Thursday, June 25, 2015

So Very Careful, So Very Uninformed

She was so tiny.  Craig and I were so careful to hold her head, to strap her into her special car seat so gingerly, to swaddle her just like she liked it.  All that time, the simple act of feeding her was making her ill.  We had found out that she was allergic to regular formula, which is a story all to itself. But, there was more to it than switching her to formula for sensitive infants.

Nursing was never presented as an option.   I thought it was because of my difficult pregnancy and delivery.  In hindsight, it had more to do with the floor where I was admitted.  It probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway

So there I was, doing the natural thing, doing the doctor prescribed thing that was all good for Mia only to find out otherwise in the worse sort of way.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

A Mother’s Intuition


Mia was a  new born in this picture.  We were happy, concerned, hopeful, scared.  Was I being overly concerned?  Some of the professionals who helped us certainly thought so.  I didn’t really know the value of a mother’s intuition at the time.  Here is what I had to learn pretty quickly:

  • A mother’s intuition, vocalized with some good questions, and mixed with a heaping dose of persistence makes all the difference.
  • Learn what works and what does not work for your child
  • Keep going until you find a physician who  takes the time to hear what you have to say and consider your documentation
  • Understanding the connections between the documented results can be better than having Nancy Grace on your side.       

Monday, June 8, 2015

Hope Comes in Pieces – The Story Behind the Story2

In my last blog post, The Story Behind The Story 1, I wrote that Craig and I were destined to find the resource who is helping us with Hope Comes in Pieces. Craig had gotten the lead eight months before telling me.  At first, I got angry only to realize that the matching and timing were just too good to be coincidental. Personality and communication styles are a good match for our family.

The most interesting fact- If I had called him eight months earlier, he would not have been able to accept the project.   I know I would have called the moment I found out.  He would have politely resisted with, “I understand where you are coming from but I can’t.”   He was acting as a ghostwriter on a project while simultaneously working in healthcare technology and finance.

The author our resource worked  with decided not to finish the book though very happy with the work.  He had settled and closed out the project when Craig called on the second day after.

We exchanged some emails.  When I called our resource, we spoke about what I felt we needed. He quickly realized that we needed quit a lot.  I really didn’t go into convince mode.  I just explained our situation.  Basically, his question was, “Will you finish the book, because that’s really important to me?”    

Of course, I said yes.  And here we are, me going through Mia's shot records again as one of final checks.

Writing this book the way we did was painful,therapeutic, and well worth the process..

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Hope Comes in Pieces – The Story Behind the Story1

The Brick Wall

The way this book came together is nothing less than meant to be.  For years, people had been telling me to write a book.  Every time I went somewhere and shared our family’s story, I heard the same thing, “You need to write a book!”  Me trying to do just that led to one disappointment after another.


Fall of last year, Craig got home late one night.  He opened his laptop.  I worked on mine as well. He said something like, Here is the guy my boss told me about.  I looked at the linkedin profile.  I got happy.  Craig told me how long he had known about the lead.  Then, I got angry.  He had gotten the referral about eight months before and never told me.  Later, it became clear that his not telling me was part of our being destined to find this resource.  I am to the point that, even if Craig had intended to tell me every day the very moment he came in the front door, something would have distracted him and caused him to forget until the appointed time.

Starting with the end results, after years of frustration and disappointments, in seven months from the reboot, we have a complete, entirely new, and better manuscript.  Other than a few medical record checks, it’s all done.  We do expect some other changes depending how we choose to publish the book.

Furthermore, the new manuscript earned an outstanding endorsement from a very reputable and respected physician.  Next, instead of one book, we are headed toward four books.

More on the next blog, but from Craig’s first contact, it was pretty evident our frustrations were a thing of the past.