Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Limping along (brief updates)

Yikes I can't believe it has been two weeks since I've posted!!! Just when I had you all nice and trained to come and read a lot... Sorry.

So first to the title of the post which I admit might sound dramatic since it's not really an all-out limp. Monday I was diagnosed with bursitis in my hip. Which is much nicer to tell people than "it hurts so bad I want to cry." It started a few days earlier, and on Friday my chiropractor said it sounded like bursitis to him and if it didn't get better I should go in. Well, Monday morning I could barely move, and well to say it hurt was an uderstatement. So, I went in, got the official diagnosis, a cortisone shot, and some good drugs along with instructions to use heat on it at least four times a day. The doctor said that IF the cortisone was goine to work, it should work within a week but might be worse the first couple of day. I think it's starting to work today, but it's hard to tell at this point. The mornings are always the worst, but after some heat, streching, and time for the drugs to take effect I've been able to "limp through the day."

The worst position to be in (most painful) is sitting, so most of my computer time has gone strictly to work this week. We leave again Friday for the weekend so likely it won't be until Memorial Day or after before I upload more pictures. Here are a few more tidbits in the meantime:

--Shawn and went to Annapolis for a long weekend over Mother's Day weekend. It was gorgeous and a nice getaway for the two of us, and so much more. We once again were able to avoid any hassle with airline travel and things went smoothly. (Pics will be posted eventually.)A big thank you to my parents for watching Nessa.

--Way back in April we passed the one year mark for having our van. We love it A LOT and are still happy we went with the Grand Caravan (with DVD player), but at the same time we're looking forward to downsizing in a couple of years when the lease is up. We were happy that it was not too difficult to stay within the milage allowance for the lease.

--We now have Harmony ... at least in the laundry room. After our old washing machine clunked out earlier this Spring (if you didn't hear me complaining, it was because I was spending too much time at the laundry mat for a month), we purchased a GE Harmony Profile washer and dryer set, and we're thrilled with it. Honestly the deciding factor was that the washer was a "dented" floor model (in quotes because you can't really see the dent so I don't think it counts, but I was happy to take the discount). I now have an even larger capacity washer than before, and that's saying something; however, this one uses much less water which is a very good thing. :-)

--I joined Nessa on the gluten free diet after being frustrated with both the tests available to do on my and what the results were that I was getting and how my health was doing. Ever since pulling back from the very strict no wheat diet of almost two years ago now (original allergy testing dx) I haven't been able to get things under control digestion wise no matter what therapies I tried. So, after reading over and over that tests can sometimes be inaccurate and seeing what happened with Nessa's testing, I decided to let the difference in diet be my test for awhile. There are some new tests I can explore out of pocket or something new can come up in the future, but for now I'm satisfied that my feeling better is enough of a positive test result for me. So, while I do not know for sure if I am a diagnosed Celiac, I do know that gluten (wheat, rye, barley) makes me sick so at the very least I'm very gluten sensitive and need to avoid it the same way that a celiac does. It is an advantage to already have incentive to make the house gluten free (Nessa's diagnosis -- even more important in a child for everything I hear/read/am told). So, both Nessa and I seem to be responding well to the gluten free diet.

--Megan is down to the wire with school -- 11 days left last I heard, and I think they are all field trips or parties! She has decided/been assigned to play the trumpet next year for band so I'm looking forward to hearing her practice already. :-) She's looking forward to a fun, not overly scheduled, summer (no summer camps this year...at least that we know of today!).

Well that's about half of something...

Have a happy and safe start to the summer!

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

This was really fun!

Here's some thing that is not just cute kids, LOL ... a little picture of our annual girls day out (my mom and her girls each year around her birthday and mother's day). This is a direct post from flickr.

Video of Nessa holding Cully

You saw the stills captured from the Flip video (earlier post), now see a bit of the raw video capture...



This embedded video is hosted by Google video. I have others hosted there, and a few on my flickr stream (flickr limits to 90 seconds) ... I'm still very much at the experimenting stage with both creating and posting video. I'm sure you'll have to endure more so if you have any requests of what you would like to see in action, let me know.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Celiac Journey: Just Part of Life Now

Just a quick update...

We've been gluten free at home for about two weeks now and it's going really well. In addition to Nessa being totally gluten free, Tami is also eating totally gluten free while Shawn only eats gluten free while at home. Tami is certainly noticing digestive improvements, and we think we see improvements in Nessa as well.

There is still a bit of a learning curve, but a lot of the label checking and looking up products is becoming second nature to all of us. It also helps that Nessa is understanding that she can't eat everything that her friends and others eat, and it doesn't seem to bother her when she has to have her own special foods.

This weekend showed us that we could continue to eat gluten free at both work and family parties. Saturday I had a great experience during our annual Mom/sister day out when we had lunch at Michael's in Rochester and the server handed me a gluten free menu and assisted me in making good choices (even a great sorbet for dessert!). Then Sat. night I had a work party at the La Crosse Yacht Club (Huck Finn's) and all it took was a quick phone call a couple of days earlier to be sure they could give me a safe meal, and they did, and it was delicious. Today we combined a few of our one special gluten free foods with the fun potluck picnic foods at the farm and Nessa was thrilled and we were all full.

The hardest part has been educating others. I'll need to get better at carrying brochures of information with me for the times I'm tired of explaining everything in a positive way. I am really positive about it because it's not that hard, very doable, and I'll just be so glad if this is really the answer that we've found out early.

As the post title says, it's just part of life now. And those that love us can show us by taking the time to read, ask questions, and most of all by helping to keep us safe by helping to keep our environment and food safe, including gluten free foods.

Nessa holding Cully




These are a few still captured off of the video shot with Grandpa Don's new Flip Video:

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Just Because

I realized yesterday that it had been a while since I'd sent Tami an "I Love You!" email. So I started one "just because" that turned into a little poem. Tami liked it, so I thought I'd post it here and dedicate it to Tami:

Just Because

Just because it's sunny out today...
Just because I like to feel this way...
Just because it's been awhile, I guess...
Just because I'm happy you said "Yes"...
Just because you've made my life so grand...
Just because I like to hold your hand...
Just because of vows I'd once more swear...
Just because our little girl is there...
Just because it's great to have a friend...
Just because I don't want it to end...
Just because I think you ought to know...
Just because it may not always show...

...I'll make sure I say it loud and clear:
I love you with all my heart, my dear!

Love, always and forever,
Shawn

Well, I Guess She Told Me

At the end of Nessa's bath last night I was taking the toys out of the tub. Her watering can still had some water in it, so I poured it over her head like I do to get her wet at the start of a bath. The fact that she wasn't expecting it must have made a big difference. She sputtered and said, very indignantly:

"Daddy, that was not acceptable!"

It's nice to know that she listens to her mother... :-)