Mommy Wars….

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I will be the first one to tell you that I was once slightly judgmental about how others parented. There was once a time where I was a “know it all” Special Education teacher in my twenties with no kids of my own. I knew the parents of my students had an unbelievably difficult task but I can’t deny the many times I had wished and prayed that they would just do X because it was the “better” choice. Now being a mom of five myself, two of which have special needs, I TOTALLY get it and I want to apologize with ALL my heart to anyone I may have judged. I now have a completely different lens with which I look at everything…. I call it the “mom-filter”.

 

I try REALLY hard to use the mom-filter to support and uplift other moms, instead of tearing them apart. We all share common humanity and just want to do the best we can with the resources and information that we have available to us. Being a mom is without a doubt a blessing but it is certainly the scariest thing I have EVER done. I constantly worry about the choices I am making…. Will this be one the one thing that screws them up forever? You know what I am talking about! Times it by 5 and it’s a recipe for complete exhaustion. 

 

Society has created a culture of judgment and superiority, especially amongst moms…. Breast feeding vs. formula feeding, helicopter parenting vs. free range parenting, cry it out vs. attachment parenting, vaccinated vs. non-vaccinated…. the list could continue on forever…..  The truth is judging other moms and spewing nastiness does nothing to help get what you are personally passionate about across. It shuts the recipient down and makes them push harder against you- missing all the good information you may have to put out into the world.

 

I am on a quest to connect moms across the globe who want to end the judgment and criticism, have open and civil discussions, agree to disagree and spread love and support to fellow moms. We are all on this journey together.

Why not extend a hand and an open heart?! heart2

Yours Through The Insanity,

xoxoxoxo

Colleen

When Silence Becomes Disobedience

I have sat down to write this at least fifty times, but the task always seemed so daunting, that I would hastily tell God, “Not yet, I’m not equipped for that right now” and walk away from it. The funny thing about God is, you can’t tell Him what you are or are not going to do, the pressure will get so intense that you have no choice; so here I am in a place I don’t desire to be but right were He has placed me believing He will equip me in the process. That juxtaposition is nerve wrecking and peaceful all at the same time. I know my surrender doesn’t mean an easy, quiet path free from persecution, but it does come with the promise that it will all be used for His glory and my good.

There is no way to condense the agony, trauma, and despair that domestic violence, coercive control and systematic abuse produce into anything less than a novel. While that may be in the works one day, right now it is imperative that I speak for those who remain paralyzed in the shadows. I am no stranger to paralysis, in fact, most days my nervous system still resides there. I want more for my kids though and can’t effectively lead them in their relationship with the Lord if I fear man’s lashing more than I do God’s wrath. Solomon tells us in the Book of Proverbs that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). The legacy I leave through Him for His people is much more important than the things of the world I could ever store up.

Eight years later, I continue to endure excessive and life altering character assassinations, financial disarray, physical illness and the systematic dismantling of my kids’ souls at the hands of those who have been charged with protecting us. Everything inside of me wants to scream about the atrocities and curse those who have destroyed the God given miracles who where entrusted into my care, but scripture reminds me that vengeance belongs to the Lord (Deut. 32:35, Romans12:19). There is relief that comes with knowing that it isn’t mine to settle. It gives way to removing rage from the lineup and leaves righteous anger at the forefront. This anger doesn’t come with aggression but with a hatred of the sin that has landed me here; both my own and those whose choices have caused immense affliction over our lives. It is an anger that fuels rebuking of what God abhors. It seeks to partner and create a new thing from the adversity and soul crushing pain. One that changes the trajectory of everything and brings life to everyone it touches.

Today I have laid the scene for a series of letters I have been charged to write to each entity who have had a hand in the pouring gasoline and setting myself and my children on fire. It is my desire to stir the hearts and souls of every Christian within the ranks of these agencies to step up and step out on the Word of God. It is a solid lifeline in this upside-down world where we now call good evil and evil good. Silence and inaction will be the demise of our souls. All it takes for evil to prevail is for good “men” to do nothing. Time is running short, all our eternities will begin with the answer to one of these two statements – Well done my good and faithful servant or depart from me I never knew you.

The Abyss

Grief.

