maya1943

Both my husband Carlos and I are originally from El Salvador. I came to the United States when I was 17 years old to go to college and after a brief return back to the homeland, I decided to come back to pursue an MA in Counseling. My husband followed me here and got his graduate degree in Philadelphia. We ended up moving to Wisconsin when I was pregnant with my little angel (Nina) for my husband's job.
Due to visa issues I was a stay at home mom for three years. Nina had a 'normal' development until around 18 months of age. She was finally diagnosed a month short of her third birthday. The only way i can describe how I felt the day that the diagnosis was confirmed is heartbroken. I went into the most painful, dark time of my life in 2008. I barely remember it to be honest, but after dealing with my grief and focusing on Nina's treatments I came 'back to life' in 2009.
I am very real about my life, I don't sugar coat it, if you ask me something you will get the truth. I started being this way after Nina was diagnosed, and although being real might have caused some friendships to end (some people just could not handle how intense things were in my house at times), I am a much happier person being this way. I know who my true friends are at this point and after I finally felt 'ok' I realized that Nina was given to me to help me complete a mission. (let's face it, after going through something so painful as this, you have two choices, be bitter about it, or look at the positives that come out of such a painful situation...I'd rather look at the positive, as being negative just makes you a toxic individual).
I want to share hope with others, I want to say to other parents that I understand how they first felt and how the grief comes and goes depending on how your child is doing on any given day. How sometimes they feel guilt about not giving their other family members the attention they deserve, etc, etc. Anyway, I am here to help, learn and hope :-)