I Take It Back

I’ve been encouraging Ella to share things with her friends. Telling her how happy her friends are when she shares. How kind it is when she shares and how her friends will want to play with her more when she shares.

I take it back. I take it all back.

She has lovingly shared her cold with me. Not just any cold, but a mutant cold from the dark side. To make matters worse, we’re all traveling by air to visit my family for Thanksgiving and we’re leaving in one week. Once upon a time, I would down a couple Tylenol Cold and Sinus, drink my weight in OJ, and sleep it off. Now I don’t have that luxgery. I’ve been using a netti pot, taking vitamins, hot showers and I managed to take a quick cat nap. I can’t drink OJ since that bothers Miles, cold meds impact my milk supply and sleeping it off is just a fond memory of days gone by.

Any suggestions on how to kick this thing early? What are you tried and true cold killers?

In Fact, I Am NOT A Man With An Enlarged Prostate Gland!

I’ve been having kidney stone issues, as I’ve mentioned before. My doctor ordered a CAT scan and discovered five small and one almost too large to pass on my own. He spoke with a urologist and they agreed that it is VERY odd that I have so many, esp with being on a dairy free diet. So I have an appointment scheduled for about a week from now to see the urologist to discuss blood results and what could be causing these stones to form.

In the meantime, I am suppose to be on a medication to break down the stones so I do not experience another horrible kidney stone attack. Dr. C called in the prescription to the pharmacy just before business hours ended this evening and I sent Aaron after dinner to pick it up.

As it turns out, this medication is marketed as a treatment for men with enlarged prostates. I was denied the medication since I do not meet these necessary requirements. I nearly died laughing when Aaron told me since as I was nursing Miles during all of this. Uh, yeah, good to know my insurance agrees with my view of life. Though it is rather frustrating that in attempts to avoid medical fraud, they are denying clients treatment they need.

So here’s to hoping that Dr. C will be able to convince the higher ups to approve the medication tomorrow. In the mean time, I’m glad it provided me with the opportunity to laugh myself silly.

So painful!!!

Yesterday morning, around 12:30, I half way woke up thinking, “wow, that contraction is uncomfortable”. Next thought was “It’s not going away, what the heck?” When I finally woke up completely, I could hardly move due to the intense pain. It was worse than my gallbladder, worse than childbirth. I finally managed to get out of bed and crawl on my hands and knees to Ella’s bedroom where Aaron was sleeping. He got up and I could only manage to crawl to the hallway, where I stayed on all fours while he got my phone.

The ER said to come in right away but I wasn’t permitted to bring Miles with me because the CDC banned all not sick children under the age of 12. I had planned on having Aaron drop the baby and I off at the ER so I could be seen. There wasn’t enough milk in the freezer to last him more than a couple hours and we all know that an ER trip is a 6 hour time frame at the minimum.

So I called Sherry (my midwife) to ask her if she had any idea what was going on and if she had any suggestions. Based on where my pain was, she said it sounded like a kidney stone. At her suggestion, I got in a very hot shower and drink as much water as I could stand. Sherry did insist that if the pain didn’t lessen up within 20 minutes that I needed to go to the ER. She would come and watch both children while Aaron took me. When I expressed concern about there not being enough milk, she assured me he’d be fine and sleep through most of it. I believed her because she is AMAZING with little ones and my children just love her.

Thankfully after about 20 minutes in a really hot shower and downing over 40 ounces of water, what I think was a kidney stone passed. Give me natural childbirth any day! It was simply the most painful experience EVER.

I’m going to make an appointment with my general practitioner this week in hopes of discussing what happened and what I should do if it happens again. I’m fairly certain it will because this morning I woke up with quite a bit of discomfort in the same kidney as before. UGH.

Wordless Wednesday a day late

I was up before the birds yesterday to put on a garage sale and came home exhausted. This morning, I’m just as exhausted and so so so sore. So I’ll pretend that today is Wednesday and get away with just posting a picture.

About ten minutes into Ella’s allergy testing…

No longer a pain in the butt

Got back from the chiropractor appointment this morning. I was very apprehensive about seeing him but my left hip, down my left leg, and neck were to the point of unbearable pain. It would at least be worth a shot to discuss my medical history and see what he had to say, especially since he is incredibly affordable! Every single chiropractor I’ve interviewed has had NO idea what my spinal condition is or what it entails. I simply refuse to let anyone who is uneducated on my condition to adjust me. Well, Dr G not only knew what it was but had just recently read an article in a medical journal about a new way doctors are surgically treating it to prevent the lack of mobility I have now as a result of the surgeries. To top it off, he knew how serious a grade 5 is. Color me shocked and stunned!

Another thing I really appreciated was that he explained before touching me exactly what he was going to do, how he was going to do it, and how the interior of my body would look after the adjustment. He shared this information in such a way that it didn’t make me feel uneducated and also instilled a sense of trust in me regarding his abilities.

While I don’t feel 100% better, I was able to get out of the car at home without wanting to cry and I’m walking without a limp! On Tuesday morning, I have another appointment. After that, he feels that I can come every other week to compensate for my ever changing pregnant self. After the baby is born, he assured me that once a month would be adequate for maintenance but if I needed to be seen more, I’d know and to just call for an appointment.

There is a time and place for the traditional medical field. I’m very thankful for what the medical world has to offer — I’d be in a wheel chair if it wasn’t for those resources. However, I am incredibly grateful for the world of alternative medicine that is offered through chiropractic care, massage therapy, holistic treatments and so much more.