 A gaping hole where memories, despair, anger, blueprints that will never come to fruition, and the pace of an unfamiliar pattern of life collide and then gush out of your heart all at once. The variable speed leaves you unsteady, unsure if today will be a slow leak or an uncontrollable tsunami. The valve never turns completely off, no matter how much time has unfolded. Before you realize it, years have gone by in a blur. The haze lifts and the devastation that ravaged your every breath is unveiled. You are no longer willing to submit to the systematic gag order that has choked life out of you and your soul longs for the promise of Isaiah 61, to be a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.

Grief is customarily reserved for navigating life after the death of someone your heart is tied to. Those of us who have walked through the perils of coercive control/domestic violence and then have had to pick up what was left of yourself and your kids after being torn limb by limb by agencies, churches and your family/friends whom you trusted to protect you, know a version of grief that has no words to suitably describe it. This bereavement encompasses compounded losses that challenge your entire existence. Every facet of your life quintessentially shifts overnight. Your daily role in your children’s lives, your autonomy, your circle, finances, food security, your health; no crevice is left untouched.

This gut-wrenching grief isn’t one you can simply rebound from. You will hit rock bottom as you find yourself being careened against the jagged edges of the rocky shoreline until the one who took a vow to guard your heart and to honor you as Christ loved the Church decides to completely discard you once and for all. Eight years later, I remain property. I am still waiting to be rendered from the lashings, false allegations, and harassment that could easily tip one over the ledge. I am a mere ragdoll; incessantly mocked, beaten, stomped, and spit on in the public square by my accuser and authorities alike.  Round after round, gasping for air, never being afforded the most basic human rights while my fitness as a mother is merely judged on my ability to never react or show emotion in front of my kids or professionals. It is one of the most insane protocols I have ever had to endure.

There will be a day when this all comes to a dead stop though, nine more years until my youngest hits the awaited milestone of eighteen- although I don’t know what will remain among the wreckage come that day.  I want nothing more for my kids to have a childhood where they know true joy but pain is all they know. My oldest is less than thirteen months shy of eighteen. He is fighting for his life and is unrecognizable. There is no joy, no jokes, no smiles; just despair, aggression, hopelessness and teetering on eggshells. Instead of the excitement that lies ahead we are painstakingly working on getting to the next sunrise at this point. It is unbearable to watch. The way coercive control strips our kids of their innocence and extinguishes the light inside of them is criminal.

Ephesians 6:12 boldly solidifies a truth we have been conditioned to so easily dismiss; “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rules of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  My assignment here has exposed a depth of evil that I can never unsee and will most, likely never be able to comprehend. It is one so dark that children are devoured without an ounce of accountability, sorrow or remorse. Its magnitude is so overwhelming that despair can quickly consume your own soul if you are not rooted in God’s Word. I am without a doubt laying in the trenches, but God is shielding and buffering the blows. HE has undoubtably keep me afloat each time the enemy has intensified his vengeance towards me. It has taken being shipwrecked in isolation and a grueling refinement in the most intense of fires for me to be affirmed with the understanding that I am not responsible for the decimation of the entire entity but that I only need to stand firm against it and shine light on the darkness. Still not a simple task by any means, but God owning the rights to the final screenplay, with the binding of the enemy himself, makes wading through the murky water as a Kingdom Agent an honor and not burden.  

No God, No! NOT YET!!

You ever make plans in your head?

I’m talking about life altering plans, carefully constructed to ensure an endpoint of “comfortability”. A plan that you intended to hold on tight to with no disruptions. You tell yourself that you are going to have blinders on and will heartlessly set aside every distraction as they pop up in front of you.

Yeah I made those kind of plans two years ago too. Plans to pull myself out of the hell I was in.

You see… I tried to bypass HIS plan and take my own route on my own timeline.

Boy did that blow up in my face.😳

November 25, 2018.

One year ago, I found myself facing a decision that I only had minutes to make.

I wasn’t “ready” – but let’s be honest, I never would have been.

It was WAY off my personal timeline but I knew in my soul this was HIS way of saying “Girl, it’s time.”

I had two choices- turn my back on what HE had inconveniently aligned or make myself available and walk a road of blind faith.

