Month: March 2016

Excuse me!!!!

Posted on by jglad9785

While Bobby was at preschool this morning, I took Brody and Natalie to the grocery store and got a huge scare and an eye-opening experience.
Brody is my run away child so I already had him secured in the grocery cart as I went to get Natalie out of the car on the passenger side. I opened the car door and started to pull the handle to release the car seat as I see this old woman open the driver’s side door to my car! Instantly I start thinking, “what is this lady doing?!?!” My purse was on the front seat and she starts feeling around on the floor and begins to climb into the driver’s seat. I start screaming, (well…I tried to scream)…”HEY! HEY! EXCUSE ME!!”  She of course doesn’t hear me, mostly due to the fact that I can’t raise my voice and she was probably hard of hearing since she older. She couldn’t hear me! I literally climbed up the side of my SUV, laid across Natalie’s car seat and starting hitting the drivers side seat!  I seriously  almost nailed an old lady in the head for getting into my car!  She then got really startled and began to explain to me that she thought it was her car, which she then pointed to her car that was next to mine. It was a much smaller SUV and not even the same color!  I proceed to get Natalie in the shopping cart and get my purse. The lady just walked away and continued to say she was sorry.
Now of course after this incident I started replaying the situation in my head. I was “screaming” the absolute loudest I could and this woman could not hear me only across the car.  Now she seemed very apologetic, but what if this was a real situation of danger?  I wouldn’t even be able to scream for help! This scares me beyond belief. Should I be carrying mace? Then, I think to myself that even if I had mace in this situation it would have been in my purse which was on the front seat, so it wouldn’t help.
Living in the suburbs you would think that I should be just fine, but you just never know.
After today’s incident, it really has me thinking. What would I do in a real dangerous situation? What if I am somewhere and something happens to one of my kids or myself and we need help? As I try to sit here and hope these situations never arise, I still need to figure out a plan.
This little old lady really had me thinking today…
What would you do if you couldn’t call for help in a situation of danger?

Life Goes On…

Posted on by jglad9785

The good news at my latest doctor appointment was that I am still cancer free and my larynx appears to be healing nicely! I brought to the doctors attention an issue I am having when I eat anything, regardless of the consistency – I get excruciating pain shooting in my jaw and up through my ear for the first 7-10 chews. My doctor suggested I see another specialist that deals with cancer rehabilitation since it sounded like a rare side effect from having a neck dissection. After seeing the new doctor, she confirmed that I have First Bite Syndrome, which is related to nerve impairment after the neck dissection. So, the bad news is that I have this other rare issue to deal with, however the good thing is that I can get Botox injections every 3-6 months which will take the pain away. The doctor mentioned that each person is different so for some people the injections can last a little longer, but she anticipates this will be a lifelong issue. I am just holding onto hope that this is just another bump in the road and hopefully my nerves will get better so I won’t need Botox injections forever. The new specialist will also give me Botox injections in my head to relieve a constant headache I’ve had, which is another surgery side effect. 
In addition, I will be spending more time in the car traveling to therapy, which stinks. I need to start going to the University of Penn’s therapist in order to start lymphedema therapy prior to having the injections. At least I can go to a satellite campus instead of driving into the city each therapy day.  
I am continuing to put all of my effort into getting better each day and will do whatever is recommended by my doctors. Without the tremendous support of my husband, mom, family and friends I wouldn’t be where I am right now. My children light up my life each day and they are the reason I keep pushing extra hard each and every day. They have really taught me that life goes on regardless of what is going on. I mean seriously, look at how much they have grown!