As a kid, the worst thing that could happen on a Christmas morning would be to open up presents of clothing. I can remember a few such Christmases, when my sister and I received matching knit vests or matching glove, hat and scarf sets or sweaters from my grandmother. If the disappointment of the discovery of clothing instead of toys wasn't bad enough, we also often ended up swapping because she liked the color I received and I liked hers better.
Now, I know that my MS would be heartbroken if every present he opened ended up being clothes. However, I am pretty sure if his grandmother bought him clothes in his favorite themes (or better yet, costume pajamas), he would jump for joy. This is just a personality quirk of my middle son.
Today, my husband decided to bring down the bins of clothes we have in storage in the attic. I have been searching for boots to fit the little boys. I know I will have to purchase a pair for ES. He went the whole of last winter wearing MY boots every time he went out the door to snowboard or sled. He had boots, but always complained that his Velcro came loose. Thankfully mine were a basic zip-up black and not too feminine.
Perhaps climbing that ladder and entering the distasteful environment of the attic is a complete pain. Something prompted my husband to make the decision that, from now on, all the clothing storage bins will be stored in the basement. He did give valid reasons: the changes in temperature from extreme heat to extreme cold and the presence of mice. I'm still thinking it was more of a hassle-induced decision.
You would have thought it was Christmas. My husband opened one of the bins and found a train t-shirt lying on the top. He brought it triumphantly in to present it to YS, even though it is probably a tad bit too big still. YS was thrilled and MS decided he had to investigate.
Within minutes he was pulling the lids off of boxes and experiencing a high akin to Christmas morning. Oh, the bounty! He found a power ranger pajama set with an accompanying cape, power ranger and Yu-Gi-Oh shirts, and Scooby-Doo underwear. He was even thrilled with a pair of dalmatian slippers.
My MS loves clothes! He loves changing clothes. Unfortunately, he doesn't love folding them or putting them away (nor is he very good at it, even when he tries). I'm seriously contemplating getting him three or four crates and merely letting him toss all of his shirts, pants, and sweats into the appropriate bins. Then he can dig through to find that elusive shirt he wants (oh, the number of times I have scoured through his drawers looking for "the Spiderman shirt that is kind of sparkly and has the Hulk on it" or something like that).
My husband brought down about 12 or 13 Rubbermaid boxes (everything boy from sizes 5 - 12). He did mention that there were two boxes up there marked "girl clothes." I suppose it is finally safe to get rid of those clothes now (wink). Hubby said he would happily lug them down next time I'm heading towards the town where there is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. I'm sure he would tell me to convey to grandma that our boys don't need ANY clothes! It may take me clear until Christmas to reorganize the boys' clothes and figure out where to store these in the basement. At least, in the meantime, I have some very happy little boys.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Looking Back
Is it wrong to admit that sometimes I find myself longing for the good old days when it was just my hubby, myself and our one son. Originally, I had wanted five children. These days, I think I would be dead if we had five children. I know plenty of other people who do fine with those larger numbers. In fact, I'm blown away by how many other people do fine with those larger numbers. It can make a mother think, "what's wrong with me? why can't I handle the demands of three children, for goodness sakes?!"
Then, I find myself wondering if my PARTICULAR children present more demands than the average kids. Do other children find quiet things to occupy their time and remain contentedly focused on what they are doing? I can remember my parents taking us to work (they were Salvation Army officers and we spent a large portion of our days at the church building). They would pull out a small mattress for the floor and we would lie on our bellies with a large plastic bin of crayons in the middle and a stack of coloring books. We colored for hours on end. We listened to records with stories. We played games with one another. I don't remember hounding my own parents every two minutes to come and see what I had drawn or come and set up a different game or come and watch me play a song on Guitar Hero or come and rescue me from my brother.
Then again, probably the problem lies within. Is it my age? Am I just too old for this gig? My husband has a theory (and one I'm none too happy to admit, because I can see it rings of truth) that I would find things to be unhappy about no matter how many children I had. Perhaps that is what sets these other mothers apart. Those mothers whose faces glow with love and enthusiasm for their broods of small children. Those mothers who admit to being a bit out of sorts when their youngest one is no longer a baby.
Today was one of those days where I was wishing for a less complicated, less chaotic home. From the moment the boys awoke, it seemed my name was being yelled from every direction of the house. I literally think my MS managed to say "Mom" over a thousand times today.
My ES was gone for the morning, and I kept hoping to find a brief window of time where I could get the little boys busy with something and manage to slip into the shower for ten minutes. Finally, when I picked up ES at noon, I explained that when we arrived home he was not playing Guitar Hero (Rock Band is out, since his foot pedal broke in half last weekend), he was not going on the computer, he was not even cleaning his room (that would have been first on my hubby's agenda for him). He would be taking the little boys downstairs to play in the play room (I had already straightened the upstairs rooms three or four times only to discover them pulling whole buckets of toys out - just for the pleasure of seeing everything on the floor, I think) while I took a shower!
