Stability

Hi all! It has been a while. Lots has been going on since my last post.

First of all, my dear friend Jolanta informed me that there is a Grey’s Anatomy that has an Acoustic Neuroma surgery! WHAT? It’s on Netflix – season 9, episode 12!! It is pretty far from reality, but fun to watch. In the episode, the surgery lasts 23 hours – yikes! Mine was only 8. Dr. Shepherd does it alone and with a brand new hand after his plane crash – although I would love to meet him irl, I would not have wanted my surgeon to be operating on me with a brand new hand.

My face is improving day by day. I’m almost 5 months out from surgery! When I try to smile, there are a few more teeth showing. Woo hoo!

Ella is progressing as well. We had a great parent’s weekend out in NC – although Kyl was sick and had to attend over Zoom. A concept they introduced was “whoever cares less has the control.” It applies to most of us who have kids in treatment. We become very wrapped up in their lives. It’s all consuming. We care so much – send packages, encourage school attendance, applaud their every achievement, etc. They want the kids to fully commit to doing the work, to find the motivation from within, to be writing us letters, etc. It’s been tough for me, but I have been encouraged to send fewer packages. I know. I was raised by Helene. I used to jump on Amazon right after a hard family therapy session and send Ella stuffies, books, clothes, make-up. It made me feel connected to her somehow – like I was being a good, caring mom. Now I am tasked with caring less. I try to practice restraint. Kind of goes along with my last blog post – Nobody Cares, David. This is also fascinating to practice during a marital spat. Wink wink.

Ella finished the work with her first horse, Bones. They have a series of steps to go through to be finished – the first being just being in the ring with the horse, to being able to touch the horse, to putting a halter on… ending with you being able to lead the horse into a trailer. Look how calm he is with her! He was a wild mustang when she started.

That’s all for now. Looking forward to turning 50 in two days. Happy to be alive. Then we are off to Jamaica with our friends for our first trip for just us in a loooooong time. All of our travel for the past few years has revolved around Ella and her various treatment locations. It will be so nice to focus on us.