Sure there have been pockets of complete devastation- the loss of friendships that I will forever cherish in my heart, forced time apart from the miracles I carried inside of me, a bank account that is assuredly negative every month, uncertainty, turmoil and the rollercoaster of navigating a legal system that only inflicts they very trauma you tried to get out of in the first place.

But the provision has been undeniable. I honestly see HIS hand every step of the way – even in the deepest of the trenches. I took that step off the side of the cliff last year, not having a clue how we would make it and here we are a year later.

You see, I had it backwards the entire time I was making my exit plan. I was trying to desperately cling to a grip that I couldn’t maintain because I was supposed to let HIM hold me- not the other way around.

This year has gifted me vision.

I see every little “inconvenient” thing HE sets in front of me and know with certainly that it is NO mistake. I completely understand that if I put those blinders on and forge ahead towards ringing the bell of self-accomplishment that I would undoubtedly miss out on something intended to pour amazing life and love into my soul.

Those opportunities- the ones that feel sooooo off route….those are the ones that HE has Divenly Aligned and Blessed for your greater purpose. They make no sense on our human agenda but I’m telling you if you make yourself available for HIS…. the way HE will hold you- there are no words to adequately describe it but I think you can find the answer in my eyes today.

I’ve been told they are the gateway to our soul 😉

Xoxoxoxo

Yours Through The Insanity,

Colleen

Frozen In Time

The acoustics inside of my house are typically at a decibel level you wouldn’t want to contend with and the non-stop action will leave your head spinning.

There are so many days I longed for silence. A trip to the bathroom, without someone calling my name. Just 1 minute to sit without being touched or having to get up not even a second later to referee a sibling show down.

They say be careful what you wish for….

Now the house is silent, deafeningly silent, more days than I want to count.  

Continuous music drowns out the almost eerie energy inside of the walls when they aren’t here and I keep myself moving so I don’t collapse in despair.

Today it was unavoidable though. 

I was rushing to cram a million and one things into three hours when I saw the trucks carefully arranged on the dining room table as I was heading upstairs.

A snapshot of life frozen. 

I felt it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I tried so damn hard to fight it.

You are almost 8 months into this, I told myself. 

This is going to be what the long-haul looks like.  

Pull your shit together Colleen.

But I couldn’t.  

There are just some things that time doesn’t really seem to heal. In fact, opposite seems to be reality. The more time that goes by the more I miss.  So many firsts and last are slipping by that I no longer have access to. I’m continuing to grieve the immense loss of everything I had anticipated and prayed for while I laid on that OR table each time waiting for Kim to tell me I could breathe while simultaneously working on looking at the pockets of time I do have to parent them with a heart and mind of abundance. I know it sounds like a contraction and I honestly can’t say that my heart won’t ever not feel conflicted but I won’t stop trying to attain some level of peace inside.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I never imagined a life without the miracles that I was so graciously given to solely nurture for nine months. It was my body that housed them. My heart beat that they heart every minute of every day. I felt every summersault, every hiccup, every kick, every punch. I am in no way denying the importance of a healthy father in a child’s life, nor their bond. I can only speak from my personal experience and the connection on my end between myself and the six of them. It is INTENSE, I know every move they are about to make before they go into action. I feel everything they feel so deeply to the core of my being. I know that can never be severed no matter how many days were are forced to be apart from each other but it doesn’t make the strain felt on both sides any less real.

If there is one thing that this house frozen in time has taught me though it is to be present as much as I possibly can. Nothing is a guarantee. Soak in EVERY ounce of time even on those days you are completely spent. Feel the light in the darkness and just be as often as you can. 

I do know there is light and inner peace amidst your heart being tightly wound in piercingly sharp barbed wire because I can feel a calm deep within. I admit that I honestly don’t know how to ever be completely ok having those babies I carried, grew and nurtured every single day of their existence ripped out of my arms while I am exiled into silence but I have to trust an believe something good will come of all this.

HE knows what HE is doing even when you feel Goliath towering over you.

Xoxoxoxo

You’re Through The Insanity,

Colleen

Systematic Destruction.

The Shift From Everyday Mommy-ing To Unexpectedly Facing Goliath and how to support us through the darkness

We put so much damn pressure on ourselves.

I know Pinterest and those momentary social media spotlight comparisons have brought me to my knees more times than I can count.

