Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Trauma Side Effects

You know, when trauma occurs in your family, it affects things later that you never thought it would affect. Tahlia was nearly killed in September after being hit by a car. She survived and has recovered almost fully here in February. And we thought we HAD completely recovered as a family. But, little things are still different. Elora has been seriously sick this week with pneumonia (she is still at home). Yet, it has mostly seemed such a minor issue to me. Why? Because, compared to near death experiences of a few months ago, pneumonia is nothing. She is throwing up constantly and her face has swelled up like a ballon and I am taking it in stride. I hand her some Benedrayl, scrub the new colored spot on the carpet while humming a merry little tune. A year ago, if she had been this sick, I would be reacting differently: freaking out. Now, it like "Oh well, it is too bad you have to miss your field trip. Here is a bowl to throw up in again." Don't get me wrong; I don't want her to be sick and I feel bad for her. But, little crises (and even medium crises) are all weighed, filed and placed in comparison to September's tragedy. And they don't even register "LEVEL ORANGE" on my stressed out scale. Am I numbed by what happened? Is this a bad thing? And how long will it last?

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