Welcome and Hello!!!

Let's start by explaining the title...

Advocacy is something I stumbled into through a series of bizarre and challenging circumstances, beginning with a cancer diagnosis that took place when I was pregnant with my son. I had, at the time, no idea exactly how difficult it can be to maneuver in our medical and legal systems, but that lesson was learned VERY quickly. I spent the majority of my first (and as it turns out, only) pregnancy just fighting to get appropriate treatment and an accurate diagnosis. I was robbed of a large portion of the joyful experience of gestation by the physical and emotional pain of a medical crisis. And truthfully, though I was nominally performing self-advocacy at that point, I really began advocating for my child at that very first appointment 11 weeks in. 

No matter who or what you are advocating for, I think it is helpful to think of the subject as your own child or yourself AS a child. This really brings to perspective the fragile and vulnerable nature of someone who is in a medical, social, emotional, spiritual, financial or educational crisis. The details will be very different, but powerful and effective advocacy in any field utilizes many of the same techniques and attitudes. I have a great deal of experience working with (and sometimes against) various bureaucratic institutions in order to survive and thrive in our modern age. 

Truman (my son) is 5 years old and heading off to Kindergarten in the fall and I continue to advocate for him daily. He has Autism so we have had our work cut out for us over the years just getting him appropriate services and interventions.

The stage IV liposarcoma that was supposed to kill me has been gone since 2006, but I'm still here :-)) After almost 5 years of remission,  I am only a few months away from my very own "C" word (CURED!!!)

...and yet, because of the long-term ramifications of my own medical treatments I still have issues for which I need to advocate.

 My hope with this blog is to share what I have learned (and am STILL learning) in my experiences advocating for myself and my family so that someone,

somewhere will reap the benefit of my hard-fought battle-scars. 

Here are just a few highlights of challenges we have faced as a family:

* Cancer

* High-risk Pregnancy

* Infant Feeding Difficulties (Lactation Challenges)

* Vocational & Employment Challenges

* Family Separation

* Financial Issues

* Housing Issues

* Obesity & Bariatric Surgery

* Chronic Lymphedema

* Chronic Pain Management

* Addiction & Chemical Dependancy

* Developmental Delay 

* Psycho-educational Assessments

* Autism

Quite a list, I know. And would you believe all this has happened since 2005? What a way to start a marriage and family! But the important thing to note at this point is that we are STILL HERE!!! Dave and I are still together and happy, we are still faithful and more in love with God (and each other) than ever, and we are truly moving into a chapter of prosperity and blessing right now. God is good, His provision is always sufficient, His timing is mysterious, and His ways are not always our ways...but by leaning on Him and fellow believers we have more than survived - we are THRIVING!!!

So, that's the "Advocate" part of the title anyway...I'll get to the other two words in another post.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to growing together with you all...

Peace & Love,

-Hannah