Some posts may have links that may be affiliate links. I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you purchase through my link, you won’t pay a penny more, however, I will receive a small percentage back. Thank you for helping support my blog in this way! I will only link to things we have used and love.
Sometimes life gets really… predictable, doesn’t it? Sometimes though, life can throw you a curve ball. I didn’t expect is to be on the path we are walking now. On October 11, 2020, my oldest son, my “easy” child, started struggling with his speech. He had a hard time finding the right words, pronouncing them correctly and was repeating himself. A few days later he had a massive panic attack that brought with it some very scary symptoms. Hours and days passed and we hoped and prayed the symptoms would go away. Today is November 3, 2020. Election Day. Many of his symptoms have remained. Thankfully, he is not in a full-blown panic attack most of the time. However, he is in an almost constant state of high alert, or fight or flight. He has been diagnosed with Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder. To learn more about his journey and to see where we are in our journey now, you can find his CaringBridge site here.
Life as we knew it screeched to a halt. My husband, Tom, took four days off of work to stay home and continue homeschooling our other children while I remained in the hospital with Cole. He was able to follow the video lesson guides, and use the materials I organized to give our kids a sense of normalcy in a very scary time. My daughter, who struggles with ADHD, like her mama, moved forward and made progress with her daddy by her side. My first-grade son plowed through his lessons. He used his video courses somewhat independently and only needed his weekly work binder filled with his worksheets, which I had mostly collated over the summer. My three-year-old got special time to play with dad and continued with the routines he was used to.
Throughout my time in and out of the ER and as Cole was an inpatient at the children’s hospital, I didn’t have to give much thought at all to school or worry that my other children would fall behind because of this crisis. Their video course teachers, unaware at the time of filming, walked us through this crisis and comforted my children with their sweet smiles and passion for teaching. I am so very thankful for them and for the many people at BJU Press Homeschool that work to make our materials and our videos top notch.
We are continuing to walk through this new life as it turns from a crisis into a journey. We are thanking God for his provision and trusting that he will continue to provide throughout. We have a lot of changes happening at home. We are facing many doctors’ appointments, more testing, and possible travel to specialty hospitals for even more testing and treatment. All of my children have some therapy appointments of their own for various reasons. We hired a mother’s helper/nanny to help ease the stress of an impossibly busy medical schedule.
We are praying for healing for our son, but we know that no matter what happens, God is good and He is in control.
If you would like to follow Cole’s journey, you can find his CaringBridge site here.
You can also join Cole’s Prayer Warriors on Facebook here.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
Oh bless your heart Sharon!! I didn’t know you’re facing so much! I’ll be keeping you andCole in my prayers!