Category Archives: Health

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 15, 2013

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY July 15, 2013

Outside my window… sunny and hot. I think it was in the 90’s today.

I am thankful… for Jon taking care of Daniel on Saturday when I was going on 2 hours of sleep and taking him to WinCo and Trader Joe’s so I could nap.

In the kitchen… clean dishes. Thank you, Jon.

I am wearing… green t-shirt and black running shorts.

I am creating… blog posts.

I am going… to pray I get decent sleep tonight.

I am wondering… when I’ll do some posting that isn’t meme specific.

I am reading… Apologia pro vita sua by Cardinal John Henry Newman. (It’s a spiritual autobiography on steroids.)

I am hoping… I can get things figured out with my copy-editing tomorrow and what I have left to do.

I am looking forward to… possibly seeing my parents this weekend.

I am learning that I really can’t eat Daniel’s diet without my stomach spazzing.

Around the house… clean counters though I have vacuuming to do.

I am pondering… many things in my heart.

A favorite quote for today… ??Here and here only in all time the myth must have become fact; the Word, flesh; God, Man. This is not ‘a religion’, nor ‘a philosophy.’ It is the summing up and actuality of them all.?? – C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

One of my favorite things… club soda when my stomach is being grumpy.

A few plans for the rest of the week: copy-editing tomorrow/Weds/Thurs, autism therapy on Weds/Fri, and possibly spending the weekend with my parents.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes: Eclectic Stuff Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Ziva leaves NCIS. Yep, it’s true. Cote de Pablo, the actress who plays Ziva David, is leaving the show after her character is wrapped up this fall. Ziva isn’t my favorite character so I’m not as bummed as I’d be if Abby (Pauley Perrette) but still kinda bummed nevertheless. I’m just wondering what will be done with her character and how they’ll tie that particular end up.

— 2 —

Orphans. Do you see these three sweet peas?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her. Kaia has a family committed to her who will be traveling to her country to meet her on July 26th! Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 3 —

A benefit to singing. According to CNN, choir singers’ hearts beat as one. It isn’t completely surprising to me — when you’re that focused on your breathing and modulation of tone, your body gets into it. The best choirs function as a unit rather than as individual singers, after all.

— 4 —

Prerequisite baseball take. My Giants are at the bottom of the NL West. The freaking DODGERS are doing better and this is a fact that has not gone unmentioned by the fan of said team to whom I am wed. C’mon boys! Knock off the Padres tonight!

The All-Star Game is this weekend. Why yes, I will be annoyingly tweeting the entire game. 🙂 (Those who follow me on Twitter might want want to unfollow me temporarily.) Go NL!

— 5 —

Daniel’s ABA therapy. We’re back on track with ABA therapy for Daniel. He has established that he’ll work for tickles and he’ll try to get those tickles for free if he can. 🙂 It’s too bad his lead consultant is quitting next week because he loves her tickling him. We’re working on getting rapport built up with his normal tutor right now and I think he (the tutor) will do well once he and Daniel are used to each other.

— 6 —

Stop hating on millenials. If you haven’t read this, surf on over and do so. (Please surf back though.) It’s fascinating and I love how the author communicated his message.

— 7 —

For those who missed it… This is the zucchini of light from last week:

The zucchini of light

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: My Biggest Weakness

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The topic this week: my biggest weakness.

This is easy.

Self-care.

I am ruthlessly efficient when it comes to scheduling stuff for Daniel but I am so bad at doing it for myself. It took me 2 years of living here to get in to see a rheumatologist for my fibromyalgia and forever to get referrals to other specialists and that was because I kept forgetting to ask for referrals. I’m also due for my annual physical which needs to get scheduled ASAP while Daniel is in summer school. It’s been MONTHS since I cut my hair last and it would easily be another month if my nail person hadn’t dragged her co-worker over to me on Monday and told her that I needed to get on her schedule. (I love my nail person.) I get my nails done ever 3-4 weeks only because I live in my flip-flops unless it’s raining or snowing and I have fewer problems with my feet if they take the calluses off of my heels with a belt sander. (I’m kidding — it’s a Dremel of some sort.)

Now go see Becky and what everyone else has as their biggest weakness.

7 Quick Takes: Independence Day

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Independence Day. Happy Independence Day to all my US readers. I hope you had a lovely day filled with parades, patriotism, good food, and fun while watching things explode.

— 2 —

Thankful. I’m down in southern California with my in-laws for a couple days. I got to meet my nephew Patrick this morning at his (SECRET BAPTISM) and enjoy some squishy baby cuddles. Unfortunately, there are no pics for this blog post because I left the transfer cable for my camera at home (!!!!!!) He is a cutie though and I thoroughly enjoyed having a sleeping baby in my arms for the first time since Daniel was that age.

Oh yes… it’s also 106F up where we live today. Down in southern California, it’s only 94F. So happy to be down here instead!

