Blogging about life in Minnesota, raising our six kids with Down syndrome while battling Breast Cancer.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, "Oh shit! She's up!"

Friday, March 27, 2009

You drop me off, ok?

When we pulled into the parking area at camp, Angela turned to me, "Mom...I'll get my suitcase. You drop me off, ok?" In other words, "I don't want my mother escorting me! So just leave already!" 

"Well Angela, I have to meet with the nurse first to check in your meds, and I just *might* want to see where you're going to be staying this weekend. You know, thats kind of my job as the mom."

She let out a big frustrated sigh, then got her suitcase out of the back seat. We went into the main building, and were told we'd need to wait just a minute to meet with the nurse, so the staff person who greeted us asked if we'd like to see Angela's room. 

It was a large room with (I think?) 8 beds. Angela's was a hospital bed, which is what she sleep in at home. (she has to sleep at a significant angle because her esophagus collapses when she lays flat.) Somewhere in the registration papers there was a question asking if the camper sleeps in a hospital bed. I checked yes, but noted that she doesn't sleep in one while at her dads and seems to do fine. Still, they had a hospital bed for her, which is great! 

We unpacked her clothes. I had divided her clothes into sets which are put into gallon ziplock bags. So one is marked "Saturday" and has her clothes for saturday in it. That way she doesn't have to think, just put on what's in the bag. Then there is "Saturday Pajamas" that has pj's and a pull-up inside. This works great for her! The only time it's trick is during the summer when the weather in the midwest could be 90 or it could be 60. LOL 

Next we checked in with the nurse. We went over all her meds and the time she gets them. It only took a few minutes, and Angela is able to tell you what meds she gets in the morning. She can't tell you how much, but she can tell you the names of them. She takes 6 different meds, so I think that's pretty good she can do that!

As soon as we were done going over meds she looked at me over the top of her glasses, "Ok, you can leave now!" 

I gave her a quick hug and a kiss, and out the door I went. I'll be honest, I spent the whole 15 minutes I was there with my jaw clenched in an attempt to hold back the tears that were threatening the make an appearance. I managed to get into the car before one slipped down my cheek.

I looked at the car clock....6:40. Plenty of time to get home at a semi-decent hour. I got back at 10:30! I can't wait till Sunday when I pick her up. I'm sure she'll have plenty of stories! Now, please pray we have a weekend without any phone calls from camp staff!!!!

1 comment:

jazmine said...
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