Pulmonary Hypertension News Forums Forums Support Groups Pediatric PH Having Halloween Fun With PH

  • brittany-foster

    Member
    October 1, 2019 at 8:30 am

    I have been creative with my Halloween costumes and so many younger kids would come up to me and compliment me on my costume. It was a way for me to show others, “yea I might be on oxygen but that doesn’t mean I can’t have some fun with it!” Last year I was Wonder Woman and wore a zip up pajama style costume for comfort LOL none of that skin tight actual Wonder Woman costume for me, just not my style haha! But I also decorated the oxygen and put my super hero heart cape on it and pulled it along with me as we went around the neighborhood. Other more “funny” costumes I’ve been in the old woman costume with the grey hair wig, old style pajamas, robe, and my oxygen LOL I made it a prop! When I had my bypass surgery 4 years ago, I had a huge scar going across my neck with many of the stitches and strips still over it. That year I was a zombie and the scar definitely completed the look. I even made it look like it was bleeding around it HAHA! That was my favorite one. I was also super pale because I was only a few weeks post op so I didn’t even need that much face make-up LOL

    • Colleen

      Member
      October 1, 2019 at 5:06 pm

      Brittany, All of those are so awesome! Love it!!!

  • jen-cueva

    Member
    October 1, 2019 at 4:55 pm

    Fun story, Colleen and perfect timing! I love Fall and I also miss the years when my daughter was little and the preparations for Halloween. I never made a costume, I am sure she is thankful for that, Hehe

    This story touched my heart and I am sure it will touch many others, too. Thank you for being the mom with a sick child who also let him continue being a child. Often, I hear from parents that they will not allow their sick kids to do many of the “ usual” childhood activities. While I realize that there are limitations, allowing kids to still be a kid is huge. Planning and learning to adapt is key as you continue to highlight in your columns and posts.

    I love the connection with @Kathleen, too. Awesome read! Too cool!

    And still, my creative juices start to flow as I figure out this year’s costume. You and Brittany both share some good ones.

    • Colleen

      Member
      October 1, 2019 at 5:05 pm

      Thanks Jen,

      I remembered and followed the advice of his PH Specialist during our first appointment with him. He advised me and my husband to try and maintain normalcy whenever and however we could. He acknowledged how much PH was going to dramatically change our son’s life so he advised us to maintain normalcy in what ways we could. He told us to continue parenting as we had been (in other words, don’t allow him to misbehave just because he has PH) and let him have fun and be a kid as much as he could tolerate. So, that’s what we did. Neither the parenting or the fun was always easy to maintain but we did our best.

      • brittany-foster

        Member
        October 1, 2019 at 5:11 pm

        That’s definitely some good advice that the doctors gave, Colleen. Growing up with CHD, my parents were always told something similar. Of course, my cardiologist always tried to get me to take up golf instead of ice hockey, but she also allowed me to keep pushing my body and do the things that I wanted to do. Not feeling held back by my parents really helped me to push through my obstacles with the same tenacity when I got older. I know it must have been hard to find that balance though and I’m sure it wasn’t easy on my own parents either. I know my mom would always worry when I had to come off the ice when I wasn’t feeling well. You must want your kids to do everything they can but in the back of your mind you probably wondered if it was too much. I get that.

      • jen-cueva

        Member
        October 2, 2019 at 3:01 pm

        I love that advice that the doctor gave you, Colleen. I love the stories and I know that you ( and your husband)had to work hard finding ways to allow your son to be as normal as possible without endangering his health. That certainly had to be a huge challenge. Big kudos to you both!

  • jen-cueva

    Member
    October 25, 2022 at 12:52 pm

    Hey everyone, let’s see who is having some fun this Halloween. What are your plans? Do you stay home and hand out candy? Do you attend Halloween parties? Let’s have some fun.

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