One thing I've learned as a teacher, that I took for granted in my former life, is to celebrate the small successes. My kids are the ones that taught me this. I don't teach ordinary kids...my kids are the most amazing kids ever. They struggle through day to day activities, never giving up. In our class, we don't celebrate test grades or well written essays. We have small victory parties and tears over tying shoes for the first time or swinging by yourself on the playground without help or writing all of your numbers in order or being proud of new shoes. These are behaviors that other kids do without thinking, and most of the time, without effort. They pick up these traits naturally. My kids have to learn them.
So I've learned to bring these small victories into my life. I'm still experiencing side effects of the meds. Headaches are the new one. I've had some raging ones the past couple of days. I was told not to take aspirin or the like for fear of thinning the blood too much. My husband brought me a warm washcloth every 30 minutes to help...in the middle of the night. :) I have to admit though...the pain was more than I could handle. Headaches and lack of sleep are not a great combination and yesterday morning, I saw no end in sight. This is going to be a long 4 months. I finally put a call into my nurse who told me, thankfully, I could take 2 Tylenol. Yea! The pain of the headache had finally gone away leaving me in a state of euphoria. I'm still not sleeping well, but at least I'm sleeping. A grand total of 4 hours last night.
So to sum up, here are a list of victories that kept me going:
1. I can take Tylenol.
2. My sleeping routine is falling back into place.
3. My mom brought me Subway for lunch yesterday.
4. My husband rocks.
5. I've almost made it through my 1st week of chemo.
6. I'll get to see my kids soon.
7. I'm having lunch with a friend today I haven't seen in months.
8. And, not to brag, but my friends and family are better than yours. ;)
11 comments:
I have learned a lot about your kids this past year and I can understand what you are talking about. You are great and I was glad to hear that you were feeling better. Hang in there.
Kim, you know we would all gladly take your pain away from you if we could.
You are an amazing person with such a true gift to work with our babies.You will get through this!
I pray these four months pass quickly and with as little discomfort as possible for you.
Today, as I was working in my classroom trying to get the furniture back into position, I thought about you and was wishing you many positive thoughts! ((Hugs))
Linda Ferguson
When most would be looking for pitty you are showing everone how strong you are. I am so proud to be your friend! Love you!
Have I mentioned you're my favorite? Um, yeah... 'cause you are. But only because you talked about ME. C'mon, focus-- how does this all relate to ERIN. Jeez, get some perspective :-)
(hehe. Sarcasm doesn't convey well via internet. Now all your friends and family think I'm a big, fat jerk. Meh. I'm cool with that 'cause I know it makes you laugh. Here's hoping you snarfed.)
We are blessed to have you teaching our kids. I know I am!! I live those amazing triumphs everyday and we are so glad that you are apart of them. We will be waiting just across that finish line for you with our arms wide open as you become triumphant in all of your current and upcoming (hopefully not many) challenges. We love you!!
Kim, I hope you know that the gang here at Dr. H's is pulling for you. Call us if you need anything. We will always be here for you!
Tina
It's all about staying positive and having hope! I've always heard that you can survive anything as long as you can somehow find good in it. I LOVED your list! What a great lesson you've learned from your students - that every victory, big or small is worth celebrating! Sadly, many of us have become way too cynical in our lives, losing perspective on what's really important. So I say, "Lift your champagne and cupcakes to taking Tylenol, getting just a little bit more sleep, moms :) and Subway, husbands and washcloths, lunches with friends, schoolrooms full of children, making it through a week of chemo, and family & friends!!" Blessings upon blessings, sweet Kim!!!
Elaine
Headache queen here and something that really works is Head-on (you know - "head on, applied directly to the forehead". Also, migraine patches (which is basically just menthol in a patch) is good for night time because you can just stick it to your forehead when you are sleeping. Your head will get all tingly so you sorta forget about the headache for awhile. Hang in there!
When does school start for you? Travis is officially in middle school now. We went to meet his teachers and one of them wanted to know what grade I was in? Mom laughed and I said" Well I have already graduated." the teacher was very shocked. We thought that was pretty fun, and Travis' history teacher was my history teacher 10 years ago. Oh yeah, mom is one of the lunch ladies that surves the gross sloppy joe's.. God am I glad I am not in school anymore. But anywho I just thought I would she how you were doing. I will talk to you soon. Love you!!!!
Listen to your sister-in-law, she really is the headache queen! Glad you're sleeping a bit. If you need anything, call me. Love you.
Hey Kimmi! Eric and Shelley here to tell you we love you more than ever!!
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