Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Birthday Wishes

It's that time of year...again. My birthday. I've never been one to particularly enjoy having a birthday or to be the centre of attention at special gatherings. I'm more one that would escape to a deserted island if it meant that I didn't have to celebrate this day. However, one of the benefits of having children is that they remind you that "you simply have to celebrate mommy". Allright. You win. I will celebrate by writing my Birthday Wishes.

My first wish of the day: A pleasant home-care nurse. Today is an IV drip day. The IV port that was left in my right hand, I'm convinced just to make me unable to do anything at all, is a week old. Happy Birthday IV port. The only problem is that this particular type of IV port is only supposed to be left in for 4-5 days at a time. They are leaving it in because apparently no one can get a new line started on me. The nurse on Monday assured me that she wouldn't have a problem since she's been doing this 20-odd years and has only missed a handful of times. I just happened to be among those "one of a handfuls". She finally saw the point as to why the other nurse was asking for a mid-line, a more permanent IV port, to be put in. With any luck, I will get a nurse who can start a new line. If not, I might have to spend the day at the ER getting a new IV port put in.

My second wish: Sleep. My biological clock is preparing me for motherhood. At the latest, by 4am I have risen, even before the birds. While I do love a nice sunrise, which we haven't had a lot of due to the constant rain, I don't need to see it everyday. I can sleep for hour long stretches at a time, but can't seem to get any nice restful sleep. So that's what I'm also putting on the list.

My third wish: A new book. I'm looking for a new book that inspires me. It's been a while since I've picked up something that has touched my soul. I was inspired by Sidney Poirtier's book of letters to his great-granddaughter, but I'm looking for something more meaningful to me. The problem being, I just can't seem to think of anything off the top of my head that would be comparable to "the Last Lecture" or "The Peaceful Warrior" series. Hmmmm. I'll sit and scratch my head awhile longer on this one I guess. Recommendations welcome, as I still have a long 10 weeks of waiting here at home before Chloe arrives.

My fourth wish: For increased awareness of other people's suffering. Seriously, this world would be a much kinder, gentler place if we each remember that just because a person doesn't look hurt on the outside, they might be on the inside. I have "invisible chronic illnesses", I have mastered the ability to pretend all is well on the outside but can be a complete mess on the inside.

These wishes have been brought to you in no specific order other than what comes off the tops of my fingers as I type at 5am. I should be making the final wish of actually completing one of the many blog posts I've started about endometriosis and diet, but after all, it is my birthday....

5 comments:

Jenny H. said...

Happy Birthday!

Hope everything works out well for you at least for today :)

My Endo Journey said...

Happy birthday. Enjoy it!!!

endochick said...

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I sincerely hope that your IV goes well today and that your birthday is celebrated how you would like to celebrate it (probably sleeping, right?) ;-). There is this one book that was suggested to me recently, I'll have to get the name of it for you. It sounded very interesting.

Jeanne said...

Melissa,

I know you had talked before about not liking to celebrate birthdays.

Hopefully you won't mind if I send you some birthday wishes.

1) I hope you get things straightened out quickly with your IV situation.

2) I hope you get some SLEEP!

3) While I posted some books in response to your Facebook request for book ideas, I have a specific suggestion for you. I know it's not the kind of book you generally read but it was a LIFESAVER for me after my last surgery when I was laid up for quite awhile. It was a welcome escape for me and I became totally engrossed in it. If you haven't read them, I cannot recommend the Harry Potter books highly enough!

4) I can certainly relate to your 4th wish. Yes, such awareness is sorely needed. I think any patient with invisible chronic illnesses can relate to that last part.

~~

Finally, I hope you don't mind me sending birthday wishes your way. I know you don't like to celebrate birthdays.

However, since you did this post, I'm going to assume it's OK to say, "Happy Birthday"!

In keeping with your wishes, I'd like to focus on what you do throughout the year... rather than fixate on one day.

So, let me say that you help people a great deal throughout the year, you are a wonderful supporter of the endo cause and fellow patients, you are courageous & strong through great adversity, you're compassionate toward others, you are a passionate endometriosis support group leader, you are a wonderful mother, you are a great partner, and you are an all-around amazing person!

So how that for a birthday wish that's not about one day but about the gifts you give all year long?

Happy birthday, Melissa!

Jeanne

p1nkg0dess said...

Happy Birthday! You deserve to celebrate yourself and your life, especially with all the time you dedicate the rest of the year to your family and helping others! I'm glad your son is there to remind you to take a day for you! Good luck with the IV today, I hope that everything goes smoothly!

Post a Comment

 
Creative Commons License
Endometriosis: Facing the Battle Head-On by Melissa Ralston is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.