Category Archives: Health

7 Quick Takes: Reasons I’m Tired Tonight Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Daniel isn’t sleeping well. We think it’s him feeling hungry and not knowing how to process that. Because Daniel. I’ve been trying to enforce EXTRA drinking of milk to keep him full and I’ve upped his feed.

— 2 —

PTK induction. I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa (international 2-year college honor society) tonight. I was invited to join in Fall 2017, but I’ve been a little busy. My mom was watching Daniel and Dad surprised me by showing up.

Dad and me at the induction

— 3 —

Portfolio. My portfolio for my Final Project class is due tomorrow. I have almost everything printed out and done, but Sage was being catty yesterday and I need to redo and print out a report for it. I blame the LA Dodgers.

— 4 —

Puke. I hadn’t been gone for five minutes tonight when Mom called to let me know that Daniel puked (of course) and asked if she should give him tomorrow’s meds as he presumably puked up tonight’s. I was on the road to school, so I said “yes”. Well, I’m not totally sure now and am keeping an eye on him. At least he’s sleeping?

— 5 —

Donald Trump is still in office. His mere existence tires me.

— 6 —

Pentecost. I’m writing the prayers for Pentecost and I need to translate them into Spanish… or at least send them to my translation staff, one of whom came into tutoring last week and scolded me for not having them done yet. (God bless my “translation staff” of students!)

— 7 —

Forged in Fire. I’ve been watching “Forged in Fire” reruns while I’ve done homework lately… and this sometimes has me up too late. Oops!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: English Only Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Working with non-English speakers. When I walked into the classroom for my drop-in session on Monday, I had to calm down one of the students who was taking a test for one of her classes. Her English is limited and she had been sitting there for two hours trying to figure out how to start her test. Once I got clarification from her instructor on what she was supposed to be doing, we were able to get her working. I’m thankful to a couple of my other Spanish-speaking students for translating because I needed to give her very specific instructions and Google Translate can only do so much.

— 2 —

“English only” people. My experience on Monday got me thinking about the misguided people who make nasty comments about how “this is America and people need to speak English!” Most of these people do not speak any language but English and many of them cannot write English well. For my Spanish-speaking students, it’s the equivalent of learning two languages because you have the words that come from French and the words that come from German. Add in grammar that is complex and you have something that confounds a lot of people learning the language. Other languages are hard for us to learn, especially those with different alphabets, but I see a lot of my ELL students struggling with verb tenses and the number of verbs that have prepositions attached that change the meaning. On the other hand, you don’t have to think about the gender of nouns in English as you do in Romance languages.

— 3 —

It’s about time, Washington! Washington took away personal and philosophical exemptions for the MMR vaccine last week. I’d prefer if they had taken away religious exemptions too, but I’m thinking that most of those people either homeschool or only attend schools of their religious tradition. With the number of measles cases in the state and the fact that it had been eradicated 20 years ago and is now back, I’m glad my state is taking a stand!

— 4 —

Hematology update. I saw my hematologist on Tuesday morning and he is OK with my blood work the way it is. My ferritin is the low end of normal and my red cells are still funky, but there is nothing that is concerning him. He is sending me back to my regular doctor and adding to the recommendation of every medical professional I’ve seen since February that a hysterectomy is a good idea for me, given that my body is depleting red blood cells faster than it can make them. With any luck, I’ll be getting spayed this summer.

— 5 —

For handwriting enthusiasts… This Reddit is fabulous.

— 6 —

Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day was lovely. I got a rose at church, a carnation at Starbucks, and my mom and Daniel surprised me with flowers when they came home from the grocery store. I was honestly just happy to get a craft thing from Daniel that he made in school — I have pretty simple tastes and I don’t expect people to make a big to-do over me. The flowers were definitely a nice surprise though.

— 7 —

Funny… Did y’all know that Green Bay Packers player Aaron Rodgers was the soldier who got immolated on GOT last Sunday? It was interesting to watch.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum. Tell her how cool her new layout is!