At least when my husband returned home from his half day of work, I was clean and presentable. However, it didn't take long for more damage to be assessed. Apparently, YS pulled a whole shelf of books off the bookshelf downstairs (these are MY books, not children's books). Plus, someone (????) toppled a small pile on my desk, knocking off a double frame with my twin nieces' pictures. The glass in the frames shattered. The little boys were ushered upstairs.
These photos of the play room show that one end is theirs and the other end is, supposedly, mine. Ha!
After a nice nap for YS and myself, I went down to clean up the mess. I keep my books - at least my fiction - in alphabetical order (see, I'm not a complete messy!), so I began to put them in order on the shelf. As I did so, I was noting several books which I had started but never finished. One was a book that has recently been buzzed about because a movie was made (The Secret Life of Bees). Another was Stones from the River. I opened this one to find a makeshift bookmark (another messy habit).
It was a stapled set of Amtrak ticket stubs from a trip I had taken with my ES in June of 2000. He was four and still loved trains. We decided to take an Amtrak train from Naperville, Illinois out to Kansas City, Missouri to visit my parents. What fun we had taking that train. During our visit, we visited another train somewhere nearby, and the conductor even let my son go up into the engine and pretend to drive it. It was no effort at all to pour all of my energies into seeking out adventures according to his interests. He, and his favorite things, had my undivided attention. I seem to recall having much more energy then, too.
Well, something tells me I better end this nostalgic look back to the days of our family of three. They are all quiet right now, sleeping soundly. This is my favorite time of the evening. But perhaps I love it a little too much. Perhaps I wouldn't be wishing for the simpler times of a family of three, if I would put myself in bed the minute they go to sleep. Perhaps the problem isn't the kids and isn't me. Perhaps, I just need to give up this whole blogging experiment. There is a strong likelihood I would have enjoyed my family of five a bit more if I had gone to bed before 2 a.m. this morning. Then, rising at 8 to meet their demands might not have seemed so overwhelming.
Then, I find myself wondering if my PARTICULAR children present more demands than the average kids. Do other children find quiet things to occupy their time and remain contentedly focused on what they are doing? I can remember my parents taking us to work (they were Salvation Army officers and we spent a large portion of our days at the church building). They would pull out a small mattress for the floor and we would lie on our bellies with a large plastic bin of crayons in the middle and a stack of coloring books. We colored for hours on end. We listened to records with stories. We played games with one another. I don't remember hounding my own parents every two minutes to come and see what I had drawn or come and set up a different game or come and watch me play a song on Guitar Hero or come and rescue me from my brother.
Then again, probably the problem lies within. Is it my age? Am I just too old for this gig? My husband has a theory (and one I'm none too happy to admit, because I can see it rings of truth) that I would find things to be unhappy about no matter how many children I had. Perhaps that is what sets these other mothers apart. Those mothers whose faces glow with love and enthusiasm for their broods of small children. Those mothers who admit to being a bit out of sorts when their youngest one is no longer a baby.
Today was one of those days where I was wishing for a less complicated, less chaotic home. From the moment the boys awoke, it seemed my name was being yelled from every direction of the house. I literally think my MS managed to say "Mom" over a thousand times today.
My ES was gone for the morning, and I kept hoping to find a brief window of time where I could get the little boys busy with something and manage to slip into the shower for ten minutes. Finally, when I picked up ES at noon, I explained that when we arrived home he was not playing Guitar Hero (Rock Band is out, since his foot pedal broke in half last weekend), he was not going on the computer, he was not even cleaning his room (that would have been first on my hubby's agenda for him). He would be taking the little boys downstairs to play in the play room (I had already straightened the upstairs rooms three or four times only to discover them pulling whole buckets of toys out - just for the pleasure of seeing everything on the floor, I think) while I took a shower!
At least when my husband returned home from his half day of work, I was clean and presentable. However, it didn't take long for more damage to be assessed. Apparently, YS pulled a whole shelf of books off the bookshelf downstairs (these are MY books, not children's books). Plus, someone (????) toppled a small pile on my desk, knocking off a double frame with my twin nieces' pictures. The glass in the frames shattered. The little boys were ushered upstairs.
These photos of the play room show that one end is theirs and the other end is, supposedly, mine. Ha!
