Category Archives: Health

Prayers for Discernment

Posted on by

A few people have suggested to me that I should possibly go back to school and re-train as a nurse because I have the skills for it. I’m open to this but there are some things standing in the way of me doing this:

-Daniel’s needs at the moment
-the fact that I don’t know how long we’ll be in this current parish

Could those of you who pray please pray for me as I discern all of this? There’s a part of me that wants to do it NOW(!!!!!!!) but I know that this isn’t totally possible at this exact moment.

7 Quick Takes: Admissions That Will Make Me Lose Readers

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

I’ve been pondering the idea of doing this for awhile. Here are seven admissions that will probably cause me to lose readers. None of these are open to debate — they’re things that are part of me or decisions I’ve made after careful consideration and consultation with professionals.

–1–

I take birth control pills. I can see the Catholic readers from Jen’s site fleeing as well as some of my readers who are staunchly anti-contraception. Before people start lecturing me on the state of my soul, I should probably explain a few things. Firstly, I mainly take them because my PMS is so severe that it can land me in bed during that week. After Daniel’s birth, I also started having hot flashes and dizzy spells. The pills moderate out my hormones so that I can be functional. Secondly, me pregnant is *NOT* a good thing. I would be on bed rest for 9 months and that’s not a viable option at the moment with Daniel needing so much of my time and care. I’m married to someone who works insane hours so I’m pretty much it as far as the person who can take care of him, arrange his therapies, and verbally abuse argue with insurance/SSA/Medicaid. Lastly, having a huge family is not a good choice for me with the fibromyalgia — the fatigue and pain make keeping up with Daniel hard enough. I know the risks of being on the Pill and with my (thoroughly Catholic) doctor’s help in Montana, we found one that had the fewest side effects for me. I also go in for my exams like clockwork so I’m at least being monitored.

–2–

I would rather pull my fingernails AND toenails out with pliers than vote for any current Republican candidate. The idea of Sarah Palin as president makes me want to repatriate myself to another country… like maybe Afghanistan. Michelle Bachmann is just as scary. None of the others are any better and because I live in California, I live in fear of almost putting the state up on eBay (Meg Whitman) or selling it to HP (Carly Fiorina). The only positive for the loser who represents my district in Congress (Dan Lungren) is that he’s put forth a bill to make it a felony to shine a laser at a plane.

–3–

I honestly want to vomit or throw something at the TV whenever John Boehner or Mitch McConnell (especially him) come on. Maybe it’s just me but I think that it’s positively ludicrous to have two white men who are independently wealthy and will have fat government pensions upon leaving Congress decide my healthcare needs and how important Medicare/Social Security are. I’m seriously praying that Obama wins in 2012 because it’s the only shot I feel like I have to get adequate medical coverage when companies stop being able to discriminate in 2014. I also have a kid who receives SSI and Medicaid and without those, we’d be up a creek without a paddle. All those therapies cost money and we couldn’t afford them if we didn’t have government help. I also just feel like Boehner and McConnell don’t give a rat’s butt about the people that actually *NEED* the services they want to cut and are just playing partisan games.

–4–

I hate summer. Where I live, it can be in the 90-100 degrees F range easily and I just don’t want to go outside when it’s that hot. Additionally, I’m fair-skinned and I burn if I even think about the sun. I’d be better suited to the Pacific Northwest than the part of northern California where I live. Unfortunately, this weather can stretch into October so I have at least another three months of hell before things hit a reasonable temperature.

–5–

I think that Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Live is a piece of pop culture crap. Many people swear by it. I’d prefer to swear at it. It’s pop culture drivel like Joel Osteen and it does positively nothing for my faith. I tried reading it and had to stop at Day 32, by which point my copy was beaten to a pulp from me throwing it across the room multiple times a day.

–6–

I can’t stand the sound of kids crying or whining in church. This makes it doubly hard with Daniel because he’s at an age where he isn’t going to sit still and he wants to pick up everything, shred papers, and crawl down the aisle. I simply can’t keep up with him most of the time and I feel like people who tell me that they don’t mind the screaming are lying to make me feel better. Thus, I’m not making it to church much these days. (I’ve also had personal illness, family emergencies, and other things preventing me.) I’m going to talk to my church ladies this Wednesday to find a solution for this.

–7–

I have no desire to see the Harry Potter movies. I’ve read all seven books multiple times and seen the first three movies. It bugs me when the movie doesn’t follow the plot of the book which made movie #3 an annoyance to me.