I wanted so badly to do ALL the things.

My love undoubtedly grew alongside the numerical increase in my entourage but that time though… oh did that get spread so very thin.

I fought desperately to stay afloat, trying so hard to stay one step above their needs.

Endlessly advocating for them, attending appointment after appointment, spending YEARS getting them not only to and from therapy but then doing ALL the carry over at home, non-stop researching, talking to everyone I could with similar story lines  (Autism, developmental delays, vaccine injuries, epilepsy, ataxia), finding the “right” medical care only to uncover just how toxic the for profit medical and pharmaceutical world is then having to completely shift gears.

Truthfully I did it mostly because I wanted to but I can’t deny the role guilt played in my relentless pace to keep ahead. I had an obligation to pull them through ALL of this- my genes, my choices were wreaking havoc on their tiny little bodies and brains.  How is the world do they all have something in need of healing?? This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to watch them play and be carefree as the explored the world.

Then I became a single mom.                                                               

The spotlight was suddenly on me to outperform myself in ways I couldn’t even fathom.

Not because I wanted to look superhuman in front of the world (truthfully the introvert in me just wants to run to a lake house somewhere, homeschool forever and hide) but because the court system thrusts an unattainable level of perfection upon you….or there are consequences – for your kids.

I feel like I am literally staring down a seemingly endless dark hallway riddled with explosives. If I don’t check EVERY box as I move forward I risk detonation. It is reality, hard core fact. There is no systematic support when you try to preserve what very little is left inside of you all you can do is hurl yourself amongst the jagged rocks of a broken system and pray that it’s our time on HIS lineup. Those of you who have preceded me in all of this know the truth all too well.

The court is not your friend.

They don’t care about what you endured and continue to battle.

They don’t care about your kids wants and needs until they are of a certain age.

You are a number; not an individual.

There is a grid and a numerical equation.

The survivor has to prove themselves at a pace that is beyond the scope of understanding and even then you can’t protect your kids.

I went from one form of control to another.

Doesn’t my last 10 years of upholding all of this count for anything?

Now I have to legit DO EVERYTHING, as I am so often reminded, because I don’t have a choice.

Does the fact that I have no choice make it ok? Or even acceptable?

I’m already drowning doing the workload of three people parenting 6 kids with intense special needs, keeping up with the bare minimum of household stuff.. and oh and by the way you’re going to be imputed for income too.

Sure. No problem.

I’m right on top of that Rose.

All sarcasm aside though.

If you know someone who has just thrown themselves to the wolves to save their soul, love on them as much as you can.

Randomly stop by and take over for an hour or two.

Give hugs. LOTS OF THEM.

Listen. Just simply listen. We know the reality of the system and you can’t fix it.

Wipe their tears; sit next to them just because.

Understand they need serious manpower to accomplish the bare minimum especially when the PTSD rears its head.

Never stop praying for that miracle.

Oh and wine and chocolate never hurt either.

Be patient, kind and gentle- if you have to walk out on their life please don’t break them in the process.

Remember healing isn’t linear. It takes an obscene amount of time for the poison to leave.

Initially we are still running on adrenaline but 6 months out…..

Well that’s when we REALLY need you.

Yours Through The Insanity,

Xoxoxoxo

~Colleen

The Road Back Home

In November, I abruptly found myself as the sole caregiver for my vibrant little sideshow.  Shock and adrenaline undoubtedly carried me through the first two months. I did the things. ALL the things; but they were surely completed on autopilot. Feeling wasn’t an option. I knew that if I went to that vulnerable space in my head, I would shatter the extremely thin shell of armor that remained. I told myself every morning that I had to keep it crack free as long as possible. Not because of ego or pride but because I had allowed societal influence instead of God to take the reins.  

My morning pep talk went a little bit like this…

Don’t show them you’re not ok. If you look like you’re ok, they will be ok. Just put one foot in front of the other. Do the things. You can make it until they are in bed. You can do all the things. You signed up to be mom to six, you have no choice.

