Now, had this been five months ago, I'd have drank that beer and gone to buy another case. But it's not five months ago and I've been sober that long. (Yay!) I'd be lying if I said it was easy to get here. Truth be told, the first little while was pure hell. I was crabby, cranky, rude... well, you get the point. And while staying sober would be hell on the best of circumstances, I picked summer to do it.
Yeah. You know. Bonfire, sit in the sun, have a beer camping season. Oh. And then I traveled to Ontario and Quebec to visit all of my family and attend my brother's wedding.
I spent the first three months avoiding social events and if I found myself at one, I sat away from everyone, usually in a different room. (fun times)
The first three months, I also had zero control over my anxiety. Though my meds had managed to keep things in check while I was drinking, they did nothing while I detoxed and fought the cravings.
BUT! I pushed through that three month mark and things got easier. I got the anxiety under control and I started becoming the wife/mom/person I had been before I let the alcohol poison my life. I never could have made it without my support system. (my husband, my family and friends, and my kids) They're phenomenal.
So, most of you know the story with my oldest son, Anthony. He got handed a shitty hand when he was born with cerebral palsy with autistic tendencies and epilepsy. You've seen my twitter, instagram, and facebook posts of seizures, horrible nights, and behavior issues.
As I write this, I'm laying in bed with him and we're watching Rescue Bots.
But life with Anthony has been life for the past 13, almost 14 years. Holy shit, he's almost 14 years old! Anyway, even though we have our stressful moments, it's our normal and we're used to it. (though, he does like to throw us a curve ball every once in a while. lol)
A little while ago, I made the mistake of thinking to myself that things were going great and I forgot to knock on wood. ALWAYS remember to knock on wood. Because if there's one thing life knows, it's that if it wants to mess with me, the best way to do it is through my kids.
Since then, I've had to watch my princess go for bloodwork and a renal and bladder ultrasound to see if they could find what is causing her to have multilple infections a year. She was a trooper and thought it was cool she could see her insides on the tv and thankfully, no abnormalities were found. She's now going to be seeing a pediatrician, though that's not until January. I'm not sure what the next step he'll suggest will be, but like I said, January, so I'm trying to not think about it too much. (yeah right)
Two weeks ago, Emery came home from school, crying because his back hurt. It turns out he was playing on a play structure at school and fell from five feet up onto his back. We rubbed him down, let him soak in the tub, and when that seemed to help, we chalked it up to sore muscles from the fall.
A week later, ( a day after Ashtynn's ultrasound) he was still in pain and a trip to the doctor was made. There, we were told there was a possibility he might have a fracture on one of his vertebrae and he was sent for xrays.
A few days later, I saw my doctor's number on my phone. Now, some people might think, oh well, but our doctor only phones us if something comes up in the tests that were taken. Go for bloodwork, no phone call, you're fine. Xrays, no phone call, all is good.
So, I took a deep breath and answered the phone, all the while wondering if I was getting news about Ashtynn or Emery.
It was Emery.
It turns out he doesn't have a fracture on any of his vertebrae. What he does have is Spina Bifida Occulta. To my doctor's credit, he assumed I'd heard of Spina Bifida and rushed on to say that it is also called closed Spina Bifida and that it is the mildest form of the condition. After easing my worry (I'm not going to lie, as soon as he said the name I imaged Emery's spinal chord ripping through his back... even though I knew it was something he'd obviously been born with and has lived with for eleven years with no issues whatsoever) he told me to bring Emery in and he'd explain more of what would happen next.
This morning, we went to the office. Some of Emery's vertebrae did not form properly while he was developing, therefore, he has a space which exposes his spinal chord. Though Emery hasn't had any symptoms (other than his back getting sore much more often then his siblings), there is a possibility that as he grows he could start having problems such as leg pain/ numbness, as well as other things. He is now being referred to a pediatric specialist in Saskatoon where they will do more scans and decide what our game plan is. Thankfully, because he doesn't have any symptoms, the chance of surgery is very small (pretty much non-existent) at this time.
Now, I thought I was handling things well enough. I did have an hour or so after the appointment where I felt a bit overwhelmed, but that passed and well, life.
It's funny how one tiny thing can set off a panic attack. All it took for me was to look at my calendar and see I had to take Anthony to his Neurologist on Wednesday.
Done.
I managed to get to my room and hide under the covers before my breathing went to shit and my chest contracted to the point I was sure I was having a heart attack. I'm not sure how long it went on (it always feels like hours), but I finally remembered to do all my "it's a panic attack, it will pass" exercises. I'm actually pretty happy with myself, I didn't even take an ativan (evil, tiny pills, they always put me to sleep).
And even happier with the fact that I didn't even think about having a drink.
So, that's pretty much it. I've had my meltdown and now it's back to business as usual because, well... this blog wouldn't be called Life and my Retreating Sanity if life was all rainbows and unicorns. :)
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