Sunday, July 26, 2009

A leaning period

The last year has been a learning period for me as intense as the period of time before we adopted Nathan.  We have learned  a great deal about ourselves and what we can and can not do.  We have learned about living in the country and how to work with nature and how to raise and slaughter animals. 

I have  been disappointed in myself many times as I haven't been able to count on my body to function the way I wanted it to and I am learning to accept help from others.  That has always been hard for me to do.  Lately with Mandy's broken leg I have also come to realize how hard it is to live with physical challenges.  Mandy is in a wheelchair for several weeks more and I can see how hard it is to get around to do any kind of business or even your own home.  We are lucky that we have fairly wide halls in our house and we can wheel her around certain areas.  Unfortunately, the bathroom is one of the areas that isn't accessible.  We went down to NASA last week and then to Galveston.  While we could  wheel her in to the building, Mandy couldn't do any of the experiments or go into the play area.  She couldn't see over the counters to see what was going on.  When we went around to the outside areas in a tram, they did have an area to load and unload the wheelchair but it was time consuming and the driver sometimes forgot to come to the back and get her.  She couldn't see into the area's because the windows were too high.   When we went to Galveston we checked into the hotel and they could clearly see that Mandy was in a wheelchair.  Being new to the wheelchair circumstance I didn't think about telling them we needed a wheelchair friendly room.  They sent us to one room and I couldn't get her into the area where the bathroom was.  I called and they sent me to another room.  It was the exact room except flipped and we still couldn't go beyond the front area.  I called and they couldn't understand and so they sent two people up and they redid the room so that we could get through.  By the way, we were across the hall and next door to  handicapped rooms. I'm not complaining but have a better understanding of the plight of the handicapped.  Also, I now have greater appreciation for the caretakers.  We have to lift Mandy into the car, into the shower, etc.  It takes a lot of strength to do that for a child, I can imagine how hard it would be for an adult.

Nathan was  in the hospital last week because of infected lymph nodes, we think.  It was frustrating to have Nathan in the hospital for a week and still not have a diagnosis.  Oh, on another topic while in the hospital I read a book that was enlightening, I think.  For the people that know me best, they know that I read a book many years ago that affected me.  It was by a British author named Nevil Shute and was about a group of English women and children caught in the taking of Malaysia in World War 11 and how they managed over several years.  I found a paperback book by him at the hospital and read it while there.  It was called What happened to the Corbetts and was very interesting.  I recommend reading it.  It is fairly short and an easy read.  He wrote it in 1938 before England joined in the war.  He wrote it to prepare the English for what could happen to their country and many people were mad at him because of the contents.  By the way, it was, as the English say, spot on. 

We are home, Mandy is better but like I said still in the wheelchair for at least two more weeks and Nathan is feeling much better but still has the hard knot on his neck.  We go back to our Pediatrician on Tuesday and then follow up with the ENT doctor on Thursday/Friday time period.  Probably Friday as Glenn will be back.  I am very thankful that both of our children are better and pray they will recover quickly.  Also, I would like to thank everyone for all of the help we have received.

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