I doubt I was actually fooling them; or anyone for that matter. I wasn’t ok, not even a little bit but I still had to be mom- somehow. There were no minutes off duty-ever. Not only was in in charge of everything I had always somehow juggled, but now I had added responsibilities- many of which I had no idea how to even begin sorting through. I was carrying the weight of EVERYTHING-x6. My head was a confused firestorm that couldn’t pull together a complete sentence to save my life. I was a rollercoaster internally. Keeping up the external façade for them was so damn taxing. 

Smile at drop off- show them its ok even though it isn’t. 

Stay calm, show grace- during the 45 minute melt down over not having any macaroni and cheese in the house.

Find a way to buy those sneakers for the one who has been squishing his feet into shoes that are over a size too small when your bank account balance is $32.

Keep your friends. You NEED your friends. Do EVERY thing you can do to reciprocate even though you are on empty… as I watched them walk away from me.

I couldn’t keep up with the pace I was compelled to move at. I felt the cracks slowly being chiseled into my very last defense mechanism. I’ve been in this space before and I knew the only way to let the light in was to touch the darkness. Terrified was an UNDERSTAETMENT. This time I had to do it alone. Like REALLY alone. No one to hold me. No one to sit next to me on the floor until. No one to do the kids. 

Everything had been stripped.

My life.

My friends.

My security.

My bank account.

My mental health.

My envisioned future.

But I knew one thing still remained.  

There was this one relationship….one I had gone a little astray from. 

I felt that pull in my heart. I had to get back to the peace I once knew. 

Not just so I could go back to the way things used to be when I was a faithful follower but this time I knew I was deep in the trenches because He needed that foundation to be deeper and stronger than last time. I wasn’t just being called to follow and walk alongside, I knew in my soul that my path this round would be routed in humility, grace and mercy but end in leading others directly into the light also.

I touched that dark. In fact, I still am months later. 

That light though has got nothing on the veil of darkness that keeps trying to cover me.

There is no way to describe it with written language but when you experience you WILL KNOW.

“Grown Up Baby Jesus”- I’ve heard it called.                                                 

I am still wrangle with agony, turmoil, and despair many days but relinquishing control to the best of my ability has led me to navigate things very differently. 

My days are FAR from perfect but there is PERFECT in every day.

Man did He use some CRAZY stunts to get my attention…. I’m done running though.

I think I’ll just rest here a little bit 😉

 

 Yours Through The Insanity,

Xoxoxoxo

Colleen

SHATTERED

 

Standing among your ruins is something I wouldn’t wish upon ANYONE. 

All the shoulda, coulda wouldas… 

Everything I wish I had done differently simultaneously runthrough my mind like a broken record.

I wholeheartedly take responsibly for my transgressions. All of my actions, words and feelings that weren’t in line with the obedience HE calls me to consistently enact even through themost EPIC of trials. I pray nonstop, pour every last remaining drop I have within into His Word and will legit never stop growing my heart, mind and soul through the provision of grace. With that being said, even with my extremely deliberate and intentional acts in the pursuit of grounding myself in HIS hope and love … there are bad days. 

This life journey is beyond difficult to navigate. There are expectations EVERYWHERE.  They are not only constructed by theology, society, family, friends but I find the ones we place on ourselves bear the most weight. My internal dialog has always been heavy and disappointing people around me truthfully shatters my soul. I feel everything, both the good and the bad, so so deeply that picking up the pieces around me is almost an insurmountable task.

Everything, no matter how big or small, I take on, I do with every fiber of my being. Friendships, ministry, organizing, packing lunches…. You get the picture….

When I took my vows, I never anticipated being in such uncharted territory within my soul ten years later.

How is it I can feel so freaking shattered??

So responsible for changing my kids’ everything….  

Yet feel more whole inside than I have possibly ever felt at the same exact time???

That dichotomy has my soul thrashed in so many different directions and as a self-diagnosed “over-feeler” the guilt has gripped the wheel  and keeps attempting to steer me right over the edge.

6 kids.  I had the privilege of being chosen as the vessel that would grow and nurture them. I was blessed to feel their every teeny tiny move inside of me. I know their every earthly move before they even set in motion. I eat sleep and breathe every medical, social and academic celebration and hurdle they each encounter. I never in a million years anticipated that I would be a “part-time” mother; missing out on the very things I had the honor of giving them life to do. That disappointment in their eyes, and the pain that has taken up residence within my entire body, these last 3 months has cut so freaking deep. 

