Faith's Mom's Blog

Today was the day I saw my cardiologist who comes to Bismarck from Mayo Clinic. Today was the day of my annual echo cardiogram which is basically an ultrasound of my heart. And this appointment was no different than what my appointments have been like in years past. (Except for the fact I was only there for about 30 minutes as opposed to two hours). It was business as usual when I went up to the pediatric floor of MedCenter One. You see, technically my cardiologist is a pediatric cardiologist. But since babies with congenital heart conditions eventually grow up, there is a need for cardiologists who specialize in adults with congenital heart defects. I'm not sure if the receptionists quite get this. Every time I call to make the appointment, the receptionist on the other other end of the phone asks, "and who is this appointment for?" "Me," I answer trying not to sound exasperated. And every time I check in for my appointment the receptionist looks around expec

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In the waiting room, at pediatric therapy, I am known as Faith's mom. Just as others are known as Ashley's grandma, Luke's grandma, Chloe's mom, Abby's caretaker. At first, we were just a familiar face to one another. But as our children and grandchildren came for therapy more and more, we began to talk. We compared stories. We asked each other questions. Our waiting time has now become social hour. We have become our own little community - supporting one another, offering prayers and talking to those who know exactly what we go through. It's not just the parents, grandparents and caretakers who share a special connection with one another. It's also the three receptionists who sit behind the desks. Some children, like Faith, have been going to therapy for years. They know our backgrounds, they know when we aren't feeling well and most of all they know and understand our children. They laugh at the children's stories and they cry too when one of the

We had a small miracle occur in our household last night. Faith slept in her own bed until 6:30 in the morning. She woke up and I got her back to bed and she slept another couple of hours before I had to wake her for school. This morning I felt so well-rested that I didn't feel the need to sleep while Faith attended school. Last week, that's exactly what I did. After seeing another doctor, actually a cardiologist, I found out my O2 saturation was down to 87% and I had pneumonitis . I was having major shortness of breath so I was concerned there was something going on with my heart. He told me to finish my antibiotics and get lots of rest. He also said it wouldn't be a good idea to walk Faith to school and back home. Thankfully, we were able to get someone from respite care to bring her to school and back. And while she was in school, I slept. On Friday Faith stayed home from school because she was coming down with a cold but we had respite care from 1-5 p.m. - I slept mos