Hop, skip & A Jump?

Definitely more like Planes, Trains & Automobiles....LOL

Well I wanted to post this as a prayer request. As most of you know we have been Counselor shopping for Bella. The last therapist didn't work out and so we slowly faded away from that. We decided to not tell Bella until after we returned from Nevada and once we returned the conversation still didn't come up. :( My fault but life/Chemo got in the way) but eventually Bella brought it up.

She had an episode the other night which is frustrating because I was just talking to my good friend in TX and she asked me about Bella. I was happy to report that she was doing good, no big issues lately but we have been together a lot so that could be why. She really hasn't had to separate from us. She even did well with the last treatment but probably because I was a cuddle bug, it worked in Bella's favor since she laid with me most of the time I was sick. We even ate lunch and dinner on the couch while Isaac was playing at his cousins house. So she got lots of Mommy time.

However once that ended and life went back to some normalcy the anxiety began. Monday we had some issues during the day and then another at night. She was sticking by my side and there was no way to peel her off. I thought a lot about what the therapist had told us and that was to not force her at this time. As much as I want to force her to do something she is anxious about or even encourage her to give it a try, I also don't want to push her to do anything she doesn't want to. So, I backed off. We had a good conversation about it later on and it broke my heart because when we talked about the anxiety she was feeling and the emotions that went with it, she asked if she can go to therapy. My 7 year old was asking to see her counselor? I knew then, that Bella was making progress before. It was affirmation that therapy was definitely a good thing. Im glad that she recognized the problem and realized that she wanted to work through it.

Through this ordeal, we had some other issues in the past two days and I just see her healing going in the wrong direction so I was on a mission yesterday to find a therapist that I felt connected to.

After a friend of a friend of a friend...and a therapist through a therapist and a therapist I was connected to a Christian Registered Play Therapist Supervisor (one of the few in the state of Az) and she was even on "Focus on the Family" which makes me happy. She has a play therapy dog named Courage and we talked for 45 minutes about Bella's needs and goals and everything in between. I felt very connected to her on the phone and thankfully they have a sliding scale on their fee's and its lower than what we were paying with the other therapist.

The negative? Its not close. Its at least 60 miles away. :( So, we discussed options with Bella's school schedule and which day of the week and I think we have a good game plan. I also decided that I would take this opportunity to make that a special mommy morning date. We will head out first thing Monday morning and be back before her lunch time. This is a sacrifice that we will all have to make, but God has been giving us the resources and guidance on how to approach this and I haven't felt this comfortable since we figured out there was a problem so I know its right.

Im excited to meet our new therapist and to start to see the healing in Bella. For now she definitely needs our prayers. I need to have patience with her and compassion when she feels anxious. Even though I may not understand it I can't get frustrated.  My family & her cousins have been so great with her and I think the more we come together to work towards her healing, the easier it will be for all of us. I'm very thankful for the prayers and support that you give our family through this journey of ours.

So....my prayer that I would find a therapist just a Hop, Skip and a Jump away didn't exactly work out...but I rather go the extra mile to feel confident in where we are going. :) When I was diagnosed I said I would drive anywhere to get the care I wanted and I am just going to have to do the same for Bella. :)