“If I could be your pain, I’d run from you so far away…”
If (Jeannie’s song), Butch Walker
That lyric makes me think of my daughter. As much as I don’t want to miss anything in her life, I would die if it meant she would be cured of Crohn’s disease. Spending 4 days at Hasbro after her diagnosis started us on learning everything we can about the disease. It’s hard to make a 7-year-old understand what is going on and why she can’t eat popcorn or potato chips anymore but as always, she didn’t make a fuss about it. The toughest part of the whole recuperating process was the fact she needed to start taking Prednisone…a steroid. Over the next few months, she gained a lot of weight and looked “puffy”. It was hard not to notice it. I’m sure her classmates noticed this change when she returned to school and it couldn’t have been easy for her. For the most part, her friends have been great, as has the school. You just never know what’s really going on in her head.
When I look back at some photos that were taken during this period, the same thoughts come back. Her in the hospital bed, the pain…everything. I know there are kids with different ailments that are suffering much worse than she is. But they are not my kids…she is. I have to look at the photos though. This is who she is now and we’re here for her no matter what.
Learning to swallow a pill is not easy for a little kid. Learning to swallow multiple, giant pills every day is even hard for some adults. Back in March, 2010, my daughter had to start taking up to 8 pills per day. It probably took her a couple of weeks before she was able to take them with no problems. It’s something she will most likely have to do for the rest of her life. Eventually, she was able to stop taking the Prednisone and her body started to shift back to what we were all used to. Her road to feeling better was beginning…
If (Jeannie’s song), Butch Walker
That lyric makes me think of my daughter. As much as I don’t want to miss anything in her life, I would die if it meant she would be cured of Crohn’s disease. Spending 4 days at Hasbro after her diagnosis started us on learning everything we can about the disease. It’s hard to make a 7-year-old understand what is going on and why she can’t eat popcorn or potato chips anymore but as always, she didn’t make a fuss about it. The toughest part of the whole recuperating process was the fact she needed to start taking Prednisone…a steroid. Over the next few months, she gained a lot of weight and looked “puffy”. It was hard not to notice it. I’m sure her classmates noticed this change when she returned to school and it couldn’t have been easy for her. For the most part, her friends have been great, as has the school. You just never know what’s really going on in her head.
When I look back at some photos that were taken during this period, the same thoughts come back. Her in the hospital bed, the pain…everything. I know there are kids with different ailments that are suffering much worse than she is. But they are not my kids…she is. I have to look at the photos though. This is who she is now and we’re here for her no matter what.
Learning to swallow a pill is not easy for a little kid. Learning to swallow multiple, giant pills every day is even hard for some adults. Back in March, 2010, my daughter had to start taking up to 8 pills per day. It probably took her a couple of weeks before she was able to take them with no problems. It’s something she will most likely have to do for the rest of her life. Eventually, she was able to stop taking the Prednisone and her body started to shift back to what we were all used to. Her road to feeling better was beginning…