Join the Army of Women

Here's a short video of Dr. Susan Love in an NBC Today Show interview discussing the importance of moving breast cancer research into finding ways of preventing this cancer to begin with, better predicting who is at risk, and how Army of Women will help make that happen.

Sign-up at Army of Women today! Once in a while you'll receive an email from AoW detailing a research study you may be eligible for (I haven't yet been eligible). If you want to participate, you follow the directions contained within that email to find out how to get involved. What a great opportunity to help affect positive change that may benefit your grandmother, mother, sister, daughter, cousin, or friend.

Catch up

I have to start by acknowledging the passing of our beloved Tommy Ratboy. He was struck by some kind of virus that swiftly knocked him down last week. Monday he was fine, but by Thursday he had ulcers on his eyes and was coughing. I called to try to get him into the vet, but the small animal doc wasn't available until yesterday (Monday) evening. He really went downhill over the weekend, but was hanging on to the bitter end. The vet advised us to have him put to sleep. That was a moment in my parenting career that I don't want to relive anytime soon. Poor kids, big sis especially, but little brother, too. Both of them in tears, big sis nearly wailing, me with a tear in my eye over the pain they were feeling. Even the vet got teary. Man that was hard. We brought his little body home and buried him in the backyard. The crying continued for my girl until sleep took over at bedtime, and resumed again when she awoke this morning. I hate hurts that I can't fix.

Over the weekend, our family went camping with our homeschool group out at Camano Island. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we had a fantastic time. I love seeing all the kids of different ages all playing together, watching out for each other, and having a good time. A couple of dads shared their fabulous musical skills at the evening campfire, and kids told jokes and made up stories. It was an awesome way to wrap-up the end of summer.

I'm currently sitting up in bed, with a wad of gauze where my tooth used to be. I'm happy to report that my experience with this oral surgeon was very positive - quite a relief after past procedures with other dentists that bordered on barbaric. This doctor and his staff were great. I'll have a gaping hole, where this tooth used to be, for about four months before a crown is put in its place. At least the jagged tooth is gone now. Someday I'll be able to smile again without feeling self-conscious. In the meantime, maybe I can incorporate this into a Halloween costume???

Today is a homeschool "vacation day". This afternoon I'm just taking it easy - watching last week's presidential debate online, icing my mouth, drugged up on pain pills, and changing out my gauze every once and a while. And getting caught up on my blog!

h e l p

I'm going to the dentist in the morning. I should have been in for this tooth a few years ago. I have serious dentist issues. I'll have to share my horror story with you sometime. For now? just think good thoughts for me, and I'll try to remember to breathe.

Keeping things interesting

All summer long, A. has been having pretty severe reactions to mosquito and spider bites, developing huge, red welts. Truly massive. Well, yesterday morning he woke up with a tiny red splotch along his jaw, with a tiny, crusted over, yellow pin prick-sized spot in the center. As the hours went by it began to swell larger, and larger, and larger, until it was the size of a golfball sticking out. He looked like he had a lopsided case of the mumps. We dosed him up on benadryl, and kept an eye on it. At bedtime, I decided that if it hadn't improved by morning I was going to take him into the Saturday clinic at the doctor's office.

Sure enough, it hadn't reduced in size, and the redness was growing and spreading, with pink traveling down his neck. The doctor took a look and said that because of the bite's proximity to the glands in his neck, his body was fighting it extra hard, and the glands were beginning to enlarge. She went ahead and started him on antibiotics, in addition to benadryl, and warm compresses. He's taking Ceflax (I think between the two of my kids this is only our third time on antibiotics, and our first time with this particular one), and has to take it 4X/day. For a kid who's only awake for 12 hours/day, that's a dose every 3 hours. LOL - poor kid is getting tired of me coming at him with medicine constantly troughout the day!

Here's what he looked like earlier today...

Kind of hard to see the extent of the swelling (but can I just say that my kid has the cutest darn earlobes I've ever seen?). He was swinging while watching a video on tv and wasn't being very cooperative for the camera. With any luck, he'll be good as new by the first day of school on Tuesday! ;P

Success, and other stuff...

You'd think that nine years into parenting and we'd have the whole bedtime/sleep thing figured out. Actually our kids sleep pretty well now, it's just that there typical sleep schedule is slightly deviated from the norm. They generally fall asleep around 10pm, and wake up around 9am - probably more sleep than a lot of kids get, I would guess.

Seeing as how the youngest member of the family is venturing out into the world in just one week and heading off to School, it seemed like a good idea to try and steer the sleep into a more traditional timeframe. Last week we were on vacation, sleeping in various locations, with no schedule to speak of. Yesterday was Day One of Operation Make the Kids Go to Sleep Earlier. I had A. in jammies, teeth brushed, and story read by 8:15pm. I was pretty happy with that... except that he was still awake over two hours later. Not a good start.

