King Kong’s Invasion

Last week Kong Kong invaded my home…

If you’ve seen the movie King Kong, you’ll know that a giant gorilla captures a beautiful lady named Ann and drags her all over New York City as he’s being chased by a band of angry, gun-toting humans who want to rescue Ann and save other humans from his destruction.

Ann and I can relate since we both have had giants take us captive. I live in lock-down each day. We have fifteen doors in our home, and every one of them has a key coded pad on it. Repeatedly punching buttons is typical for our family. Every entry to a room must be shut behind us unless we want possessions ruined or stolen.

When we ordered pizza the other night I said thank you to the pizza delivery man and turned to go to my kitchen, then I heard a noise. The man was trying to get out of our house, but couldn’t. He probably began to wonder about us…

“What kind of psychotic family locks people in their home…you have entered the Twilight Zone.”

My husband Vance is a big man. If he was here alone and had ordered pizza and a young lady delivered it, she may panic at the thought of being locked in a house with a man who looks like he is the leader of a motorcycle gang.

You may be wondering, “Who on earth are they talking about?” We have a grown son, Kyle, who battles with severe autism. We are in lock-down because of this invader. Some days it feels like King Kong lives with us. Kyle had an incredible few months, and then we waited for the beast to arrive… bipolar season.

When it does… King Kong shows up too.

Kyle was happy and calm with his anxiety under good control, and going out each day with his staff. A beautiful rhythm and peacefulness settle in our home. We began to believe once again that we had some sort of control over our daily lives.

Them boom… we hit a downward spiral!

Yesterday, King Kong went throughout the house grabbing anything he could get his hands on and taking it upstairs to his room where he stores it in his fake laundry shoot we designed for him. He also unplugs our wifi many times throughout the day.

 

I was messaging WordPress to ask them for help on fixing a glitch on my website, and my connection was lost in the middle of our chat. Ten minutes later I was chatting again and by mistake said, “I’m  sorry, my son with autism keeps unplugging my wife.”

I meant to say wifi. Seasonal bipolar disease keep this mother humble and other people laughing at me.

Kyle can be very destructive during this spell. He doesn’t want to be, he just can’t control King Kong’s impulses. Continual toilet flushing and banging on the walls are only two of the behaviours that can drive us crazy.

Since he’s anxious, he can’t get himself to leave the house, so Kyle and his staff stay here roaming our home. Everywhere Kyle goes his team follows for his safety.  This can’t be avoided and will most likely be our life for the next six to eight weeks.

Today my daughter Charity came over to use my kitchen to try out some healthy donut recipes she could give to her clients since she is a nutritionist. Part way through her baking she could hear Kyle running down the stairs, and she quickly hid them beneath the island.

Kyle is on a strict diet and is limited in what he can eat. If given the opportunity, he would grab the whole plate and take off with them so he could gobble them down in his room while laughing hysterically. He loves being mischevious and thinks he can annoy his sisters with his amusing antics.

 

Click here for Delicious Paleo Donut Recipe

Vance and I just got back from a vacation a few weeks ago, and he had commented, “I don’t feel like I need a vacation for a while since Kyle is feeling so good” How quickly we both forget that the rug can be pulled from under our son in a split second. After one week of his bipolar spell we are looking at each other thinking…when is our next holiday?

We don’t need a vacation from Kyle, we need one from King Kong: Kyle wants to run from the beast too.

He can’t escape the giant gorilla that overtakes his body. He’s stuck with this monster till he’s done his six-week, tormenting visit.

It helps to keep life in perspective when I am tempted to ask:

Why me God?

He reminds me of people who have it worse off than us. I just need to think of Jazmin and the monster she’s fighting each day.

Jazmin, my daughter-in-law, has also had a monster take over her life. She has stage four cancer. Jazmin married my son Eythan this summer. Right now she’s in Arizona, USA, while he is here at home in Canada working. This isn’t how most people spend their first year of marriage… battling cancer while they live in different countries.

 

I hopped in Eythan’s car last week and noticed the compartment on his door was filled with IV tubes. The drawer in our dining room buffet is also filled with medical supplies. Cancer is calling the shots right now. Where these newlyweds live and how they are going to live life is ruled by a disease that kills people every day in North America.

National Cancer Institute Statistics

Eythan was video messaging with Jazmin last night. He bought her a puppy for an early Christmas present, and he was showing her how he was teaching Lacey to sit, lie down and obey different commands. I could here Jazmin’s voice as she talked to her fur-baby she hasn’t met in real life yet. She’s been watching life happen for her husband and puppy from a distance.

She misses these two terribly.

Jazmin and Eythan know King Kong may be here for a while. They don’t know when he is leaving or when they will start having the life most couples take for granted when they first marry.

Presently, Jazmin lives with another young lady who is receiving cancer treatment at the same clinic.

This has been an unfortunate week for these women. They had a woman named Christie living with them while she also received cancer treatment.  She died on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. Her husband Ron and three kids, Sophie, Trace and Lane, have lost a precious wife and mother.

To hear Christie passed away was a real sadness to both these young women.

Christie loved to cook and would make the girls delicious home-cooked meals. She was also neat and organized and was a hard working woman. She battled a monster for three long years and was brave and courageous.

 

 

These three beautiful children have lost a loving mother. Donations can be made to their future education in memory of Christie.

Here is a link to her Go Fund Me Page: In Loving Memory of Christie

Yesterday I was having a pity party as my wifi was unplugged AGAIN and I overreacted. When I woke up this morning, I changed my perspective.

Cindy, you have a good life!

Three women are fiercely battling for their lives every day. One lost the fight on Tuesday, and I am mad about six weeks of bipolar disease and autism overtaking my life and unplugging my wifi???

Sometimes I am selfish, and this monster is much worse than the ones that Christie, Jazmin, and Kyle have had to fight every day.

Are you like me and just need a reminder that you have an incredibly good life too? As you celebrate American Thanksgiving this weekend, remember all that God has given you and the blessings that you are surrounded by…your family.

Don’t let the silly things that really don’t matter, cause you to forget how good you have it. Life is so very short…just a whisper that others had hoped could be so much longer💗

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. 

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

Psalm 9:1-2 NIV