(For more quick takes, go see Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.)

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 23, 2011

Posted on by

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY May 23, 2011

Outside my window… sunny and LOTS of pollen.

I am thinking… about Ann of House of Estrogen and what she’s going through. Also about an article I read on reforming youth sports and how one of our former parishioners in Minnesota is the poster child for WHY they need to be reformed.

I am thankful for… being able to get together with my heathen family at my brother’s house for the communal birthday gathering. There was some joking around about which city was going to be annihilated next in the Rapture (Christians do have senses of humor — really, we do) and lots of Daniel fun.

From the kitchen… ramen for lunch.

I am wearing… brown polo shirt and khaki capris.

I am creating… this entry. 🙂

I am going… hopefully nowhere else today though I may have to take Mr. Grumpy out for a drive or something to get him to calm down.

I am reading… The Body in the Boullion by Katherine Hall Page. I’m liking her mysteries and I’m thinking that I need to carve out more time to read them.

I am hoping… the pollen abates or it rains. Serious misery here on my part.

I am hearing… Daniel grumping about something.

Around the house… lots of cleaning for Daniel’s 6-month Regional Center eval tomorrow.

One of my favorite things… playing the “yogurt snack game” with Daniel. (He drops the bag in my lap. I say “thank you”. He stands up or crawls in my lap. I put the yogurt snack in my closed hand. He uncurls my fingers and gets his snack.)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Daniel’s 6-month eval, getting some car stuff arranged, and hopefully a lot of unscheduled days.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing… My grandfather and I watching cows when I was 5. I chose this because I miss my grandfather and when Daniel gets grumpy in the evening, I stick him in the car and we go “cow-hunting”. Watching cows is a special pastime shared in my generation by my cousins Kristin and Sarah who are 12 and 13 years younger than me. (*sniffs* Kristin is now 19 and Sarah will be 18 this year.)

Cow-watching with my grandpa.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes Friday — Positives If Apocalypse Happens Tomorrow

Posted on by

7 Quick Takes

According to Harold Camping at Family Radio, the world is ending tomorrow. With my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, here are the positives of the apocalypse if it does indeed happen tomorrow.

–1–

No campaigning for the Republican ticket in 2012. The election isn’t until next November. I don’t give a rat’s butt about who is running and who isn’t. And seriously, I don’t think the Republican Party can put forth a candidate that I’ll actually *like*.

–2–

No more “Real Housewives of ______”. The mere teasers for the shows make me turn off the TV and run screaming. I’m looking forward to less botox, less hair-pulling, and less DRAMA in heaven.

–3–

Getting to see my deceased loved ones again. I am missing my grandfather (who is in the picture in the frame holding my hand when I was five years old) a lot and the Rapture would mean that I’d get to see him. There are some other people I’d be excited to see as well.

–4–

No more fibromyalgia pain. I’m not going to lie — Revelation 22 describing no more pain and suffering is really tempting when random parts of your body start hurting at bizarre times.

–5–

No more church politics. I’m getting kind of sick of churches splitting left and right and hearing how ________ aren’t Christians or how ________ are deluded. C’mon people! We love Jesus. Let’s focus on that!

–6–

No more Fox News and Bill O’Reilly and all the talking heads. Enough said.

–7–

It’s giving Christians a chance to laugh at ourselves and joke about things. I can’t think of anyone in my Christian circle of friends who believes that the world is going to end tomorrow. However, it doesn’t mean that we’re not enjoying the opportunity to laugh at ourselves a bit while feeling embarrassed about being associated with the Family Radio crowd. It was actually one of my pastor friends who alerted me to the post-Rapture looting plans on Facebook. 🙂

(For more of this, head to Conversion Diary.)

The Promise Walk for Preeclampsia

Posted on by

On May 7th, I participated in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and Daniel. As many of you know, I’m a preeclampsia/HELLP Syndrome survivor so it was a way for me to get some emotional healing from the experience. Originally, I was going to be helping with the social media presence but we had the move and then Daniel got sick.

