I realize we are just getting started helping our children and family as a whole unit live and succeed with chronic disease. We have definitely had more experiences in the hospital and at the doctors than an average family, but know there are other families that absolutely have had more experience than us. Watching each of our infants experience at some point an extended hospitalization left us feeling confused, afraid, lost, guilty, and often very angry. In the beginning I remember a toe to toe nose to nose discussion with one pulmonologist on call one day in the hospital with my 7 month old son (who heart breakingingly screamed bloody murder through every IV). The pulmonologist told me to “get used to this mom, you have to get used to this, you have children with a chronic disease you need to expect weeks in the hospital.” I was furious. I told her I refused to accept the hospital as normal and I refused to quit asking to go home as soon as we could as often as I could. She never came back to our room, and I never saw her again. She asked another pulmonologist to handle us (lets be honest me). I think I would like to let her know now that I apologize and I understand. I’m not happy about it, and it still feel angry about it a lot of the time but I understand that being intermittently hospitalized is part of my children’s life. We also understand that our emotions are second to helping our kids do their best to prevail with positivity and hope. Our attitude will be mirrored and magnified in them especially if it’s a negative one.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Cheering for the Poop Brigade


 
My Mom is a huge parade fan. So was my grandma. When my grandpa retired from working for the Arizona Highway Department they paid for all their kids and grandkids to go to the Rose Bowl Parade and Disneyland. It was so fun and my first memory of cheering for the poop brigade.

You know the ones, the group of people who follow behind the horses with a trashcan on wheels and big snow shovels and brooms. It is an absolutely necessary job, but maybe not one you would pick if you were picking from all the parade jobs. Perhaps you would want to ride the horse and wave to the crowd. But someone has to pick up the poop so that no one else steps in, well you know.

My family grew up in Tempe, Arizona a city that hosts the Fiesta Bowl Parade. My family attended every year while we were growing up. My husband is from Show Low so we have had the chance to attend their magical 4th of July parade, and even got to see parades in other beautiful Arizona towns such as Eager and St. Johns. Each parade has horses, each parade has a poop brigade.

Sometimes the poop brigade has hilarious outfits on. Tutu’s, clown noses, etc. Other times it is just a group of people who are wearing regular clothes doing their best to shovel the poop. It does seem though that the ones who dress up have a little more fun. They add to the parade, making their job as fun to watch as the people riding the horses and waiving.

Keeping a good attitude about the things in our life that can be compared to shoveling poop is a very hard thing to do. Choosing to wake up and put on your tutu and clown nose can sound harder and require more effort than just showing up for the parade and not making eye contact with anyone while you do that job that has to be done (good for you for showing up for the parade anyway though and not staying in bed).

Having a daily ongoing relationship with Heavenly Father through prayer and through the peace and comfort that can come through reading the scriptures and words of the Prophets has the power of tipping the scale to the tutu and clown nose outfit choice when we have to make it each morning.

We recently met with the surgeon to discuss Orson’s new button (gastrostomy tube) and what kind of care it requires. He is going to have to learn how to shovel some poop with this new part of his life. We are blessed though to know that he will have the help he needs because we know about prayer, and we know that the words of ancient prophets and the words of today’s prophet (General Conference is this weekend!) have the ability to lift our souls to the levels they need to be at to put on our tutu and clown nose and have a good attitude about the poop we shovel. Hooray for the poop brigade! Keep up the good work guys!
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Here is a link to a video about the 185th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints happening this weekend April 4 & 5 where you can hear the council of today's prophet Thomas S. Monson.
https://www.lds.org/church/events/april-2015-general-conference?lang=eng
 
 
 
 

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