After a nice nap for YS and myself, I went down to clean up the mess. I keep my books - at least my fiction - in alphabetical order (see, I'm not a complete messy!), so I began to put them in order on the shelf. As I did so, I was noting several books which I had started but never finished. One was a book that has recently been buzzed about because a movie was made (The Secret Life of Bees). Another was Stones from the River. I opened this one to find a makeshift bookmark (another messy habit).
It was a stapled set of Amtrak ticket stubs from a trip I had taken with my ES in June of 2000. He was four and still loved trains. We decided to take an Amtrak train from Naperville, Illinois out to Kansas City, Missouri to visit my parents. What fun we had taking that train. During our visit, we visited another train somewhere nearby, and the conductor even let my son go up into the engine and pretend to drive it. It was no effort at all to pour all of my energies into seeking out adventures according to his interests. He, and his favorite things, had my undivided attention. I seem to recall having much more energy then, too.
Well, something tells me I better end this nostalgic look back to the days of our family of three. They are all quiet right now, sleeping soundly. This is my favorite time of the evening. But perhaps I love it a little too much. Perhaps I wouldn't be wishing for the simpler times of a family of three, if I would put myself in bed the minute they go to sleep. Perhaps the problem isn't the kids and isn't me. Perhaps, I just need to give up this whole blogging experiment. There is a strong likelihood I would have enjoyed my family of five a bit more if I had gone to bed before 2 a.m. this morning. Then, rising at 8 to meet their demands might not have seemed so overwhelming.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
What Would You Do?
So many times in parenting, an unexpected situation arises where I don't really know quite how I wish to respond. I'm sure there are quite a few possible responses and probably more than one of the possible responses would even be considered a good response. None of us parent exactly like another person, but it is interesting to consider how someone else might have responded.
On Saturday night, my ES was invited to a birthday party at a roller skating rink a few towns over. I always appreciate when we can car pool in these situations, and don't really mind the late night pick-ups, since I am usually up until midnight or 1 a.m. So, I headed over to pick up my son and his two friends.
As they entered the car, they were boisterous and jovial. They began to regale me with tales of their big wins in the arcade and some pestering of the authorities for the "insane" ruling against hats out on the rink. I had chuckled when I noticed a piece of paper lying on the table near their gear. It said "Hats are podiness" or something like that. They translated. The writer had been trying to spell poisonous. (I promise there was no alcohol involved at this middle school party!)
One of the boys began to call home on his cell phone. He tried several times and when no one picked up he began to get really crazy with his messages. He would say things like "I know you can hear me. Pick up. I'm just going to sing the Canadian national anthem until you pick up." I was surprised he actually knew the words (this song, by the way, used to be in our church hymnal at the back and it always made us kids laugh when my older brothers would request it during the hymn request time on Sunday nights).
In an aha! moment, he realized that he should call his sister's cell because she is always up. She did indeed answer and he begged her to go get the mother so he could ask if the other friend could spend the night (we haven't been allowing ES many overnights because of his illness). As he waited for the mother to come to the phone, he was explaining to the other boys that if he asks his mother to have someone spend the night during the day she always says "no," but by 11 p.m., she usually is so tired she just says yes.
Apparently, she did the uncharacteristic. She stuck to her guns. Her answer was no and you could hear the tone of the conversation begin to turn ugly. What surprised me was how ugly it turned. The boy didn't curse his mother or anything, but I would say that his response was disrespectful (especially given the fact that the rest of us were hostage listeners to this conversation). He felt that she was being unfair, since his sister had just had a sleepover. I guess what really got to me was that this boy accused his parents of denying his request because they wanted to safeguard their daughters. After angrily hanging up on his mother, the boys began to discuss the mother and "injustice."
Of course, I was reeling over a completely different injustice. Now, I understand that pre-adolescent minds are highly egocentric. I understand that boys will vent when they are frustrated. What I found myself confused about was what my response should be.
I really wanted to say something, but didn't feel comfortable. In the end, the minute I was alone in the van with my ES, I said, "If you ever speak to me on the phone in the manner that ***** just did, you will regret it for a good long time. I would have never expected such disrespect to come from *******. She is his mother and whether he agrees with her decision or not, he should treat her with respect."
When I mentioned the uncomfortable incident to my husband, he said I should have asked for the conversation to stop. As soon as I heard him give his take, my mind went off on a Becky Bloomwood tangent and I imagined myself bringing the car to a stop and asking the child to stand outside of the car if he wished to continue his conversation. Even now, when I think about it, I don't know what I should have done.
So, I ask - what would you do in a similar situation? Have you been in a similar situation?
And, since I'm begging for feedback, I'll add another scenario. ES has missed most of this week of school. He missed last Friday because of the colonoscopy. He missed Monday because he awoke with a headache and intense nausea (we wondered if, in his weakened state, he had picked up the flu Saturday night). On Tuesday, he awoke with a severe headache, but I took him to school at 11 when it cleared up. On Wednesday morning, he threw up.
