The Avenger

Picture brought to you by the artistic marvel that is my Uncle, Jay Ward!

(Pretend this is being read in a deep, trembling voice like the announcer at the movies) In a world… where a villain runs rampant through unsuspecting bodies, where no bladder is safe, and where danger lurks behind every bathroom door. There is only one hope. Dooo da dooooo! Your inner brave, bold and bodacious heroine! 

That’s right! My inner hero took over and carried that IC from its creepy shirt front to the edge of sky and space then said in my most menacing voice… “You’ve won many a battle but this one is mine… punk.” (Feel free to imagine a proclamation even more hardcore… I’m not great at aggressive threats…)

My constant adversary is interstitial cystitis… the disease that fights me from the inside out. Most days this hard-hitting foe knocks me down cold before I even brush my teeth but this weekend I’d had enough! I put on my cape and spandex, as any heroine would rightly do, and I took on this opponent with my dukes up.

In most hero movies there are three steps beginning at the very first epic tune played to the proud credits rolling on the screen at the end. The first step is the hero getting assigned a mission that only he can accomplish, then he usually fails his first attempt at the task, and of course lastly he ends with a triumphant victory. Along the way there is also an “exciting” mix of hand to hand combat, people running aimlessly, constant random sounds of explosions, grown men traipsing around in what appears to be children’s Halloween costumes, and surprisingly very little actual dialogue.

This weekend was my very own action packed movie… perhaps with less fire and men in spandex but just as much inner turmoil and even a few dramatic gasp.

I had a challenging week with an IC flare that knocked me flat on my back but on Friday morning I woke up with a call from my inner heroine to take on the IC beast not only for me… but for the universe! Well... not really. But I thought it would be good for us to get out and spend some time with family.

So before my inner wuss could talk me out of it I quickly gathered up Titus and our stuff and headed out to my Grandparents cabin! The drive there couldn’t have gone any better with beautiful weather, a sleeping baby, and great music the whole way.

But once we got there it was a different story… stress of a messed up routine, new surroundings, new sounds, and a new bed were a hard adjustment. Titus thought so too… Ha!

We made it through the first night but the next morning I woke up in heaps of pain. I had done more in the last 24 hours than I had in weeks combined… I did laundry, packed, loaded the car, drove almost 2 hours, wrangled an exhausted and stubborn baby, slept in the same bed with that baby (turns out pack and plays aren’t his thing), and all that time I didn’t shower and tried to urinate as seldom as possible.

The pain was severe but I tried my best to ignore it, which in almost any other scenario would be impossible but some how the essence of my Grandparents cabin and every thing that goes with it made that a bit easier. We ate my Grandpa’s hotcakes for breakfast which I wish I didn’t have to describe to you. I seriously wish I could mail you each a perfect, cloud-like hot cake covered in your choice of homemade raspberry jam, authentic maple syrup, or classic Mrs. Butterworth.  

I was there with my treasured family (one of whom is having a baby as I type this, congrats McGrath family!) The weather was gorgeous and we sat outside while the big kids swam in the freezing lake and the babies played nicely on a blanket. It was the perfect scene… minus the searing pains I was trying to ignore and the overly exhausted baby I was trying to entertain.

Finally I decided to try to get Titus to nap yet again but when all I accomplished was more crying for Titus and the start of tears for me I knew we had pushed our limits. So we packed up and headed home. Except… it was memorial weekend which meant traffic. So half way home my pain took over my body, the stop and go traffic woke up Titus and he was NOT happy… I called my beloved siblings-in-law who met us and drove Titus and me the rest of the way so I could take medicine to ease the pain a bit and I could get out of the aching driving stance.  

When I got home I was pretty drugged up and disappointed with the way the holiday weekend was shaping up but I knew we had two more days and I just had to make it special for me and my boys! (This was the point of the action packed movie where I, the sweat wearing not spandex wearing heroine, knew I had to persevere to end with a victory!)

The next morning I woke up, gritted my teeth and set about to make the day perfect in spite of every thing. I was determined and no shady enemy was going to stop me. 

We planned an IC friendly picnic at the park with our favorite 2-in-1 couple, our friends/ siblings… and we had a wonderful time! Great food, pretty spring flowers decorated the park just for us, and a lazy walk on a short trail past a crick. Or was it a creek? Or a stream? Perhaps a brook?

Then later that night we tucked Titus into bed, grabbed our sweats and snuggly blankets and went to the drive-in movies!! I know, how 1950’s of us, right? We borrowed my mom’s SUV and loaded it with several geese hard work worth of pillows and blankets. We obliged to tradition stopped at the store and loaded up on way too much candy and got to the theater just in time to make our nest before our movie started. I had tears and side aches from laughing so hard as we feared… mostly jokingly and a tad seriously… the threatened car searchers and candy sniffing dogs finding our contraband of smuggled in snacks.

The night was so fun but I must admit I’m not a real action movie girl… So of course The Avengers was maybe not my favorite movie. I needed more flirty love stories and more...what’s the word? Oh yeah… WORDS! So much fighting and confusing references… I was lost. But don’t worry I started this blog on my iphone while Captain hottie pants… I mean America… battled some dude with antlers and a glow-in-the-dark silly putty stick.

I realized then that’s what I’d had to do! Avenge my IC! It was my enemy who had won too many times and especially the week before and I did it… I totally took on my trifling adversary and came out victorious!

You may be thinking… did you accidentally delete a paragraph or some thing? I don’t get it… where’s the victory?

My victory… dear friend… is just a simple relaxed good day. My IC may have won the battle on Saturday at the Cabin but Sunday I was the victor. I didn’t get much out of that movie except Mark Ruffalo should definitely stick to the rom-coms like 13 Going On 30 but I did have a possibly too expected realization that together we can win any battle… wait… I don’t think that really applies.

Anyway… I avenged myself that day. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the next day or any day after that but I know that this weekend I had a few hours of fun. Yes, I had to take medicine to make it through the movie, sure I had to walk to the bathroom weaving between parked cars like that scene in Grease, and okay I ended up stuck in the shower until 3:00 AM, but I laughed, I smiled, I made memories.

Deni- 1, IC-… well the stats don’t matter.