This week has been one of those caregiver weeks where I can’t catch my breath. Self-care looks like finishing a hot cup of coffee. There has been an appointment every day this week and several days of travel. My daughter is weary. I’m weary. I spent yesterday morning on the phone. When I was on the line with one doctors office, another one called. As soon as I got off the phone another office called. Throw in a last minute procedure with 2 day’s notice and I’m ready for the weekend…or a nice, solo beach vacation where I’m on an island by myself sipping an ice cold drink. One can imagine right?
Medical families don’t often get vacations though. My summer “off” is being spent setting up new specialists more locally to us, running to therapy, tending to my infant, and trying to squeeze in appointments for myself. I’ve had to cancel my dentist appointment twice now so that my daughter could get some much needed procedures this summer. I finally got to go to the eye doctor yesterday. I didn’t even tackle half of my to-do list yesterday, but I never had a moment to just
Unfortunately this is a reality for many medical mommas. We often have to give up caring for ourselves to make sure our kids have what they need to have quality of life. It’s not just as simple as making the appointment and going. Oftentimes things occur out of our control and we have to cancel those appointments or give up altogether. Self-care is not simple.
Summers are hard for our families. Therapies may be put on hold, school isn’t in session to give us a caregiver break. Help is hard to find. We watch other families going off to these big summer adventures, longing for a little piece of normalcy and fun. Instead, our savings is spent on medical equipment or procedures. It’s just our reality.
If you know a medical momma, please check on her (especially in the summer). She’s likely struggling silently and in desperate need of some adult interaction. ❤️
Comments