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Welcome to familywisdom.com, a website dedicated to informing and inspiring couples and families. Each week you will find a new article, story or essay about parenting, marriage or life. Suggestions for articles and questions to Ellen Terich are welcome. You can contact her at e.terich1@verizon.net |
MY CHRISTMAS LIST 2008-12-07 This year I haven't had a lot of time to think about Christmas. If you read my last article, the only one I've written this year, you know that I have been too busy helping out my parents to even write on this site. My mother's leukemia demands a lot of doctor's visits, transfusions, lab tests, and help with shopping and errands. My father needs supervision 24 hours a day as well, because of an atypical type of Parkinson's Disease called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. It has been a terrible year for the two of them, at least in terms of the daily battles they fight with their diseases. On the other hand, it has been a good year, in that I have been able to spend a great deal of time with them, laughing as well as crying, and reminiscing about good times. It has been a tough year for my husband and his family too. His father, who had been battling kidney failure for four years, with thrice weekly dialysis, fell and broke a leg and died from complications this past October. He is greatly missed, but his very large family (six children, 21 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren) offer comfort and solace to his wife, "Granny," and to each other. I have learned a lot this year. I have learned about two diseases I didn't know much about. One I had never even heard of - and neither have most people, including most doctors. I have learned a lot about what can be treated and what can't. I have learned a lot about the importance of hope and determination and courage, which my mother and father have shown me daily. I have learned about the goodness of people in the medical profession - from the staff at the lab to the nurses at the infusion center to the staff at the doctor's offices to the nurses and doctor's at the emergency room. All have been amazing. All have gone the extra mile to help us. It has been a strange year in other respects, a year that has brought good news and bad. On the one hand,we are in the midst of a terrible economic recession that threatens us all. My children's jobs are shaky, and I even wonder about my husband's employment. Because this recession isn't just a normal part of the business cycle, and happened because of greed, foolishness and poor leadership of the nation, I have felt a great deal of anger and disappointment with my fellow citizens, but especially with the leadership in Washington. On the other hand, we had a presidential contest, and the candidate I supported won, giving me hope that a new day will dawn on Jan. 20th, and we can begin to change direction, end the war, and overcome the economic woes that plague us. So with all that in mind, here is my Christmas list for 2008, not for myself, or even my family, but for all of us as a nation: I wish for a successful Obama presidency, one in which climate change can be tackled, war can be ended, and a prosperous economy can be restored. I wish for access to good health care for all Americans. Knowing how crucial that care is, I don't want to see anyone suffer or die because they could not afford treatment. I wish for greater awareness of the terrible diseases that plague humans, not just the ones everyone knows about like Alzheimer's Disease and Breast Cancer, but the ones people don't know about like Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, for which there is no treatment, and the ones people don't know very much about, like Leukemia, for which there aren't many good treatments. Today, these are rare diseases, but as humans live longer, they will become more common. Along with greater awareness, I wish for better treatments for these and other terrible diseases. I wish for a universal health care system of some kind so that sick patients can be treated and so that hospitals and doctors will be reimbursed for the care of all their patients and not have to close their doors or close down some of their vital services because they are losing money. This year the hospital where my mother gets her transfusions was going to close because of the need for across the board cost cutting at the hospital. A lot of screaming and a trip to the local newspaper prevented the closure, but it was a close call. The nearest other center was 45 minutes away. I wish for a new willingness on the part of Americans to donate blood and platelets for their fellow citizens. I never realized what an important thing the blood bank is until my mother became ill. I wish for more young students to consider a career in medicine or medical research. There is much work to do. I wish a special blessing on all those in the medical profession who do so much for people who are suffering, often giving up much of their time. I also wish a special blessing on all those who are caregivers, both paid and unpaid, who attend to those who cannot care for themselves. These people are the unseen, and unsung heroes of our country. I wish for more services and facilities dedicated to those who have degenerative neurological disease like that of my father. These are cruel and terrible diseases that destroy one's "golden years," and most of those who suffer from them, and their families, need much more help from society. And, as always, I wish all the soldiers, Marines, and others serving in Iraq and Afghanistan a safe return home to their families. I wish everyone a Blessed Christmas and a hopeful New Year. |