Charles

So, I met Charles. Right before my first surgery. For the twisted fallopian tube. He seemed so kind, loving, and willing to accept me for who I was.

It was an illusion. Charles was, that is. We dated for nearly two years. Then I became pregnant with our first son. Bradley was born, I was caring for Charles father who had Alzheimer's and life was okay, for a minute. I ended up with another cyst, another surgery. Not too bad.

I wanted to go back to school but Charles didn't think that I deserved it. It wasn't his fault that I became pregnant at 18 and had a child rather than go to school. His point of view was "Why should I have to take care of my father and our child, so that you can go to school, now?" He didn't seem to understand that I only wanted the opportunity to make our life better.

Well, his father passed away on Mothers Day of 2001, tragically. We lost the extra income that he provided us. Then Charles put everything on me. I was supposed to make the money we needed to make ends meet. I tried but I failed so many times! Without a college education, how could I obtain a job that paid well enough?

I became pregnant with our second child. During that pregnancy I had surgery for a lump in my right breast. A benign cyst as a result of a blocked milk duct. No big deal, but it sure hurt like hell on the operating table! I was awake the entire time and they numbed my breast only. It was hell to feel the needles. Oh my God, I thought that I would die from the pain!

During my pregnancy with Melody I began having problems with my feet. I thought that it was because of the pregnancy. After she was born the problems persisted. i finally went to a podiatrist. I found out that a bad ankle sprain that I had 7 years earlier had actually been a fracture and that because I hadn't had it cared for, a piece of bone had broken off and was damaging my joint. I ended up having an arthroscopy, with debridement and drilling! I couldn't walk for 8 weeks. I got creative and started rolling around the house with an office chair that had wheels! Charles wasn't very helpful. The laundry in the basement piled up but the upstairs was spotless. That chair was a God send! Without it, I don't know how I would have managed.