The Good Things

There have been times when I have really annoyed Sammy with my "glass pretty full" perspective on life, especially when we have gone through our list of tribulations. Like when our first house was flooded (for the second time) by Tropical Storm Allison with maybe about 3 feet of water. My response was "The good thing is that we still have the roof". Shortly after, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, living with that horror for three months, I said "the good thing is that it has not spread throughout the body (tumor turned out to be benign..whew!). Another was when we had to go through infertility treatments. My response was "The good thing is that I can always adopt if it doesn't work out." There are several other difficult paths we had to endure, but in the end, I have learned very early on to look for something to hang on to in the midst of a brutal storm...there really are good things nestled in, oh so carefully.

Lately, Isabela has been saying "Mami, the good thing is....". Last night, as I was barely hanging on to the little sanity I had left from Sammy and Crystal being absent all week long, I had to let Isabela play with her left over fideo (noodle soup) next to me in our kitchen. I don't encourage the act of toy kitchen items coming in contact with real food, but I was desperate in crunching numbers and researching medical providers in order to enroll our family with medical benefits at Sammy's new company. I was exhausted, brain-dead and confused. Isabela got her toy blender and poured her fideo into the pitcher right before emulating the motor's noise. Next thing I know, the fideo was spilling all over the clean counter! I freaked and quickly reacted to Isabela in a firm voice as she had just complicated my life. Her response to me was, "Mami, the good thing is that it didn't fall on the floor, too." With a bit of hesitation, I agreed with a smile and returned to my laptop. She was right, there was a good thing at that moment. I left her with the spilled fideo.

As I continued to crunch numbers on the various health plan options, I hung on to that notion. I thought...What a good thing to have health coverage. What a good thing to have a discount on prescriptions. What a good thing that Isabela has the absolute finest doctors overseeing her care. What a good thing that I live in the same city as the world renowned Texas Childrens Hospital. What a good thing that I don't have to contend with a lifetime cap (isabela capped a policy once when her bill was over $3 million). What a good thing that I don't have to subscribe to an HMO and have limits imposed on the direction I want to take with her care.

As Isabela takes her daily medications every day, we remind her of the medications' purpose and we don't make it a big deal. We don't want her to feel sorry for herself for needing to have them and she has to absolutely understand the importance of each one. She came home on 11 different meds. Today she takes 4 prescriptions and then some natural wonders. There is never an argument on her part for having to take them every morning and every night. She positively embraces every syringe filled with liquid gold. That's a good thing.

So what's so good about her medications that she MUST take every day of her life?

enalipril: assists with heart function (the reason she is alive today)

amoxicillin: because she has no spleen, she needs something to ward off bad germs

baby aspirin: prevent blood clots

Zyrtec: Exzema (and also some topical stuff)

Flovent inhaler: asthma maintenance (not shown on pic)

Flaxseed: heart healthy

Cod liver oil: blood circulation and anti-inflammatory

Vitabears: essential vitamins

then the (almost) daily servings of nuts, fish, avocados, veggies, fruits, etc.

We pray that the regimen will save her life through the next open heart surgery and that she will recover strongly. Trust me, I get mad, but not really soo mad. Madness does not lend itself to proactivity. Plus, who am I to question what God believes I need? So, for right now, for every day thereafter, as you can see, the lining is a very thick silver from where I stand. I am glad Isabela sees that, too.