Joyfully Riding the Downside of the Bell Curve

When I’m not writing about how to improve face time with your doctor, I’ll often focus on avoiding becoming a patient in the first place. It occurred to me this morning that it’s actually been awhile since our family has been in the throes of medical treatment.

Our own journey began a dozen years ago at just about this time of year, and I can pinpoint the moment exactly -- when a song broke the decorum of a business meeting. It took me a few seconds to realize the noise was coming from my purse and that my first cell phone, purchased just weeks before, was ringing to the tune of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” On the phone was the unsteady voice of a woman who identified herself as a substitute nurse at the elementary school. My son had had a seizure, and an ambulance was on the way. Could I come as soon as possible?

That day marked the beginning of a journey that became increasingly hellish over about six years. Then, around the time my son hit sophomore year of high school, things began to level out. It actually took a couple more years of holding our collective breath before we dared to think maybe he was past the worst of this medical crisis. After he graduated, things really began to look up and now, although he still battles symptoms and side effects daily, his medical condition does not consume his daily life and that of the entire family.

Of course the healthy status quo could turn on a dime, concerning my son or anyone else in the family. But for now I’ll believe we’ve scaled a peak and are coasting the down slope. How I’d love to keep it that way.