My Bandit Moment

So 2 weeks ago I had a scrapbooking revelation (which I would learn the following weekend from the amazing Cathy Zielske that it was probably my "Bandit Moment" which I will explain later)

I was organising some photos for CC06 the following weekend (yes I am a lastminute homework doer lol) and found a photo of Finn taken the week before he was diagnosed as a Coeliac. The photo grabbed my heart and I realised I had to get that story written down before I forgot all the details. I am usually not an emotional journaller and find it hard to start writing down a story. Then I remembered the latest dare from the No 8 Wired ladies which was the topic The Chaos Within. This gave me some direction, and it all came pouring out. I wrote the story first then scrapped it in the afternoon and didn't stop till I had the page finished. I felt a huge relief in doing this page as Finn's illness was a turning point for our family, and it also seemed to unblock something within me that will now mean my journalling might hopefully be a little less "who, when, where, why"

Here's the journalling:

This photo was taken on 10 December 2005. I can see in your eyes the chaos that was going on in your mind & through your body. We were about to learn that our lives were going to change forever, but it would be for the better eventually.

You had been sick for a few months – getting worse as every week passed. The GP was baffled by your symptoms. You lost nearly 5kgs over 3-4 months, down to a frightening 14kgs. You had so many blood tests & samples, & were hardly eating a thing (ironically only Weetbix, which were unknowingly making you sicker). Finally we were referred to a paediatrician, & things happened so quickly after that. Dr Shaw had her suspicions (some terrifying ones which thankfully she kept to herself for a while), one of which was something we had never heard of before, & had no idea how to even say or spell it! {Coeliac} We had to research it at home on the internet just to get our heads round it. A sensitivity to wheat & gluten - it seemed to cover just about every food we ate, how would we cope with that?!

So more blood tests were ordered, & while we waited the 2 weeks for the results you were on Losec in case it wasn’t coeliac. That was a drama in itself, you hated those pills, & I spent hours sprinkling the contents of each pill on your food & trying to convince you to eat it. It just made you eat even less. You were like a little skeleton. You were completely withdrawn at crèche, no energy to play with your friends & clung to me every day when I dropped you off. This was the worst time of our lives to see you so ill & unhappy, & having no idea what to do.

Then came that phone call on 15 December 2005 – the blood tests had shown coeliac disease. I was at work & the relief I felt was unbelievable – lots of tears! Strange to think that we were relieved that you had a lifelong food intolerance, but it was infinitely better than some of our worst fears.

Robyn Shaw was able to pull some strings to get you booked in for a gastroscopy the following week at Bowen Hospital, as you couldn’t start a gluten free diet until after the diagnosis was confirmed. You had the operation under general anaesthetic, Daddy went into the theatre with you as I wasn’t brave enough to see you go to sleep. The doctors & nurses at Bowen were amazing, they did everything to make it not so scary for you. The surgeon said he could see enough to make a positive verbal diagnosis so we could start the new diet immediately. The official results would end up being a month off as everything shut down for Christmas.

The gluten free diet is a huge learning curve, & our lives seem to revolve around food, but look at you now after just 7 months – all the weight back on (and more), rosy cheeks, 2 terms at school, a changed little boy!!

As it turns out this was a blessing in disguise, since then Connor has also been diagnosed as a Coeliac too (it is hereditary), & he is much healthier too. We are all eating a gluten free diet & feeling better for it. The food you boys eat now is amazing compared to last year, no junk food, loads of meat, & heaps of my yummy baking! I think it is making me a better mother too as I am now more aware of food & cooking in general. It is very time consuming, but so worth it when I look at how much healthier my boys are now.

We just don’t know what is going on inside our bodies, & how fast lives can change.

And endless thanks to all my family and friends (especially my awesome Kiwipea chicks) for all the feedback about this page. It was quite personal for me and to hear them all saying they were moved by it really made it special

So for all the people who didn't do Cathy's class last weekend I know you're thinking what on earth is a Bandit Moment? Cathy explained it was the time she realised she had to move from event scrapping to non-event scrapping. She did a page about a dog she had as a teenager called Bandit, describing his effect on her life and her memories of him before he died. Doing my Chaos Within page made me realise too that even though I need to continue doing birthday parties, school trips, and Christmas pages, I also need to get more stories written down before they are forgotten forever (and believe me the way my brain is feeling lately, that is already happening lol) More about Cathy's classes and CC06 in a later post.