So CNN is coming back to interview us in 2 weeks. I've been feeling stressed about it, worried about how we'll be portrayed, pressured to have Cash show some big progress to justify the trip. Today I decided to tackle the problem head on and think about what I really feel about our last trip to India.
I believe Cash is making very nice progress. He has some new signs, he is playing with his tongue more, somehow his face is more expressive, he is walking more strongly, he is super responsive, he is using his iPad appropriately, he is throwing more tantrums, he is working on potty training. Plus somehow he seems just a little different, qualitatively. But all of those things are small, and admittedly subjective. I can't prove any of them, and I certainly can't prove they are due to stem cells.
And I don't think I can convince either Josh or CNN to agree with me, and I don't think I should try. What I do think is that I get to enjoy his progress, regardless of what others think. Being the parent of a special needs kid is often hard and heartbreaking - also often wonderful and often routine - but sometimes emotionally devastating. As Cash's mom, I think stem cells have helped him - maybe a little, but maybe significantly - and that belief makes a difference in our lives. The actual progress Cash has made has helped in our everyday lives, but honestly so has the effort behind the stem cell therapy. Doing stem cells has put energy towards Cash and I know know know that has made a difference for him and for me. So maybe I can't prove that the stem cells are helping Cash potty train (though I think they are), but I can say definitively that the effort of doing stem cells has led to progress. And if CNN and its viewers want to judge me for that, so be it. Let them know what it's like to have no hope and then be offered a chance, no matter how small.
I should also remind myself that I have always said that stem cells are the great unknown right now, but we are a part of making more about them known.
"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in your soul" - Emily Dickinson, poet. "And sometimes it makes a nest in your heart next to your aorta" - Stephanie Krolick, pacemaker student.
I believe Cash is making very nice progress. He has some new signs, he is playing with his tongue more, somehow his face is more expressive, he is walking more strongly, he is super responsive, he is using his iPad appropriately, he is throwing more tantrums, he is working on potty training. Plus somehow he seems just a little different, qualitatively. But all of those things are small, and admittedly subjective. I can't prove any of them, and I certainly can't prove they are due to stem cells.
And I don't think I can convince either Josh or CNN to agree with me, and I don't think I should try. What I do think is that I get to enjoy his progress, regardless of what others think. Being the parent of a special needs kid is often hard and heartbreaking - also often wonderful and often routine - but sometimes emotionally devastating. As Cash's mom, I think stem cells have helped him - maybe a little, but maybe significantly - and that belief makes a difference in our lives. The actual progress Cash has made has helped in our everyday lives, but honestly so has the effort behind the stem cell therapy. Doing stem cells has put energy towards Cash and I know know know that has made a difference for him and for me. So maybe I can't prove that the stem cells are helping Cash potty train (though I think they are), but I can say definitively that the effort of doing stem cells has led to progress. And if CNN and its viewers want to judge me for that, so be it. Let them know what it's like to have no hope and then be offered a chance, no matter how small.
I should also remind myself that I have always said that stem cells are the great unknown right now, but we are a part of making more about them known.
"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in your soul" - Emily Dickinson, poet. "And sometimes it makes a nest in your heart next to your aorta" - Stephanie Krolick, pacemaker student.
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