Sick of Sick

When I was in junior high, I remember my parents saying that they had bought my orthodontist that fancy Corvette he drove. Even at that age, I totally got the joke. My parents paid for braces for all 3 of their daughters, and so every time we saw that shiny car parked in front of his office, my parents were reminded of how much they were shelling out for our pretty teeth.

Fast forward 25 years, and now I feel the same way about my kids' pediatric office! It seems like we're in that office a ridiculous number of times each month. It goes something like this: ear infection for Westin, routine appointment for Camden, then ear infection for Camden, then strep throat for Westin, then routine appointment for Camden, then ear infection for Westin, then routine appointment for Westin, then strep throat for Camden, then ear infections again....... and so on and so on. Sheesh! Certainly between our co-pays and what the insurance company dishes out, we've at least paid for a semester at a ritzy private college that surely one of my pediatrician's kids will go to one day.

And while I'm whining about the time and money spent in a doctor's office, my poor little kiddos are the ones that are suffering. Oops... I forgot this wasn't all about me! I hate seeing my kids sick. It breaks my heart. You should see Westin right now. He looks like he's been hit by a truck. He has strep throat and the nastiest cold and chunky cough. His eyes are so droopy and he looks just pitiful. One of the ONLY good things to come from him being sick is that I get extra snuggles and cuddle time, and that is absolutely priceless. Westin loves to be held when he's sick (heck, so do I!), and if I have to pay someone else's college tuition in order to hold my son for extended periods of time, then so be it. You're welcome, Dr. Rick and Dr. Bray.

A Fresh New Year

It's 2011, and I thought, hey, what the heck...... why not blog again? It has been nearly 5 months since my last post. Crazy.

In that time, LOTS has happened, but the biggest thing is that my mom was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer. She had a very large tumor on the lower lobe of her right lung. I learned about it in September, just a few days after returning from a wonderful trip to Oregon to visit Jeremy's family. To be honest, it kind of turned my world a little upside down, and I just didn't feel like blogging much after that. She's now about 3/4 of the way through her treatment, which consists of radiation and chemotherapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. So far, she's responding well, although she is extremely weak and tired. She has some soreness when she swallows from the radiation being aimed in that area, and her voice is a little hoarse, and her appetite has significantly decreased, but she hasn't lost her hair, and she hasn't any major side effects. The doctors are saying that she is holding up very well, and they are encouraged by what they're seeing so far. I know she is SO ready to feel better and to get some energy back. I absolutely hate seeing my mom not feeling well. Truthfully, she hasn't felt well in years, and I've hated it for her for years. I guess now we know why.

Other than that, our family is doing quite well. Our boys are growing like weeds. Westin is 2, Camden is 10 months, and Jeremy and I are starting to get little glimpses here and there of what normalcy might look like. I feel like I am finally, FINALLY coming out of the fog of having 2 kids just 15 months apart, and I am rediscovering ME again. I didn't even realize that I wasn't "me", until I started feeling like "me" again. Does that make sense?

We'll see what this year holds for blogging. I really do have a desire to document the journeys of The Hansen Family, and I'm constantly writing little blog posts in my head, but they just don't seem to make it to my fingers and onto the computer. But hey, if normalcy really and truly does return, you never know.

Happy New Year!