Joy for the Journey
As a parent, I never imagined any of my children would have a type of diagnosis that would require long term intervention. But after a childhood cancer diagnosis for my oldest, and then an ADHD diagnosis and dyslexia screener for my middle child, I’ve learned that it’s the journey that makes us appreciate the sweetness that life has to offer, even if it doesn’t look like we thought it would.
My daughter, Leorah, was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt leukemia in May of 2020, right in the apex of the covid pandemic. Now nearly 4 years later, and in remission, she is still immunosuppressed. She receives monthly IVIG infusions, as well as regular ultrasounds and labs to monitor for any recurrence of the cancer.
My youngest daughter, Avery, was diagnosed with ADHD in 2022, and just recently was flagged for a probability of dyslexia. She received speech therapy for 2 years at Wilson Pediatric Therapy. She is also currently in weekly occupational therapy sessions to address her handwriting, spacial awareness, and unresolved primitive reflexes. She loves every opportunity to walk through the doors! She sees it as a fun adventure and, as a middle child, she thrives off of the individual attention. She will soon also start the dyslexia treatment program here, which we’re all very excited about!
Just a few years ago, if you had told me that the words “cancer”, “ADHD”, or “dyslexia” would be spoken over my kids, I would have fought against all of those labels. “Nope. Not my kids!! There’s no way we would be so misfortunate to have to walk those difficult paths.” I considered my children perfectly healthy as they were and a deep part of me wanted to refuse to let them live anything but perfectly healthy and normal lives. But, denial doesn’t help your children…it cripples them.
We tend to reject or butt against things we don’t understand. I was in denial over my daughter’s cancer diagnosis for as long as I could manage to be. Even when she lost her hair and got worse instead of better, I was so resentful of the journey. I wasted precious time resenting it instead of embracing it, and showing my daughter that she could absolutely find complete joy and fulfillment no matter what circumstance came her way.
When a teacher expressed concern over Avery’s focus and attention at school when she was in 2nd grade, my instinct was to butt up against that, too. Were they saying she needed to be medicated?? I was absolutely not ok with that. But I can now say with such joy and confidence that acknowledging the red flags and getting her evaluated has been the best thing we could have done for her. With medical intervention, she is now excelling at school both academically and socially. Seeing the drastic results of acknowledging and treating her ADHD has been so encouraging- so much so, that the word “dyslexia” doesn’t scare us a bit. Early intervention for children like Avery is going to set them up on a trajectory for success and confidence that she may never have known was possible had we turned a blind, ignorant eye and looked the other way instead of digging deeper into how she is uniquely wired.
It’s our unique journeys that generate value and perspective that simply can’t be achieved outside of walking out the path laid before us with optimism and genuine joy. Hard things are hard things…but working through the hard things empowers us not only to help ourselves and our children, but it empowers us to be an advocate for others who are navigating similar battles.
I never would have chosen cancer for Leorah, or ADHD/dyslexia for Avery. But the things we’ve learned as we’ve walked out those diagnoses have been life changing. We appreciate the little things so much more, and we have conditioned ourselves to not be so easily discouraged when difficult things happen. Each new experience is an opportunity to learn and to grow, and that is a nugget of truth I hope to share with other families who are facing unexpected medical or cognitive challenges.
There is such joy to be found in the journey!
Here at Wilson Pediatric Therapy & Learning Center, we are here to help you explore the joy in your child’s unique journey. You will discover that not only is your child capable of so much more than they ever imagined….YOU are, too.
