I have started writing articles for ezinearticles and Associated Content on Yahoo. This one was published today. The assignment was " Your worst travel or vacation experience" in 400 words.
Yes, this really did happen to us !!! Enjoy..
Read it here
The BeeGeez
Bill and Beckie Gammon
Friday, November 19, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Turning a life-altering negative into a positive.
Four weeks ago today I got a phone call that every Mom dreads. It was my eldest son Niall, he's twenty-one and he was in the hospital. He has been living and working in Alabama for the past eighteen months and was enjoying his life. Then came the phone call. "Mom, is there any history of MS ( Multiple sclerosis) in the family. My initial reaction was "of course not, don't be daft, why on earth do you want to know that?"
His reply floored me..
"I'm in the hospital and they think I have MS"
I went cold. Surely I didn't hear that, no, not my son, he's only a baby, he can't possibly be sick..
And so followed an agonizing forty eight hours of tests. CAT scan, contrast MRA, contrast MRI. He called me on Wednesday night, sobbing, yes, it was confirmed. I dissolved into a big bucket of jello. Poor Bill was at a loss as to what to do to comfort me. I experienced a plethora of emotions. I was angry, sad, frightened, confused, shocked and I felt helpless. This was my child and I felt as though I had failed him.
He wanted to come home, he wanted to be around his family as we embarked on a journey into the unknown. I booked him a flight and on the following Monday he was back, safe in my arms and very scared.
MS is life changing. It affects each sufferer in different ways and no-one can predict who will deteriorate when. I read everything I could on the subject, and I mean EVERYTHING. Knowledge is power and I needed power in order to be the best help that I could be for him. I knew that we had two choices: we could let this thing take over his life or we could fight it every step of the way. We chose the latter.
And so something so negative was turned into a positive. It boils down to how you view the situation that you find yourself in. This situation will not go away but it has been a very positive experience.
How come? This is something that could send him blind, lose the ability to walk, create memory loss etc, etc.. so how can anything be positive?
It is.
Look at it this way: I have my son home again. I get to see him daily instead of once a year. The shock of his illness and it's implications made his brothers and sister re-evaluate their relationships with each other. They have become much closer and want to spend more time together. My son was told in no uncertain terms by the Neurologist that he MUST get some kind of physical activity every day and have a healthy balanced diet if he wants to help slow the progression of MS. He came home and got a job at an equestrian center. It's a physically demanding job and this is a good thing for him, it will help stave off the progression of his MS. His diagnosis has also made my son realize that anything can happen to anyone, never take anything for granted and so he doesn't.
All positive things.
What has this taught me? Well, no matter how bad the situation seems, you can always find the positive in there if you want to. We know that we are in this for life with him but that doesn't mean we have to just curl up and hold a daily pity party. Much good has, and will, come out of this and we will take it day by day, continually hoping that a cure will be found.
His reply floored me..
"I'm in the hospital and they think I have MS"
I went cold. Surely I didn't hear that, no, not my son, he's only a baby, he can't possibly be sick..
And so followed an agonizing forty eight hours of tests. CAT scan, contrast MRA, contrast MRI. He called me on Wednesday night, sobbing, yes, it was confirmed. I dissolved into a big bucket of jello. Poor Bill was at a loss as to what to do to comfort me. I experienced a plethora of emotions. I was angry, sad, frightened, confused, shocked and I felt helpless. This was my child and I felt as though I had failed him.
He wanted to come home, he wanted to be around his family as we embarked on a journey into the unknown. I booked him a flight and on the following Monday he was back, safe in my arms and very scared.
MS is life changing. It affects each sufferer in different ways and no-one can predict who will deteriorate when. I read everything I could on the subject, and I mean EVERYTHING. Knowledge is power and I needed power in order to be the best help that I could be for him. I knew that we had two choices: we could let this thing take over his life or we could fight it every step of the way. We chose the latter.
And so something so negative was turned into a positive. It boils down to how you view the situation that you find yourself in. This situation will not go away but it has been a very positive experience.
