My daughter found this photo the other day. She was searching “funny dog photos,” and stopped when she reached this one. She came to me and said, “Mom, I think you will appreciate this.”
I don’t know whether I was more impressed by her ability to know that I would in fact get a good chuckle out of this, as it seems to be the story of our lives, or by the photo itself.
Ingenious really. People do this. They create these photos, and some seem silly or insignificant. Until there is one photo, phrase or saying that you really relate to. Then somehow it all makes sense.
As we turn the corner of summer into August, I know we still have a few weeks of vacation left, but I start to reflect.
School begins for me on September 4th, and for Meghan on September 6th. When we share our summer vacation stories, what will we tell?
We snuck in some fun. There were some play dates that were a blast. There was a trip to the beach, even if only for a few hours. There was swim class, and dance class too. There were books galore – read just for fun – far after the three she “had to” read.
But this year there was no camp. And it was strange. I missed the schedule a bit, but it was a necessary break – for both of us.
Practical reasons wouldn’t have allowed much attendance at camp. We were at too many doctors.
Darn Cowden’s Syndrome. Check this, scan that, see this doctor, make sure that is ok. Multiplied times two it could be a full time job. But, since I have a full time job, that I missed an obscene amount of days from last spring while my body parts were being cut away – summer is for all the doctors that we can squeeze in.
Ironically, no one really answered too many more questions.
Persistence.
Before the end of August Meghan will have had 8 (very productive) Physical Therapy sessions, 3 visits to the pediatrician, a trip to the vascular surgeon, the rheumatologist, the oncologist, the geneticist, the orthodontist, our “second” pediatrician, and she will have had an MRI and 2 sonograms.
I didn’t do so badly myself. I will be able to boast 3 surgical follow up appointments, 2 trips to the dentist, a visit to a new oncologist, which leads to a visit to a GI doctor, and abdominal MRI, a dermatologist for a skin cancer screening, and a visit to the thyroid surgeon.
And those are just the ones SCHEDULED through the end of August.
Persistence.
Not sure where it will get us. All these doctors. I will get them on a nice schedule though. Start to consolidate. Double up days. Next Tuesday I have 3 appointments in a row. Why waste time?
They want us to add the cardiologist back in. Just to be safe they tell me. Everyone is so busy covering their own ***, they often miss the important stuff.
I get that the screening needs to be, and that it needs to be intense. It could be argued that this intense screening saved my life. But there is still such a need for doctors with a clue. Doctors who care. Doctors who connect the dots.
Persistence.
Although some days I feel like the dog, digging through the concrete… I do believe it will all pay off.
Actually, it already has.
So maybe it isn’t the “perfect” summer, but its a necessary one. Me and my girl…. together.
beatingcowdens 