processing some of it, at least I'm trying to. During our last meeting (this past Tuesday) with Dr. Pattie, Gavin did another mission debriefing. This debriefing was a little different because we learned something new about the status of his current psychosis. After talking about all the adventures he had gone on since the last debriefing, I began asking him questions about what he was saying, in an attempt gain a bit more insight. These questions led to a much better understanding of where he currently resides, psychologically and emotionally. It turns out that Gavin's hallucinations are actually getting worse. There used to be a portal he had to walk through in order to be transferred from his…

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What his stomach looks like after an IVIG infusion 

I wanted to take a minute and share a bit of insight into what Gavin experiences in regards to his IVIG Infusions. Gavin receives these medically necessary procedures twice a week and will do so for the rest of his life.  These infusions provide him with the immune system his body naturally lacks. Without these infusions, his body would not be able to fight off infections.  While these treatments are a blessing, they aren't  always pleasant.  The pictures below show what the infusion sites look like and it's incredibly unpleasant for him. Gavin has almost no body fat and so all the swelling is from the infusion 

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