Six Months Down

It's hard to believe that 2008 is half-way over already. 

We had a beautiful day here.  There was a brisk breeze blowing all day, the sun shone most of the time, and it was warm without being hot or humid.

My mother has not felt well lately, and that has been a source of some stress and concern.  About a month ago she started having days where she was short of breath.  It went on for a while before she finally told anyone.  One evening she felt so bad that she let my sister, Lois, take her to the ER.  They ran some tests and found nothing; she wasn't having a heart attack or stroke. 

She takes Nexium for acid reflux, and it had been helping her, but for a few days prior to that bad attack she'd had some stomach pain.  She also had been taking Zyrtec for her allergies, and it was working quite well.  Her doctor suddenly decided to try her on another allergy medication, and when I asked her why she said she didn't know.  Well, my sisters and I didn't like that.  Why change her medication for no reason?  We felt like since these attacks of short breath came about the same time he changed her allergy medication that perhaps that could have something to do with it.  Also the day of the bad attack she'd been outside a lot, and the air quality was bad.

So since then, she has changed back to Zyrtec, has had a scope down her throat to check out her stomach, a colonoscopy (she was out for both of those tests, thankfully), a thyroid scan because her doc says her thyroid is slightly enlarged, and a lower GI series.  Next Monday she is having a stress test.  The stomach scope and colonoscopy both turned out well, showing nothing alarming except a little bit of diverticulitis; so she will not eat things with seeds from now on.  She hasn't got the results from the thyroid scan or GI yet.  She has lost a lot of weight and still isn't eating a lot, but she does eat better now than she had been.

I call her every day, and if she's having a good day I can tell right away because she sounds like herself, very upbeat and happy.  If she's having a bad day, I can tell right away because she sounds tired and depressed.  This morning she said she was feeling some better and having a good day, only slightly out of breath, and she told me that she had taken a Zanex last night to relax her and help her sleep, and she felt it had helped a lot.  My mother has never liked to take pills, and still usually rebels against it for as long as she can; she's always been exceedingly healthy, so thankfully she never had to take constant medication until the past few years.  So the fact that she is willingly taking Zanex says a lot to me -- that she really has been having trouble with anxiety and sleeplessness and that it's bad enough she's willing to take another pill for it.

We're hoping that the stress test shows nothing going on with her heart.   She is 84 years old, and a very spry old bird, and I hate to see her slowing down.  What I really hate is to hear her sounding depressed, because she just doesn't get down at all.  Three of my sisters were with her at her last doctor's appointment, and they and my sister from Florida (coming in this week for a visit) will be with her for her stress test on Monday, so I know between them we'll get all the info we can out of her doctor.  Actually I may just sneak down there and be there for it myself.  Hmmm.  Yes, I think I will.

Next Monday Thomas starts a new position where he works.  He'll be a Lead Man in the QC (quality control) department.  I'm glad he put in for it, and very glad he got it.  It's something he should have been doing for a long time now.

Well, I'm slowly dropping by to catch up with journals.  Spent quite a bit of time doing that today, and I plan on doing some more of it tomorrow.  I hope everyone is having a good week. 

Thank you Donna for the beautiful tag.

Today's Salute goes to Fort Pierce, Florida, population 41,000+

 ~ ~ 810 miles from me

       ~~ Sa -LUTE

Thank You!

A big Thank You to everyone who responded to my previous post.  I guess what I was actually asking for was anyone with experience with OCD with hoarding in children who could offer support or who could point me to support organizations to contact me, and someone did.  She pointed me exactly where I needed to go.  Of course, I'd still love to hear from anyone with personal experience with a child with this problem.  I will, at some point, probably explain why, but for now I can't.  Thanks again to everyone.

I Need Some Help

If there is anyone reading this journal who has personal or professional experience dealing with a child with OCD with hoarding, please contact me.  You can leave a comment or email me personally at helmswondermom@aol.com.  I would really, really appreciate it.

Thank you!

Tags: OCD with hoarding in children

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig!

We got home late Sunday night.  We had a wonderful long weekend, but it was good to be home.  I had thought I might post an entry on Friday.  Our hotel had very good, strong internet service throughout, but except for checking my email I didn't do anything online.

So we have been married for 21 years.  That's half of my life I realized.  I have now lived with my husband longer than I lived with my parents. 

I had the second part of my physical yesterday.  Believe it or not, my blood pressure was down to 120/80.  I checked it two of the days that we were away, and it was still high like it had been.  All of my blood work turned out good.  I was really expecting my cholesterol to be high, but it wasn't.  My bad cholesterol was really low, and my good cholesterol was low.  My electrolytes and sugar looked good.  My red blood count was about .1% higher than the acceptable range, so he considered that okay.  My pap came out normal.  And even though I hadn't been doing much since my back had started giving me trouble, I still lost 2 pounds last week!

So he said to keep doing what I've been doing; to wait to see what the spine center says about my back and exercising before I start back doing more, but to go ahead with my walking as long as I'm not in any pain.  I am drinking green tea and lots of water, and I'll watch my portion size, but he said he wasn't going to restrict my diet any.  I'm really not that bad about eating too much salt or sugar (usually, although I did kind of pig out this past weekend!).  I'm going to check my bp at different times of the day once a week and keep note of it, and if it does get high again and stay high, then I'll let him know.

