Because I want to contribute to our family, I value work. Even if I weren’t married with children, I would want to be employed and take care of myself financially. However, the emotional need to be productive often runs up against my physical limitations. If I could earn a living sitting…
Tag: medical emergencies
Podcast 0112; Season 7, Episode 5; 3 March 2024 Note: Recorded 7 June 2023 Originally Scheduled for September 2023 From “Caregiver Chronicles” website: “Caregiver Chronicles” is the story of one caregiver’s personal and professional journey as a caregiver. The host, Sarah Stelmach-Brown, was a Certified Nursing Assistant for 17 years.…
As we approach the last week of September 2023, I can reflect on the return to school for the girls and me, declaring that survival mode exhausts the entire family. Yes, we’re in survival mode, and it’s a lot like hanging on to a rope suspended above a dark, bottomless…
Podcast 0105, Season 6, Episode 15; 20 June 2023 Loss, and its accompanying trauma, alter our minds. The neurodiversity of PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, illustrates how stress alters us. For autistics who rely on stability and routines, losing friends and family results in multiple traumas. In this episode, Marinda Dennis…
As of today, Leigh is wearing special contact lenses for degenerative myopia. She has high-end sunglasses to wear with those contacts, too. With the MiSight contacts and her sunglasses, Leigh can see with 20/20 vision. I cannot express what a relief it is that she can see well again. School…
Overnight Wednesday my left eye’s cornea suffered a tear or abrasion. It was a surprise. An extremely painful surprise. Unfortunately, I am familiar with the pain. In 2008 and 2009, I suffered several corneal tears in Minnesota’s cold, dry weather. It’s a pain you do not forget. For the last…
The future scares me. The Pessimistic Me dominates my internal deliberations when I try to prepare for the future. I’m an odd mix of pessimist and optimist, which isn’t easy to explain. A friend said that’s true of other creators and entrepreneurs. Yes, I gamble on the future, but I prepare…
I wrote in my last blog post that teaching was taking a toll on my body. Friday night, I ended up in the emergency room after coughing blood for several hours. Blood is usually not a good sign. After x-rays, CT scans, and various tests, it was decided I have…
The girls have been asking why they didn’t get to see the princesses or the castle at Disney. Explaining there is something wrong with Grandpa’s health isn’t something little ones understand. We left early, not using one day of our passes, because my father wasn’t feeling well. We still don’t…
Parenting stress is unlike other stress. Somehow, I manage to think more clearly — or not think — and get things done. I still need my wife to help sometimes, but I manage the basics when our children are involved. Earlier in the trip, I imagined the most panic I’d…