Friday, March 11, 2022

"Step inside my shoes"

 


 

Most women dream of becoming mothers,

watching their children turn from newborns to toddlers,

from school children to teenagers

Proud in their every achievement

The first word, the day they walked

that first day of school

 

My life turned out a little different.

There are no first words, no walking shoes to bronze

No play dates or best friends,

No valedictorians or grandchildren

 

Instead there are lots of other firsts-

when you first realize there's something very wrong

first MRI or CT scan, first surgery

first set of therapists, first gtube and feeding pump

 

There are also multitudes-

so many specialists, so many hospitalizations

a multitude of case managers, braces, and equipment

 

Do you have a medical degree?

Are you a nurse? OT? PT? ST?

So many more initials of  jobs

I am now an expert in

 

Why doesn't anybody believe me

when I say I know my child best?

Can you hold a 50 lb child, stiff as a board,

while suctioning with the other hand?

Can you operate any feeding pump, pulse oximeter, or wheelchair lift?

do chest PT and nebulizer, while answering the phone?

Can you learn how to use an IV in one day, give shots, catheterize,

and dress wounds?

Can you change a gtube on a ride in Disneyworld,

while holding the recipient of the tube?

 

How many standers have you used,

gait trainers, wheelchairs, floorsitters,

augmentative devices?

 

Do you have a record for the number of specialists spoken to in a day?

labs, insurance companies, government agencies, and more.

 

Have you had one good night's sleep

in the last 14 years?

Not me.

 

Yes, I am a mommy

I can comfort and kiss them too

I appreciate who they are,

cherish every smile and kiss

Their pain is mine, with every breath we take

 

So, please

know whom you are speaking with,

whose child you are treating

We are human, not made of steel.

we cry, we break, we need

your help!

 

Try to ease our burden

Not make it worse.

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