It was until I was in my 20’s that I was diagnosed with asthma but when it happened, I was already a mom of 2, so naturally, I worried about my children having it as well.
Now that I am a mom of 5, I feel it is important to educate myself and others when it comes to health issues in children.
Here is a great infographic from FilterBuy.com to help better understand, recognize and control asthma symptoms in children.
Summer is just around the corner and while both kids and parents anxiously await a much-needed vacation, there are a few others who need something more…a break from the heart-wrenching challenges they face every day as a result of a family member who is battling, or who may have lost the battle, with cancer.
Being a mom, there are things I constantly worry about. I worry about something happening to my kids daily, I worry about something happening to me or Alex all the time and hate to ever imagine my kids living a life without me or their dad or ever having to know cancer on a personal level. Unfortunately, there are children, every day, who learn about cancer at a very personal level, and at those times, I am happy to know there are places like Angel on My Shoulder available for them to enjoy to help ease that burden.
Angel On My Shoulder is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that has established a number of cost-free camps, both summer and year-round, that were designed to address the needs of young people whose lives have been affected by cancer through the illness or passing of a close family member (parent, sibling, or grandparent).
Angel On My Shoulder weekend camps are funded through donations, so that everyone who wants to attend may do so. They provide kids with an opportunity to meet others like themselves in a well-supervised atmosphere of understanding.
“When a family is affected by cancer, the focus has to be on the patient. Too often though there are children who are also experiencing loss or confusion,” said Lolly Rose, founder of Angel On My Shoulder. “That’s where Angel On My Shoulder comes in. We’re helping these kids feel good and have fun with others they can relate to; to see their faces light up again is an amazing feeling.”
Angel On My Shoulder offers five different weekend camps for kids who have a close family member who is battling cancer.
The purpose of the camps is to give kids the chance to meet other kids who are in the same situation and give them the opportunity to participate in activities tailored to their age group that will provide many happy memories.
Summer camps include swimming, kayaking, canoeing and fishing. Winter camps feature snowshoeing, ice fishing, dog-sledding and sleigh rides.
Angel On My Shoulder also sponsors two retreats for adults: Angel Care and Healing Angels. Angel Care is for Cancer Caregivers, and was created with the express purpose of giving cancer caregivers a respite from the often times grueling work of caring for a loved one with cancer. The retreats are held several times a year and provide activities such as yoga and discussion sessions to help these selfless individuals give back to themselves.
Healing Angels is for cancer survivors who are in remission. The intent is to provide them with a weekend of mental, physical and spiritual healing that will contribute to their growing sense of well-being.
You can learn more about Angel on My Shoulder by watching the video below.
If you would like to learn more about Angel on My Shoulder and the volunteer opportunities available, please check out their website.
In my life, all 35, almost 36, years of it, I have held an abundance of jobs.
I’ve been a housekeeper in a hotel.
I’ve been a cashier in a department store and a gas station.
I’ve been a child care provider and preschool teacher in a day care.
I’ve been a server, hostess and attendant in a restaurant.
I’ve been a delivery driver in a business filled with men.
I’ve been a customer service representative in a cubicle.
I’ve been a bartender in a bar.
I’ve been an insurance agent and salesperson knocking at the door.
I’ve been a blogger at a computer.
Of all the things I have been there is one that I was destined for.
I was meant to change diapers.
I was meant to wipe away tears.
I was meant to kiss boo-boos.
I was meant to lose countless hours of sleep.
I was meant to scare away monsters under the bed.
Of all the things I’ve done in my life and of all the jobs I’ve had, the one I was truly meant for is the job of mom.
I am a mom, before anything else.
and live and breathe every day.
I was meant for this job.
Since Joey is our last baby, I have made it my goal to take a picture of him every day for a year so we can see just how much he changes on a daily basis.
Here is our little Joey the first 25 days of life (August 18th – September 11th).
First things first, Zack is out of the hospital!
YAY!!!
He was discharged a day early since he was doing so good.
He passed Using Crutches/Wheelchairs & Functioning With Only One Leg 101 with flying colors!
But to get you caught up, here’s what you missed!
If you haven’t heard, Zack required surgery for a Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis, I wrote all about it and you can read about it HERE.
So, after spending all of Tuesday between the doctor’s office, the ER and then checking into a room in Pediatrics we attempted to get some rest to prepare for Zack’s surgery on Wednesday afternoon.
Needless to say, we slept for about 3 hours Tuesday night and were up bright and early at 4am when the nurse came in to check Zack’s vitals and draw blood.
All I have to say is thank goodness the hospital had video games to occupy Zack because that is what he did from the time he got up until he made his way to Pre-Op at noon.
Here he is in Pre-Op waiting to be prepped for the O.R.
We sat in Pre-Op for about an hour, talked with the nurses, the anesthesiologist and then his orthopedic surgeon Dr. S. Once we were done chatting , Zack made his way to the O.R.
Of course, this meant it was time for another photo op!
Once surgery was done, we had a chance to talk to Dr. S who let us know that everything went perfect. He received a small incision on the outer right thigh, a hole was drilled through the bones and then the screw was put in place.
The best part is that Dr. S even took pictures of the screw in place so that Zack had some awesome show and tell.
Surgery took just about and hour and then he spent another hour in recovery before returning to his room. Upon his arrival he was still a little confused from the anesthesia and was quite tired. I thought for sure that once everyone cleared out of the room and everything was quiet that he would go to sleep and finally get some rest.
And he did, for about 30 minutes.
Then he wanted to play on the XBOX360 and try to eat.
That went on for a few hours.
Around 6:30ish we both started to doze of and managed to grab a quick nap before we had some visitors.
Zack’s cousins came to visit.
He was really excited because they brought him mashed potatoes with gravy from KFC and Call of Duty Black Ops for the XBOX.
For the next 2 hours, Zack and his cousin played Black Ops.
That is Zack gaming.
Does he look like a kid who just had surgery 6 hours prior??
After his cousin’s departure just shy of 10pm, we had a few snacks, popped in a movie and both passed out shortly after.
I woke up a few times throughout the night to check on Zack.
He managed to sleep, soundly, until the nurse came in shortly after 4am to check his vitals and medicate him and then went back to sleep until 7:35am Thursday morning.
Thursday was a great day—-we got discharged a day early, but more on that tomorrow!
