The journey started with a sheriff’s deputy and paramedics crowding my tiny bathroom.

The deputy arrived first so had already put an oxygen mask on my even tinier toddler by the time the paramedics entered.

Almost ten years of seizures later, the journey has led me to a quiet cabin on a lake by myself while Cody attends camp on the same lake. I dropped him off Monday morning once the rest of our church group arrived and picked him up at 5 pm that night.

It’s not a day camp but for Cody it is. Cody, whose seizures are triggered by poor sleep, can’t stay up until midnight like the other campers. Each day this week, I have dropped him off in the morning and picked him up at supper time so we can eat, do epilepsy meds, and sleep in our own cabin…the cabin I have to myself during the day while Chuck works & Cody plays, swims, and experiences his first week-long camp.

After getting all of his meds checked in at camp on Monday, Cody ran off to take his swim test. I drove back to the cabin, plopped in front of a wall of windows overlooking the lake, and exhaled.

Then I remembered that I had only told the pastor that Cody should always have a swim buddy – I had forgotten to tell the lifeguards he has epilepsy so they could also keep an eye on him (seizures in lakes are bad).

And THEN I thought, “I’ve done what I can.”

A long list of “-ists” came to mind as I thought about having done what I could for Cody on this journey:

Neurologist
Epileptologist
Neuropsychologist
Otolaryngologist
Sleep specialist
Occupational therapist
Physical therapist
Audiologist(s)
Endocrinologist
Psychologist
Psychiatrist
Cardiologist
Functional medicine specialist
Allergist

It has taken a lot of work to get to this point. To give Cody what he has needed to be able to spend his days at camp.

This week, Cody gets to just be a camper. Not exactly like the other campers but, at least during the day, he looks like one.

And, at least during the day, I get to enjoy one more -ist:

According to Virtuoso, The Travel Magazine, “If your idea of a vacation is to sit by the beach all day long, you’re a Relaxationist.”

Amen.