Taking the Scenic Route

Everybody in the family seemed to get worse over the weekend, and by Monday, Zach was in the doctor’s office because he was actually getting dizzy. They didn’t have any more appointments available on Monday, so the kids and I went on Tuesday (today). Both of the kids have double ear infections, and both of the grown-ups have a sinus infection. Yeah us. We have had mild colds for weeks and weeks now, waxing and waning, but never getting totally better. Now we have antibiotics, so maybe we can finally nail this thing. Obviously, our bodies weren’t getting it taken care of without help, but I HATE taking antibiotics.

I know it doesn’t really matter, in comparision to getting everybody healthy, but dang, the hit to the pocket book with four copays, four Rx’s, and some over the counter expectorant & pain meds, besides the Metformin, Allergy meds (for me and the kids) and other various medical stuff, it just sucking away the paycheck. We have a well stocked pantry, and still have enough to get some basics, but it will be a real squeeze to get everybody fed reasonably healthy until payday. This is so frustrating. We aren’t dirt poor any more, but we are still always broke. We are behind on therapy bills again too. ugh.

Before we knew we were all going to be sick, we had to go get a new video card for my dinosaur of a computer because the old one fried. It wasn’t much, but now I am wishing we could have held out another week. Of course, it is a lot cheaper to be married to somebody who can weasle the last breath out of a computer in the long run.

Well, that was depressing, let’s end on a happy note. Pictures!

I have no idea how Zora managed to do this without Zane throwing a huge fit, but I have a feeling if he would have known what she was doing, it wouldn’t have happened.

On Friday, Zach and I went out on a date. For the first time EVER, Zora let me braid her hair as we waited for “Opa” (try as we might, we can not get her to call my Mom “Oma”. Instead, both she and dad are both “Opa”, and she refers to them as “the two Opas”.) She wanted the bows and butterfly hair clip added so she could be “toot” (cute) lol

That was the date that signalled “something is wrong” for us. We went to see “Quantum of Solace” and ended up having to leave because the movie was making us dizzy and motion sick. We felt old. lol. We have replacement tickets though, so we will try again when we are feeling better.

One last happy thought. Today when I was helping Zora buckle her shows, I asked “Are you my princess?” She said “No! I Zora!”. cute kid.

Nothing super dramatic, but I am so annoyed with how today started.  We had such a good day yesterday and I was not expecting this.

Woke up at 9, a bit late.  We are supposed to go to ST at 10.  (I canceled it.  I just can not do it today) In the first place, I couldn’t believe that Zane was still asleep because he almost never sleeps 12 hours.  What I REALLY couldn’t believe is that Zora was still asleep.   Not only did she not wake us all up this morning at the crack of dawn, but she slept through me bugging Zane until he dragged himself out of bed, complaining, and up to the couch upstairs.  I heard her cry for about 30 seconds and expected her to appear up here, but then she stopped.  She fell back asleep on the bottom step.

*TMI warning*  Add to that, it is day 2 of my cycle and I feel like somebody is stabbing me repeatedly.  It is so bad it hurts to breathe and walk.  I also discovered that I am out of Ibuprofin and had to take regular Bayer asprin, which doesn’t really nail it.  I gotta tell ya, I saw some stronger stuff in the cabinet and that is just really tempting right now.  If I didn’t have to stay awake and be a parent, I would have downed that in a New York Minute.  (seriously missing the “old days” where Zach worked from home and I could crawl back in bed on these kinds of days)  The only good thing is that, as horrible as my pain is, at least it is happening on day 2 and not 2 days before my cycle.  Just “normal” really bad, not “Endo” really bad.  I wonder if PCOS has bad cramps associated with it during the cycle.  Dude, I just want to curl in a ball and cry right now.

Oh, and it’s raining.  A cold, dark rain. 

If you remember, our car doesn’t have door seals any more and since it has been raining for two days now that means that all the seats are probably soaked and I would have to take out plastic bags and towels to keep all of us from getting wet when we sit down. I just can’t deal today.

Maybe later I can post yesterday’s pictures.  Besides the normal stuff, it was cool enough that I can have the oven going more so I made some homemade rolls to go with the pot roast and roasted veggies.  The kids were thrilled to help, although Zane was hoping it was cookies and a little dissapointed it was only bread.  lol.