This morning he was out of bed by 7:30am. We had an appointment to get to, and because I had other errands as well, I decided we should be out of the house before 8:30. Tonight we had the whole routine completed by 7:45pm, and he was asleep at 8:30pm. We're making some progress here on Night 2! N. is also getting to bed earlier, so this is nice all the way around.

N. had an appointment with the ENT today to see if there might be a "mechanical" cause for her mouthbreathing, and consequent maloclusion (ie. overbite - this came up at a dentist appointment last month). The dr. said she definitely has large adenoids and tonsils, but since they aren't causing sleep problems, apnea, or eating difficulties, he would not recommend removal unless the ortho says the mouthbreathing is causing the bite problems. Next we'll get the referal to the ortho and go from there!

The ENT's office was directly across from the biggest Whole Foods I've ever visited in my life. The place was a little overwhelming, to tell you the truth, but I could have spent hours there - of course I'd have to do that without children. Not sure what it is about Whole Foods, but everytime I've ever taken A. into one of those stores his behavior is completely wild. His body is completely out of control with only one speed: fast (unless I've just called him on it, at which point his speed hits zero because his body becomes limp and drops to the floor, muttering to himself that he'll never walk again - he's so much fun). At one point he was half twirling, half skipping as we approached the wine section, with end displays of precariously perched bottles of wine in grave danger of toppling in the wake of a frolicking Hurricane Andrew, each completely oblivious of the other. Clutching my ulcer, and wondering if it was really worth the effort of finding all the ingredients to whip up some fresh tzatziki, I pointed out the obvious to my whirlwind child ("Honey, stop a second. Take a look around - what do you see?" "Glass?" "Yes. Twirling while holding your arms out and skipping probably isn't the safest way through here".) He immediately stopped, clapped his hands together over his head like an arrow, stiffened up his legs, and began shuffling along making himself very narrow. He was happy with himself. I was amused, but eager to bring the shopping trip to a close.

Last thing here before I turn in...
I haven't mentioned this here before because my mom didn't really want the whole world to know, but she found out earlier this summer that she has a brain tumor. It's a benign meningioma - a "good" brain tumor to have, if you have to have one. Her doctor was taking a wait and see approach, holding off on surgery until she has more symptoms. She seems to be developing more symptoms, and is feeling really scared. Prayers, if you're the praying type, and positive thoughts would be appreciated.

Map My Ride

I'm finally taking a moment to sing the praises of the website http://www.mapmyride.com Earlier this summer, some friends of mine decided that they wanted to start getting together for a weekly bike ride and asked if I wanted to come along. It sounded like a good opportunity to ride a bike like a grown-up again (ie. without the kids along, at a pace faster than, oh, 5 miles an hour, LOL), and a chance for weekly Mom Time and some exercise. Three of us have continued regularly throughout the summer, periodically joined by another couple of friends.

I think the thing I'm enjoying most about our rides is seeing the progress that I'm making. Our very first ride was just under 10 miles, and it honestly seemed challenging to me. I remember the last mile back felt rrreeeaaalllly long. We've gradually pushed further each week, riding a little longer, pedaling a little harder. A couple of weeks ago I was somehow talked into riding 16 miles. I don't think I'd ever ridden 16 miles before. It took us an hour and a half. The following week we did a short little ride because schedules were tight, but we wanted to get a ride in. This past week we did a 20 mile ride, in the same amount of time that we'd done the 16 miles two weeks earlier. This time I was physically exhausted when we sat down for chips and salsa (did I mention that these rides frequently come to a close at a mexican restaurant? Margaritas optional). Surprisingly my legs weren't the least bit sore the next day. I'm continually amazed at what my big ol' flabby body is capable of. This of course makes me overly cocky, and I start to develop grandiose ideas, like "well, if I can ride 16 miles, I can probably do the STP (Seattle-to-Portland) next year!". Never mind that the STP is a two-day, nearly 200 mile ride. And then, probably due to oxygen deprivation endured on said rides, I find myself expressing these ideas out loud to people who initially scoff at the notion, but are then running with it one week later. Who are these people???

The question that comes up now is: how do we continue to ride through the winter in the rainy pacific northwest? When I woke up this morning my first thought was wondering whether I should get up and go for a ride while my family was still sleeping soundly. I swear, I'm not making that up - a bike ride was my first coherent thought (followed very quickly by: must.make.coffee.), but then I got out of bed and noticed that it was pouring down rain outside. This could be problematic, and I'm sure there's some kind of solution to the problem, likely involving more flexibility in both my schedule (ie. trying to ride during breaks in the weather), and my mindset (ie. rain will not kill me). My desire to ride does not currently outweigh my desire to avoid looking and feeling like a drowned rat.