I was really anxious for him to go back to school today, becauseI'm sick of having him home pestering the little boys and today is my one free day he is missing too much school and especially because he would miss a field trip today. It wasn't just any field trip. It was a field trip to see Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol in Indianapolis, followed by lunch at Acupulco Joe's restaurant. It was a field trip I already paid $15 for him to attend.
I argued with him for quite a while this morning, while trying to get the little boys dressed and off to school (I didn't even manage to give them breakfast). I tried to remind him that he would probably feel better and even if he didn't, couldn't he bear the pain in order to take advantage of this cool opportunity. (O.K., once again, I did a bit of Becky Bloomwood rambling - imagining myself driving to the theater after dropping off my little boys at preschool, to see if I could use my son's ticket and see the play with his class - oooh, maybe I should have threatened this! The humiliation of that could certainly get a 7th grader up and moving.)
Thing is, his father and I had already discussed this possibility (since he's been sick like this and the infection seems to be getting worse). We understand his anxiety and concern that he might get on the bus and then feel sick and have no escape. We understand that he feels really horrible in the morning (this is characteristic of H. Pylori infections).
Would you have forced him to go anyway? We had agreed not to force him. I didn't take our parental decision very well, though. I grumbled quite a bit today (bad mommy) over his missing the play, over his rousing in the afternoons, over his accumulating absences. ES spent most of the day apologizing. Of course, then I had to tell him the apology was unnecessary, since he couldn't help being sick and I know he did want to go (maybe not as much as I wanted to go, but he did want to go with his friends on a field trip).
On Saturday night, my ES was invited to a birthday party at a roller skating rink a few towns over. I always appreciate when we can car pool in these situations, and don't really mind the late night pick-ups, since I am usually up until midnight or 1 a.m. So, I headed over to pick up my son and his two friends.
As they entered the car, they were boisterous and jovial. They began to regale me with tales of their big wins in the arcade and some pestering of the authorities for the "insane" ruling against hats out on the rink. I had chuckled when I noticed a piece of paper lying on the table near their gear. It said "Hats are podiness" or something like that. They translated. The writer had been trying to spell poisonous. (I promise there was no alcohol involved at this middle school party!)
One of the boys began to call home on his cell phone. He tried several times and when no one picked up he began to get really crazy with his messages. He would say things like "I know you can hear me. Pick up. I'm just going to sing the Canadian national anthem until you pick up." I was surprised he actually knew the words (this song, by the way, used to be in our church hymnal at the back and it always made us kids laugh when my older brothers would request it during the hymn request time on Sunday nights).
In an aha! moment, he realized that he should call his sister's cell because she is always up. She did indeed answer and he begged her to go get the mother so he could ask if the other friend could spend the night (we haven't been allowing ES many overnights because of his illness). As he waited for the mother to come to the phone, he was explaining to the other boys that if he asks his mother to have someone spend the night during the day she always says "no," but by 11 p.m., she usually is so tired she just says yes.
Apparently, she did the uncharacteristic. She stuck to her guns. Her answer was no and you could hear the tone of the conversation begin to turn ugly. What surprised me was how ugly it turned. The boy didn't curse his mother or anything, but I would say that his response was disrespectful (especially given the fact that the rest of us were hostage listeners to this conversation). He felt that she was being unfair, since his sister had just had a sleepover. I guess what really got to me was that this boy accused his parents of denying his request because they wanted to safeguard their daughters. After angrily hanging up on his mother, the boys began to discuss the mother and "injustice."
Of course, I was reeling over a completely different injustice. Now, I understand that pre-adolescent minds are highly egocentric. I understand that boys will vent when they are frustrated. What I found myself confused about was what my response should be.
I really wanted to say something, but didn't feel comfortable. In the end, the minute I was alone in the van with my ES, I said, "If you ever speak to me on the phone in the manner that ***** just did, you will regret it for a good long time. I would have never expected such disrespect to come from *******. She is his mother and whether he agrees with her decision or not, he should treat her with respect."
When I mentioned the uncomfortable incident to my husband, he said I should have asked for the conversation to stop. As soon as I heard him give his take, my mind went off on a Becky Bloomwood tangent and I imagined myself bringing the car to a stop and asking the child to stand outside of the car if he wished to continue his conversation. Even now, when I think about it, I don't know what I should have done.
So, I ask - what would you do in a similar situation? Have you been in a similar situation?
And, since I'm begging for feedback, I'll add another scenario. ES has missed most of this week of school. He missed last Friday because of the colonoscopy. He missed Monday because he awoke with a headache and intense nausea (we wondered if, in his weakened state, he had picked up the flu Saturday night). On Tuesday, he awoke with a severe headache, but I took him to school at 11 when it cleared up. On Wednesday morning, he threw up.
