Happy November 1! Can you believe Halloween is OVER and Christmas is just around the corner? We LOVE Christmas over here so you will notice the Christmas décor popping up at our house VERY soon!
We hope you all had a fantastic Halloween despite the rain, cold and SNOW! It felt like Halloween in the morning and Christmas at night! Crazy Michigan weather.
The morning started off with school Halloween parties! Walker still hasn't started back at school yet, but I took him to the school Halloween parade and his party to see his friends! I know it felt GREAT to see all his buddies again and feel "normal" being back in with his crowd!
They had a variety of frosted/sprinkled Halloween donuts, candy brownies and apple cider. Walker is still on his liquid diet so he could only enjoy the cider. He seemed to be in great spirits, but I can only imagine how tough it was seeing the ENTIRE class pass around treats and he can't have ANY!
They proceeded to play BINGO and a few other fun festive games and if you won, the teacher threw you candy! I told Walker since the beginning, he can collect ALL the Halloween treats he wants because SOON he will be able to enjoy them again. We were able to find a few hard candies he could suck on during the game. Afterwards I knew he had to be so hungry so we stopped at Steak n' Shake and got him a Cookie Dough Milkshake! For most it sounds like a YUMMY treat! But when Smoothies and Milkshakes are mostly all you can eat....it's really just another drink to FORCE himself to have.
My In-Laws had drove up from Jackson, Mi to spend the day with us and see Walker! We finally got the time to carve pumpkins and enjoyed a little Halloween FUN as a family!
Walker is an active boy and LOVES playing basketball in his room (and outside for that matter). So after his surgery the first time (once he was healed) we put up a hoop in his room so he can spend time shooting balls. Its been TOUGH to say the least since he truly feels great and isn't released to do ANYTHING! He keeps asking to play! And I keep having to say, "No buddy, I'm sorry Walker but no not yet, No, No No." We were told he could do NOTHING that gets his heart rate up for the risk of bleeding. Walking ONLY. So not being able to really play outside with all the neighbor kids (who get pretty rough), no running around, no wrestling with his brothers, no recess or gym at school, and no HOT TUB. We LOVE our hot tub and use almost DAILY. For those that have been following me....Walker is TRULY unbelievably positive. He faces his disease, procedures, symptoms, diets with a SMILE. But he's allowed to break, and Halloween was one of those bad days for him. I found him crying on the floor in his room, which just broke my heart. I told him how proud I am of him and how certain days will be harder than others. I said a few more days and you're already HALFWAY done with recovery! We were heading Trick or Treating with friends, and he was able to come get as much CANDY as he could and STOCK PILE!
Side Note: Towards the beginning of the year my step-dad was very ill and I spent weeks at a time up at Ann Arbor Hospital with him. He went through HELL to say the least enduring 3 surgeries, numerous procedures, tubes up his nose, and weeks of ICE CHIPS ONLY! Truly unbelievable how he stayed so strong too! Anyhow, there are times when people just break! And finally we DID! You just feel like how can ONE human endure SO much pain and it's very emotional. One of nurses said, "I am going to close the door for a short time. You can CRY, Scream, be sad, MAD, feel sorry for yourselves....whatever you want! You deseve that, and you're right, it's not fair, it sucks, you're over it all and upset! You have every right to feel the way you do! But when I open that door back up, the crying is over and it's time to be STRONG and face this thing!" She was SO right and our family will forever live by this "pep talk." We had to say this twice to Walker in Minnesota when he had some dark moments! We cried, we SCREAMED, and gave ourselves those moments we deserved. But then it was time to become WARRIORS and not let it take us out! WE are in charge of how we live with this disease. We choose to live our lives in a positive light. We choose to take the bad days and turn them into GOOD days! We choose to SMILE instead of sitting in the corner and feeling sorry for ourselves! You're right.....it's NOT fair this happened to my 10 year old son. But it will NEVER define WHO HE IS! I will raise him to be a strong, happy boy that can do ANYTHING he wants in LIFE! He controls his destiny!
Rant over......So today he started the day with liquids and the 2nd half of the day he got to enjoy some mush mac and cheese, and some mushy canned potatoes and peaches! He thought he had died and gone to heaven with that meal! Today he's been a HAPPY boy and playing with his brother, Cash. Tomorrow morning he gets to go to his basketball showcase. He obviously can't play yet, and will miss the first week of practice, but his Dad is his coach so they are scouting players during the showcases to choose who to draft TOGETHER! Hearts are happy over here!
On another note, I was approached this week by the Achalasia Awareness Organization to become a board member to help fuel Awareness for this rare disease, aide in research, help with their social media and compile a list of Achalasia Doctors for all warriors and families to use. I always said, I will NOT stop in helping my son, and other people battling this disease. They need a voice and boy do I have a BIG ONE! I try to be a positive light in dark situations, and hope I add something to their Organization. Feel free to follow their non-profit by clicking here:
It's a HARD disease to SWALLOW but these Warriors seem to find a way EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!
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