INTRO.<\/p>\n
Tonight, while rocking MY in the hospital, I was writing.
\nI thought I was writing a story about 10 days erased from life.
\nTurns out, I was wrong.<\/p>\n
Hello, MOMS.<\/p>\n
When was the last time you thought your everyday life had become boring?
\nThe one where:
\n\u201cMum, can you help me with homework?\u201d echoes constantly.
\nThe question \u201cwhat are we eating today?\u201d is always hanging in the air.
\nThe fridge that was just about to burst at the seams is once again \u201ccrying\u201d with its empty blue-white stare.<\/p>\n
Somehow, piles of dirty laundry of unimaginable size appear out of nowhere.
\nSkyscrapers of unwashed dishes.
\nCrumbs covering the floors again.
\nMessy drawers.
\nSmudged mirrors.
\nToys scattered everywhere.<\/p>\n
Excuses like:
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know how this got dirty,\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know where this hole came from,\u201d
\n\u201cCan you fix it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shall I continue?<\/p>\n
Moms juggle bigger or smaller daily dramas.
\nEmotions racing like roller coasters.
\nBad days.
\nSighs of \u201cI failed today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sounds familiar?
\nAnnoying?
\nExhausting to the bone?<\/p>\n
Really?<\/p>\n
Then welcome to the other side of hospital walls.
\nOh\u2014sorry.
\nWelcome to a therapeutic, motivational program:<\/p>\n
How to fall in love with your everyday life again in 10 days.<\/p>\n
Crisp, rustling white coats.
\nMasks hiding what seem like long-forgotten smiles.
\nCatheters they call \u201cbutterflies\u201d resting on tiny hands.
\nSyringes filled with liquids of every color.
\nThe slow drip of IVs.
\nThe long walk to the procedure room.
\nDrains hidden under bandages.
\nBlinding operating room lights.<\/p>\n
Crying.
\nScreaming.
\nAnesthesia.
\nSilence.<\/p>\n
Minutes of waiting\u2014
\nones that could be nominated as the longest in my life.<\/p>\n
Waking up.
\nA deep, tearful gaze looking at me, asking: why?<\/p>\n
A bitter taste in the mouth and tears about to burst.<\/p>\n
This is the pediatric surgery ward.
\nHere, someone is always crying.<\/p>\n
Some are waking up from anesthesia.
\nOthers are being taken to the operating room.
\nOr to procedures.
\nOr having a catheter inserted (sorry\u2014a \u201cbutterfly landing on a little hand\u201d).<\/p>\n
Not out of stubbornness.
\nOut of fear.
\nOut of pain.
\nOut of not knowing what will happen next.<\/p>\n
This is the pediatric surgery ward.<\/p>\n
Step out of your room, and you\u2019ll often pass a mother with tear-filled eyes.
\nA face carved with worry.
\nForgetting themselves, holding their little ones in their arms, holding older ones by the hand\u2014waiting.<\/p>\n
Waiting for things to get better.
\nFor a smile.
\nFor a sip of water.
\nFor them to eat.
\nFor sad eyes to brighten.<\/p>\n
It hurts here\u2014not just for you.
\nAnd very likely\u2014not even the most for you.<\/p>\n
Your illness, your problems, your troubles\u2014
\nare not the only ones.
\nThey are just some of\u2026 I wouldn\u2019t even dare guess how many.<\/p>\n
You can hear it all night long:
\nthe beeping nurse call buttons,
\nworried voices of doctors,
\ncries echoing through the corridors.<\/p>\n
A hospital is not walls.
\nNot a building.
\nNot a room.
\nNot an uncomfortable bed.
\nNot strange-tasting food.
\nNot a disrupted day (and night) routine.
\nNot even an excuse not to work.<\/p>\n
A hospital is a reset of the mind.<\/p>\n
It installs a new operating system:
\nLOVE YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE IN YOUR COZY HOME.
\nAND BE GRATEFUL FOR GENEROUS FATE EVERY DAY WHEN YOU ARE HEALTHY.<\/p>\n
We did not get a terminal illness.
\nMY caught a fairly common virus that caused a complication\u2014
\na purulent inflammation of a neck lymph node.<\/p>\n
It had to be operated on twice.<\/p>\n
Before that, we had to wait for blood test results.
\nBecause an enlarged lymph node\u2014even without medical knowledge\u2014filled me with fear.<\/p>\n
And even from the very first moment I heard the decision: \u201cwe admit,\u201d
\nI didn\u2019t let a single cell of my body accept the worst-case scenario.
\nAnd through the entire long process, I didn\u2019t break down once.<\/p>\n
Only when I left the hospital,
\nand turned back one last time at our temporary \u201chome,\u201d
\na single tear slipped out.<\/p>\n
Not from sadness.
\nFrom joy\u2014
\nthat I was returning to everyday life.<\/p>\n
For moms.
\nFor all the moms in the world.<\/p>\n
Who care when their children are sick.
\nWho don\u2019t give up.
\nWho keep believing.
\nWho comfort and soothe.<\/p>\n
And when it gets really hard\u2014
\nquietly repeat to themselves:
\n\u201cWhen this is over, we\u2019ll go back
\nto our beloved everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n
And we will be happy in it.<\/p>\n
Today, we came back.
\nHappiness doesn\u2019t fit in my heart.<\/p>\n
Mom,
\nV.<\/p>\n
P.S. I\u2019m sorry I didn\u2019t reply to everyone who reached out\u2014there were days when I couldn\u2019t.
\nBut I knew the \u201cfinal\u201d story would be told.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-17683","istorija","type-istorija","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija\/17683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/istorija"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}