They had a group of high schoolers helping with registration. There were tables with preeclampsia shirts, hats, and stuff and I got a survivor shirt from them. There were also face-painting and crafts for the kids, a silent auction, tables from various birth groups and an OB-GYN, a table for a sporting goods store, and a lot of activities going on. They had a speakers at 9:30 a.m. (one survivor who had lost her daughter and two publicity people for local blood banks who were also preeclampsia moms), a dove release remembering those who had lost kids/moms/daughters to the condition, and the two co-coordinators spoke. One common thread was that it is just awful that a condition this prevalent (5-8% of all pregnancies) is so relatively unknown. I think the first speaker would have moved me to tears if I hadn’t been so tired — Daniel woke up at 6 a.m. and I was feeling pretty flattened. The dove release was pretty spectacular — they were trained birds and were flying in formation around the area.

The walk itself was “interesting”. Somehow, we all missed the signs so we ended up taking a wrong turn on the trail and walking much farther than anticipated. I kept a good pace and was proud of myself since I was also dealing with a migraine and fibro pain.

Afterwards, Sean (my evil twin) and Dad headed home with the stroller while Mom, Jeanette (sister-in-law), Daniel, and I hit up Costco and Trader Joe’s.

I’m glad I got to do it — preeclampsia awareness is one of my passions and this was a way to use it. One really wonderful thing is that of the $200 I raised myself, $150 of it was from Jon’s congregation. (Go Metanoia!) I’m very thankful that there are now people in the congregation who know about it and I’m hoping that maybe one of them knowing what it is will save a friend’s life or a daughter’s life or a grand-daughter’s life.

Flattened (XIV)

Posted on by

Daniel has been home for almost two weeks but I’m still… flattened.

[+] I met with the case worker for Medi-Cal today and she was great — she treated me like a person and we did everything we could to get the case closed with what I had on me today. Unfortunately, she does need some more documentation. Drats!

[+] I’ve had a definite “pain day” today. Fibro really sucks. There’s no two ways about it.

[+] People have been telling me how wonderful I am and how amazing I handled the situation with Daniel. Thing is… other than two people from Metanoia, I don’t think anyone knows about the tears I shed, the helpless feelings, the angst, and anything else I went through. Our organist had no idea that I didn’t go home at night — she thought I commuted every day. I couldn’t commute with Daniel at this age — I honestly didn’t feel like I could leave him and I don’t think there’s a person out there who would fault me for that. Granted, I did leave the hospital to go out to dinner three times and to go to Michael’s once as well as showers every 3-4 days. (If it tells you guys how intense things were, showering was not a priority.)

There’s a video that fits my life…

Flattened (II)

Posted on by

Daniel did rebound last night and has stayed stable since. Here are some vignettes from today.

[+] A friend from college is taking me to dinner tonight to get me out of the hospital and I’m simultaneously happy to get away from the hospital for a couple hours and terrified that something is going to happen while I’m gone. Everyone has told me that this is something I *HAVE* to do — if I stay on the unit 24/7, I will go crazy and I know this. I thought I was being so good though in taking meal breaks… (Dinner was good. We had pho. Daniel was fine while I was gone.)

[+] Because of the possibility that Daniel might still be needing ECMO last night, I was banished to the “quiet room” for the night where I made a pallet on the floor. I didn’t think I’d sleep well but I actually got six uninterrupted hours without being woken up for x-ray techs.

[+] I’ve gotten to be friends with the family at the opposite end of the PICU. (I ended up comforting the baby’s aunt on Monday when they called a code on her nephew and she and her husband were being present for me last night.) Her nephew is in worse shape than Daniel and the mom and I had a talk today about the whole thing. She had a copy of Our Daily Bread and she was talking about how she’s been reading it to her son. I think I’ll start doing that with Daniel. Her family is praying for Daniel and I’m praying for her baby.

[+] The resident who seems to be on during the day needs some better instruction in bedside manner. It doesn’t work to be an ice princess when you’re dealing with fragile parents. I think she’ll improve with time but it was irritating talking to her on Tuesday. Her attending is being more careful with me after watching me go to pieces (justifiably) two days in a row. The other peds resident who came in today was wonderful — very polite and asked if I minded if he examined Daniel. (He didn’t have to ask but I did appreciate it.) He then expressed concern about how I was doing and urged me to get off the unit and out of the hospital when I could. It was nice that he was concerned — it does help to know that I’m part of this.

[+] The anesthesiologist who did Daniel’s intubation on Monday stopped in to see him. This was really sweet — he didn’t have to do it and I thanked him for it.

[+] I’m not incredibly happy with God still (issues with WHY this is happening) but He is no longer on notice.

God willing, we’ll have another quieter day tomorrow and no drama tonight.