Day 512 | February 04, 2023

Good evening, friends. Today is February 4th,2023, in our new and grateful life.

To say that I have been busy in the past two weeks would be an understatement; between running my business, advocating, continuing without childcare, and undergoing a change of home care agency for Charlie's Aides, life has been beyond busy. Still, as you will see below, no matter how hard it becomes, there is always something to be grateful for.

Let's start with the changes we experienced, there has been a change in the agency that provides Aides to Charlie at home, and the initial assessment was so promising and exciting to us; we learned that the new Aides would be able to drive, that was such a positive change, Charlie will be able to have more independence and go to the store and such.

However, very quickly, we realized that this change would not be so easy or smooth; on the second day, there was a called-out, and no Aide came, so I had to step in on a new role, the one that I had for the most part, not being needed, the role of a caregiver.

I had been trained, and Charlie is a fantastic instructor, so her bath and whole-body skincare routine went very well.

Very quickly, I realized that on that Tuesday, I would not be able to work since Charlie had no aide, the boys had no nanny, and it was just me to be the sole caregiver that day; before I could think, it was time to get breakfast ready for the boys and take them both to school.

I am so grateful to have the ability to jump in as needed, but sadly that was not the only day we had issues with the new Aides; we keep having different Aides every day, and sometimes two in one day; it was beyond exhausting for Charlie to tell how her accident happened, explain her care routine daily for a whole week, by the end of last week we were drained, physically and mentally, we requested a meeting with the agency to address our concerns, for now, let's say that we still dealing with some issues. Still, we are hopeful that soon, we will have some consistency in Charlie's In-home care.

Charlie has also been doing her best to help me with the boys; she is getting up extra early to pick up their clothes and assist me to the best of her ability in getting them ready for school.

Besides all the challenges, Charlie continues to progress with her PT and OT therapy; she can now use a cane on her left hand and walk short distances.

She continues to inspire me daily, the next day after her cane arrived, Charlie wanted to visit Patch, and once there, she took a courageous step; she walked into the outdoor pavilion and stood right where the accident happened, taking over any fear that she may have over that place, I must confess, I am not as brave as she is, to this day, I can’t step foot inside that pavilion without dealing with severe PTSD symptoms, I don’t know how she does, see the picture below.

I still remember the day her surgeon told me Charlie would never be able to walk again, and to see her now, climbing stairs and walking with a cane, is beyond amazing.

Medically speaking, she is doing the impossible. Still, nothing is impossible for God, and I thank him daily for the miracle we have received.

Charlie is now working with a PT and OT at home in addition to her outpatient therapy, and soon, she will transition her PT into ACAC; another exhilarating step was the fact that Charlie can now wear a tennis shoe to support her feet and hopefully make her gait ( walk) more stable, a big thank you to Ragged Mountain Running Shop they are a locally owned shop in Charlottesville, and they made Charlie feel so welcome at their shop.

The following 60 days will be crucial for her mobility; we are so excited, it won't be easy, but if anyone can do it, Charlie is the one.

We had two critical medical appointments, one with her skin surgeon and one with her hand specialist, both went well, and in the immediate future, there will be no surgeries planned; once we have established reliable childcare, she will revisit her options.

I continue to deal with PTSD symptoms, and as I learn to deal with my new reality, I remember how much writing helped me when I decided to create a new company; yes, I know, as if I am not busy enough.

You must also know that I have ADHD, and I love to “ multitask, “

The mission of this new publishing company is to create journals and planners that can offer some help and guidance to anyone interested in improving their mental health since I know the benefits of writing, and keeping a journal can help anyone, even if you are not dealing with a mental health issue.

It is incredible how powerful our words can be when they form from our troughs into our reality when we write them down.

I have been working hard developing our first three journals, The Self Care Journal, The Gratitude Journal, and The Organizer, a Planner for the ADHD brain.

I took the time to used scientific proven principles when creating our journals and have also focused on the quality of the design and, in particular, its affordability.

Our journals will be accessible to as many people as possible because mental health crises do not discriminate, so access to improving them should not either.

The name of my publishing company is Casa X Publishers. Casa in Portuguese means house, and X is the first letter of our last name Xavier.

I would be very grateful if you took a moment to visit our website; I have written a few blog posts there, and they are all related to mental health; I will be posting there initially weekly if you are interested in scientific-based content about mental health, Advocacy and other topics that are important to me as an Author and Advocate, I would encourage you to sign up for our blog. It is a new site, and we are still working on it.

I have the Journals for sale on Amazon and our website, and I hope you can benefit from our journals as much as I have from my journaling; they are all priced under $7, and my goal is to keep all of them as affordable as possible, I will keep on adding new Planners and Journals often, you can also sign up to never miss a new release, they make great gifts as well.

As you can see, we are keeping our selves busy.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a caregiver to my wife. It gives me even more admiration for the many family members out there that are full-time caregivers. Even in the face of challenges, we don’t slow down. May God continue to provide you with the necessary strength to keep going.

I remain grateful to see the many blessings we continue to receive.

Thank you for your prayers and support; I appreciate you checking Casa X Publishers.

https://www.casaxpublishers.com

May God Bless You and Your family!