It's Been a While

Yes, it has been a while (a long while) since I wrote my last blog post!

We have had a busy and challenging few months...

We are in the process of a very unexpected update to our home, thanks to a report that aired in early March.
Big thanks to AC for airing his investigation. We are so thankful to him for his hard work and for sharing it with the world!

His investigative report led to some changes here, as until we have a new product added to our home, we have had to either cancel, reschedule, or make alternate arrangements for our enrichment activities. Thankfully, everyone has been understanding of these changes.

We have had to spend time pouring over the huge stack of medical records and bills, and have had to try to locate receipts from a while back. Then, we have had to compare that data with the timeline of purchasing and installing said product.
We have had the product tested and have anguished over all that we went through medically and emotionally.
It was hard enough living through the medical journey that we were on when we just thought that it was the luck of the draw, but it has been that much more frustrating / devastating to know that all of our health issues did not need to occur, that the trajectory of medical issues would not have existed if the product that we purchased would have actually been safe as it was supposed to be...for a family like ours, a family with pets and kids with asthma.

On a happier note, we have had some quality time with both sets of grandparents. We have met up with several friends and family members who have come our way to have some fun in the sun...twenty-four people in all. It has been great to get to spend time hanging out with cousins, old neighbors, and friends from our old stomping grounds. We feel blessed for these happy friends and family times and are very thankful that they overlapped the time of having to revisit medical records, bills, and receipts.

As the visitors have started to make their way back North, seeing that Spring breaks have ended and Snow Birds are migrating home, I have been keeping busy with doing various educational consulting projects and spending time doing things with the boys.

Try to keep myself as busy as is humanly possible, as when I don't, I go to a place of reflecting upon the medical issues that our whole family has endured over the last several years...and that they read like a checklist of the items on the can cause list (Thankfully, no pulmonary edema here, but we had much of the list checked here.).
Decided to read as many comments from others about their take on this product line (comments from employees, from customers, from research facilities, and from the media) to see if somewhere, there was more information.
While I did uncover quite a bit of information, instead of providing answers, many times, it just led to more questions:
Do these people have this product in their own homes?
For real, they have it in their homes or is it just for a photo shoot? 
Do they care that there is a family like ours who has been gravely affected by this product?
What would these people do if it was their family that was ill from such a product?
Why would they defend products that have been shown to have failed safety tests?
Why would employees with children try to get the word out that this product is safe when testing from accredited facilities are showing that this is not the case, that this product line is a health hazard?
Why would these people (especially those with children) feel that it would be okay to donate said product to families with pre-existing medical conditions?

Hopefully, some people will do some soul searching and will help to make a change for the better.
Hopefully, some people will learn from the mistake of putting profit ahead of children.
Hopefully, there are more compassionate people who will do what it takes to make things better.
Hopefully, they will do the right thing, not the easy thing...

Obviously, there are loads of very dedicated, hard working families who might be without a paycheck if they were to up and quit.
But why not try to make some positive changes from within?
Why just continue to wear blinders and not see that there indeed is a true problem with this product line?
Why not spend some time reflecting upon the families who have had medical issues that are related to exposure to this product line?
Did any of them spend vacations at medical clinics and hospitals having blood tests, MRIs, CT scans, nebulizer treatments, and other medical treatments that tie in from the exposure to this product line?
Why isn't there someone or some people to be the voice of reason to say, hey, why don't we help those who were affected and make it right for them?
Why don't employees and stockholders who don't want the company to go completely bankrupt figure out how they can possibly work out a viable solution to help families who have had horrible medical issues related to this product line? And then, offer to replace the product without it having to be a long, drawn out process?
Why not try to see if there is a way to turn things around to make things better? Why not be a part of the solution? Fix the problem means in this case that people work to change out the product, replace it with something that is safe, and to help with the medical expenses and hardships families have endured for purchasing this product that was supposed to be so safe but was not.

Everyone loves it when companies admit to their faults and change their ways and make things better when there are errors or omissions.
If those in leadership positions aren't willing to do this, then why don't employees and shareholders demand that there be some changes?

Our family was able to do extensive research, to find all kinds of things...from scholarly journal posts to social media. Our research is quite impressive when you look at the breadth and depth...

We are hoping that there will be people out there (employees, shareholders, various organizations and  people within the industry) who will want to do right and will want to make things better for families like ours.