I was really anxious for him to go back to school today, because
I argued with him for quite a while this morning, while trying to get the little boys dressed and off to school (I didn't even manage to give them breakfast). I tried to remind him that he would probably feel better and even if he didn't, couldn't he bear the pain in order to take advantage of this cool opportunity. (O.K., once again, I did a bit of Becky Bloomwood rambling - imagining myself driving to the theater after dropping off my little boys at preschool, to see if I could use my son's ticket and see the play with his class - oooh, maybe I should have threatened this! The humiliation of that could certainly get a 7th grader up and moving.)
Thing is, his father and I had already discussed this possibility (since he's been sick like this and the infection seems to be getting worse). We understand his anxiety and concern that he might get on the bus and then feel sick and have no escape. We understand that he feels really horrible in the morning (this is characteristic of H. Pylori infections).
Would you have forced him to go anyway? We had agreed not to force him. I didn't take our parental decision very well, though. I grumbled quite a bit today (bad mommy) over his missing the play, over his rousing in the afternoons, over his accumulating absences. ES spent most of the day apologizing. Of course, then I had to tell him the apology was unnecessary, since he couldn't help being sick and I know he did want to go (maybe not as much as I wanted to go, but he did want to go with his friends on a field trip).
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Another Painless Way to Help
Two Coleman posts in a row. Just consider Coleman and Caden part of the "Boys" in my blog name!
Michelle Brownlow has come up with an interesting idea for possibly securing more money to fight against childhood cancer. Her heart has also been aching for Team Larson and her idea offers up another painless way to help. If you go to her post, you can link to the John Deere comment page. She is asking her readers to petition the John Deere company to make a donation to CureSearch.org in honor of Coleman Larson. The Larson twins love John Deere. In my comments to the company, I mentioned that every time I see the John Deere logo I think of and pray for Coleman. I also added that I think the twins would make fabulous spokesmen in a commercial.
Anyway, you can easily join this grass-roots effort and send a quick comment to John Deere, asking them to make a donation.
If you are interested in spending money while supporting Childhood Cancer Research, check out Michelle's other site, Its for the Kids, where she takes orders for hand-made namesakes. I purchased one for my niece Amelia (a leukemia survivor) and it was adorable, see? Christmas is coming ... why not give a gift that gives back?
Michelle Brownlow has come up with an interesting idea for possibly securing more money to fight against childhood cancer. Her heart has also been aching for Team Larson and her idea offers up another painless way to help. If you go to her post, you can link to the John Deere comment page. She is asking her readers to petition the John Deere company to make a donation to CureSearch.org in honor of Coleman Larson. The Larson twins love John Deere. In my comments to the company, I mentioned that every time I see the John Deere logo I think of and pray for Coleman. I also added that I think the twins would make fabulous spokesmen in a commercial.
Anyway, you can easily join this grass-roots effort and send a quick comment to John Deere, asking them to make a donation.
If you are interested in spending money while supporting Childhood Cancer Research, check out Michelle's other site, Its for the Kids, where she takes orders for hand-made namesakes. I purchased one for my niece Amelia (a leukemia survivor) and it was adorable, see? Christmas is coming ... why not give a gift that gives back?
Monday, November 10, 2008
Carry Coleman in Prayer
Due to my sinus infection, I haven't snagged as much time on the computer lately. On the same day that my ES had his endoscopy/colonoscopy, and we received the good news that he doesn't have Crohn's, Coleman Larson underwent an MRI and they received the difficult news (with these precious twin four year old boys right in the room) that Coleman's cancer has spread. Both chemotherapy and the 3f8 treatments they were hoping to try, are no longer options. He is also displaying tremors and slurred speech. Today was quite an exhausting day for them, with more tests to try to determine the source of the tremors.
As Peggy put it:
"So a recap- Cman's day...one finger poke,one catscan, one port access, one infusion, one E.E.G., one omaya access, one bouncy brother trying his best to sit still and be supportive and entertaining for an almost ten hour day. TWO exhausted parents."
My heart is aching for this precious family. I cannot do anything to ease their anxiety, but I can pray and encourage everyone I know to lift them up in prayer. Please remember Caden, Coleman's twin brother, as well. He is watching this whole thing unfold and is extremely concerned about his brother.
As for our good news, we haven't been able to take any action on it yet. ES came to us in the middle of the night to say he felt really ill. We kept him home from school today and had to cancel an orthodontic appointment (it was a tightening, so we temporarily held off that pain).
