Musings from the Strongest Mom in Town
I’ve been hospitalized 10 times since 2020. But I don’t see myself—and won’t ever call myself—a sick person. In early 2022, right before a surgery that turned into an unexpected multi-week hospital stay, I was running on the treadmill. My son, who was 8 at the time, told me he wanted to take a picture because I looked like “the strongest mom in town.” The photo my son took of the "strongest mom in town". I think about that moment a lot. That’s how he sees me. And it’s how I want to see myself. When I recently added up my hospitalizations, it caught me off guard. I know the past few years have been hard on my health—but I refuse to be defined by it. Influenced by it? Absolutely. Defined by it? Never. Still, when something like a bowel obstruction or abscess hits out of nowhere, I want to go into it as strong as possible. Strength helps me heal. It helps me come back—to be the mom and the person I expect myself to be. Nutrition has been a long, complicated battle for me. For 20...