First Post: Reflection & About Me

I'm going to try this and see if it will help me become the best version of myself (@MatthewFKelly) through reflection. I really struggle with finding the time to read, research and share to become a better wife, mother and educator. Sometimes it feels like I'm blindly going through my to do list and not really gaining ground on how I impact others in my life. My posts will mainly be my reflections of my life whether about my family or myself as an educator.
I begin with my family journey first, so you know a little more about me. I complete this as I sit in the new fourth floor expansion to the Liberty Campus at Cincinnati Children's Hospital (http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings). Though if you read the report they have fallen to #4 in GI care. When we began our journey with them they were #3. We are still very lucky they are a short 15 minute drive from our house, because their care is outstanding. My daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease before her 5th grade school year. Though that was shocking news at the time the first four years of her disease were uneventful except for the routine blood work episodes and the struggle to learn how to swallow pills. I had to remind myself often that I wasn't walking in her shoes. Having allergies my whole life taking pills and getting weekly shots didn't seem to be such a big deal. She did not feel the same.
The last four years were not so uneventful. Her eighth grade year began the first flare. She lost weight and we had our first overnight visits to the hospital. In the beginning you try to learn everything about the disease and the drugs and all the serious risks and side effects. You end up having to trust your doctors. She had to move to a more serious drug strategy and eventually had surgery to remove twelve inches of her colon. She's a trooper though because the hospital stay was supposed to be 7-10 days and we checked in Sunday, had surgery Monday and checked out Friday. She even headed to the soccer field the Saturday after to support her team. We now have Remicade infusions every six weeks, which is why I'm sitting at the hospital on Labor Day. This is her senior year of high school and we don't want her to miss out on anything. She plays soccer, so we have to work around schedules. I will occasionally share more about our journey with Crohn's, because it's a part of our daily living and I feel like I've learned a little along the way that may help someone.