With his nausea, we didn't feel good about starting the two week triple therapy (consisting of two strong antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor). Plus, I have been trying to reach the doctor with questions about scheduling these medicines. It gets a bit complicated when the Prevacid is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach, and one of the antibiotics isn't supposed to be taken within six hours of an antacid or with calcium or any vitamin supplements. We are trying to determine a schedule for his meds, his vitamin and his probiotic.
Of course, our primary prayer for ES is that this doesn't prove to be an antibiotic resistant strain of H. Pylori. We are hoping that the two week course of heavy meds will eliminate the bacterial infection, allowing him enough time to strengthen his body for the coming wrestling season.
We have been extremely grateful for the prayers of family, friends back in DeKalb and those who stay connected with us through the internet. If we have been encouraged by the relatively small number of people praying for ES, think how encouraging the numerous prayers for Coleman help to strengthen and support his family. Take a moment to watch this video of their family, visit their carepage and say an extra prayer for Coleman and Team Larson, because they "neva div up!"
As Peggy put it:
"So a recap- Cman's day...one finger poke,one catscan, one port access, one infusion, one E.E.G., one omaya access, one bouncy brother trying his best to sit still and be supportive and entertaining for an almost ten hour day. TWO exhausted parents."
My heart is aching for this precious family. I cannot do anything to ease their anxiety, but I can pray and encourage everyone I know to lift them up in prayer. Please remember Caden, Coleman's twin brother, as well. He is watching this whole thing unfold and is extremely concerned about his brother.
As for our good news, we haven't been able to take any action on it yet. ES came to us in the middle of the night to say he felt really ill. We kept him home from school today and had to cancel an orthodontic appointment (it was a tightening, so we temporarily held off that pain).
With his nausea, we didn't feel good about starting the two week triple therapy (consisting of two strong antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor). Plus, I have been trying to reach the doctor with questions about scheduling these medicines. It gets a bit complicated when the Prevacid is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach, and one of the antibiotics isn't supposed to be taken within six hours of an antacid or with calcium or any vitamin supplements. We are trying to determine a schedule for his meds, his vitamin and his probiotic.
Of course, our primary prayer for ES is that this doesn't prove to be an antibiotic resistant strain of H. Pylori. We are hoping that the two week course of heavy meds will eliminate the bacterial infection, allowing him enough time to strengthen his body for the coming wrestling season.
We have been extremely grateful for the prayers of family, friends back in DeKalb and those who stay connected with us through the internet. If we have been encouraged by the relatively small number of people praying for ES, think how encouraging the numerous prayers for Coleman help to strengthen and support his family. Take a moment to watch this video of their family, visit their carepage and say an extra prayer for Coleman and Team Larson, because they "neva div up!"
Friday, November 7, 2008
What Lurks In Your Intestines?
This past summer, my ES attended a camp here in Indiana. He had a fabulous time, but from the moment he returned home, he seemed to be battling some sort of bug. At first, we attributed it to fatigue. As the weeks went by and he didn't improve, we thought it might be a parasite picked up in the camp's pool (there were rampant cases of cryptosporidium in the news this summer). Trips to our regular doctor weren't providing answers either. He was tested for parasites, lactose intolerance, and celiac disease. Finally, we were referred to a GI. This doctor suggested it might be Crohn's Disease and scheduled an endoscopy/colonoscopy for this past Friday.
Unfortunately (or maybe that was fortunate, given my medical squeamishness), I am in the throes of a miserable sinus infection, so my husband took ES. He reported that he found it a very emotional thing to watch his son go unconscious (especially since we have friends whose brother/brother-in-law underwent a routine dental surgery and suffered complications from the anesthesia).
He didn't have long to linger in the emotion, however, because the doctor immediately began explaining what he was seeing on the monitor. My husband said it was fascinating. They performed the endoscopy first. The doctor noted an ulcer in his throat, which signals the presence of infection. There was also inflammation at the entrance to the stomach.
The doctor's comments during the colonoscopy were encouraging. Things looked good, despite a substantial amount of inflammation there as well. His assessment ruled out Chrohn's, thank goodness. He now believes that ES is battling a case of chronic gastritis brought on by an H. Pylori infection.
As soon as my husband called with the news, I went on-line to search for information. Not surprisingly, my son did the same when he returned home. Gone are the days where you can say to your child, "The doctor thinks you have an infection, so you need to take this medicine. O.K., off with you now ... go play."
I was surprised to discover how widespread H. Pylori really is. Wikipedia said, "Helicobacter pylori (pronounced /ˌhɛlɪkəˈbæktɚ pɪˈlɔəraɪ/) is a gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium that inhabits various areas of the stomach and duodenum. It causes a chronic low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is strongly linked to the development of duodenal and gastric ulcers and stomach cancer. Over 80% of individuals infected with the bacterium are asymptomatic....
