Mayo/1st Day

As luck would have it, I was scheduled to be at Mayo Clinic Hospital at 8am on Hayden's first day of his new school. As a mom, this about killed me. How was I to send my precious boy to school without his mom to walk him in. Thomas informed me, it is easy if he has a dad that can do it. I didn't agree. Hayden reassured me that it would be better because he would be less emotional for his dad then me to take him. So, Thomas went to school with Hayden to start his first day adventure and Julie took me to Mayo Clinic for testing.

Hayden's first day deserves a post in and of itself.

Mayo Clinic was definitely a visit that I needed. The Friday before this, Thomas and I went and met with an Autonomic Dysfunction Neurologist and he had scheduled immediate testing. The first test was with me fasting. I went in and laid on a bed, completely in the dark as they inserted an iv. Then it was lay still, try to fall asleep and the nurses would take my blood pressure, heart rate and blood every 30 minutes for a couple of hours. No book, no music, no one with me, complete silence.

From there, I had one of the most painful experiences of my life. I had to undergo EMG testing. The nerve part wasn't fun, but bearable. Then I underwent some sort of Chinese torture. I was injected with needles that went down to my bone in my feet, legs, joints, hip muscles, calves and everywhere. There were supposed to be three and by number two needle, I was hurting so bad. The doctor performed the test and came back and I went through another twelve needles of testing. I was so done. In so much pain, so I am hoping they were able to determine a cause/solution.

I remained in pain for the net couple of days. Anytime anyone messes with my nerves and muscles, it is like they start the process of the deterioration going into hyper drive. Not fun! I just wanted the torture to end, so I could get back to my sweet son to see how his day went.

We cuddled on the couch that night and talked, completed "mommy" homework and got things ready for school the next day.

I will never forget scripture study that night. We were at the end of Mosiah. Hayden asked me why I was in so much pain. I explained that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. We had such a sweet talk about why we go through challenges and why Heavenly Father lets us hurt. At the end of the beautiful discussion, with the Holy Ghost present, I was able to bear my testimony to my sweet son that the Lord loves us and knows what is best for us and although it hurts Him for us to struggle, He can see the end, past the struggling and knows what good it will do for us.

As Thomas and I related that same concept to Hayden, he looked up, smiled and said that he could see where we were headed with this conversation... that I was required to go through physical pain and he was being asked to go through emotional fear. He looked at us, with a bright smile and said, "Well, for how scared I am, there must be some really big blessing on the other side of my trial of a new school. I'm ready to hurry through the trial part and get to the good stuff." We laughed and stopped to list all the wonderful things that were in store for Hayden once he conquers his fears of a new school. Things included: more friends, more self confidence, more knowledge, seeing a new way of doing things, closer to home, closer to friends, different great teachers, increased learning and the list went on.

If I have to walk this path, I am glad that it is teaching Hayden that it is okay to hurt. It is okay to struggle. And, it is okay to stay on the path and keeping putting one foot in front of the other, until you understand the why's.