NYCLawGirl
New member
My mother has worked full time my entire life. We also had a full-time caregiver/housekeeper on board, as well as nannies when I was younger, but my mother was, without a doubt, "in charge" of my healthcare (along with my father, of course).
And, since it's come up quite a bit in this thread, my mother didn't have to work. We're lucky in that respect. My mother chose to work, bottom line. She had a PhD and two masters degrees, and she wanted to use them.
Mom absolutely never missed a doctor's appointment or clinic visit (the exception, of course, being things like routine dentist visits or flu shot appointments with my regular pediatrician -- things that didn't require her presence as long as she could get the full report afterward). She was in NO way less involved in my CF because she worked.
I did morning treatments before school, and my mother always dropped my sister and I off so of course she was there for those. She came home before dinner every single night (dinner together was a cornerstone of my childhood -- never skipped) and so of course she was also there when I did nighttime treatments before bedtime. She didn't do our grocery shopping, but she made the lists and always made sure that Erin and I had mom-approved snacks for after school. To be honest I always participated in after-school activities (soccer league, horseback riding, piano, ballet, cottilion and art class) growing up, so often times mom was already off work and able to pick me up from those activities -- I wouldn't even have been home to enjoy it if she were there!
I was a very healthy young CFer. I rarely missed school, never checked into the hospital, only needed IVs once until I was 16. My mom took off whenever I was sick though. If I went to see the school nurse she called my mom, not our housekeeper, to decide whether I needed to go home, and my mom would be home shortly thereafter. The one time I had the flu she stayed with me the whole time. She NEVER would have considered putting off a doctor's appointment.
I should add that she continues to work as a professor, but she has relocated from Denver, CO to New York City to see me through transplant -- she's been here since June and she plans to stay for at least 6 months post-surgery. She literally moved over 2,000 miles, away from her husband, house, friends, job (she now teaches courses online), and dogs to ive in her daughter's little 2 bedroom apartment -- all because she believes it's important for me to have continuity of care with my current CF doctor and transplant team throughout the entire process (pre-, during, and post-transplant).
If that's not a dedicated CF mom then I don't know the definition. And she's worked the entire time.
I have to say this (and know that I completely respect Amy's opinion here, as in other matters), I AM NOT less healthy now as a result of my mom's actions when I was a child. She and my dad worked tirelessly to keep me healthy; I had some of the best pediatric CF care in the country; she took me to Arizona to a doctor well-known for teaching peds how to do PFTs properly; and when my family relocated to TX and my health took a hit both my parents agreed to move the whole family back to Colorado, for the sake of my lungs. I *might* be less healthy because of some of my own choices. I *might* be less healthy because I went into a stressful career during a time when my PFTs were already starting to decline. But I will shout this from the rooftops: I am NOT less healthy because my parents chose careers or money over my physical well being. They never have, and they never ever would.
And, since it's come up quite a bit in this thread, my mother didn't have to work. We're lucky in that respect. My mother chose to work, bottom line. She had a PhD and two masters degrees, and she wanted to use them.
Mom absolutely never missed a doctor's appointment or clinic visit (the exception, of course, being things like routine dentist visits or flu shot appointments with my regular pediatrician -- things that didn't require her presence as long as she could get the full report afterward). She was in NO way less involved in my CF because she worked.
I did morning treatments before school, and my mother always dropped my sister and I off so of course she was there for those. She came home before dinner every single night (dinner together was a cornerstone of my childhood -- never skipped) and so of course she was also there when I did nighttime treatments before bedtime. She didn't do our grocery shopping, but she made the lists and always made sure that Erin and I had mom-approved snacks for after school. To be honest I always participated in after-school activities (soccer league, horseback riding, piano, ballet, cottilion and art class) growing up, so often times mom was already off work and able to pick me up from those activities -- I wouldn't even have been home to enjoy it if she were there!
I was a very healthy young CFer. I rarely missed school, never checked into the hospital, only needed IVs once until I was 16. My mom took off whenever I was sick though. If I went to see the school nurse she called my mom, not our housekeeper, to decide whether I needed to go home, and my mom would be home shortly thereafter. The one time I had the flu she stayed with me the whole time. She NEVER would have considered putting off a doctor's appointment.
I should add that she continues to work as a professor, but she has relocated from Denver, CO to New York City to see me through transplant -- she's been here since June and she plans to stay for at least 6 months post-surgery. She literally moved over 2,000 miles, away from her husband, house, friends, job (she now teaches courses online), and dogs to ive in her daughter's little 2 bedroom apartment -- all because she believes it's important for me to have continuity of care with my current CF doctor and transplant team throughout the entire process (pre-, during, and post-transplant).
If that's not a dedicated CF mom then I don't know the definition. And she's worked the entire time.
I have to say this (and know that I completely respect Amy's opinion here, as in other matters), I AM NOT less healthy now as a result of my mom's actions when I was a child. She and my dad worked tirelessly to keep me healthy; I had some of the best pediatric CF care in the country; she took me to Arizona to a doctor well-known for teaching peds how to do PFTs properly; and when my family relocated to TX and my health took a hit both my parents agreed to move the whole family back to Colorado, for the sake of my lungs. I *might* be less healthy because of some of my own choices. I *might* be less healthy because I went into a stressful career during a time when my PFTs were already starting to decline. But I will shout this from the rooftops: I am NOT less healthy because my parents chose careers or money over my physical well being. They never have, and they never ever would.