He has really gotten to know the doctor though. Monday and Tuesday were consumed with appointments and tests to see if the leg that is hurting is a blood clot (no), diabetes (no), or a pinched nerve (maybe). He was only able to get to work for a half day through all of that because of the length and spacing of the appointments. Today he woke up at 5am and spent the morning in the bathroom, both ends. He is now at least able to rest a bit between boughts, but still pretty dang miserable.

Zora and I went to the store and got him some Gatoraid, crackers, and chicken noodle soup. Naturally, when I need chicken broth, I don’t have enough left. lol.

Obviously, we aren’t going to make it to the fair this year unless everybody is healthy on Saturday. Crossing my fingers.

She is off center because she is looking at herself in the viewfinder of the camera and I am having to work to keep her from touching the lense and grabbing the camera…so, not the best shots, but shows how animated she can be.

And, I’ll finish with a sweet story…

Today was a rough day for the grown-ups.  Zach spent the day in drs. offices having some tests done on his leg (not a blood clot and not diabetes…probably just a pinched nerve, but will talk to the dr. again tomorrow morning).  I had the world’s worst headache.  The kids were being, well, kids.  Loud, demanding, and all at once it was too much for me.  The headache started crossing the thresh hold into migraine and I went downstairs and laid in bed, with the lights off, trying to find a quiet dark place. 

Zora followed me into the room.  It was everything I could muster to patiently tell her that “Mama doesn’t feel very good”, and she asked if I was “Owie” and I said “Yes, Mama Owie”.  She left, and I let out a sigh of relief.  A few minutes later she was wiggling the handle and noisily made her way back into the room.  I was so irritated and working my darndest to not get snippy with her, when I saw her come up next to my bed, trying to get a band-aid out of a package.  She pulled it out, and carefully put it on my forehead, then gave me a kiss.  I about cried from the sweetness.  I think I’ll keep her.

I have PCOS with Insulin Resistence. I start taking Metformin today. (After Zach gets home because I can’t pick it up with the car I have here). I am not sure which is worse, premature menopause or PCOS, but it isn’t like I have a choice in the matter. lol.

It does explain a lot of things though. I know it fits, I just wish it didn’t.

Three weeks ago the only medication I was on was vitamin pills. Now I have allergy meds, allergy inhaler and now this. *sigh* I feel old.

Not for Zane, but for me.  I am going through testing for PCOS and Insulin Resistence.  *sigh*  It would explain a number of things, from my extreme difficulty with losing weight (I swear, everytime I tell people how much I eat, they don’t believe me because I just don’t seem to take in the calories required to be the weight I am at), the depression that always seems to be just under the surface even during my happiest times, to the high number of miscarriages I have had.  It might also be why I seemed to have stopped lactating despite Zora still nursing. (that one makes me more sad than it should…I didn’t realize I wasn’t making milk any more, but suspected something was going on when I didn’t have engorgement during the vacation)

I am somewhat familiar with PCOS from my years on Infertility boards.  Everybody there seemed to have either Endometriosis or PCOS…looks like I might have had both and not realized it.  hmmm. 

Something is going on with me.  I hope I find answers.  Why does time pass so slowly when you are waiting for test results?

On a rather ironic note, my best friend was dx’ed with PCOS and anaovulatory years ago, and was diagnosed with Endo more recently. I have had Endo since I was 12 or 13, and might be getting a PCOS dx now.

I have discovered the wonders of a Neti Pot. I got it a while ago but something about the idea of pouring water in my nose made me really nervous to try it. Well, my dr. advised that I use a neti pot to help clear out my sinuses and my dad pointed out that the nasal spray that was prescribed to me would work a lot better if I cleaned out my sinuses first. So, I looked up the recipe on the net (from Dr Oz’s information from the Oprah show where he showed how to use one), pulled out the pot and finally just did it. You know what…it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be while doing it, and I felt so much better afterwards. I felt enough better that I think it is worth packing the thing when I go to Germany.

Today I decided to put my salt into the vitamix dry blender and grind it finer so that it dissolved easier. I was shocked to see how fine of a powder that salt could be made into. It worked wonderfully.

Thank goodness I have people around me not on pain meds because I didn’t really think much of the possible consequences of packing a white powder in a baggie and putting it in my luggage for an international trip. It wouldn’t be helped one bit by my explanation of “I use it for my nose”. My mom pointed out that I should probably just buy some salt there, and LEAVE IT THERE instead of being all frugal and bringing it back with me. It would suck to end up in Guatamano Bay for packing salt on an overseas flight.

