Health - It's a Vivas Thing!

Mar 12 2009

The Plague Continues

I wouldn't wish this on anyone! Why do we say things like that anyway?

"I wouldn't wish this on anyone?"

I mean, seriously, does that mean we even thought about it? That's about where my brain is. the Smart One says I have fuzzy brain. I just know I'm tired of being sick, or taking care of the sick, or even thinking sick. Except really, I can't think anymore, because I have fuzzy brain and it really HURTS to think, or cough, or sneeze. I have to hold my head just to sneeze or cough so that my brain does not explode of our my ears!

This plague has been in my house for almost two weeks now! Just when I think one is getting better, another gets it. I tried really hard to ignore it today. I got up. I took a shower. (The Drama Queen said I smelled when she went in for a cuddle. How rude!) I put on jeans and a t-shirt; a big one. I made quesadillas for the Smart One. I washed sheets and pillow cases. I took a nap in the recliner…something I never do!

I played a game of checkers with the Smart One while I lay on the recliner. He brought the blanket box over to the recliner so I could lay back and still play a game. Yeah, he beat me. Twice.

I helped B-Boo study for a test.

I'm back in a bed with clean sheets, blankets, and pillow cases.

I have no idea what I set out to write about this time. I hope it made sense. I have fuzzy brain.

Mar 10 2009

Laughable Moment #3

For those of you who read my week in a nutshell blog, you'll understand this. For those who haven't, let me sum it up for you.

Exactly one week ago the Smart One was seriously ill. So ill, in fact, that I was ordered by his doctor to bring his fever down by placing him in tepid water for 20 minutes and repeating every hour until we could get his extremely high fever down. This was not only torturous for my son, but also for his mother. He would scream that he was freezing, was going to die, and more. When he was finally let out, he was shaking and shivering and not allowed under a blanket to warm himself. It was pure torture for us both.

Fast forward to today:

I now have his plague. I have the fever and the chills, although not nearly as high as his. To be honest, I feel lousy with a mere 101 temperature, I can only imagine how he felt at 104.6! At any rate, as I was shaking and shivering in misery, he decided to become my nurse. He's good that way. He was checking on me and wanted to know if my fever had come down. No, it hadn't. His reply?

"A freezing bath will bring it down for you!"

I seriously love that boy!

Mar 10 2009

But seriously, what else?

Is it not bad enough that I have a house full of sick people? The two teens are sick now, too, and to top if off, so am I! My chest feels like it's on fire and as my loving son pointed out early this morning, "Mom, you sound like you're going to die! Are you OK?"

Thanks, son.

Apparently I did sound bad, because it was enough to wake up dear hubby who offered to take him to school this morning so I would not have to go out so early.

I managed to make the teens some hot tea and load them up on goldenseal, echinacea and orange juice before they headed out for the day. I felt bad for them, at least I can crawl back into my bed and write this blog; they have a whole day of school ahead of them. I have the Drama Queen next to me working on her school (their are definitely advantages to homeschooling this morning!) and the Smart One is still sound asleep downstairs. I'm starting to wonder if he'll make it up before 10 am anytime this week!

But seriously, I'm didn't start this blog to write about the plague that is making it's way through our house right now. I wanted to write about appliances. Yeah, really.

In the past few months, I've managed to break my son's straightener (ok, please don't go there, we are the Vivas' after all!), break my blow dryer, break same son's blow dryer and then I found my straightener broken on Sunday. We are now down to a little, itty bitty blow dryer thing that doesn't really work that well, but hey, finances are tight, so hair appliances are just going to have to wait.

But then…this morning while taking B-Boo to school, I really thought I was going to hurl before I got back. I think it's the coughing, but it took all I could do to make it home safely. I almost rear-ended the truck in front of me as I was dropping her off due to my coughing episode. I could just imagine trying to explain to the officer,

"Sorry, officer, I really didn't mean to hit the truck, it's just that I couldn't see in front of me because I was coughing so hard." I mean, I think it would have worked given the fact that I look awful and was in my flannel pj's and robe, right?