7 Quick Takes: Only 6 Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Daniel update. We saw the psychiatrist at the Autism Center again today and he is keeping Daniel on the dose of meds that we titrated up to last week. I didn’t quite realize until we were talking to him that Daniel’s behavior is actually good on this new dose. Now if we can keep him from waking up at 4:30 a.m. and bouncing off the walls…

— 2 —

Interesting… The psychiatrist commented that he has seen more than a few kids with Daniel’s genetic abnormality that is responsible for his autism and they tend to have similar behavior, food issues, etc. In other words, THIS IS NOT BECAUSE WE VACCINATED HIM.

(Seriously… there are STILL people who harp on this despite studies coming out daily showing that VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM.)

— 3 —

Hematology. I saw my lovely hematologist on Friday afternoon and he referred me for more bloodwork. My red cells are funky, my clotting factors are OK, my folate is too high, and some of the other factors are off. I’ve tried googling this stuff and I’m not finding anything conclusive, so I’m going to have to wait until Tuesday when I see my hematologist again to find out what’s up. It might be that they’ll have me do repeat tests every so often to see if/when I’m heading toward anemia. We’re also going to see if a hysterectomy helps with it at all because it seems like my body is losing red blood cells faster than it can make them.

— 4 —

Rachel Held Evans. If you want to understand why I and many other Christians (Protestants and Catholics alike) are mourning her, read this hashtag.

— 5 —

School update. I’m required to do a mock employment interview for my Final Project class and I went to interview with the head of the BASAM program at school… who happens to be a former Fortune 500 VP who worked all over southeast Asia. It was interesting and also really good practice for what to say and how to answer questions that I might be asked. She asked if I would connect to her on LinkedIn in case one of her local friends has a job that might fit me. Score!

— 6 —

Game of Thrones. I’m betting on Daenerys winning the throne. Because girls and dragons! Not that I’ve ever seen more than a few minutes of the show…

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: If I Had Not Given Up My Blog for Lent Edition

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7 Quick Takes

Lent is over, it’s Bright Week, and I am back to blogging. (OK… some of you may have noticed that I cheated a little bit by changing the YouTube video on my time off page.) I have been meaning to write this post for a few days, but work and homework have been crazy. There will be 7 +/- blurbs, so I am counting this as my Quick Takes.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… about how weirdly calm I am about Grandma’s passing. It might be because I wasn’t the one cleaning out her room at the assisted living facility and her bedroom back at her house. My mom and her siblings have been dealing with all of this, and I have been figuring out burial service things. We got her ashes back around March 11 (she was supposed to be cremated on March 6… which was Ash Wednesday — because I am a horrible human being, I actually found humor in that), and part of them will be interred at my church in Mount Vernon. My uncle is making a plain cedar box for that, and I am glad to have that figured out so that biodegradable cremation urns stop being in my ads on Reddit. In the meantime, I am incredibly thankful for my church and how they jumped in to support us after her passing. They sent food home with me on Shrove Tuesday, sent emails and cards with condolences for our family, and I got hugged within an inch of my life on Shrove Tuesday.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… we got a last-minute appointment with a psychiatrist at the Autism Center. Daniel was badly-behaved (which is actually a benefit in this case) and the psych made the comment that until we improve his nutrition, none of the other meds he could prescribe would be of any benefit. So… he changed Daniel from his Adderall XR (which is also used as an appetite suppressant) to Concerta, and we’re titrating up on it. So far, the only change has been that kiddo is not sleeping well and is having what seems to be a worse time in the evenings until his evening meds kick in. He’s also waking up in the middle of the night or at 6 a.m., which is not making my life wonderful. We start the next highest dose this weekend, and I am praying like hell that it helps. Please send Starbucks.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… my iron is back to normal (thank you, weekly bloodwork and a boatload of iron pills), but my clotting factors are funky. Shark Week (a.k.a. my period) hit me like a ton of bricks in March… and also happened during finals of course. An appointment was made with my ob/gyn to talk about a hysterectomy… and I missed it today because my body decided that tachycardia sounded like a good plan this morning. So… I get to wait until June to see her… which happens to be on the day I graduate and Daniel is off school. This month’s Shark Week happened during Holy Week, and it was not quite as bad as March, but still crappy. I see Hematology next Friday. Woo.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that this quarter started on April 9th and is kicking my butt. I am the only tutor in my department and I can’t work enough hours to meet all the need that exists at the moment because this is the quarter everyone seems to be taking QuickBooks. The book they’re using for it is crappy (I had it last year), and it’s especially crappy for my English language learners who are having to figure it out in their second or third language. I had to close my one-on-one schedule this week, and I’m still getting requests for tutoring that I’m having to turn away. (I also have a couple students who I have had to tell that I will help them once they stop mouthing off at me or trying to have an existential argument about the class material.) Additionally, my Document Production class is hateful at the moment. We are docked 10% of our grade per mistake on every assignment, and we don’t know from week to week if we’re going to get any of those points back because the website isn’t fabulous on correcting formatting. I’m sure it will be better next week as I know now where my mistakes are coming from and can avoid them, but it is stressing me out right now.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that I finally joined Phi Theta Kappa (my school’s honor society that I was invited to join in September 2017) in March. I’m going to have my induction ceremony in the next few weeks and I might have a lovely stole along with my honor cords when I graduate.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… about Daniel’s sedated ABR on March 29 with the audiologist we like and our amazing anesthesiologist from his g-tube placement last August. It turns out that our favorite audiologist got an almost perfect result last July, and she adjusted his hearing aids accordingly after the procedure.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that the Lenten devotional booklet I put together for my church was highly complimented, and that having it go out over email turned out to be one of the best moves as it was easier for people to access. The project was actually a blessing as I was putting the finishing touches on it while Grandma was dying, and it gave me something into which I could pour my nervous energy.