— 3 —

Zucchini of Light. My mother-in-law has a massive zucchini which she set on the counter with some patriotic candles stuck in it. When I asked her what it was, she explained that it was the “zucchini of light”. Apparently, she grew a huge zucchini one year and the family recoiled at the sight of it because they envisioned the hell of zucchini bread, zucchini pickles, zucchini pancakes, zucchini coleslaw, zucchini fries, etc. She put it on the coffee table with some Hannukah candles in it as a decoration piece and when some people came over for an Indian Princesses meeting, they asked what it was. My father-in-law replied sarcastically, “The Zucchini of Light”. Anywhere else, people would have caught the joke, However, in uber-PC California, nobody did. So… I guess we’re having a “zucchini of light” tonight in place of firecrackers. (It’s more than a little dangerous to have fireworks in southern California.)

— 4 —

She knows me well. While we were stopping by the church yesterday to pick up supplies for the (SECRET BAPTISM) today, I got a message from my mother-in-law telling me that she had bought TWO BOXES of Trader Joe’s Coffee Latté and Creme Bars for my 3 day stay in southern California. Every time I’ve had one since in her presence, I’ve been stroking it Gollum-style and saying, “My precioussssssss…”

— 5 —

Kitty kitty kitty. There is a tabby attempting to get my in-laws to adopt him. He has gorgeous stripes and beautiful green eyes but he’s skittish. I’d love to play with some string with him but he’s too afraid, especially since a small screaming creature (a.k.a. Daniel) tends to follow me places. *sighs*

— 6 —

Itchy. Something bit me or got me some other way because Tuesday night, I started breaking out in hives and when I scratched them, the burning started. I ran into the kitchen and begged Jon to go out and get me some Cortizone-10 at 11:00 p.m. After a tube of that, a bottle of Sarna, and some Benadryl, it stopped. Well… it started up down here so I took some Benadryl and just showered. I’m hoping it’s not my shower gel or something — that would be really bad.

— 7 —

*grumblegrumblegrumble* The only thing worse than being married to a Dodgers fan when the Giants are playing the Dodgers is to be married to one when the Giants are at the bottom of the NL West. C’mon boys! #BeatLA

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

Blogging with a Purpose: 5 Years From Now

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This week’s topic: 5 years from now…

In five years, I will be 38. While that is still young in the grand scheme of things, there are still things that I am hoping will be worked out. Anything I put here is up to God in terms of whether it happens because I know fully well that when mortals plan, God laughs. So this is what I’m hoping will be in place in 5 years…

The puzzle that is Daniel, my medical mystery, to be assembled. Every time I think we have Daniel figured out, something new gets thrown at us. I’ve finally stopped crying every time it happens… most of the time. (The latest is him having mild hearing loss.) I’d like to have things with Daniel more figured out and for him to be able to be mainstreamed into a regular classroom.

My family to be “complete”. This could mean that Daniel is an only child, that I have another one naturally, or that we are called to adopt. Whatever it means, I’m open to what God has in store for me in this direction.

To have my respiratory therapy training or whatever it is that I’m going to be when I grow up figured out. Yes, I’m 33 and I’m still trying to figure out what it is that I want to be when I grow up. Current thought: respiratory therapist. I’d like to have it figured out and my training done.

Being part of a community choir that allows me to indulge my “great works of choral music” itch. I love to sing. I don’t have a place to really scratch that itch at the moment.

To have grown in grace and love for God. It’s my goal pretty much every day and I pray in 5 years to be better at conveying God’s amazing grace to others and to be better at loving God and His people.

Now go see Becky and where everyone else who is linking up hope to be in 5 years.

The Strength to Carry On

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For those not familiar with what’s been happening lately, Daniel underwent a sedated ABR on Thursday that showed mild hearing loss. This is not a surprise and while it seems like horrible news, it’s actually a blessing to find this out. Daniel is like a jigsaw puzzle of sorts and this is a puzzle piece that we’ve received as to why he hasn’t developed language yet. The next step is hearing aids and the fabulous audiologist is working on getting that in motion.

I truthfully exist in a state with a stress level of 7 or 8 being calm and normal. My FNP jokes that if I come in and my stress level is that low, things are going well because it’s routinely an 11 out of 10. I don’t whine a lot on this blog about how hard it is to be Daniel’s mom because so many other people deal with harder things regarding their kids and do it so gracefully. I will say though: it is incredibly hard some days to be the mom of an autistic kid with so many health problems and I don’t know how I do it, save for the grace of God who gives me the strength I need to persevere.

There are some thank-yous in order however.

Thank you to my wonderful husband Jon who kept the house quiet today and took care of Daniel (even cuddling him this morning while Daniel napped on his lap) so I could spend the day sleeping and trying to get some strength back. It’s been a tough few weeks and I’ve appreciated the chance to recuperate after beating myself to a bloody pulp as I’ve tried to push through.

Thank you to my wonderful mom and dad who hosted us last weekend for the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia, especially my mom who pushed me to finish the three mile walk and watched Daniel so I could take a hot shower and try to avoid my muscles spasming. She also walked Daniel around so I could attend the program portions of the walk. 4 years ago, she caught the first flight she could get to be with me for a week while I tried to heal from my c-section and dealt with the trauma of everything, holding me as I sobbed every time I left the NICU and ripping the neonatalogist a new one after he made me cry.

