Wisdom from my walk

Apparently there are foods you can avoid to prevent gout. I rarely eat any of the foods that cause/trigger gout. Certain people have told me to watch my diet, and no none of these people were drs. I dont eat foods that cause gout, I am genetically configured to get screwed and to be sick and have health problems. I understand that I am overweight, and before I got sick with all of these new things I was exercising. I cant exercise right now, especially right now as the pain from just walking or thinking about my foot makes the pain excrutiating. sorry had to vent. I wish I felt better and less grouchy, I’m particularly mad today because my new med, which suprisingly cost little after insurance paid, is making me feel bad. My stomach gets irritated by a lot of things, one major thing is any kind of medicine known to man. I dont think I’ve ever taken a medicine that didnt make me sick and/or tired. So while it’s alleviating some of my pain it’s causing horrible stomach pain and I dont know which is better. I guess at least walking is getting easier. Today’s a big BLAH day.

A friend of mine invited us to attend the VBS at their church this week. I was very hesitant to send him to a church that I’d never been to, not knowing their theology or anything. I am very cautious about what my child learns about religion because of the way I was raised and how it affected my life. This week was going to be busy and full of errands, all done with the kids during the day as our evenings were full. I figured I trust my friend and was willing to at least let Caleb try it for a day and see how he did and what he came home saying. After making sure he wasnt still sick after Monday, and asking him if he’d like to go, we agreed he’d go on Tuesday. The VBS ran all week from 9-11:15. Day one went fine, he was a bit skeptical at first and once I got him pryed off my leg where he’d attached himself he seemed ok with staying. Considering I didnt get a phone call to come save him, I assumed he did fine. I felt very guilty for leaving him in a new place with people I never met before. I still feel bad about it even now.

The plus side to him going to VBS, going to run errands with one kid instead of two! I’ve spent my mornings running around trying to get party things done for this weekend. Today I managed a trip to Walmart and the grocery store with enough time to come home and unload then pack bo back up to go get Caleb. I packed Caleb a lunch for him to eat in the car en route to the Y so we could swim for a while before heading home. This time I left Bo in the hands of the childcare staff at the Y and had some one on one time w/ Caleb since I feel like I havent had that much this week. I am grateful to have that option sometimes at the Y, although it’s during limited hours, as is free swim time at the Y, but it’s still nice to have it available. The result of my running around all morning is that by the afternoon I am dragging and like today both boys wont nap at the same time so I’m stuck with no time to rest. I’m worn out and feel sick but I keep on going. Like the energizer bunny without as much energy!

tomorrow’s the last day of VBS and I made sure Caleb knew that, so he doesnt expect this to be an everyday occurrence, and he seemed fine with it. Yesterday he said he wants to go to our church not that church and I was glad that he recognized a difference in the two churches. I have been impressed with what I’ve seen of the VBS, it was well planned and the kids are loving it. Sadly our church doesnt hold a VBS, I really wish they did.

It’s been nice just having to tote one kid around while running a ton of errands. We wont know for a few weeks if Caleb gets a spot in the local elementary school’s preschool program at the public school, and since we were told before that poor children and children who dont speak English as a first language get spots first then chances are he wont get a spot. I am really praying he gets in, for his sake and mine! Not that I mind taking care of my son all day, it’s just so hard to keep him occupied all day anymore. he always has to be doing something. It will be great if he gets in so he can get used to school and being left since he’s rarely away from dean or I. I’m impressed with how well he’s done in a new place all week considering he’s not used to just being left someplace without us, especially with strangers.

Didnt mean to be so lengthy, have a great rest of the week! Unfortunately mine is jam packed w/ busyness, I’m really not looking forward to it!

You can learn a lot from your kids. I believe this 100%. Today I couldnt help but laugh as I watched Bo learning to stand on his own. He’s being doing this for a week or so now, and it still makes me laugh to watch him. The process goes something like this: pull up holding onto something, laugh, step back, let go, stand briefly (and I mean briefly!) then fall gracefully onto his behind, laugh, pull up again, repeat….If I could just learn to get back up and keep going after I fail then I might just get somewhere.

or content because chances are that things arent going to stay the same for that long. Sure enough, I was feeling no better or no worse than normal with my illnesses but I did start to have another new symptom. Thinking it was just a result of uncomfy shoes, the insistent pain in my foot continued to worsen. This past Sunday I was hobbling around and even just sitting w/ my foot propped up I could barely tolerate the pain. At that point I whined to Dean I would probably go to the dr this week and probably just get an xray to find out it was broken or something, thinking the time I jammed it a month or so ago had caused the problem. While reading online about the possible conditions that would cause my symptoms I got scared and worried that this was more than just a problem with my shoes or an old injury.