The tears.

The anger.

The fear.

The pain.

It is indescribable agony to know that I had a hand in shattering my kids’ world.

I’m told that I have to forgive myself in order to allow my roots to grow deeper in His truth and love to set us all free….

But just how do you forgive yourself for shattering your kids??  

For taking away their one constant in order to essentially save your own soul….

Yours Through The Insanity,

xoxoxoxo

Colleen

Cecelia’s Story… The Aftermath of the DTaP Vaccine

With what seemed like a million electrodes attached to her scalp, I laid next to her in that bed at DuPont watching her tiny body seize. All I could do is pray while the tears silently flowed until there was just nothing left. I wanted to scream, punch the wall and break down the door at the CDC all at the same time.  Those 50 minutes were pure agony. No one said a word but I knew what the results of that EEG were before they even had the electrodes untangled out that curly haired mess but I had to wait two more days for the “official” results. 

We were well on our way into our Wednesday afternoon routine, driving to speech therapy, when everything collapsed. I saw the hospital number on my phone. I pulled into a development, took a huge breath and stepped outside of the truck. I could hear the kids screaming inside because they didn’t understand why I was stopping. I don’t remember much of what her neurologist said to me because I froze with “Ceceila has epilepsy”.  Seizures I could handle… that word though… that changed the entire playing field. 

God, what had I done??

Vaccines never sat easy with my soul.  I wanted to trust the doctors, their knowledge, training and oath so I shut my intuition down and let my kids be injected with dose after dose of toxic poison. I didn’t do the research. God, if I had though…

Wednesday May 25th, 2016 was the very last morning I would see her not struggle. 

She had excelled at everything.  Walking before her 1st birthday- running before she was 14 months, she as full of personality and had way too many words for a 16 month old– like for real, wouldn’t shut up! She had missed her originally scheduled 4th dose of the DTaP due to a fever, so I had to drag her back in to get it. I was without a doubt in a fog of newborn haziness. Elia had been born in early February and we were definitely still in the adjustment phase but I recall that Friday morning after so vividly. 

I thought she just wasn’t feeling well. She was tuned out, had a fever and just wanted to hang out with her blankets and the iPad. Knowing the end of the story looking back, I know it was WAY more than that. Over the course of next week, she seemed to improve but I noticed little things were off.  Her balance wasn’tright, she was introverted, her word retrieval and overall speech intelligibility had drastically changed, she had frequent moments of staring into space, she had muscle spasms and hand and leg tremors. I spoke to the doctor but he didn’t really see the neurological stuff at first. I knew something wasn’t right though and he referred me to early intervention. They were my saving grace. I was familiar with the system because Nico had gone through it years prior and I was blessed to have an evaluation team not only familiar to me but that of which was comprised with the best of the best.  Each therapist looked me in the eye and told me she needed to see a neurologist STAT.

Freaking out inside… just how bad was this? I made phone call after phone call. The shortest wait time for an initial evaluation was FOUR MONTHS and I would have to drive from NJ to Lancaster PA for it. It seemed like an eternity. How can they make you wait four damn months when your kid clearly not ok??? 

The day FINALLY came.

I got Cecelia up at 4 and we made the trek to Lancaster. The entire ride I couldn’t quiet my mind, I’m truthfully not even sure if I breathed at all. I could see the doctor leaning towards Autism and I just kept saying what about the neurological impairments… the onset directly correlated with that vaccination. (I have yet to find a doctor who actually wants to have a reasonable conversation about that.) He then measured her head a second time and asked me if anyone had ever mentioned Microcephaly to me.  As a Special Education, teacher I knew exactly what he was talking about. Her head circumference had always been on the smaller side but truthfully all of my kids have always tipped the charts on that end of the spectrum. Could her brain really have just stopped growing? I was given orders to schedule an MRI as quickly as possible and that he was going to mark it as urgent in the hospital computer system.  My brain couldn’t keep up. In the days to come, I had myself convinced that we must be dealing with some type of tumor. 

