Skip to main content

Christmas on steroids

The hustle and bustle of Chrismastime can make any normal functioning family want to pull their hair out. From getting all the right gifts, the wrapping, the decorations, the baking and preparing the feast, there is no vacation about that.
But these tasks, no matter how time consuming make Christmas Christmas. They stimulate our senses and ignite the Christmas spirit within us.
However, for some, it is simply too much.

Christmas is not a merry time for all. And for some it's not a choice to be the grinch or bah humbug for Christmas. For some, like my son, it is forced upon him by steroids; necessary medication to reduce his symptoms of brain swelling. The drug can also cause horrendous side effects in some people and it plays especially hard on Xavier's emotions.

My 7 year old son is depressed for Chrismas. He doesn't care Santa is coming... in fact he believes Santa shouldn't come because he has been a terrible boy for crying all the time. And like others who suffer from mental illness, there is no on-off switch to make it go away.

No amount of money and no amount of gifts can make me happy. I don't need a fancy house, a flashy car or even a trip or two. All I want for Christmas is to wake up in my own home, in my own bed with my family snuggled in beside me. Unfortunately, way too many families will wake up on a cot beside one of their children in a hospital bed while the rest of their family wakes up at home without them.
I appreciate the importance of being together.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Feeding the fire

Buried deep within my soul is a fire. It burns slowly; smouldering inside me day after day. I long for the day when this fire rages again. Like it used to before I smothered it with life. Before kids, before mortgages, bills, illnesses and medical interventions, there was something else on my mind. It was fuelled by almost everything around me and grew stronger with every use. This was something that took me through dark spiralling tunnels, across cobalt blue seas with purple monkeys swimming and up mossy green mountains that whispered cool breezes. It sparked all my  senses and tugged at my heart. It sent shivers down my spine and excitement in my belly. And sometimes it paid. My creativity was ignited by an imagination as unique as every snowflake that falls. The words came to me, the stories flowed and the imagery made sense. I created eloquent editorial and powerful prose. But somehow along the way I lost my creative spirit. I pushed it away. I pushed it down. I pushed d

The aftermath is MESSY

We are on the road to recovery!  Physically, Xavier is improving daily with his regular physio and pure determination only a child possesses. He is learning to walk again and use his left side, all while building back the muscle he lost.  He has at least another month of treatment left, but we are so fortunate we can manage it at home and at a dose that causes fewer side effects than he faced last month.  Xavier is determined and I admire that in children. The lack of self-pity in kids we have seen  on his cancer ward are so inspiring. Instead they use that energy to heal, and set goals for recovery.   Still there are residual symptoms that are concerning. He is choking on liquids more frequently, suffering from reflux and is unable to move his toes on his left foot. Seems minor but as he tries to walk now his toes curl under his foot and trip him. Who knew how important straightening your toes are!  But the lingering side effect of treatment is always the emotional scars

Will cancer or climate change be the end to humanity?

Someday the human race as we know it will not exist. As proven through time, history has a tendancy of repeating itself. Simply put, we haven't always existed so at some point we too will become extinct. I recently watched an intriguing documentary about the earth, its formation and evolution through time. The science of our universe as depicted in the series 'Cosmos' is fascinating - even if regurgitated information from grade school geography and science. The show strives to bring the relevance of the past to the future and how we continue to be affected. http://www.cosmosontv.com/ http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/57608648-223/cosmos-fox-science-sunday.html.csp It definately got me excited about science and the fact it airs on Fox and produced by Family Guy's Seth McFarlane does not make it any less credible. After watching, I questioned life as we see it today... and how that in billions of years from now the world will be a very different pla