Long story short: mapmyride is a great site for both tracking your own bike rides, and searching for rides in your area. You can also enter rides you complete into your personal training log, and it will figure out your average mph, and calories burned. As a mtn. biker, one of hubby's favorites is the elevation scale that shows elevation gains and loss in a graph for your whole ride. We have a trail we like to ride that contains a hill we affectionately refer to as The Wall, and seen on the elevation scale, it's clear why! We've only used the free components of mapmyride, but they also offer other benefits with a paid subscription (like actually being able to print out your route).

Baby steps

Did I mention that my doctor told me that my risk of heart attack from not doing the daily aspirin therapy is greater than my risk of gastric bleed from taking it? I think she's trying to scare me, LOL! It's working, a little. She okayed taking a wait-and-see approach if I'm really going to make diet and exercise changes. We're testing my cholesterol again in January. I'm feeling pretty optimistic after talking to my dad and stepmom, and after vegiemama's comments about her husband's success battling cholesterol through lifestyle changes.

This week our biggest lifestyle change was increasing our intake of veggies. We rarely get more than a couple of veggie/fruit servings in a day, but I've really bumped that up. Part of that has been changing the make up of our dinners - more focus on vegetables as entrees, rather than thrown in on the side. I also rediscovered hummus recently, and love dipping carrots, peppers, and broccoli in there. Another lunch I enjoy is grilled portobella mushrooms with onion, peppers, and basalmic - really good over salad greens, or on whole wheat.

I've been hearing pretty awesome things about flax seed, and oatmeal (who hasn't heard about oatmeal?). Turns out oatmeal is pretty amazing - something in it actually binds with a component of cholesterol and removes it from the body. I think it's the same general idea with the flax seed - plus they're both loaded with lots of good stuff. So this was day two of eating oatmeal for breakfast with flax added. I'm going to have to make myself some homemade oatmeal, because the instant is loaded with sodium.

I also discovered this little goody today:
They are Nature's Path Foods Flax Plus Pumpkin Granola Bars, and they're low in fat, sodium, have no cholesterol, and are a good source of fiber and protein. Two thumbs up!

In other news, when the kids got home this afternoon from shopping with hubby for a birthday present for me, they were falling all over themselves to tell me about what they'd seen. They'd stop by the creek to see if the salmon were spawning, and A. proudly told me that "we saw TWO dead salmon!" - totally made his day. They saw a live one ("It was a sockeye, Mom!"), but the dead ones were the best, LOL! Two weeks ago the salmon weren't yet spawning in the local creeks. Hopefully the kids will humor me and allow us a trip back over there this week.

Wake up call

Last week I went to the doctor for a physical. I hadn't been to the doctor for a general check-up in nearly 5 years, so it was time, especially since I knew my blood pressure is out of control right now. I've also had a few "in your face" moments in the past year where I became aware on some level that I'm a grown woman now, not a child - it's time to take responsibility for my own health. I think some of that comes from having friends diagnosed with cancer, a parent with declining health, and a 35th bday right around the corner. Don't get me wrong, I generally feel like a young pup, but if I don't get my act together where my health is concerned, I think I'll be feeling old before my time.

I'm fat/overweight - whatever you want to call it - but I'm losing weight (down 15 lbs. so far *yay*). It's a long slow road to losing 80+ pounds. I had stopped taking my bp meds, but started up again after recurring headaches that prompted me to check my bp. We're still trying to tweak my meds to get it under control. These things I knew I was dealing with. Now I get a call from the nurse telling me my cholesterol is high, and the doctor wants me to start right away on cholesterol meds and a daily baby aspirin. Okay, really - isn't that for old people? People who have had massive coronaries, or a stroke or something? Is this really necessary? I really don't want to go on more drugs. I'm 34, for pete's sake! I really wanted to handle this all through diet and exercise, but it seems that the doctor feels that we can't wait around that long. And the other issue is that the other recommendations they gave (sodium restricted diet (ie. no additional post-cooking salt), low-fat, low-cholesterol diet) we've already been following for years. I need to lose weight and exercise more, plain and simple. If I choose not to lose weight and not exercise, then I am choosing to damage my body, killing myself, shortening my life. The longer I sit around waiting to get healthy, the shorter I can expect my life to be. The motivation of fear....

