Cheeseburger in Paradise

This morning I sit here and want to cry. Life has knocked my family a blow and I am reeling with all the emotions that naturally go with change.

I'm a photographer/graphic designer and I work from home so I can be a full-time stay-at-home mom. I'm not raising a little brood, mind you. My husband and I just celebrated 22 years of marriage. We are the proud parents of 6 children from ages 21 to 1-year. They are all boys, except for one precious little girl we refer to as the 'mud princess'. (She says she's a dirt princess, but whatever!)

Last week was overwhelming, My husband started a new job after not being able to find decent work for the past year. Next, my oldest son suddenly flew the coop and severed family ties. We are all dealing with the emptiness as he takes time to get his life straightened out. Then to top it all off, just three days after he left we found out my husband has 2 kinds of cancer growing in his colon. They caught one early and it should be easily manageable. The other kind is more tricky.

Something the doctor said made me want to sit down and write my feelings out. I don't know where our life it headed, but I know we've got to make some changes. The doctor told us that normally he would recommend avoiding red meats, but since his condition is hereditary, it wouldn't make much difference. We were psyching ourselves up for dietary changes, but what he said threw our plans out the window in an instant.

I've had a hard time accepting this 'advice'. This morning I felt like I was drowning in quicksand, so I reached out to a friend as I tried to regain my footing. She made a point that I thought was interesting. 'Hereditary? Yes. But here's the question: Is it the cancer that is hereditary? Or the diet?'

In a perfect world, it would be simple. Change your diet. Problem solved! In the real world, it feels like a nightmare. There are so many hurdles to get over. Like I mentioned before, we have a large family. One, two, three, four plus ... so, um, that would be . . . 9 people. Don't forget grandma and grandpa! Have you ever searched online for large family recipes, healthy or not? I'm sorry, but 3 to 6 people does not a large family make!

Did I also mention that my husband is starting a new job? He has been home dealing with health problems for the past 2 months and has been home 24/7. We will be losing our state food benefits and we also have to come up with money for health insurance....

LOL! As I sit here feeling sad and serious, my teen son decided to lighten the mood with some music. "Cheeseburger in Paradise!"  Funny!!!

So that's what it comes down to. Can our family make big dietary changes and get our household running smoothly on a baby budget? We're about to find out!