I did manage to stop right before we collided, so the conversation with the officer was only imagined, not real. That alone should tell you my state of mind this morning.

All this coughing is not doing my bladder issues any good either. I have a bladder that has survived five children and a hysterectomy. I've become an expert at the *cross your legs and squeeze real tight* dance whenever something is funny or if I'm coughing or sneezing. I managed to make it home safely and ran up the stairs, calling out to the Drama Queen to please put some toast in the toaster and I'd be out in a minute.

A few minutes later, I made it back downstairs to find her sitting on the counter by the toaster, proudly making mommy breakfast in hopes that the hurling feeling would go away. The toast popped up; but it was only toasted on one side.

Apparently the toaster is broken. I know this because my Drama Queen patiently explained to me that you have to flip it over and toast the other side because only one side works.

OK then. I'm going back to bed!

Mar 08 2009

My week in a nutshell

Or not. Feeling like a nut by the end of it though. Whoo!

Hubby and I spend last weekend in Arizona with the youth at a Dare2Share conference. I was exhausted by late Sunday night and wanted nothing more than to just have a relaxing week catching up. Apparently the higher's that be had other plans for my week!

Monday: The Smart One wasn't feeling well. I knew this since mother-in-law had called on Sunday to let us know he wasn't feeling himself. By Monday it was starting to hit. I spent most of the day trying to catch up on laundry and comfort him as much as possible. He doesn't do illness well, so getting him comfortable is no small feat! No karate for him tonight!

Tuesday: After being up some through the night, I was pretty tired by Tuesday. The Smart One was really sick by now and his fever just kept going up no matter what I did. I was alternating Tylenol and Motrin and it still didn't help. by 11:30 am, he was crying that he was hurting so I figured I'd better call the doctor. By the time we got to the doctor, his fever was 104.6 and rising. Doc said his throat was raw and on fire and took a culture for strep. He's been our doctor forever and is normally a pretty laid back doctor, but he firmly told me to go home and start baths for the Smart One. 20 minutes in tepid water, then out for an hour and repeat. He said if he got worse or the fever didn't go down he'd have to admit him to the hospital. When we got home, I drew up a bath for him to get in. We pulled the shower curtain shut so I could stay in there with him because he didn't want to be left alone. For the next 20 minutes, I had to listen to him scream that he was freezing, he felt like he was going to die and every minute he'd ask me how many more minutes.

This has to be one of the worst moments as a mom. There is nothing that makes a mom feel worse than having to torture her child on purpose!

This went on for hours, but we finally got the fever down to 102 by 8:30 that night. It was indeed the toughest day of the week! We obviously ended up missing swim lessons!

Wednesday: Wednesday was just more of the same. Fever hung around the 101-102 range all day. He was just miserable and hasn't been out of bed the whole week except to go to the doctor on Tuesday. I was starting to get a little stir crazy after being stuck in the house for three days, but motherhood called first! No Karate again tonight. Hubby was good enough to go to the store for me to purchase things I need for Thursdays' Steven's Soup.

Thursday: Can you believe the man was still running a fever, and now the Drama Queen was sick, too! This meant I wasn't going to be able to deliver the soup as planned. In addition, I was out of children's Tylenol and Motrin. I called a friend down the street who brought me enough to get me through the morning. Then I called my friend and asked her to come pick up the soup instead of me delivering it. That was totally a God thing, because she ended up bringing me some magazines, 7-Up, more meds…and we got to talk about the new bible study that we're starting next week and she's going to join us. I was thrilled! The rest of the day was spent with the kids on the couch dozing off and on while I dusted, vacuumed and stayed on top of laundry. Obviously, swim lessons were canceled again.

Friday: The Drama Queen seemed to be a little better. She was running around all over the place. I could not settle her down for anything even though she had the cough and a slight fever. The Smart One was still not well enough to get off the couch and his cough was much worse. Doc had called and said it was NOT strep and that it just needed to run it's course. I managed to get the upstairs vacuumed, the kitchen and dining room swept and mopped, as well as clean the bathrooms. I guess being stuck at home does have some advantages. Hubby had to go out and get some more cough syrup. Again, no karate tonight.

