Brave New World

This morning while trying to brush his teeth my son screamed as if he were saying "no." He then commenced screaming some more as if he had just discovered his voice. My son had a major vocalization break through last month and is slowly exploring his brave new world. Later this morning my doctor cleared me to return in 6 months because my blood pressure is back within normal range as were the results all of the blood work from last Friday. It seems that a decade of living with continual stress finally registered and after dealing with my husband's 2 ER visits and 2 nights inpatient plus a cardiac cath (thank God it showed nothing new) last week, I literally dropped him off home Thursday afternoon and took myself to Urgent Care. My body finally just said enough. So I took 48 hours to be scared almost to death while I processed the possibilities and by Saturday afternoon was back in fixer mode with an action plan along with the new blood pressure meds. It's been a week of consuming fruits, veggies and healthy proteins while avoiding starch and sugar as much as possible. So far so good. I'm not craving chocolate chip cookies. It's a lifestyle change as I explore this brave new world of looking after myself first. Securing my oxygen mask first before taking care of everyone else always made sense but in practice there never seemed to be enough time. Now I am reminded I have no choice. Doubtless many discoveries and challenges await my son and me as we explore our brave new worlds. Each day holds new adventures. The wonderful thing is that no matter what, each morning we'll awaken to a brand new opportunity to explore some more.