More than 50% of the world's population harbour H. pylori in their upper gastrointestinal tract. Infection is more prevalent in developing countries. The route of transmission is unknown, although individuals become infected in childhood.... At least half the world's population are infected by the bacterium, making it the most widespread infection in the world."
Say what? Half the world's population are walking around with this bacteria inside? Now, this shouldn't surprise me. I myself discovered that I was hosting a parasite called B. Hominus (now why are so many of these darn things an abbreviated first name followed by a weird sounding second name?) long after I had returned from missionary work in the Philippines.
My son and I contracted the ultra common Giardia and the tests revealed that I was also an asymptomatic carrier of B. Hominus. (Wikipedia informs me that B. Hominus is now called "Blastocytosis.") I believe I was prescribed one of the same antibiotics ES has been given. After several attempts failed to eradicate it with antibiotics, doctors suggested an intensive regime of multiple antibiotics over several months. I decided against it, because I was asymptomatic. When I was tested during my last pregnancy, no sign of the B. Hominus showed up. I'm hoping he has packed his bags and left, never to return to the hospitality of my intestines!
Now, I am facing the treatment plan for my son. He has been given prescriptions for two different antibiotics and an antacid (Prevacid). We are still unsure exactly how to schedule these doses, since the Prevacid should be taken on an empty stomach and one of the antacids should be taken six hours after any antacids and separate from dairy products (apparently the calcium in the dairy products can bind to the antibiotic, diminishing its effectiveness).
I am really grateful that ES does not have Crohn's. That would be a life-long journey. Although many of these parasites and bacterial infections seem to be growing antibiotic resistant, I am hoping that this prescribed course of treatment will rid ES of his difficulties and allow him to resume with healthy adolescent weight gain. The doctor did warn that "the treatment is often worse than the disease," so we shall wait and see how ES fares with the medicines while attending school.
The doctor also performed several biopsies of the tissues within ES's intestines and throat and we should receive those results in a few weeks. ES was able to score more gross factor points because the doctor sent him home with eight pictures of his throat, esophagus and intestines.
This whole thing has fascinated MS, who continues to talk about taking pictures inside of people. I recently purchased a new digital camera and he wanted to know if I could take pictures of his insides now. Ha!
We plan to start ES on a pro-biotic, which my husband has been taking for several years, called "Healthy Trinity." (Come to think of it, I took Healthy Trinity for about a year around the time of MS's birth. I wonder if the probiotic helped eliminate my lingering parasite?) If 50% of my readers are carrying this bacteria within them, and 80% of those are asymptomatic, perhaps you should look into probiotics, too? It certainly makes you wonder what is lurking in your intestines!
Unfortunately (or maybe that was fortunate, given my medical squeamishness), I am in the throes of a miserable sinus infection, so my husband took ES. He reported that he found it a very emotional thing to watch his son go unconscious (especially since we have friends whose brother/brother-in-law underwent a routine dental surgery and suffered complications from the anesthesia).
He didn't have long to linger in the emotion, however, because the doctor immediately began explaining what he was seeing on the monitor. My husband said it was fascinating. They performed the endoscopy first. The doctor noted an ulcer in his throat, which signals the presence of infection. There was also inflammation at the entrance to the stomach.
The doctor's comments during the colonoscopy were encouraging. Things looked good, despite a substantial amount of inflammation there as well. His assessment ruled out Chrohn's, thank goodness. He now believes that ES is battling a case of chronic gastritis brought on by an H. Pylori infection.
As soon as my husband called with the news, I went on-line to search for information. Not surprisingly, my son did the same when he returned home. Gone are the days where you can say to your child, "The doctor thinks you have an infection, so you need to take this medicine. O.K., off with you now ... go play."
I was surprised to discover how widespread H. Pylori really is. Wikipedia said, "Helicobacter pylori (pronounced /ˌhɛlɪkəˈbæktɚ pɪˈlɔəraɪ/) is a gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium that inhabits various areas of the stomach and duodenum. It causes a chronic low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is strongly linked to the development of duodenal and gastric ulcers and stomach cancer. Over 80% of individuals infected with the bacterium are asymptomatic....
More than 50% of the world's population harbour H. pylori in their upper gastrointestinal tract. Infection is more prevalent in developing countries. The route of transmission is unknown, although individuals become infected in childhood.... At least half the world's population are infected by the bacterium, making it the most widespread infection in the world."
Say what? Half the world's population are walking around with this bacteria inside? Now, this shouldn't surprise me. I myself discovered that I was hosting a parasite called B. Hominus (now why are so many of these darn things an abbreviated first name followed by a weird sounding second name?) long after I had returned from missionary work in the Philippines.
