Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2009. What was going on here was.... Mattie was taping Linda (his child life specialist) to the chair. There could have been many reasons for this!!! Primary to Mattie would have been that he did not want her to leave the room! Mattie was very close to Linda and in many ways relied on her and demanded her time and attention. Which of course was challenging since Mattie wasn't Linda's only patient. Yet activities like this were very good forms of physical therapy for Mattie, so any time he wanted to move and use his arms and legs, we really did try to reward him for it and make it fun, because given what he was up against, it was remarkable what he was able to achieve.
Quote of the day: Looking after a very sick child was the Olympics of parenting. ~ Chris Cleave
I came across tonight's quote and it deeply resonated with me. In fact, sometimes when I hear parents tell me they are tired, I acknowledge the feelings and absorb them. But I know internally, the challenges I have somehow survived from Mattie's battle with cancer and realize it was a race that has left scars that no one can see. Unlike the Olympics I did not get a medal, I wasn't acknowledged in the newspaper, on TV, or in the hall of fame. Yet those of us who have cared for a sick child and specifically a child with cancer, understand the heroic efforts I am speaking of.
Somehow all of these feelings have risen to the surface this week, as I have had to do battle again with the health care system to help Peter yesterday and today. Peter hasn't been feeling well for about eight days now. He has been struggling with congestion and a horrible cough. But over the weekend his symptoms got much worse and he developed very high fevers and other unpleasant symptoms on top of the ones he already had. I realized he needed medical attention because of the severity and persistence of his issues. So I brought him to the doctor yesterday. The doctor examined him and sent him to the hospital for testing. She promised to contact us later in the day with results and prescriptions, so that one way or another he would be started on medication to address his symptoms. Yesterday was one frustration after another, and needless to say the doctor never called us and the after hours on-call physician never returned my FIVE calls. So by 9pm I was ballistic! Not a good place for me to be given my history with the health care profession. I will leave it at that, but I continually to be amazed by the state of affairs with our medical care in this Country. It isn't getting better. If you think it is, you are fooling yourself, and it just means you haven't truly been sick, or helped a loved one who is sick. Dealing with physicians and hospitals have got to be one of the most infuriating, stressful, and anxiety provoking experiences I can think of. I just feel for those who do not have a mouth, who do not know how to advocate, and who are afraid of challenging the system! Good luck is all I can say!
I would like to continue to share photos from our fifth anniversary walk! Tonight's series will focus upon our Raffle! As always I am deeply grateful to my raffle chair, Carolyn, who has helped me five years in a row with the raffle. This was our MOST successful raffle to date!
This is Sarah and Ben! Last night I showed you a photo of Evelyn, who was at the Zumba session at the Walk. I explained that Evelyn was one of the first moms I met at Mattie's elementary school. These are two of Evelyn's children!
This is Ann! Ann and I have known each other since 2005! Ann's grandchildren went to preschool with Mattie! Ann is a LONG time supporter of Mattie Miracle!!!
This is Elizabeth and her daughter! I love their excitement over purchasing raffle tickets at the Walk! Elizabeth's son and Mattie were on a soccer team together when Mattie was in kindergarten. Interesting to see all the community connections, isn't it?!!!
Selecting the winning raffle ticket for each item is an art form and science. There is a system with checks and balances. Carolyn, our raffle chair, oversees the whole process, and as you can see the crowd is watching every move! The winning ticket is picked by a different person in the audience for each item. The person comes up, puts their hand in the ticket box and pulls out a ticket. Then Ann, the woman with the bullhorn, reads the winner's name. As you can see, the raffle draws a crowd.
Happy raffle winners! Just a little piece of trivia, our iPad raffle basket was our most popular seller this year, with 527 tickets sold!!!
Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2009. What was going on here was.... Mattie was taping Linda (his child life specialist) to the chair. There could have been many reasons for this!!! Primary to Mattie would have been that he did not want her to leave the room! Mattie was very close to Linda and in many ways relied on her and demanded her time and attention. Which of course was challenging since Mattie wasn't Linda's only patient. Yet activities like this were very good forms of physical therapy for Mattie, so any time he wanted to move and use his arms and legs, we really did try to reward him for it and make it fun, because given what he was up against, it was remarkable what he was able to achieve.
Quote of the day: Looking after a very sick child was the Olympics of parenting. ~ Chris Cleave
I came across tonight's quote and it deeply resonated with me. In fact, sometimes when I hear parents tell me they are tired, I acknowledge the feelings and absorb them. But I know internally, the challenges I have somehow survived from Mattie's battle with cancer and realize it was a race that has left scars that no one can see. Unlike the Olympics I did not get a medal, I wasn't acknowledged in the newspaper, on TV, or in the hall of fame. Yet those of us who have cared for a sick child and specifically a child with cancer, understand the heroic efforts I am speaking of.
Somehow all of these feelings have risen to the surface this week, as I have had to do battle again with the health care system to help Peter yesterday and today. Peter hasn't been feeling well for about eight days now. He has been struggling with congestion and a horrible cough. But over the weekend his symptoms got much worse and he developed very high fevers and other unpleasant symptoms on top of the ones he already had. I realized he needed medical attention because of the severity and persistence of his issues. So I brought him to the doctor yesterday. The doctor examined him and sent him to the hospital for testing. She promised to contact us later in the day with results and prescriptions, so that one way or another he would be started on medication to address his symptoms. Yesterday was one frustration after another, and needless to say the doctor never called us and the after hours on-call physician never returned my FIVE calls. So by 9pm I was ballistic! Not a good place for me to be given my history with the health care profession. I will leave it at that, but I continually to be amazed by the state of affairs with our medical care in this Country. It isn't getting better. If you think it is, you are fooling yourself, and it just means you haven't truly been sick, or helped a loved one who is sick. Dealing with physicians and hospitals have got to be one of the most infuriating, stressful, and anxiety provoking experiences I can think of. I just feel for those who do not have a mouth, who do not know how to advocate, and who are afraid of challenging the system! Good luck is all I can say!
This is Sarah and Ben! Last night I showed you a photo of Evelyn, who was at the Zumba session at the Walk. I explained that Evelyn was one of the first moms I met at Mattie's elementary school. These are two of Evelyn's children!
This is Ann! Ann and I have known each other since 2005! Ann's grandchildren went to preschool with Mattie! Ann is a LONG time supporter of Mattie Miracle!!!
This is Elizabeth and her daughter! I love their excitement over purchasing raffle tickets at the Walk! Elizabeth's son and Mattie were on a soccer team together when Mattie was in kindergarten. Interesting to see all the community connections, isn't it?!!!
Selecting the winning raffle ticket for each item is an art form and science. There is a system with checks and balances. Carolyn, our raffle chair, oversees the whole process, and as you can see the crowd is watching every move! The winning ticket is picked by a different person in the audience for each item. The person comes up, puts their hand in the ticket box and pulls out a ticket. Then Ann, the woman with the bullhorn, reads the winner's name. As you can see, the raffle draws a crowd.
Happy raffle winners! Just a little piece of trivia, our iPad raffle basket was our most popular seller this year, with 527 tickets sold!!!
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