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Nothing Is What It Seems – Follow Up
Tom has been making a flurry of phone calls and doctor’s appointments over the last several weeks. After two failed attempts to get Tim into the cardiologist for the echo cardiogram his doctor wanted, he finally went in last week and got it accomplished. And when I say failed attempts, I mean failure of epic proportions Tim just…
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Women In My Corner
Last month I was honored with a special note of love when Adrienne, extraordinary mom and blogger at No Points For Style invited me into the Circle of Love at Kir’s Corner with this amazing blog post. This Christmas Eve I get the opportunity to pass on the love to another amazing woman who’s touched…
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Why?
I’ve been watching the news, joining in on discussions on social media, and reading the editorials and blog posts about the horrific events that transpired on Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. I’ve spent three days in many different states of mind – disbelief, horror, grief, anger. I’ve wept tears for the children and their teachers that…
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We’ve Lost Hope: Guest Post
I was honored to be asked by Pete Earley, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist, to write a response on his blog to a letter he received from a concerned parent about their son, who struggles with both mental illness and addiction. Here is their letter: Dear Pete, We have tried to get our son professional…
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The Gap Between Reality and Congress
I’d like to ask you to imagine a scenario: You are an adult, married with kids and a mortgage, employed full-time in a high stress job that involves a significant amount of travel, and you have been struggling with Depression for a protracted period of time. Eventually your Depression symptoms cause you to seek professional…
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Nothing Is What It Seems – Part Two
If you didn’t read part one, click here. In 55 minutes, the reality we’ve been living in was questioned. The prognosis we’d been operating under was debated. The fate of Tim’s future quality of life was mulled over. This was all the result of one question posed by the doctor. If Tim’s cognitive issues are…
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Nothing Is What It Seems – Part One
Image by Detlef C Tim moved to a new residential program in June, as he would be aging out of his previous program when he turned 18 in July. We were happy to find one we liked with a program similar to the one he was used to, much, much closer to home. As with…
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Gah! No, Seriously – Gah!
As I drove in the car with Tim yesterday, my mind wandered to contemplating what crazy-fueled car behavior of his irritates me more – the times he chatters incessantly, or the times he sits catatonic, mouth agape, staring into nothingness for the entire drive. Yesterday I was treated to four solid hours of fly catching…
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Book Review: January First
It was Tim’s first birthday when we realized something wasn’t quite right. We couldn’t put our finger on it, but sitting in a high chair, screaming at the group of friends and relatives surrounding him, terrified by the single candle on his cake, wrists and ankles turning frantically, we knew he was different. It would be…
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Book Review: Easy to Love but Hard to Raise
I have a confession to make. I’m not proud of it. When parents of children with mental illnesses I personally feel are less severe than Tim’s express how hard it is to raise their child, I sneer. It’s almost involuntary. I feel like shouting, “Ha! I’ll trade you my kid for a month, then we’ll…