Thank you to my friend Mary Kathryn of Crochet Chiq who posted a prayer request to Facebook on *my* behalf, asking for prayers for strength for me to continue being the mom I need to be. I don’t think there are enough words to say thank-you for that and it made me cry tears of gratitude.

Thank you to Jeanne, Mandi, and everyone who emailed me to let me know they were praying for us. You give me strength as you reaffirm that I’m not alone and there aren’t enough words to express how much that means to me.

Thank you to my wonderful #Cathsorority sisters who bless me with prayers for myself and for Daniel despite the fact that I’m not Catholic. I appreciate all of you so much and wish I could tell you how much you bless my life.

Thank you to Thomas of Strong Catholic for letting me babble to you on Facebook as I was sitting in the Recovery Area waiting for Daniel to wake up. I appreciate you listening to me when I’m sure I wasn’t making a huge amount of sense.

Thank you to Audrey Bracchi Au.D of UC Davis for working so well with Daniel and I, helping me formulate blog entries to enlighten people as to the findings, for explaining all of this to Jon over the phone, and for taking care of figuring out the next steps so I don’t have to. I really look forward to working with you.

Thank you to everyone at the UCD Children’s Surgery Center for being so awesome and making this process so painless. From Child Life meeting us at the desk to awesome nurses, a wonderful anesthesiology resident, and everyone else, you made my life bearable on Thursday morning, This is why I love working with UCD Health Services — y’all are just so awesome and patient-focused.

There are many other people (like Mrs. H, Daniel’s teacher) who deserve my undying gratitude but I felt the need to give some massive thanks to all the people who have gotten me through the last couple weeks.

7 Quick Takes: An Update on Daniel, Hot Weather, and Interesting Posts This Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Update on Daniel. Everything went as well as things could go today. We had to be at UCD Medical Center at 6:15 am and though we were a bit late (the main hospital is a maze), it worked out fine. The Child Life therapists met us at the the desk while we were checking in and took us back. They entertained Daniel while we got him measured and weighed and then while they were taking blood pressure/pulse ox/hooking him up to monitors. He got to pick out two toys to play with and that kept him entertained until the Versed (which he took by syringe with no problem) kicked in. Our anesthesiology resident was lovely (and a former autism therapist before she went to medical school) and our audiologist (who I had met the day before) was great. I had a 2 hour wait while he was in the test and then we got the news that they did find something: mild hearing loss in Daniel. (More later.) They let Daniel sleep the anesthesia off instead of rousing him and while we were waiting, I talked to his nurse about his knitting/crocheting/quilting projects. (The conversation got started because the nurse was telling me about the pillows one of the nurses and her daughter make for all the kids to take home. Daniel’s has Sesame Street characters on it.) Daniel woke up and had some juice while we waited for anesthesiology to clear him to go home. He is now (Thursday night) his normal bearish self. As far as these things go, this was an absolutely painless experience.

— 2 —

So, about that hearing loss… I was suspecting that he wasn’t hearing things totally and this was actually a relief because it means that my suspicions were correct. Yeah, it’s not ideal that he has the mild hearing loss (something that was probably present at birth and missed on his newborn hearing screening) but he qualifies for hearing aids and between insurance, Medi-Cal, and California Childrens’ Services, we can get them paid for. It’s also one more puzzle piece in place for the medical mystery that is Daniel. It isn’t ideal but very little in my life is at the moment and I’ll settle for “we know what’s going on” rather than all of the “we have no freaking clue why this is the case” that I usually get. This will probably also affect his speech therapy because he’ll probably be able to understand the things his teachers and speech therapist are trying to do with him.

— 3 —

The next steps. The next step is an ENT appointment to look at this from a medical perspective and then we’ll meet with her for a hearing aid appointment where they’ll give us a boatload of information and do ear molds (so we can mold the hearing aids to his ears). I also really like this particular audiologist — she’s a warmer person than the other one we’ve had through UCD and she’s got other autistic patients who have hearing aids so it’s not like this is new for her.

— 4 —

All is well again. Wipeout is back this week. All is well with the world. At least they just pre-empted ABC shows for the NBA Finals instead of CBS ones — that would have been just brutal.

— 5 —

Orphans. Do you see these three cherubs?

First row: Brett and Iris.
Second row: Kaia.

BrettIrisKaia

Brett still needs a mama. Iris finally has a family committed to her. Kaia has a family committed to her who will be traveling to her country to meet her on July 26th! Click on their names to see their Reece’s Rainbow pages.

— 6 —

Blog posts of note. This week, I wrote about my experience with the Promise Walk this year, 10 things I live for, and five of my favorite passages of Scripture.

— 7 —

Hot hot hot! It was 97F today and will be 100F or higher for the next 5-6 days. This would be lovely if I didn’t have to be out in it. However, we’ve got the parish picnic tomorrow so I’ve got to deal with at least an hour of it in addition to whatever time I spend out doing errands and at Daniel’s WIC appointment tomorrow. I’m thinking that it would be great if Jon were called to a church in Alaska…

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.