My son and I contracted the ultra common Giardia and the tests revealed that I was also an asymptomatic carrier of B. Hominus. (Wikipedia informs me that B. Hominus is now called "Blastocytosis.") I believe I was prescribed one of the same antibiotics ES has been given. After several attempts failed to eradicate it with antibiotics, doctors suggested an intensive regime of multiple antibiotics over several months. I decided against it, because I was asymptomatic. When I was tested during my last pregnancy, no sign of the B. Hominus showed up. I'm hoping he has packed his bags and left, never to return to the hospitality of my intestines!
Now, I am facing the treatment plan for my son. He has been given prescriptions for two different antibiotics and an antacid (Prevacid). We are still unsure exactly how to schedule these doses, since the Prevacid should be taken on an empty stomach and one of the antacids should be taken six hours after any antacids and separate from dairy products (apparently the calcium in the dairy products can bind to the antibiotic, diminishing its effectiveness).
I am really grateful that ES does not have Crohn's. That would be a life-long journey. Although many of these parasites and bacterial infections seem to be growing antibiotic resistant, I am hoping that this prescribed course of treatment will rid ES of his difficulties and allow him to resume with healthy adolescent weight gain. The doctor did warn that "the treatment is often worse than the disease," so we shall wait and see how ES fares with the medicines while attending school.
The doctor also performed several biopsies of the tissues within ES's intestines and throat and we should receive those results in a few weeks. ES was able to score more gross factor points because the doctor sent him home with eight pictures of his throat, esophagus and intestines.
This whole thing has fascinated MS, who continues to talk about taking pictures inside of people. I recently purchased a new digital camera and he wanted to know if I could take pictures of his insides now. Ha!
We plan to start ES on a pro-biotic, which my husband has been taking for several years, called "Healthy Trinity." (Come to think of it, I took Healthy Trinity for about a year around the time of MS's birth. I wonder if the probiotic helped eliminate my lingering parasite?) If 50% of my readers are carrying this bacteria within them, and 80% of those are asymptomatic, perhaps you should look into probiotics, too? It certainly makes you wonder what is lurking in your intestines!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Anticlimactic Reveal of the Snake Cake
I am so thankful to Amy for her suggestion of purchasing a card reader. It only cost $13 and it enabled me to save my photos and videos from MS's birthday (taken at the end of September). I feel so relieved.
So, here are the long-awaited photos of the coral snake cake which MS requested for his birthday. I was fairly disappointed with how it turned out and would love to try it again (perhaps next year he'll still be interested in snakes). First off, it called for two cakes in bundt pans. I made one vanilla and one chocolate, but because I rushed through the frosting task, you could sort of see through to the different bits of cake color. Plus, two cakes is WAY TOO MUCH for our small family of five. We ended up throwing half of it out, even though I tried freezing some of it.
I think, if I attempt this again, I will do things differently. I will only prepare one batch of cake batter and will fill the bundt pan with half of the batter (don't know if this will make it too flat, but as it was, it was very large and round). Next time, I would approach the frosting differently as well. To save time, I chose to use my larger Tupperware frosting tips. It did save time, but the cake ended up looking like a furry caterpillar instead of a snake.
Still, MS loved it and that is what matters. And, yah-rah, I managed to retain pictures of the cake for posterity. I am adding in a photo of YS, moments before he stealthily snitched the camera and placed it in the sandbox. With an adorable face like that, I couldn't be mad at him. Hey, he knew I really wanted to have a camera with sound accompanying my videos!
So, here are the long-awaited photos of the coral snake cake which MS requested for his birthday. I was fairly disappointed with how it turned out and would love to try it again (perhaps next year he'll still be interested in snakes). First off, it called for two cakes in bundt pans. I made one vanilla and one chocolate, but because I rushed through the frosting task, you could sort of see through to the different bits of cake color. Plus, two cakes is WAY TOO MUCH for our small family of five. We ended up throwing half of it out, even though I tried freezing some of it.
I think, if I attempt this again, I will do things differently. I will only prepare one batch of cake batter and will fill the bundt pan with half of the batter (don't know if this will make it too flat, but as it was, it was very large and round). Next time, I would approach the frosting differently as well. To save time, I chose to use my larger Tupperware frosting tips. It did save time, but the cake ended up looking like a furry caterpillar instead of a snake.
Still, MS loved it and that is what matters. And, yah-rah, I managed to retain pictures of the cake for posterity. I am adding in a photo of YS, moments before he stealthily snitched the camera and placed it in the sandbox. With an adorable face like that, I couldn't be mad at him. Hey, he knew I really wanted to have a camera with sound accompanying my videos!
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