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… that the French version of the Hail Mary sung by French Catholics outside of Notre Dame got stuck in my head. I largely avoided watching footage of it burning because I couldn’t deal with the sadness. (Also… what the actual [expletive], 45?!?!? Suggesting that French firefighters use an air tanker on the cathedral and that they should get on it is not an appropriate sentiment for a world leader to suggest while the symbol of a country’s faith is burning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

If I hadn’t given up blogging for Lent I would have told you… about the insight I had on Maundy Thursday about Jesus praying in the garden and how it means that God understands and is with me in those liminal times when I am scared about what is coming next. Seriously, it was amazing for my faith as was Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, where I got verklempt during the reading about the Pieta.

Last thing: Rachel Held Evans, my favorite author, is currently in a medically-induced coma while doctors try to figure out why her brain is experiencing constant seizures. She ended up in the hospital with a combination of flu and a UTI, and she had a severe allergic reaction to her antibiotics. This is distressing me greatly because she is very much me with a southern accent, and her books have been part of what kept my faith going for the last ten years as I dealt with times where I would go to church and want to be anywhere else but there. (This thankfully changed when I got away from Jon’s churches and went back to the Episcopal Church.) Updates on her health are here and a GoFundMe for her medical expenses here. Please keep her, her husband Dan, and their two kids in your prayers.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Last Week’s Thanksgivings Edition

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7 Quick Takes

I was discharged from the hospital last Thursday afternoon and replaced my laptop that afternoon as well. (Thanks go to my mom for picking it up for me.) Here are my thanksgivings for things that went well in the hospital.

— 1 —

We discovered the anemia before it got worse. Seriously, I was lucky. My hemoglobin was at 6.6 g/dL when they transfused me and normal for women of my age is 12.0 g/dL. (7.0 and below is the threshold for transfusion.) I’m pretty sure my mom is still rolling her eyes over my comment that “this explains the ice-chewing” when the doctor told me. (One of my classmates actually commented earlier in the quarter that ice-chewing is a sign of anemia and that the hospital has the best ice. She was right on both counts.)

— 2 —

Someone donated the blood that was given to me. Seriously, I’m incredibly thankful for blood donors because this is the SECOND transfusion I’ve received. (The first one was during my first week of life because I’m a preemie.)

— 3 —

Every IV placed was done so without too much pain. I’m quite shocked at how well the ER nurse placed both IV’s in my right arm because it was almost painless. When both of them leaked on Wednesday, my hospital nurse called IV therapy to place one in my left hand, and the young man doing it put some lidocaine in first which made it almost completely painless. Given that it usually takes 2-3 tries and I usually end up in tears, I’m incredibly thankful to them.

— 4 —

My church jumped in to take care of me pastorally. My priest came twice, our prayer person came once, and the Eucharistic visitor came (though he didn’t bring me Communion.) In addition, I had people calling and checking on me as well as multiple messages and cat memes devoted to me on the church’s Facebook page. 🙂 (I’m very spoiled loved.)

