Child Life Specialist

Anna Cat
Amy Brown is her Child Life Specialist.

Sarah started running a fever on Wednesday. I took her to Dr. Sindel, she was hospitalized on Thursday overnight, and discharged on Friday. Currently, we are doing I.V. at home... Fortaz and Azactam for those who are interested in that kind of thing. She is still running a fever off and on, so we are playing it by ear with regard to when she will return to school.

That's right! School started back this past Monday. It has been really hairy-carey trying to do everything necessary to get the school year started off on the right foot, and then having to regroup with Sar. I know for sure, though, that there is never a good time. I have not once, in the fifteen years I have been dealing with cystic fibrosis clapped my hands together and jumped up and down exclaiming, "Oh goody! Let's get going to the hospital!"

Still, focusing on being grateful that medications are available to help my kids helps put me in a better frame of mind. Somehow the mind usually wants to look at what's wrong before I am able to shake it and shift the focus to what's right. Whether I like it or not, it is always about my perspective on things. Learning to be grateful in the midst of calamity brings much more peace of mind than becoming mired in the turmoil of all the challenges CF brings.

Sarah isn't feeling her best right now, which makes her a WEE BIT CRANKY. This makes it more and more difficult for me to maintain my supportive, spiritual, CF-Mom Extraordinairre persona. It's hard to lovingly comfort someone who is snapping your head off every time you ask something. Thus, my primary focus has been not to beat the child with the life threatening illness. So far, we're all hanging in there.

During this last, brief hospital stay, I met a new lady recently hired who introduced herself as a "Child Life Specialist". My ears perked up... "What was that title?" She explained that her job is to assist the children who are hospitalized in whatever way they need assistance. So, if they need extra help with school work, through Class Act (the hospital school), she does that... If the children need comforting during a procedure, she does that... Whatever children need to help improve the quality of their overall life experience in the hospital is what she does. This is what I do at work... Anything to try to improve a child's life experience in school. I love the title. I'm thinking of adopting it for myself.

I give myself new titles all the time.... Mainly because special education is full of acronyms that no one understands anyway. I am the LSC for my school. What's that stand for, you ask? "Local Survey Chairman"... What in the heck is that? Exactly. To parents I say, "I am the special education coordinator for our school." But, to people I work with it means something else entirely... "AAAKKK! I have a form to fill out and I don't have a clue..." Ask Christy. "AAAAKKK!!! This parent is a pain in my elbow. She is threatening to sue us..." Call Christy. "AAAKKK! There is a kid throwing a whopper of a fit in the hallway." Get Christy. (Although, I'm not complaining. I rather like the excitement of conquering those types of challenging situations...) I just don't like the stress of trying to do all of that and teach.

But, I like the idea of "Child Life Specialist"... It is so descriptive, and it works to describe my job at school and my job as CF-Mom Extraordinairre. My job is to do whatever is necessary to improve the quality of life for children... Whether they are my own children or someone else's. One of the ladies on our SpEd team even coined a phrase that people use throughout the building... Occasionally, a child will need an attitude adjustment, and I happily provide that for them. My friend, Debra, when asked what happened to bring about the change says, "Oh, Christy 'Maxwelled' him." I suppose that goes right along with the all-encompassing title of "Child Life Specialist"... As does, doing the laundry, making dinner, running to band parent meetings, praying with my kids, shuttling my child to gymnastics and dance, and reminding Sarah that it is within my very special power to remove every priviledge she ever thought about having if she talks to me in that tone one more time... "Child Life Specialist".