Free of Gluten-free

I suppose that an update is in order on the whole gluten-free thing. The results were inconclusive. A. seemed to be doing better after a week of being GF, but then completely relapsed with the eczema a couple days after that. We stuck with it for the remainder of two weeks, but still he had the rash. It was worth a shot. We keep going back and forth with the hydrocortizone, which at least seems to alleviate some of the itching, but is not a perfect solution. However, he may be turning a corner on the withholding/encopresis! Right now he is the most regular he's been in years, and this is on a daily dose of both miralax and senekot. Theoretically, kids with chronic withholding are supposed to remain on their functioning dose of meds until they have been regular for as long as they were irregular (in order to make sure the colon has a chance to return to a normal size). I've jumped the gun and cut his meds back before with pretty disastrous consequences, so I'm leery of making changes too soon this time. It would be great to get this all worked out while he's still young - many families are dealing with these issues with much older kids. We were very lucky to have a ped. who took us seriously back at his 2yr. check-up. Most parents are told they need to wait until their kids are 4 or 5 before they'll pursue any drug or therapy interventions. Anyway, I'm sure I'll update again at some point on how things are going.

Who, exactly, is evil?

Remember I said I was going to switch A. over to a gluten-free diet? Well yesterday was the big shopping day to aquire all the things I would need to make that happen. I'd already purchased a book by the Gluten-Free Gourmet, and had a list of the different flours, etc. I needed to find, plus all the other grocery items we needed. We went to Whole Foods, which I don't usually frequent because they're a little farther away then I like (plus there are at least 8 other grocery stores closer to me), but I knew they'd be sure to have most of what I needed. Of course, going to a store you're not familiar with means that it's going to take forever. To top that off, A. fell asleep in the car on the way over, so I had to wake him in order to go in and shop.

At some point in the day I had mentioned getting a cookie at the grocery store. About 30 minutes into our shopping, A. starts saying, in this creepy, monsterous voice "I want a cookie NOW!" It became a loud chant before I finally decided I had to say something about it, but it was getting a little embarassing. Still, every once in a while he'd pipe in with that scary sounding voice "I want a cookie NOW!". Funny, but somehow mothers have an ability to tune that kind of stuff out after awhile. Shortly there after I realized that the chant had changed to "Evil Mommy! Evil Mommy!" Geez, this kid was on a roll this afternoon! Honestly, he's usually not like this, which is fortunate for both of us. The highlight was when some poor, unsuspecting mother, with three delightful, quiet, young children, one of which who was just a sweet, innocent little baby, turned down our aisle. "EVIL BABY!! EVIL BABY!!" shouts my spawn in that creepy, satan voice while pointing at that angelic little soul. He is definitely overstaying his welcome, and it was high time for us to be going. *I* was ready to be out of there, or at the very least was about to hide myself behind the nearest organic nuts display.

Happily, the shopping trip was worth it because last night I whipped out some of the most awesome bread that's ever come out of my breadmachine. A. even ate it this morning. He's never eaten any of my homemade bread. Had he not eaten it, I'm sure I'd be starting up a chant of my own right about now.

TMI (Too Much Information)

Now you've been warned. Feel free to look away if the discussion of bodily functions makes your stomach turn. ;)

A. has had stool withholding issues since before he turned 2 years old. We tried all the usual stuff, like increasing his fiber and water intake, but nothing helped. He was regularly going 12-14 days without a bm, and it completely destroyed his generally sweet disposition. I imagine I'd be irritable if I was holding it in for two weeks at a time! He eventually was put on Miralax (Polyethylene Glycol), which helped him go about once/week. After a year on daily Miralax, his new ped. added in a stimulant laxative. I regularly fret over whether any of this is good for him, but I know that the alternative isn't good for him either.

Then about two months ago I found out that another mom I know has a son with encopresis, too. Or I should say *had* these same issues. She said that they went on a gluten-free diet and saw a huge change in a number of his behaviors, including the withholding. Being lazy (we'd tried a food elimination diet in the fall, though I wasn't paying attention to how it effected A's output), I didn't feel like pursuing a GF diet right now, but I filed that info away in the back of my mind. The two laxatives we're using work relatively well, and aren't causing obvious harm, so... I don't know.

So yesterday, I take him to the pediatrician for a productive cough that he's had for a couple of months now. No other symptoms. I thought I was hearing wheezing, and the dr. confirmed that (we went through asthma with N., so it's familiar territory for us). A. also has some weird rashes that I wasn't sure about - turns out it's eczema. A. used to have eczema as a baby, and periodically will get a patch or two, but it never looked like what he's got now so I didn't associate the two. Now I know.

I can't help but start to put all this stuff together - the encopresis, eczema, and asthma. I also can't help but think that a food sensitivity might be to blame for these, as well as some of his behaviors that I've thought might be sensory related. It looks like I'm going to be pursuing some kind of diet change, but I want to have a game plan, so I'm going into Research Mode and trying to find out as much as I can. I'd be relieved if we could find an obvious food connection, or some environmental connection, that would allow us to get him off of all the meds that he's currently on. There's just got to be a better way.