I can just hear it now:
Cellmate: What are you in for?
Me: pot possession with a salt (read that aloud for the full effect)

Well, I feel better than I did feel. I don’t feel 100%. Yesterday our insurance kicked back in (YEAH!!!), so today I took my aching mouth to the dentist expecting a root canal. Nope. Needs to be pulled. The cavity is down to the bone. Probably why it hurt so much. The tooth next to it needs to go too..it was an old root canal that we couldn’t afford to cap and has now deteriorated past the point of repair. At least that one doesn’t hurt. I have been dealing with this tooth in agony for two months and I am SO HAPPY that it will be on the road to feeling better soon.

I also discovered, when the took the x-rays, that my sinuses are so full that they look like bone instead of clear sinus space on the x-rays. Walked over to my doctor, next door, and dropped off a picture of the x-ray and have an appointment for tomorrow, after the extraction. The dentist said that my massive sinus junk is probably aggravating the already horrible cavity even more. No wonder I felt like I was hurting so badly.

Potty training actually went backwards with Zane. He went from being ok with changing diapers, to refusing to let us change him and refusing to change himself (when it is just wet, of course). I had lined up a friend to watch Zora tomorrow and Wed, possibly Thursday so I could sit with him in the bathroom all freakin’ day with no interruption to try and get over the hump, but no dice. I am going to have to cancel tomorrow because of the tooth, and I am wondering if I am going to be able to handle potty training boot camp while I am trying to heal from all of this crap. I don’t know what to do. I want to make it easier for my mom when she watches the kids because she has gotten nailed with so much other stuff of late, but I am not sure that it is even possible.

Went to the travel store today and got luggage straps, locks, some electrical thing, and a fanny pack thing for Zach and a purse for me. The only purse I have opens on it’s own on a regular basis, which is bad enough locally, but a recipe for disaster on an international trip. Zach also went to Eddie Bauer and scored with a pair of Jeans for only $20. Now he has a pair that isn’t shredded at the bottom (his clogs eat his pants…he stopped wearing them with nice pants, but the damage was done)

My sweet little tornado girl.  Doesn’t she look innocent?

I am sick. I started coughing two Wednesdays ago, and it looked like it was getting better by the end of the week. I am not sure if it was simply because I went out the night of the birthday party, or the glass of wine (or the combination), but within 24 hours of that party, I was sick as a dog. I wasn’t sleeping any more because the coughing was so bad. I hurt from coughing so hard. By Wednesday of last week, Zach took the morning off so that I could drag my butt to the dr. He gave me some heavy duty antibiotics. Here I am, 6 days since that appointment, and I am finally just starting to get some sleep. I am pretty much doing nothing but sleeping after not being able to for so long. I am really dragging. My voice is slowly starting to come back, but I am still pretty hoarse and trying to stick to whispering if I can.

In the middle of all that, we found out the travel dates for Zach to go to Germany. And, with some financial help from Zach’s dad and my mom volunteering to stay with the kids, I am going with him. Me. Zach and I both had to get passports because we had never traveled outside the country before. (technically, I went to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in high school with the youth group for a church conference, but most of the people there were Americans and no passports were involved, so it didn’t feel very international)

WooHoo!. Zach got his passport in days (might be because he has been through multiple security clearances for jobs, so it is probably documented) and I got mine a few days ago. I know that pictures on those things are notoriously bad, but I almost look like I am a different race. I look freakishly dark. Now, if I was a girl who liked to tan, it wouldn’t look so weird, but I am pasty, pasty white girl, so it looks really strange to me. You can hardly see it though through all of the security reflections though.

This week Zane started camp STARR at Heartsprings. He seemed to really enjoy it. I am going to have to watch for pictures to be posted on their site since I am not with him. The one advantage of being so tired is that I am not the least bit nervous about him being away for the morning and early afternoon. Besides the fact that his professional therapist is there, several of the student therapist and teachers he has had at the WSU SL Clinic are working there this week too. There are many people there that know him and it is a relief that he is able to just go enjoy himself without me being stressed about it.

She came through surgery just fine.  It was a couple of hours (can’t remember exactly how long right now) and they found three different nerves causing problems.  They were able to get the two bigger ones,  on opposite sides of the heart, but weren’t able to pinpoint the smaller one.  It should be a significant improvement though. She will be in the hospital for a few more days, possibly into the weekend, as they wait for her blood to thicken back up to a more normal level.  (she will still be on blood thinners, but not like she was for the surgery)