The torment continued inside my skull for over a week.  This time we had to travel to the main hospital in Delaware.  It poured the entire way there. I kept trying to talk myself off the ledge but I was too far gone at that point. I knew she had no idea what was about to go down and I just kept trying to keep that smile on my face. The IV was probably the most difficult part for her, although she handled like a champ. I was doing ok until it was go time. Being so young, they had to completely sedate her. To keep her calm though, they do it while you are sitting there by her side. That moment. I can still feel it like it was this morning. To actually watch your child’s body go limp, be told to give her a kiss and then be escorted to the waiting room all in less than a minute…   57 minutes of waiting. ALONE.

So blessed there were no complications and she woke up picking right back up where she left off. I frantically waited 3 days and then I couldn’t wait any longer. I called the neurologist’s office and needed answers. We missed each other’s calls 3 times. When we finally did connect he told me the scans were clear. No sign of anything. I collapsed in gratitude momentarily and before I could even get up off the floor I remember asking now what? I was directed to the Neuromuscular team the main hospital. I had barely even hung up the phone before I was dialing the number. I needed answers. I needed to help her.  I almost was able to breathe … then I was told the soonest appointment they could give me was 5 months out because I was switching neurologists and even though it was within the same network she was considered a new patient again. Let’s just say I pretty much lost my shit.

After the ugly was over, I pulled myself together and made it a point to call every single day to see if there was a cancellation. I knew each and every person in the general call center’s voice by the end of month 2 and they sure knew mine. Prayer and persistence paid off because there was a late notice cancelation one Thursday morning. I scooped Cecelia and Elia up, barely grabbing the diaper bag,  and headed to Delaware. The neurologist listened, she even verbally acknowledged that she has seen more of this than she would like to admit in relation to vaccinations. She decided that Cecelia should also be evaluated by the pulmonology and orthopedic specialists on the team.  Fortunately those appointments were easy to schedule and both were complete within a two week time span. Neither gave us anything definitive and we were back to the drawing board.  That’s when the neurologist decided an EEG was the next appropriate step… and you all know what the results of that were.

The diagnosis appointment with the epilepsy specialist was grueling. I tried so hard to listen but at the same time I didn’t want to hear a word. Based on the way the seizures presented themselves on the EEG she as certain that Cecelia had a form of genetic epilepsy. I called bullshit on that one instantly inside of my head.  So on to genetics we went. It took a cajillion days to get it approved by the insurance company and then umpteen more to get the results. Her DNA was tested right down to the mitochondria. 

ALL INCONCLUSIVE.

Of course she has variations and mutations but nothing that could be pinpointed to a genetic disorder that would be presenting itself in this way neurologically. All that poking, prodding, testing, and there were no solid answers … 

Oh wait there is that one BIG SMOKING GUN….. 

but no one in the medical community would ever admit on paper that this damage was the result of vaccinations. 

We went home from that appointment with a prescription for Onfi in hand.

The specialist assured us over and over again that it had little to no side effects. 

I knew differently though. 

God had strategically placed one courageous mother on my path months prior to show me the way.

To Be Continued….

Yours Through The Insanity,

xoxoxoxo

Colleen

Feeling Your Purpose

Enjoy EVERY minute of it.

I heard that so, so many times. (In fact, I still do.)

At the grocery store, at church, from the nurses… family….and friends….

God- I loved that little baby MORE than anything. I had never felt something so deep in my heart. I mean his toes, those little fingers. Come on! Total heart melt!

Then life took over.

Five more babies, one agonizing miscarriage and a house FULL of special needs stole the show.

8 years somehow had literally passed by right before me. That blink of an eye thing…. So freaking true.

I stopped dead in my tracks … and remember thinking … I know it isn’t realistic to enjoy every minute but had I even enjoyed a mere fraction of it?

Had I really been so busy fighting the demons in front of me that couldn’t even remember the last time I enjoyed my kids?

One thing was glaringly apparent, I had stopped feeling without a doubt; I was numb.

Auto pilot is a great survival tool but fuck I had missed out on so much.

Oh boy, did I start feeling then…. Anger, resentment, disappointment, despair…

I had that shit on lock down and lived in a state of paralysis for quite some time.

I couldn’t even look myself in the mirror. Every time I attempted to my eyes shot straight to the floor… as if the word failure was inked in red across my forehead.

How had I screwed up the only thing I had EVER really wanted to do??

