Where does time go?

Hello Ava friends and followers! Ava’s been trucking along… we had a great Christmas and a great new year. She’s been healthy for over 6 weeks. We’ve been so lucky as this Winter has been challengingly cold here in Iowa. However with low temperatures means that bacteria can be killed off… so that’s always a good thing!

Monday after school Ava just didn’t look right. I can always tell by her eyes. Her complains were a tummy ache, runny nose and coughing. Now we all know we didn’t need this. Last night the stomach flu hit her with a vengeance. Ava’s never had the stomach flu before. Whenever she’s thrown up it was due to bowel obstructions and her reflux. It always makes me terribly nervous and I immediately pray for the best. I called her school and the flu is really going around so that helps my anxiousness a little bit. She woke up still feeling icky but as the day wore on she pepped up a bit. She has been drinking Gatorade and had a small bowl of noodles for lunch.

I asked if I could take a few pictures of her tonight. She smiled! She’s such a trouper!

A little update on me. I had my yearly colonoscopy and all looks well. I still find it hard to believe I had colon cancer. I’ve been blessed with great doctors that listen and care deeply about me. God is always in control through the good and the bad.

Our family went through a bad event in November. Our middle daughter Emeline got physically assaulted at one of our local parks. It was a nightmare. Many things went wrong that day. Again God was guiding her and she did all the right things to prevent her from getting hurt worse. We took her to the ER. She ended up very sore but nothing broken. We have dealt with the after effects of all of this and it’s been extremely hard on Emme and myself. She had never in her life been hit so it came as a huge shock that anyone could do this. (The girl that assaulted her was 12 years old.) Sadly there was a video taken of the incident that I had to watch and it left me horrified and with fear and nightmares. Emme didn’t feel safe at school so we pulled her out to do her schooling at home for over two months. The school helped in everyway they could. Yesterday was the hearing. Emeline was so courageous… she read her victims impact statement. She said that she wanted her assailant to be thoroughly watched so she couldn't hurt anyone else. She also said that this is one of the hardest things she's ever had to go through in her life but that it has made her a stronger person. I was so proud of her. It took such courage to get up in front of a room full of people, a judge, lawyers and not to mention the girl that assaulted her. What a strong young lady she has become. Pray for her as she still struggles with trust issues among kids her own age. She is back in school and has gotten a ton of support from her friends.

I often wonder why bad things happen… is it to make us stronger? Is it to learn more about life? Is it to help us in another situation to come in life? Is it to place our full trust in God? All of these and more. I stopped asking God why a long time ago… I just know it is part of the plan for my life. As a Mother it’s hard to watch your children struggle. We can only be there to support them and remind them that we will always be there for them. We can also ask God to heal them and us.

For those of you that used to be friends with me on facebook I have since left. (I did have to open another account to be able to continue my work with my cdh page ~Raising Healthy Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Children~ as this will always be my calling and my passion.) This incident with Emeline opened my eyes and I found myself always trying to “help” people. I need to help myself and my family right now. I feel like I had nothing left to give and it upset me to see so much complaining on facebook. I’m not sure I will ever return. If you ever want to send me a message my email address is still the same. mycdhlife@gmail.com

Thanks for dropping by! Prayers for Ava and Emeline would be much appreciated! God Bless.

~Terri Helmick