— 5 —

Mom and Dad were able to take care of Daniel. Neither of my parents are trained to tube-feed him, so they had to get him to eat… and they did. (Kiddo did not lose any weight while I was in the hospital.) Additionally, they had to get him to take his two inhalers… so Dad taught him how to be a fighter pilot. 🙂 (I was impressed.)

— 6 —

I got a really good ER doctor who took me seriously. When I had the mutant death respiratory thing last January, I got an ER doctor who refused to treat me because I refused steroids. (He also forced me to talk, which wasn’t necessary because I had everything he needed to know written out.) My ER doctor this time took me at my word when I told him that I couldn’t have oral steroids, and he remembered me from treating Daniel in the past. He was incredibly compassionate, asked good questions, and was gentle with his exam. (He also asked how Daniel was doing, which made me even more willing to trust him with my care.)

— 7 —

I had good nurses and student nurses. All of my nurses, student nurses, and CNA’s were delightful. This really does make a difference.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: CPAP FAQ, Ranting at the School Nurse, and Other Merriment

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Ranting at the school nurse. Lest this be added to the “reasons not to homeschool send your kids to public school EVER” list by my current troll reader, I enjoy a really good relationship with Daniel’s school overall, and this problem wouldn’t exist if the school district hadn’t cut the funding for school nurses to the point that they are covering 3 schools on average. (Teachers at this school nurse’s other campuses and at Daniel’s elementary school have explained that this individual is “special.”)

School Nurse,

For some odd reason, you couldn’t be bothered to actually get my young prince’s individual health plan written/signed in SEPTEMBER, so I now have to remind you again that the only information you need on his G-tube is DON’T [EXPLETIVE] TOUCH IT, per the request of the General Surgery nurses at Seattle Children’s Hospital because they don’t want the integrity of the stoma compromised. That sucker is being held in place by a water-filled balloon UNDER HIS SKIN, and it is not coming out without that bubble being drained or someone pulling pretty darn hard on it with needle-nosed pliers.

If it does for some odd reason fall out, CALL ME DIRECTLY ON MY CELL PHONE AT 867-5309 (not at the first random number you see) as my sweet babu will probably be in a buttload of pain (again, that thing is NOT falling out on its own) and there will probably be damage to the stoma that requires an ER visit to Seattle Children’s. If you can’t reach me, call my parents (whose numbers you have) and they will get in touch with me PDQ. Again, DON’T [EXPLETIVE] TOUCH MY CHILD’S G-TUBE OR YOU WILL BE IN DEEP FECES.

Snuggles,
jen

— 2 —

The back storyregarding the above take. Dumb@$$ School Nurse (“DSN” for short) decided to call the first number their eyes came upon, and it was my parents’ landline. (I live with them, so it’s the back-up number. However, EVERY piece of school paperwork contains the words “call Jen on her cell phone at 867-5309“, and DSN seems to be the only person who has ever ignored that.) Thankfully, I happened to be home, but DSN managed to get my dad first… who was not amused by some random person calling and asking seemingly personal information about my kid. DSN finally explained WHY he was calling, and Dad called me to the phone.

When I picked it up, DSN apologized for “upsetting my husband”.

…

I rolled my eyes and told him, in a voice dripping with saccharine, that the gruff gentleman who answered the phone was my FATHER, and that he was not amused to get a call from a strange person asking seemingly personal information about his grandson. When I got off the phone (after giving him a bunch of information that he ALREADY HAS in various documents and emails), I told Dad that DSN thought he was my husband. Thankfully, Dad found some humor in THAT, even if I was spitting fire at DSN’s idiocy.

/stomps off to fix the student health plan for my critter AGAIN

— 3 —

CPAP Take #1. Kelly (our hostess with the mostest) asked to see a selfie of me with the CPAP mask on, and I’m obliging because I live to make Kelly happy. 😀

CPAP selfie!

— 4 —

CPAP Take #2. Kelly asked to see my mask, so here it is along with the strapping on it that holds it to my face. (The white things in the bottom corners are the things that fasten the mask to the strapping, and they attach to the mask magnetically.) My nose rests on the top of the mask on top of a hole that allows me to breathe through it. Otherwise, I breathe through my mouth. I opted for the full-face mask instead of the nasal pillows (similar to a nasal cannula but with a fatter base) because I couldn’t breathe well with them in. (They force air into your nose, which works well if you’re a nose breather… which I am not.)