I had let the precious gift of time just slip through the cracks. Time that I could never get back.

And that wasn’t even the worst part… the only way to flip the script was to start feeling again.

You see, feeling is a challenge for me.

The big guy upstairs thought enough of me to gift me with the privilege of being an intuitive empath. It is a blessing and an honor that comes with something I used to fear…. If I start to allow myself to feel my own feelings I then open the flood gates to literally feeling everyone’s everything and that isn’t contained to just the energy here in the psychical world.

This past weekend the most INCREDIABLE family on this earth chose to pour their love over me, even after exposing it all, and pushed me to open my heart just a little bit more.

Because of them I have officially broken through my writer’s block… which means I am feeling!!

I without a doubt have a long way to go and will need to fine tune this gift, implement boundaries and allow myself to feel always but I can honestly say I have truly accepted and find myself humbled in gratitude for the gift He chose to bestow upon me… even the ick that comes with it because there are so many lessons in that too.

So here’s to feeling, enjoying those minutes just a little bit more and opening up my heart to Him, myself and you all.

Yours Through The Insanity,

xoxoxoxo

Colleen

With A Little Help From A Friend….

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We are moms.

We tell ourselves we don’t have time to stumble.

We believe we have to hold on tight and run that ball into the end zone because there are little people counting on us to score that touchdown over and over again.

BUT……

Sometimes we fall, there is just no way around it.

As moms, we are juggling so many balls (I mean, seriously, the amount of things I have organized in my own head blows my own mind) that one or two are bound to hit the floor.

Sure, we have all missed appointments or forgotten it was gym day and sent our kids to school in the wrong shoes (Carmella might have actually worn sneakers on gym day a total of 12 times this past school year🙈) but when one of those REALLY big balls fall it cracks the door for that negative self talk, allows panic to creep in and and ever so slowly that air around you dissipates.

Sometimes I can bounce it back up a time or two, but the pattern tends to be that they ultimately end up shattering across the floor.

My mom guilt strikes because I feel like I’m failing them and the flood rushes in knocking me right off my feet.

This past year, I had so many balls slam down and shatter at once that I began to duck and cover. I felt as though I was walking on glass. With each step I took another chard would pierce the bottom of my foot. I became paralyzed, not wanting to move, not wanting to feeI. I held my breath until I turned blue and almost let it all go.

I need to be honest with you, I have a REALLY difficult time asking for help. It’s not because I want to maintain a certain image but because I feel guilty for dishing out the magnitude of my baggage. My baggage certainly doesn’t come light … it will collapse at your feet like an abandoned brick wall and my entourage of 6 littles trailing behind me is a force to be reckoned with all on its own.

I get hurt so easily. I will pour everything I have and then some into you. I carry your pain and joy as if it’s my own. If I let you in and you walk away because it become too much I crumble. I am a “circle,” my heart runs on those around me. I am fueled by the passion, drive and energy of my tribe. When I lose even just one person it tears my heart apart, all I want to do it fix it but I struggle so much with confrontation that I let it stay bottled up instead. So lately I have been keeping the people around me at a safe-ish distance for the protection of my heart.

I am also notorious for not seeing things until they are slammed in my face and this time around was surly no different. HE literally had to send someone I barely even knew to break down the door that I had barricaded myself behind. She saw me when I couldn’t even see my own reflection.The grace that this beautiful soul poured into me was able to fill me up enough to get back on my own feet. I was reminded that I needed to get uncomfortable and absolutely had to let people back into my life and heart. I need to be raw and unapologetically me for the very simplest fact that I AM (created in HIS image and likeness).

So I cracked the door,  just slightly,  and I was literally ambushed with love and support from so many unlikely directions. My gratitude runs so, so deep for all of you (you know who you are❤️).

I WANT YOU TO KNOW……

If you too are fighting a fight mama, no matter know big or how small it may be, that I SEE YOU.

I WILL NOT leave your side.

I have walked that plank too- more than once, in fact.

I am here to fill your soul back up with truth and grace.

My tribe will attest to the fact that I will keep knocking until I have to bust that door down.

I SEE YOU, Mama.

I SEE YOU.

Yours Through The Insanity,

xoxoxoxo

Colleen