On steps to success.
This is the start of my last week in Florida before I leave to study and live in Ireland for a year. Maddie has made amazing strides forward, small and slow though they may be. One of my dear friends told me it makes sense that Maddie’s steps forward are small because her feet are small. That’s one of the cutest mantras I’ve ever heard. And I think I’m going to hang it up in Maddie’s bedroom somewhere. Maddie’s healthy and without infection, and we’re working with her pulmonologist to keep it that way while she travels to Austin, Texas for a week of intensive treatment with Dr. Crawford (this video explains better than I could what that treatment entails).
Missy found a meme in one of her support groups that explains its best: when we get discouraged about Maddie’s cognitive progress, we have to remember that we can’t see what’s going on in her brain. All sorts of good things can be happening, but the central nervous system suppressants Maddie is currently taking (a total of five) can be muting or distorting what those good things actually look like. I’m excited for Ireland, naturally, but I’m also excited to come home and see Maddie’s progress. I truly believe the sky’s the limit. She’s come so far already, and there are more alternative, intensive treatments to try.
As far as Ireland goes, I’m waiting to receive a move-in date so I can finish my mandatory self-isolation period (which could be as short as five days) on campus. Once I get that date, I’m going to book my flight. Once I get back home to New Jersey, I plan on going shopping and packing. I think it will finally feel real then.
I haven’t done a lot of writing (sorry!), but I finished Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey and found it enjoyable even though it was meandering and self-serving. I’m now reading The Mountain is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest. To be honest, I feel a little hoodwinked because Wiest is not a life coach or a psychologist or a therapist. She’s an author writing for Thought Catalog, which posts some less than professional and/or credible articles online. Still, I’m taking what I can from it and am going to use it to bolster my reserve concerning certain relationships I plan on terminating while in Ireland.
I’m excited for this trip to be a major period of self-growth. I am going to become a better person; more confident and stylish and talented and loving.
[image error]The post On steps to success. appeared first on mandi bean: writer.
