26- Frankie’s journey as dad.

Frankie and I have a few things in common. One of these is it took him 11 years to realize he needed to take care of himself mentally and physically. Like so many of us dads, we are so in the zone of being the caregiver/caretaker of our special needs children, that we can’t even see what damage we do to ourselves. Frankie recently arrived at the acceptance phase of Nico’s diagnosis of Dravet Syndrome (it is a form of epilepsy). And it was right around then that I reached out to him as you hear him talk about how, everything happens for a reason. Frankie calls his world ‘the unfortunate privilege’ which does resonate for me too. While him and his wife suffer PTSD because they are constantly on high alert for seizures it’s hard to imagine how they make it out the door sometimes. I spoke with Frankie for over 2.5hrs in total, what you do hear is how vital the gym is that he has set up. With Tool blasting out the garage door, he channels his deep trauma and makes himself feel better mentally and physically, because Nico is not getting any smaller. That’s how he takes care of himself, and he reminds me of when you fly, they ask you (as an adult) to put on your oxygen mask first, then your kids one…. Listen for this, it’s something which will stay with me for ever. Finally he tells a story of taking Nico to play baseball with a group of children who also have special needs/disabilities. He tells the story and without ruining it by telling the story here in the description, it had me in tears and of course him, it was one of the most memorable achievements for him. Thank you Frankie for being real and open and honest, it’s refreshing and important for me and others to hear.
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[@camillebailey3054]

As a mother of a child with special needs I greatly appreciate this "frank" conversation, pun intended. It's refreshing to hear a dad's perspective and Frankie delivered it with pure honesty and heartfelt emotion. As a member of this "special club" it's so important to have a platform like this podcast which provides parents an opportunity to share experiences in hopes of supporting others through their journey. Well done!

[@Realunfiltereddad]

Thank you so much for your supportive words. It’s a place where dads can share the journey and not feel judged. It’s so important and allows us all to be real with how we are. Thank you again Camille.