Keep calm

My husbands knee surgery is over with no complications so far. We are in the early days and we are keeping our fingers crossed for no infection. We don't have the MRI results back yet, hopefully soon we can figure out what's happening with his spine. As he's recovering I've been busy organizing our home. I was curious on how others handle stress. I keep busy. When I'm busy, I don't have the time to over think what I'm stressing about. Today reminded me about when my husband was hospitalized. I literally went through every room in our house and rearranged and organized everything. Like today, while my husband was sleeping, I had homeschooling going, I planned some upcoming field trips, did some home school ordering to replenish a few curriculum items, reorganized three dressers, cleaned our home, and a multitude of other things! By the end of the day (not only did I feel productive) I felt good. I wasn't watching my husband's chest breathe in and out anymore. Nor was I worried about anything. It was an excellent Monday. Sometimes I find myself sharing too much "online" (oops) because it's my stress reliever....
I'm not sure how many of you have experienced living with a very serious sick partner or child, it can be life consuming for everybody involved. Even now as I write (while he sleeps directly across from me) I'm looking over. My definite answer to all this madness is productivity. Honestly, I don't think I've vacuumed so much in my life before and our home is already clean. A friend of mine stated that we should have shares with the hospital because we practically live there at least three to four months out of the year. I was thinking, that's about right. Even this week I have to bring Emily (our daughter) for her hip x-rays to find out if her plates will remain or come out. Which means another admission that I'm not looking forward too. Our poor daughter doesn't understand due to her cognitive abilities, so when she goes in for any surgeries it's a very sad and helpless feeling for this momma. I thought it was hard when our teenager son went for lung surgery after having three pneumothoraxes, however it's nothing in comparison when you have a child that doesn't understand fully what's happening. Anyhow this is our life lately. I'm addicted to David's loose leaf cinnamon Rooibos Chai tea and those little cinnamon hearts and cleaning. Normally "my" happy place is outdoors except that our yard is a unfinished mud pit right now due to illness and all this rain. Usually hiking is my Zen of choice but for now it's several cups of warm tea while plunking along accomplishing tasks I never knew existed! "Make work projects" And you know.... even with all our challenges, I still wouldn't change our life's choices. I might come across completely crazy stressed lately however I truly believe in this quote. "You (I) were given this life because you're strong enough to live it" And I am. My husband is still alive today because he has the will and stubbornness to live. We still are a strong team surviving our journey. We also have many individuals that support us. Our family and friends. Our community. Yes, through our online support networks. So thank you for listening to me, reading, commenting and/or adding advise. I appreciate it more then you know and I hope to come writing with more inspiring stories soon! PS - Happy belated Valentines from our family to yours ~