Saturday: Drama Queen woke up SICK! 102 fever and all the drama she could bring up with it! In addition, the Smart One was still running a low grade temp! I pretty much resigned to myself that I was never leaving the house again. Hubby had soccer stuff and church stuff to do, so that meant I was stuck at home again. I did get the house windexed in between shuffling back and forth with the kids. Hubby finally got home around 3:30 and I was out of there!

I got to have a short visit with a friend, get the oil changed in the van and then share an appetizer with my oldest son while I waited for B-Boo to finish bowling with her friends. By the time we were done, I was so exhausted, I couldn't wait to get home to my bed! OF course, the whole time I was gone, my phone kept ringing…the two little ones were begging me to come home.

And now we're up to speed. It's Sunday and I think they're on the road to recovery. I stayed home with them this morning while the older ones went to church. The Smart One slept until noon! We managed to make a great lunch and they're actually up now.

I'm headed off to church for children's choir (without my two) and youth….but before I go, I need to stop at CVS. Apparently the Talented One, 15, is now coming down with it. What's a mom to do?!

Feb 13 2009

A Mother’s Instinct

Sometimes it seems hard to tell the difference between a Mother's Instinct and over worrying. Where do we draw the line? How do we know when we're not just being over protective and making a mountain out of a molehill? How do we know how long to search for the answer we know in our gut is out there somewhere? It's hard!

I can think of some specific instances in my children's lives when I have had to decide to stop searching for nothing or let others think I was crazy and continue in my search for whatever the answer was!

The first instance was with my youngest son. By the time he was one, he had started losing weight and gone into failure to thrive. He had no interest in eating real food. He threw up a lot. He suffered from constipation and terrible tummy aches. He had a serious lack of bladder control. He suffered from the worst type of *growing pains* that I had ever seen; to the point of nearly crippling him at times. We saw specialist after specialist year after year. Finally, when he was five, he was released from his *failure to thrive* diagnosis. Still, he continued to suffer and we continued to take him to these specialists. I'll never forget our pediatrician saying to me one day, "He's fine. There is nothing wrong with him. It's just a case of mom worrying too much."

Finally, we just kind of gave up taking him to doctors and tried to figure it out on our own instead. Last winter/spring, he started taking a serious turn for the worst again. I started taking him to different doctors again, all to no avail. He started having several instances of barely being able to walk, stomach pains, severe constipation and overall weakness and fatigue. The pain in his legs, heels, feet, arms and legs was almost crippling. One night I took him to the ER when we just could not watch him suffer anymore. I begged the doctor to figure out what was wrong with him once and for all. I'll never forget his reply. He looked me straight in the eye and said to me,

"If you really feel there is something wrong with him, take him to Loma Linda. If he was my child, I would take him to Loma Linda. They will figure it out."

I called Loma Linda Medical University the next morning and got him an appointment right away. They had suggested that he see a Pediatric Gastroenterologist there. I had written up three long pages explaining all of my son's past medical history. She read every page, went over them with me and talked to my son like he was a real person. It took her two days to figure out what was immediately wrong with him and a few more weeks for the rest of the test results to come in! It turned out that my son was suffering from food allergies and a gluten intolerance. Now that he is free of these foods, he is completely pain free! It took ten years, but it was worth it!

The next instance was with my youngest daughter, the drama queen.

She was born with a terrible looking *rash* that was later determined to be eczema. She was a great baby, but she didn't sleep well, suffered from what I call her *non-nursing* spells, and generally only wanted to be held by certain members of the immediate family. Again, I took her in over and over to the pediatrician, all the while being told it was just eczema or that she had a tummy virus. Finally, when she was five months old, a friend recognized that she had food allergies. I'd never really heard of them, but at last I had some hope! I followed his advice and took dairy out of my diet and noticed an improvement right away! It was short lived, but at least we were on the right track! I convinced our pediatrician to send her to an allergist despite his wanting her to see a dermatologist instead. It turned out that she had one of the worst cases of food allergies the allergist had ever seen! With much perseverance over the past eight years we have managed to keep her food allergies under control and her skin looking beautiful!

