Thursday, February 25, 2010

The family

As I mentioned previously, at the time my symptoms started I was in a new relationship and my kids were 9 and 10 years old.

I'm not really sure what went through mys kids minds as I struggled with DM. I could tell they both became protective of me and my daughter wanted to help a lot. I know it was scary and difficult for them at times but I tried to keep things as normal as possible.

Then there was the new relationship. My boyfriend moved in 2 months prior to the onset of my symptoms.It's hard to say what someone would do in the face of a daunting diagnosis. Some people would turn and run.

By about the 5th month we lived together, I was barely functioning. I left for work in the morning and as soon as I came home, I had to go straight to bed to rest from the work day. I had no energy to do anything.

Then there were the physical changes to deal with. My face was constantly red. I had other patchy red areas on my body over my joints.

My hair was falling out in clumps. Then there was the weight gain from the prednisone. I gained 80 pounds in less than a year from the steroids.

Why would anyone stay in a relatively new relationship with all that going on? Well he did. Not only did he stay, he took on all the things I was unable to do.

He started doing all the laundry and the grocery shopping. He dropped the kids off at school and picked them up after school. He did all the cooking and the majority of the cleaning.

I am not really sure what I would have done without him.

1 comment:

  1. Quite a man you have. You are right with "why would anyone stay...". My SIL was going through some very tough times about 12 years ago. Her fiance (they lived together, and had been for over a year) just left one day without telling her (while she was in the hospital). Broke her heart. The family (my DH, FIL, MIL and me) had to help pick up the pieces. I still hurt for her. She has never had a relationship since.

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