How come? This is something that could send him blind, lose the ability to walk, create memory loss etc, etc.. so how can anything be positive?
It is.
Look at it this way: I have my son home again. I get to see him daily instead of once a year. The shock of his illness and it's implications made his brothers and sister re-evaluate their relationships with each other. They have become much closer and want to spend more time together. My son was told in no uncertain terms by the Neurologist that he MUST get some kind of physical activity every day and have a healthy balanced diet if he wants to help slow the progression of MS. He came home and got a job at an equestrian center. It's a physically demanding job and this is a good thing for him, it will help stave off the progression of his MS. His diagnosis has also made my son realize that anything can happen to anyone, never take anything for granted and so he doesn't.
All positive things.
What has this taught me? Well, no matter how bad the situation seems, you can always find the positive in there if you want to. We know that we are in this for life with him but that doesn't mean we have to just curl up and hold a daily pity party. Much good has, and will, come out of this and we will take it day by day, continually hoping that a cure will be found.
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Obesity Crisis
As you all probably know, I became a certified personal trainer so that I could help educate as many people as possible on the dangers of obesity. I'm almost obsessed with it and yes, I do get on my soapbox whenever possible. Childhood obesity is, in my humble opinion, nothing short of child abuse. The USA is the fattest country in the world, not a fact to be proud of. The average American diet is abysmal and no-one seems to care. So many people ask me how I stay slim.. I stay slim ( even after 5 kids) because I don't eat CRAP. I could rant on and on.. but won't.. here is an article that I wrote on ezine about making small changes in the everyday diet.. you may learn something.. you may not but here it is anyway..
Click here to read
Click here to read
Our Crazy Life
A friend suggested yesterday that I write a book about our life. "your life is CRAZY.. you should write a best seller" she said.. Well, I don't know about a best seller but we do have a pretty random, eventful and fun time with our mad life.
It seems that we have an "event" of some sort pretty much daily and it keeps us busy to say the least. Some are good, some are bad, some are funny, some are sad and some are just so random that they are hard to believe but it makes for some interesting conversations.
Therefore, I will post a blog as often as I can, I can't promise anything brilliant but I will give it my best shot.
For those of you that don't know us, a bit of background information:
We have been together almost thirteen years and married almost eleven. We have seven children but none together. Our kids range in age from 33 to 13 and they keep us constantly busy, stressed and amused. We also have seven dogs ranging in weight from 180 lbs down to 5.9 lbs. Yes, we buy A LOT of dog food !!
Bill is an attorney, practicing civil law for the past twenty three years. I am a certified personal trainer, legal assistant to Bill, Mom, cook, maid, nurse, etc, etc..
We love to travel.. I mean LOVE to travel and have a rather long "bucket list" of places we still wish to see.
If I can ever figure out the "twitter" thing then I will link this blog so that you can all get updates. You can also "friend" us on Facebook.
So, stay tuned and let's see what happens...
It seems that we have an "event" of some sort pretty much daily and it keeps us busy to say the least. Some are good, some are bad, some are funny, some are sad and some are just so random that they are hard to believe but it makes for some interesting conversations.
Therefore, I will post a blog as often as I can, I can't promise anything brilliant but I will give it my best shot.
For those of you that don't know us, a bit of background information:
We have been together almost thirteen years and married almost eleven. We have seven children but none together. Our kids range in age from 33 to 13 and they keep us constantly busy, stressed and amused. We also have seven dogs ranging in weight from 180 lbs down to 5.9 lbs. Yes, we buy A LOT of dog food !!
Bill is an attorney, practicing civil law for the past twenty three years. I am a certified personal trainer, legal assistant to Bill, Mom, cook, maid, nurse, etc, etc..
We love to travel.. I mean LOVE to travel and have a rather long "bucket list" of places we still wish to see.
If I can ever figure out the "twitter" thing then I will link this blog so that you can all get updates. You can also "friend" us on Facebook.
So, stay tuned and let's see what happens...
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