Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Illness and parental stress

In the past few months Jason has been ill on and off. Their are days he literally can not get out of bed (way above and beyond the normal teen stuff.) His doctor suspected Epstein Barr. Blood work results we got back this week confirmed this.
Basically this is viral and not responsive to antibiotics. The best things to do are let him rest and give him good nutrition.
I also have him on fish oil, a food grade multivitamin, vitamin d, and a supplement for infection daily.
From my research this takes a long time to recover from and the virus never fully leaves your body.

I am not happy that my son is sick, and I hate when he is not feeling well. But I have to be honest, sometimes I just get exhausted parenting a special needs child with all the doctors appointments, therapies, precautions, preplanning, stressful days, and more. And now on top of all of that he is sick as well.

Especially as a single parent, if I have to go to work and he is in a mood or not feeling well I am always unsure as what to do. Cancel work or wherever I have to go, make him go anyway, or leave him home alone. None of these options are great. Especially since if I do not work, I do not get paid.

If I have to cancel work or wherever I have to go it shows irresponsibility on my part and I may even lose that job. If I make him go anyway he may get further stressed or take longer to recover if he is ill that day. Leaving him home is something I do not like to do. He doesn't really like it either. Sometimes he gets very overwhelmed and nervous and so being home alone adds to that. (Although occasionally he enjoys being home alone, for the quiet.)

So all this makes me a bit insensitive to my children's illnesses and challenges. For example if they are not feeling well, I get upset that they can't do their chores. I know, terrible. But when what they are dealing with (illness, stress, etc.) happens so often (almost daily) it is frustrating to me.

Please pray for us!!!

I need prayer to have more empathy for them. I also need strength to handle all these challenges and issues. I also need wisdom for what to do when I am in the midst of a child's illness, or episode, or outburst.
Jason needs prayer with this new diagnosis of Epstein Barr, among his other challenges.
Joshua needs prayer for his challenges as well.

Thanks.

-Becky




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