National Compliment Day

Happy National Compliment Day! In our every day lives we tend to get so wrapped up in the small little things going wrong that we forget to remember the things that are going right for us. When is the last time you received a compliment? When is the last time you GAVE a compliment?

In honor of today's occasion I want to challenge you to go out and compliment 5 people. This could be a friend, family member or for extra bonus points a random stranger. I would love to hear from you how it went!

There are times when we are 'normal'

One thing I struggle with at times when it comes to blogging is the fact that there are many times when we are just 'normal', average, like Joe next door. During those times, what am I supposed to blog about? Would anyone like to read posts dealing with our 'normal' life?

And then I realized something. It is still part of our journey. I always talk about how people shouldn't let their illness be the only defining thing about them. I tell L that he is more than his illness on days where he feels like things ARE all about his illness. Yet I was doing the exact thing I was doing the exact same thing here on my blog.

I am more than what is going on when there are posts that relate to L's illness. There are so many funny stories of our oldest that I could have blogged about. Like over the past few days where she is convinced that she is a fairy. A real life fairy that gets her wings at night and can fly around. She by herself would be worthy of blog entries with the things she comes up with.

So in the future there will hopefully be some more blog posts about family stuff, every day funny stuff and just our crazy life.

I have noticed a pattern

I had been toying with the idea of starting to blog again. When I was looking at my blog I noticed a pattern: Around late November/early December I tend to stop blogging only to get started again come January time frame. And that is where we are right now.

I have no idea who (if anyone) is still reading this. It is just the time of year for me to pick myself, L and our family back up from these last few months and get going again.

My absence always coincides with the time of year that L is not doing well. I get so consumed by taking care of the kids, L and trying to somehow not forget to take care of myself that blogging (and tweeting) takes a back seat. But for now I am back. Until November is my guess. And then I will most likely disappear again.

Pee-a-boo!

It has been a long time since I have blogged. I have lacked the motivation and just have been extremely busy between family and work. I do however keep the facebook page up to date and would love to see you there if you're not there yet!

What would you like to see on the facebook page to make it a more active community?

L's first real experience of discrimination

Saturday morning L woke up with his foot hurting. He was having problems walking and slept most of the day to escape the pain. By 6pm he finally decided to go to the ER to get his foot checked since he was still in a lot of pain and barely limping along. I was working that evening so I grabbed my latop, the kids and drove him to the hospital. In order to not have to be inside the ER with three kids and to be able to work I just dropped him off at the ER entrance, parked and went back to work (side note: LOVE that I am able to work wherever I am as long as I have internet access).

I had prepared myself for a lengthy wait since it was a Saturday and they tend to be very busy but less than an hour later he called me to come pick him up. I could tell that he was furious and was wondering what happened.

As normal when asked if on any meds and health history, his bipolar and PTSD was mentioned. And that is when he said things went bad. Instead of asking more questions about his hurting foot he was asked when he last saw his mental health professional, if he was taking his meds, asked how he got to the ER ('Did you walk yourself here?), and made to walk up and down the hall way for the nurse. He never saw a doctor and was sent home without anyone taking a real look at his foot and with a prescription for noninflammatories which he refused to get filled since he is convinced they are just placebos anyway.

How can the medical profession handle a patient that way? Even if he WAS making it up for some reason, did they not have the duty to check to make SURE it really was nothing? At least bandage his foot up if it is a sprain? Treat him without accusing him of lying?

Luckily his foot is getting better so it appears to have been nothing serious. His mood took a huge hit though. Any healthy person hates not being taken seriously. For L it opened a whole different can of worms. Anger at being treated that way. Anger at being mentally ill. Fear of not getting better. All now followed by another bout of depression when he had just started getting out of a depressive phase.

I cannot always be with him when he goes to the ER, but I know that at least for the near future he will insist on it to have someone there to 'put in a good word for him' when he might not be able to articulate his own needs too well. That means I would have to find someone to cover for me at work, take three kids to the ER with us or hope his grandparents can help out. And that is if he is willing to go back.

This morning I called the patient advocate and I do have to say that I was VERY pleased with her reply. She took mine and L's concerns seriously and promised to not just look at his records from that night but also speak to the staff involved as well as the director of the ER. Now I am waiting for her to follow up with me. If nothing else, maybe L's experience will lead to the ER looking at its procedures when it comes to dealing with mentally ill patients coming in to receive care.