A week of thanks

A Daily Blessings Meme
Day 7- Health

I used to hear people be thankful for their health, and I would roll my eyes. What a dumb thing to be thankful for. I lived under the impression that you were either healthy or dead, and there was no such thing as sick. I used to think people who were sick had it all in their heads. I viewed most sick people as weak and attention seekers. I even was diagnosed with skin cancer, and never looked at it as being sick. I went through two surgeries in six weeks to remove it, but I never looked at it as being sick. I was still a healthy 20 something yr old. I still forget sometimes that I had cancer, it isn’t that big of a deal to me. I didn’t quite dwell on it.

My kids for the most part were all healthy. My son had some breathing issues when he was born, but he got past them and is a star athlete now. Sure they had their little ear infections and coughs and colds… but they weren’t sick. I always made sure they were exposed to enough sick people to build their immune systems. They were healthy, happy, children with no problems.

My view on this issue changed last September as I sat on the phone with my husband. He had just spoken to our family primary care physician and she wanted our middle child in the hospital within two days because a “shadow” had appeared on her X-ray.

A month later we learned that our beautiful, blonde, curly-headed, little angel had a form of bone cancer in her pelvis.

I stared at “sick” right in its ugly face. I knew then what sick was. I hated it. I hate what it has done to our beautiful Ambriel. Sick is real. Sick is ugly. Sick changes lives. Sick takes a long time to heal.

Our daughter is in remission now, but I don’t think she will ever have another day that she is “healthy”. Every ache, every pain, every stomach ache my heart does little jumps and panic attacks. I know it must be ten times worse for her. She has gone from being a happy ten year old whose biggest worry is if a boy likes her, to being an old woman who feels every storm days before it hits. It happened in a matter of days.

So today, I am thankful for healthy. I am glad that God has shown us what healthy can be. I am thankful for every day that my daughter can live cancer free. I am thankful for every step she can take. I am thankful for my own health. I am thankful that my husband, Elisa and Caleb are healthy.

Please don’t make the mistake I did.

Thank God every day for the health of you and your family.