Juggling Visits

A part of living with CF is lots of doctors visits. I have allergy shots twice a week and visit my primary care doctor every time I get sick (which is more often than I would like). Every two months I see my pulmonologist.  I also have a rheumatologist, gastroenterologist, and ENT that I see routinely, not to mention the normal optometrist and dentist appointments that are commonplace.

My CF clinic visits last a few hours because I see my pulmonologist, nutritionist,  social worker, pharmacist, and nurse every visit.  I usually get respite care or a babysitter for those days because I know I will be busy all day and can't deal with all my kids at those visits.

I take my kids with me to the allergist and to some specialists. While school was in session I took the younger ones while the older ones were in school.

Today I sat in a doctor's office alone while my husband took the kids to their appointments before he went to work for the day, then picked them up on my way home from filling prescriptions. It takes some intense juggling to manage everything sometimes but we have to stay on top of my health for the good of our whole family.

How do I make it to all my appointments and still get the kids to therapy, behaviorist appointments,  visits with bios, well child checks, and other foster related activities?  I am a walking calendar who sometimes forgets the entries made and reschedules things but manages to get all of us where we need to be in one piece eventually.

If you ever need tips on managing a three ring circus, ask a mother. If you need to be juggling on a unicycle while managing the rest of the circus, ask a salty foster mama. Sure I drop things sometimes but I will let you in on a little secret:  the best moms know what they can drop with the least amount of negative impact.