Tonight's picture was taken on April 4, 2009, Mattie's 7th birthday. Mattie had two birthday parties that year. One at the hospital on his actual birthday and the other at my friend, Christine's house a month later. Mattie was so excited in this photo, because friends were coming to celebrate his birthday after school. Mattie and his child life intern (Meg), spent hours decorating the child life playroom and picking out games and activities to do at the party! Meg even got Mattie out of his wheelchair and using his walker to help with set up! Meg was a force and Mattie responded to her, as she was able to inspire Mattie to take a few steps in ways that most of us couldn't!
Quote of the day: Give yourself credit for the days you’ve made it when you thought you couldn’t. ~ Unknown
At 6:30am, I got up and walked outside to look at the pool! What I found almost sent me over the edge. I found that the pool lost over an inch of water! I can safely say anyone who is thinking of owning a pool... FORGET IT! It isn't worth it. It is a royal headache and a massive expense! When we were looking to a buy a house in 2021, our goal was to find one without a pool. But after seeing over 60 houses, I fell in love with the one we bought because of the greenery. Given that my parents were moving from Los Angeles, I figured this house would remind them more like life in California (minus the winters of course!). Any case, back to my panic! When I say panic, I am not exaggerating.
Since last summer, I have struggled with the pool! Of course at first I did not realize I had a leak, but every week the pool company would tell me..... you need to fill your pool. I then started to figure it out.... something was wrong. I then started recording water levels daily and finally got a company here to do a bubble test. Which tested for leaks in the pool, in the pipes under the ground, and in the pool equipment. The one blessing is that I did not have pipe issues or more significant problems. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, a portion of the pool was resurfaced. I was told this would solve the problem. I saved up for months to accomplish this horrid task! So you can imagine that after paying for this ordeal, I expect NOT to lose water in the pool. At 6:30am, I literally took photos and contacted my pool company's owner. She got right back to me and later sent over Evan. Why do I mention Evan? I mention him because they know when he is around, my stress level dissipates. He is calm, professional, and knows his stuff. So when he tells me something, I know I am getting solid insights!
I couldn't hang around to meet Evan, because I had to drive to the city to take my parents to the dentist. However, when the phone rang while I was driving, I answered it. Evan is keeping track of the water levels for me and we will see what tomorrow holds, but he thinks this water drop is understandable given the multiple back washes (reverses water flow to clean the filter) he had to do in the pool this week. All I can say is I need a miracle! You know I will be up at 6:30am tomorrow examining that water level.
In the grand scheme of things, I do not know how I am functioning. I am not just dealing with a migraine, I am dealing with a cluster headache. Thankfully I do not get them often, but when I do get them, they can last for weeks to a month. NOTHING helps to relieve the pain. It isn't just a slight pain, it is intense. It feels like a screwdriver is going through my eye, my whole face hurts to the touch, my eyes are teary and I can hardly keep my eyes open. It is no wonder that cluster headaches are called suicide headaches! They can make you feel absolutely unstable. So how I managed a cluster headache today and transporting my parents to the city, pushing my dad in a wheelchair and coping with his multiple bathroom accidents is beyond me. My dad's hygienist has me laughing because she told everyone at the office today that if she gets sick, she wants me taking care of her. She finds me so unique because she says she hasn't meant many people who would devote their lives caring for other people in such an intense manner. Perhaps! But I assured her there are thousands of family caregivers in this country! We do what we have to do, for various reasons, but anyone who knows me knows if you are under my care, I take that VERY seriously. All my life, even as a kid, the needs of others always outweighed my own. I am aware that this is both a wonderful and detrimental thing!
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