The temporary disillusionment of “Ed World”

March 3, 2010 at 5:14 am (Family, History, Pregnancy, Relapse, Symptoms, Treatments)
Tags: Family

My last couple of posts were in regards to my fight to get treated for my relapse.  Unfortunately, that was not the only battle I had going on at that time. I have briefly mentioned “Ed World” in a few prior posts, but it bears repeating.  In “Ed World,” nothing goes wrong, and if there happens to be a glitch in there somewhere, it will work itself out and always for the best.  Ed came home early from England when things started going down hill.  For a while however, that was really his only acknowledgment that things were not as they should be.

My Mom had to drive a two hour round trip every weekday to help me take care of G. and couldn’t leave until Ed got home from work.  However, Ed would regularly get home 15 to 30 minutes later than expected, which made things more difficult on my Mom in many ways.  Ed was part of a volleyball team that played on Tuesday nights, and instead of staying home and taking care of G. he would ask me if he could go, and leave it to our then 18 year old daughter to take over his responsibilities.  He never said no to anything himself.  He always made me be the one to tell him over and over again that he couldn’t leave me alone with G. and that it wasn’t K.’s responsibility to give up her life to take care of his kids.  K. was becoming very resentful.  Everyone was making sacrifices at this point except Ed.

I was making all the phone calls to the doctors and every time I got told “No” I lost more of my will to fight.  Instead of helping me fight Ed just accepted everything that was said as though that was all there was to it.  The reason for all of this?  In “Ed World,” things were somehow just going to magically take care of themselves and I was going to get better on my own.

The night that I got my first steroid treatment, I tore down “Ed World.”  I’m not sure what finally broke in me and caused me to do it, but do it I did.  I said “Goodnight” and got as far as the kitchen , which in our house is about 5 feet, and I stopped.  I stood there and debated with my self for a minute and then I turned around and walked back.  Not having been there, you will never really be able to know how completely I destroyed “Ed World” that night.  I looked at him calmly, sadly, and full of disappointment.  I told him that he had let me and our family down.  This was not a game.  I was not getting better, but getting worse.  This would not magically take care of itself.  Every time I had to tell him that he couldn’t go somewhere because I couldn’t take care of G. by myself, it made me feel even worse than I already did.  He refused to accept the reality of the situation, and refused to fight for me.  He had made me do all the fighting and I could no longer do the fighting.  I and the rest of the family needed him to wake up and step up.  I then turned around again and went to bed.

The next morning, Ed was a new man. He has since become my savior and I could not ask for anything more from him.  These days I have to force him to go out if he thinks it will put undue stress on me or thinks I am not feeling well.  He has not once left my side and is right on top of things should it seem like I might be having any kind of relapse.  I am a very, very lucky woman.  I regret the temporary destruction of “Ed World,” but don’t worry, it’s back and as strong as ever.  Now it just has a slightly better sense of reality when necessary.