Not shown in the second picture (because I’m dangling the mask from) it is the clear tubing that feeds the hot air into the mask, so I took the third picture to show the mask tubing and how everything is connected. The whitish stuff attached to the mask is rubbery and flexible tubing, and it goes on top of my head. The greyish tubing is a little firmer and what brings the heated moist air pressure into the mask framework. Most masks have the greying tubing coming out of the front. Mine comes out of the tubing on the top of my head.(I apologize for the quality of the pics — I’m taking them on my webcam in not-great light because it’s late at night.) I sleep on my side usually with the greyish tubing trailing behind me. If I’m on my back, it comes out the top of the rubbery thing and trails off my pillow and to my right where my machine is.

CPAP Mask
CPAP Strapping
CPAP Mask Framework

— 5 —

CPAP Take #3. Kelly asked about my machine, so here are some pictures of it. (Our email conversations are FUN! We also both believe in educating people on scary health issues, so I’m happy to answer questions.) Mine is made by ResMed and adjusts the pressure going into my mask automatically. It also has a modem in it which sends data to a website that my doctor, my home health person, and probably the Illuminati can see. The rule is that I have to be using my CPAP for at least 4 hours a day in order for insurance to continue to pay for it (it’s usually 8 hours for me and up to 12 if I go back to sleep once Daniel is off to school).

Here are the front and back. (I blacked out any personally-identifying information.) The clear thing at the right side is a removable reservoir where I put distilled water to make the air moist. I clean it out and refill it every 2-3 days. The tubing that brings the air to my mask attaches in the back.

The front of the machine.
The back of the machine.

— 6 —

CPAP Take #4. Kelly asked what it feels like to have it on. It was a little weird at first, and I’m really glad they had me try out face masks in the hospital before they attached all the wires to me during my alien abduction sleep study so that I would know which one felt most comfortable for me. When I put it on, I breathe into it to start it (provided it’s plugged in) and it feels warm and moist around my face. It’s been good because using it forces me to breathe deeply, and that deep breathing helps me get sleepy quicker. I tend to sleep better and deeper, which helps with the daytime sleepiness.

It doesn’t make an annoying sound — it’s designed to be white noise. And yes, my little ball of black fury has investigated it and rolled his panther cub eyes because Mama bats him back from it every time he tries to eat the tubing. #housepantherproblems #meanmama #mustbiteallthethings

— 7 —

The Superb Owl. (Yes, that spelling was intentional.) I honestly don’t know who to root for this weekend. I can’t root for the Lambs Rams because they’re from LA, and I hate on southern California teams as a moral rule. I can’t root for the Patriots because I take great joy in seeing Tom Brady lose. (The 49’ers of the 1980’s and early 1990’s are the best football team in history, y’all. C/S.)

I’ll probably just go on SuperBowl.Com and watch the commercials or something. I mean, isn’t the Superb Owl is just fabulous commercials with annoying interludes of football and obnoxious Halftime entertainment? #stateyourunpopularopinion

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: CPAP Arrival Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Srsly? Nick Sandmann, the junior closest to Omaha Elder Nathan Phillips claims he was standing still to diffuse tension and smiling to show that he would not be moved. Uh, no. Dude, you may have your parents and your fellow MAGA twits fooled, but most of us are aware that doing the tomahawk chop and standing there smirking is inappropriate for the situation. How about you stop lying and apologize for misrepresenting your school, your Church, and your cause?

To those sending death threats to him and his parents: knock it off. You’re not helping the situation.

— 2 —

CPAP Update. My sleep doctor said it would probably take 2-3 weeks to get the CPAP ordered and fitted. It took six DAYS. Last night was my first night with it, and I woke up feeling better rested.

— 3 —

NEED. So, um, I really need this.

— 4 —

Duuuuude… Thanks to Bishop Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington for this.

— 5 —

Straight from Facebook. Some good news for a change!

— 6 —

From our hostess… Kelly’s pro-life post is on point.

— 7 —

Because Katelyn Ohashi! Her smile and joy are infectious.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.