The next two instances happened with my older daughter. The first started when she was about six years old. She'd been home schooled for two years and was doing great in math, but she struggled with reading. My gut told me there was more to her struggles, but when I casually mentioned my concerns to friends and relatives, I was told she was probably just a little bit of a late learner. By the time she was eight, learning to read had become a battle she was quickly losing. I had taken her to different eye doctors who said her eyes were fine. I felt as if no one was listening to me except for my husband. Finally, I happened upon a conversation one day where an acquaintance was telling a friend of mine about her daughter's new optometrist. After listening for a few minutes, I explained a little about my daughter's reading struggles. She suggested I take her to this optometrist.

The day of the appointment I had a conversation with my dad. The appointment wasn't cheap and he knew that. He felt like it was a waste of time to take her to another doctor and was just trying to prepare me that maybe she was just a little slow when it came to reading. I took her anyway. After two long hours of testing, it was determined that she had a list of visual problems: visual perception problems, sequencing, her right eye was stronger than the left and basically shut it down, etc. I'll never forget going home that day. I was relieved that we were finally on the path to helping her, but shocked at how bad it seemed. My father told me that day that he was glad that I had not listened to him. I was, too! After much Vision Therapy it was also determined that she had dyslexia. She's 14 now and still struggles, but we face it head on together and make the best of it!

The most recent incident happened to this same daughter. God must most definitely have a plan for this child, because He has taught her to persevere even when the going gets tough! Almost two years ago, she started suffering from bouts of sharp pain. We thought that she was getting ready for puberty, so just kind of helped her to deal with it. But by the end of that summer, she'd been to the emergency room twice and did not seem to be getting any better. I decided to take her into my ob/gyn doctor (who'd delivered her!) and see if there was anything we should be concerned about. It was determined that she had a mass (which was later found to be a polyp) in her uterus. She was scheduled to have surgery to remove it. About six months after the surgery, she started to have problems again. This went on for the next few months with no relief from medications. She had her second surgery eight months after the first. By now she'd had a miserable summer and was just wanting to have a normal life free of pain suffering. Unfortunately, the second surgery gave her no relief. At this point, we were referred to a hematologist, a gastroenterologist, an endocrinologist, and finally a pediatric gynecologist. By now she was missing weeks of school and getting worse instead of better. Still suffering, we took her to see a specialist in Los Angeles. Nothing, she just blew us off. Night after night, day after day we prayed over her. I made phone call after phone call trying to get anyone to listen to me and possibly offer a solution for her pain. Finally, after weeks had turned into months, a pediatric gynecologist agreed to see her. The only problem was that she was located 1400 miles away! I had no idea how we were going to get there, where we were going to stay, or what we were going to do. But I knew that my gut was telling me that this is where we needed to be! I knew that if God wanted us there, He was going to get us there! At this point, one of my family members asked me,

"Just how far are you going to go? When when are you going to stop?"

I could only reply with my heart. "I will take her wherever I need to take her, however far I need to take her, until someone can help her."

Within 24 hours, God had provided flight tickets, a place to stay for two weeks, and the money needed for the trip and doctor. The surgery was successful. She was finally diagnosed with endometriosis. After the diagnoses and surgery, a specialist in our hometown agreed to take her on. She has spent the past three months getting back to leading the life of a normal teenager. She smiles, she's happy.

And me? I get to type this blog..ha ha. Ok, but seriously, I believe God has given mothers an *instinct* if you will, to know when we are to stop, and to know when we are to persevere. Sometimes we may start to question ourselves, but if we look deep down and ask Him to show us the way, He will!

My son was talking to me today about the faith of the mustard seed. He wants that kind of faith, the kind that moves mountains. I'm not there yet, but motherhood sure is bringing me closer to that tiny little seed!

B-Boo and The Man

Drama Queen (& friend)