****This was written a couple weeks ago and I tried to post, but only this part of it saved. There was a lot more that I had written detailing the week before our move. I refuse to go back and add any more info to it... Moving forward, not backwards, but I wanted to at least get this out there***
When I last posted, we had just found out that we were moving to Bangkok, Thailand. Now, 5 months later we are days away from boarding a plane and heading to our new home. The last few weeks have probably...no, they HAVE been, the most stressful weeks of my life. Short version for now, but on May 30, my middle son Brosnan (6) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He was immediately admitted to Yuma Regional Medical Center. Three days later after we were released from the hospital we went home to begin our new life of needles, insulin, glucose monitors, and finger pricks. I will elaborate on that whole story later. Right now lets focus on the move...
Our original scheduled departure date was June 15th, 17 days after B was diagnosed. There are several factors that go into allowing a service member and their family to move overseas. One major factor is the families health (physical, educational, mental, etc.). Every member of the family is screened through the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) to determine if there are any concerns that can not be adequately treated at the next duty station. We were approved a few months ago but with Brosnans new diagnosis we had to start over with him. The original response we received was basically, "sorry, you can't move to Thailand." Thankfully, my husband is not one to take no for an answer so we began doing our own research, making sure that there are pediatric endocrinologists and medicine available. After lots of emails and phone calls my husband had finally received a verbal yes from all the necessary parties, next step was to get all those parties to say yes to each other. So we proceeded as planned with the movers, keeping our fingers crossed that everything would come together.
Which brings us to Friday, June 7th.
Last day of school for Justice, my mom was visiting from Washington state and we were preparing for a garage sale. Saturday morning we woke early and started selling.
Two days and a few hundred dollars later the garage sale was over. We loaded the car with remaining items and donated to the family readiness officer (FRO) to give to young Marines and their families. Sunday night was a mad dash to figure out and separate any and all items that we wanted the movers to take the next day in our express shipment.
