Mar 31, 2008

Finnally Health Results!

What a winter! The last few days we have received more snow and it is another slap in the face to spring. Ha! Take that spring, cold maker has beaten you again. Well...enjoy winter, because soon your wicked beauty will be abandoned for the warmth of the green season.

It is normal for me to wish for the spring, with warmer weather will come a tremendous health improvement. Doctor, after doctor, after doctor has been absolutely no help. They continue to try and treat the singular area of my sinuses and have been unable to offer a positive practical prognosis. Even the surgeon, who kinda recommended surgery, warned me that it would not make everything all better. I am sorry, but what kind of a cowardly response is that. It's like they have to cover their asses to make sure that if surgery doesn't improve my life I won't sue. Not very reassuring to a patient who really doesn't want to have surgery. Maybe someday in the future I will have corrective surgery to my sinus area, but for now I just need to get healthy. What stinks is walking into my doctors office a complete mess and having him say that there isn't anything else he can do for me. Cop-out! I was in bed for a week.....and you have no ability to help! The good news is that I found myself a Kinesiologist who is willing to help. He has been treating my whole system (holistic healing rocks). Thus far I have been functioning, acute sinus infection free and feel like there is some real help and hope. He has helped to close my illeosecal valve (between the large and small intestine), addressed my low functioning thyroid, my mineral deficiency, my sciatic nerve problem, back issues, and of course the sinuses. I have twice felt a severe infection reforming and then after a trip to the kinesiologist have seen drastic improvement that day! Despite my own skepticism, I can't deny the results. I am sure that I dodged a severe infection last week. I am so grateful and excited. What stinks is that my insurance company has paid so much in doctor bills, hospitalizations, and treatments without any improvment and of course the cheaper alternative that actually works is not covered. Of course cheap to the insurance company is beyond what I can afford! Thank FSM I am in school this semester or else I am not sure what I would have done without student loans. I guess part of being a student is medical care, right?

One drastic change has been to my diet. Dr. Galyardt tested me for sensitivities and discovered that gluten was an issue. (At least dairy, and coffee isn't.) I have started removing gluten from my diet which is found in wheat, rye, barely, and oats and things like imitation seafood, soy sauce and other random products. I am reading a lot of labels and still missing things! I have noticed on the occasion that I consume some gluten-filled product that the next day my sinuses are filled and I don't feel so well. This could be good for the whole family as it will implement a diet filled with less carbs, better protein, and more veggies. I have learned that I can't just make the things that I normally eat gluten free as this is not cost effective. There are so many gluten free products, but they cost twice as much as gluten-filled. I have a lot of learning to do on this topic.

Nick is working at Teilee's preschool and loving it! It is exhausting work, but he is bringing home things like patience and new discipline techniques. Usually these are things left to me to discover, read about, or implement. It is great to have some new ideas! This job will probably end at the end of May and we will enjoy every moment of it. Also Nick learned the joy of working from home the last few weeks. He had a couple of installation jobs here at the house and I think he not only enjoyed them but saw the benefits of added income and being available at home.

We had a great Easter! We even had a surprise outside visit from the Equinox bunny. Even some chocolate for mom and dad. One of our awesome neighbors surprised us by hiding treats in the snow at about 5:30 in the morning! Teilee of course wondered why we were so surprised about the outside part and not so shocked about the inside visit. I love this neighborhood!
That's my inspiration for the day...and now back to the kids!

Mar 11, 2008

No more Oat/Wheat bread ma!

Gluten Free.......bum, bum, bum! I met with a Kinesiologist/Acupuncturist today that said Dairy, coffee, and corn are okay, Gluten is not! We did a test, had some fun and now I get to add to the craziness that is my life. If this helps, and I don't have to have sinus surgery, then I will do it! I will write more later. I just gotta go to bed!

Mar 6, 2008

Cabin Fever

So I added it up and in the last 2 weeks I have left the vicinity of my home four times. Three of these occasions were trips to the Doctor or to urgent care. The other was a trip to my school to take a test that required my presence in the testing center. Today I ventured out to the Urgent Care Center, to attend to an injury of Landis', in our busted vehicle with a borrowed car seat. Our wagon has developed a transmission problem and so Nick has been driving our other vehicle to work. Of course the vehicle Nick drove had both car seats in it. Fortunately Teilee was at the preschool with Nick today and so I only had to obtain 1 car seat. My neighbor was willing to let me borrow her son's car seat and despite it being for children ages 4 and up I took her up on the offer. The urgent care was only a mile or so away and I almost considered walking or biking, but since I am still ill I wasn't sure that I would make it. So with Landis in the big kid car seat, (and despite his pain was loving it) we drove the few blocks to the urgent care. I thought that he had possibly injured his wrist as he was refusing to use it and was fussing anytime he moved it. I was thinking it must have been a similar injury to the 'sublaxation of the radial head' injury, or dislocated elbow, that he had a few months ago. It was even the same arm. After arriving and checking in we waited. We waited until we were shown to a private room, where Landis played for a while and then fell asleep nursing. The Doctor came in after he fell asleep and proceeded to check out his wrist. He barely moved during her examination so I woke him up. Well......after waking he was using his hand, wrist, everything was just fine. I guess he just needed to sleep it off! I suppose these are just mundane details, but like I said I haven't been out much:)

School has been on the forefront of my thinking lately, but I have had little to give to the venture. In fact I have decided to avoid the work of applying for the latest round of scholarships. Priorities are......Get Well......Get Family Back to a Routine.........Pass My Classes.........and well I can't think much past that. The first priority is proving to be a little too challenging. At the moment I can't even imagine what it is like to not experience severe fatigue, painful stuffy head, and extreme exhaustion.

On a brighter note...the seeds that we planted are growing nicely in our dining room. The sunflower plants are the most impressive, but I like the corn plants who clearly have outgrown the bottoms of the containers. We just used the plastic containers that strawberries come in to plant some seeds (sunflowers, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, and herbs). The corn roots have swarmed out of the holes in the bottom of the container. I have no idea (and don't really care) if these seeds will make it to the spring planting. I guess I figured at the very least it would be fun to watch these plants grow. Hopefully this weekend we will get to the repotting of these plants and will be able to experience their potential!

Mar 5, 2008

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A couple of pics from the great Brunson event! Who can spot Joe in the silly family picture?




My new umberella!