When I couldnt find a sitter for the kids I decided I’d cancel my appt and forget about it. Dean reminded me that that probably wasnt a good plan since I’ll be out of town for about a week or so starting next Monday and have no way to see a dr there if it got worse then. I gave in and since it was too late to cancel without feeling bad for taking up an appt that someone else could have needed, and I dragged the kids along thinking it would be a waste of time. She was concerned and as always noted how i keep her job interesting. I went to get bloodwork yesterday at 4:30 and she called me this morning before 10:30 am w/ the results. I knew that meant it wasnt good! Sure enough I have another fun condition that as noted somewhere that I read yesterday, I cant remember which website it was on, that is rare in children and young adults. I asked the dr about it and she said that i just am genetically predisposed to metabolic disorders. i called my mom and thanked her for having me, I dont think she appreciated the joke. And really I dont know if it really is a joke, I’m not too keen on the fact that I have more problems to deal with all because of the body I was given. I’m done being a suprise and interest to my dr and I’m tired of having to explain to friends that something else is wrong. I know I’m not a hypochondriac, I mean the test results say I have these conditions, but it still makes me feel crazy when I have to constantly deal with new health problems.

the really frustrating part of this is that the drs had done the labwork for this before, and when the tests results were elevated when I was pregnant and they couldnt decide whether it was worth admitting me and delivering the baby or not because they didnt know why my uric acid level was high and my blood pressure was normal they chose to let it go and send me home. What’s that mean? that my uric acid levels have been high for almost 9 months now and thus my pain and problems now. If they would have kept checking the levels even after bo arrived then they could have prevented all this pain I am having now.

seems like just when I start to think things might be ok and that I wont have to take meds for any of these conditions a new problem arises and now I need to start meds. I guess at least I’m not nursing anymore, the dr was thrilled about that news yesterday, saying that would be very helpful to my treatment options. Every month new challenges, I am praying that next month I have a normal healthy month with nothing to complain about, at least not healthwise!

and just when it looks like we are in the clear, Caleb gets a fever and Boaz’s fever comes back. All while Dean is out at work of course! I was so looking forward to getting out and being social tomorrow looks like we’ll be stuck at home again, at least that will give me time to finish painting and prepping the house for houseguests and multiple parties here next weekend. At least Caleb is refusing to eat on his own which may limit the amt of sickness he will get or rather how bad it may get. Poor kids…I really hate this part of parenting. Caleb is just laying on the couch watching a movie; this is the child who rarely stays put for much! He slept a long time for nap too. Oh well, maybe he’ll just be easy to care for while he’s sick since he’ll just sit around! now if Bo would just slow down, the fevers at first were making him tired and very lethargic, now he’s roaring to go, that tylenol finally decided to do it’s job!

every time Boaz wakes from a nap and I go get him I look at him and I would swear he looks different every time. Every day he changes. he’s starting to not look like a baby anymore, he starting to have an older face ,if that’s possible for an 8 month old! Caleb is the same way. Today I picked Caleb up since he was obviously still tired after waking from his nap, and not only is he extremely tall now he’s heavier than he was. he’s still a skinny kid but he’s still much heavier than he was last year.

I looked back at my high school senior book today and saw pics of myself and of Dean and it amazed me how young we looked. I used to think I was really fat in high school but when I look at pics I think I must have been crazy. Today I am fat…back then I guess I was somewhat anorexic since I know I would often not eat and constantly obsess over my weight. The best thing about looking at that book was the sweet entry Dean wrote in it to me. He’s out tonight working a side job to get a little extra cash and it was kind of nice to read it and think of him knowing he’s out taking care of not just me but our family.

other big changes around here today include Caleb’s room has one new coat of paint(we probabaly wont finish painting til tomorrow), I’ll not tell what color til after it’s done and post pics, but it’s not the colors I wanted, but now that I”ve done it it is definitely cool. I’m sure it’s through answered prayers, but we’re all feeling amazingly better today. we’ve all been able to eat all day and not gotten sick. Boaz is still struggling w/ fun messy diapers but that’s probably because he’s decided he is ready to eat again. I think it will take a while for him to get better from this, the pediatrician on Friday said that he was worse than the rest of us because it’s the first time his body has had to fight this kind of bug and our bodies are more able to fight it because we’ve had these kind of bugs before. It made sense and made me feel a little better, although I hate him being so sick.

Not sure what else will happen this weekend other than Dean’s working most of the night tonight and tomorrow we have church and more painting to do. I guess that’s enough to keep us busy! Have a great weekend everyone!

Well I know you are sick of reading about how sick we are this week, so off to better things. Since we are sick, a friend dropped off a “care package” for us today including gatorade, saltines and chicken soup. I was grateful and the boys enjoyed all of the above for their lunch, I was avoiding food at all costs. This afternoon another friend from church called and offered to bring over some dinner. She went all out and it was a feast, I wish my belly didnt hurt because it all looked so good! Dean enjoyed it greatly but Caleb decided his belly hurt and he didnt eat a whole lot. I know we are blessed and it’s greatly appreciated!! now if someone would come finish the laundry that I’ve been making myself stay on top of all day and start painting Caleb’s room so it’s ready for his birthday next week…yeah I guess I should be grateful for what we have already been blessed with, but I can dream!

I’m such a planner and I wasnt planning on us being sick which is putting a halt to a lot of things I need to be doing before the party next week after which I’m heading to Ohio w/ the boys for a long visit w/ the in laws. I’ve posted enough for one day and my belly and headache are reminding I should be in bed…oh well maybe tomorrow will be a more productive day around here.