So now, I just wait to see how my appointment at the spine center goes on Thursday.  They'll probably just look at my ex-rays, talk to me, and set up an appointment for an MRI. 

It is very hot here today.  Well, technically it's only about 83°, but when you're outside you'd think it was a lot hotter.  The sun is bright and hot, and it's a bit humid.  I have lots of things to catch up on, so I'll end this here.  Hope to get around to see everyone soon.

Just Dropping In

It's late, and I'm unable to sleep, so here I sit.  I guess it's about time to make an appearance.  My back has been doing very much better.  I made myself completely rest for about three days in a row, and that along with the Naproxen seems to have helped a lot.  By last week I was almost back to normal with just an occasional stab of pain.  Sometimes when I stand up or when I get out of the car I'll feel some pain, but it isn't a constant thing.  My appointment with the spine center is next week.

Yesterday I went to my doctor for my annual exam.  I had the lab work done and my Pap.  Usually it is hard for the lab tech to find a vein.  They always try to get it from my right arm even after I tell them that it's usually easier to get it from the left.  But this was a new tech, and she actually listened to me!  I had drunk a LOT of water that morning in preparation, hoping that it would help plump my veins a bit, but they didn't look any plumper to me. :)  She tapped around, though, and found one and very quickly took three vials of blood. 

My blood pressure was high when she checked it -- 144/98.  Yikes!!  That's in the Stage I category.  The day before I had been extremely irritable, not AT anything in particular, just in general.  If my blood pressure was up, then that's probably why.  Early Wednesday morning I checked my BP at a local store, and it was 142/95.  Still Yikes!  So, curious, I checked it again in the evening, and it was down to 138/85.  I hadn't slept well Monday or Tuesday nights, and I wonder if that could have spiked it.  Still, 138/85 is high.  I'm going to check it every day and keep a record of the readings along with the time of day and then give the list to my doctor when I go in Monday for the second part of the physical.

Until I was pregnant with Eler Beth my BP was always right at 110/70.  But with Eler Beth I developed pre-eclampsia in the third trimester.  Since then it has never been that low, but has never been this high, either.  If it stays high I'm going to try to get my doc to let me try diuretics and lifestyle changes before going on any serious meds.  I'm hopeful that my cholesteral numbers aren't horrible.

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do with everyone, and with my own journals as well.  Our wedding anniversary is this Friday -- 21 years!  We are going out of town to celebrate, but I'll make an entry that day if I can.  I'm taking my laptop, but whether I'll actually get around to using it is another thing.

Well, I'm off to try to get some sleep now.

Lesson in Humility -- Being Shoved Down My Throat

I went to my doctor last Thursday for ex-rays.  She said there are definitely some bulging discs and has sent me to the Kenton D. Leatherman Spine Center.  I have an appointment with them on the 26th, so in the meantime I guess I'll just move as carefully as I can and hope for more good days than bad.  The ex-ray tech showed me one of the ex-rays of my spine curvature, and I was rather shocked at how much it had changed (for the worse) since I was a child.  By the way, the surgeon for whom the spine center is named was my doctor back then.

My doc also gave me some Naproxen, and it has helped.  Yesterday was a gloomy, dreary old day, and I decided that I would just stay in bed for most of it.  I was afraid that lying down all day would actually make by back hurt more, because usually if I'm in bed too long that's what happens.  But I guess I needed to rest it more than I thought in this case, because yesterday evening and today my back has felt better than it has in three weeks. 

Thomas told me not to get carried away and overdo it just because the pain wasn't as bad as it had been.  I am under orders from him to delegate as much household responsibility as I can to my newly graduated son and my more-than-capable daughter.  Several friends have called to tell me to call on them if I need anything, and my Mom has threatened to send my sister Lois up here to help me out. 

Do you know how hard it is for me to ask for or accept help?  That is one area where I don't have enough humility, and I dread lest I should actually have to take someone up on an offer of help.  I'm confessing one of my worst sins here.  I don't like not being able to do things for myself -- one of those control things I guess.

Last Friday I took Eler Beth with me to get some groceries, even though I knew I should have waited for Thomas to get home.  I was okay until I started to get out of the car.  I had to have her bring a cart around for me to use to pull myself up out of the car.  I could barely walk through the store, and Eler Beth offered to get me one of those motorized carts!  No, I think I'll put that off until I absolutely have no other choice.  I'm used to zipping through the stores or wherever I need to go, and I am actually appalled at the idea of having to use something to help me get around.  Now isn't that a pitiful attitude to have?

But the Naproxen and the day's complete rest yesterday have taken away the numbness and the burning down my leg (or else it just went away on its own), and the pain in my hip and lumbar is much better if I don't forget and move too quickly.  So I guess I'll be happy that right now I have a respite and hope that it lasts.  And I guess I'll do what Thomas says and sit and direct the kids with a lot of the housework instead of doing it myself.  And I will hope and pray that surgery won't be necessary. 

There are so many others out there who are so much worse off than I am, but thank you for letting me complain a bit here.  I need to catch up with J-land to see what's going on in everyone else's world.  So ta-ta for now.