I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV

Updates and Rantings

2010-10-14T08:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Westin celebrated his 13th birthday. It has been an interesting year for Westin. As a quick recap, about a year ago he started having stomach pain, like a burning. We eventually saw a new gastro and he helped us weave our way through testing to determine the cause. What we ended up finding was that by helping Westin evacuate, with the use of regular Miralax, his burning was much

Stomach Burning Update: My son is full of poo

2010-04-08T15:19:00.000-04:00

It wasn't until Friday afternoon when I received a call from the gastro office with the x-ray results. I spoke with someone on Thursday and was informed that the doctor was waiting for the actually CD of the x-ray. He didn't get the info he needed in the report so he needed to take a closer look at it. It appears my son is just full of poo! The doctor had Westin do a "flush" over the weekend

Endoscopy Results and what's next?

2010-03-30T12:30:00.000-04:00

Biopsy results from the endoscopy came back clear. Actually, the term was, "Unremarkable." I guess this time that just means nothing to remark on. ;) So since that all looked great, we can now say that Westin definitely does not have Eosinophilic Esophagitis! Yeah! But we still don't know what is causing his stomach burning. The gastro sent us home from the hospital with a prescription

Endoscopy OVER!

2010-03-25T21:10:00.000-04:00

We are finally home and settled in! I am beat. I know we are all gonna sleep well tonight. We arrived at the hospital about 15 minutes early. By the time we got there Westin's blood sugar was sitting at about 170. We struggled all early afternoon to get it up but we made it. :) We were shocked when we got to our room to find out that the sedation would take place there, the scope would

A mom with a lot of time on her hands and not following the rules

2010-03-23T08:54:00.000-04:00

I have already broke this news on facebook but I decided it was worth blogging about. Maybe it will inspire others to request more from our physicians. My son, Westin, has been dealing with chronic (constant) burning in his stomach. It doesn't go away. It only gets worse or a little better. It is never gone or even close to gone. I can remember something starting back as early as November

Why do I let it bother me?

2010-03-21T19:51:00.001-04:00

It is early Sunday evening, March 21, 2010. Healthcare reform is about to be voted in. I have been popping in at www.huffingtonpost.com every once in a while to see the daily news. Of course the majority of it is about the healthcare bill. I will be so happy to see this done and over with. While I would have prefered a public option or even better, a single payer system, this is better than

Swagbucks Tip!!!

2010-03-01T21:41:00.000-05:00

I am going to write this post and post it everywhere! So don't be surprised if you see this on more than one of my blogs... Do you use Swagbucks? If you don't, you need to! First you might be asking yourself, what are Swagbucks? In short, you can earn swagbucks for searching using their toolbar. That is the easiest way to earn them. So everytime I need to search something (which happens

Homeschooling in Radiology

2010-02-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Westin was scheduled for an Upper G.I. This is a procedure where the patient first drinks a fizzy concoction that puts a lot of air on the stomach. Then you drink a barium mixture that coats the esophagus and the stomach. This drink I like to call "the cement mixer" as it is heavy! I was shocked how heavy the Styrofoam cup was that contained it. Once you drink that you lay on an

Restlessness

2010-01-10T19:25:00.002-05:00

Today is one of those days where I just feel like closing my eyes and throwing a dart at a map of the US to pick my new city. I am so restless. THIS would be the perfect time to hit the road. I feel like I need an escape. I don't know if it is just restlessness either. I feel like I don't have a plan and that alone will drive a girl like me nuts. I need to know what direction I am heading

Lessons from Grandma

2010-01-06T10:06:00.004-05:00

I had an amazing grandmother. We lived next door to my grandparents and they were farmers. We were able to spend a lot of time with them growing up. After reading an article about what our grandparents taught us about being "green", I got to thinking about all the "quirks" of my grandma. Things that came to mind:She would take small left over pieces of soap and combine them into a new, bigger

I have the best son

2010-01-05T21:27:00.003-05:00

Westin is the best. He is 12, he has type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. He also has a form of epilepsy, a swallowing problem related to seasonal allergies, chronic acid indigestion, asthma. I list those last, as they don't affect him on such a major "effects my daily life" level. Type 1 diabetes is a disease that is dealt with 24 hours a day. He is thinking about it all day. I am thinking

Udi's Gluten Free Bread - A Review

2009-12-27T08:51:00.003-05:00

Late last month, I heard of a gluten free bread I had not heard of before. The claims were that it was as good as "normal" bread. What is this miracle bread? It is called Udi's and it is a bakery in Denver, CO.I jumped on their website ready to put in an order to try it out. Sadly, they require 2 day Fed Ex which is quite expensive just to give it a try. (Thankfully, they do give a hefty

Only 4 days until Christmas!

2009-12-21T19:12:00.002-05:00

The kids are excited, especially Wieland. He is four and he is so fascinated with numbers. He notices things about numbers that amaze me and encourage me. That is the joy of an open mind. He hasn't been turned off to learning. The goal is just to keep him that way! :)Earlier this month we made a paper chain with paper links, one for each day until Christmas. Wieland ran up to me and said, "

Personalize your pump, phone, laptop, make big stickers for your walls...

2009-12-01T20:06:00.003-05:00

Skinit skins for your iPhone, laptop and hundreds of other hot new devices. Skins for new devices added weekly! I have a new hobby! You can personalize just about anything. If you have a Medtronic Minimed pump, you can customize your skin here. (That is how I came about the link, shopping over at the Minimed online store) If I am correct, it looks like you can even personalize your cochlear

Ode to the Farm

2009-11-24T13:18:00.006-05:00

I grew up on a farm in Barry County, Michigan, specifically in Prairieville. I lived in the home my grandfather was raised in until I moved out in 1993. My mother was given the house. After my mother passed away, my sister bought the house. Over the hill was my grandparent's house that they built. My grandfather cut all the lumber, which I always find amazing.I just received an email confirming

Things I can't Think About

2009-11-24T10:21:00.003-05:00

I can’t stand to think about health care reform. While I am all for reform, our government, both democrats and republicans, can’t get it right. I am scared we will be in worse shape then we are now. Pharmaceutical companies are already raising prices in advance of the coming changes. As an uninsured, this hits me harder than the insured. The insurance companies negotiate their prices. I don’t and

Makin' Money

2009-11-21T16:31:00.003-05:00

So, I am always trying to find ways to make some extra money. While playing with my blog set-up the other day, I checked on my AdSense account and found that I actually had a balance of $14+ dollars. Wow! I had forgotten about it. Pleasant surprise.So I got to thinking, could I get more revenue from my blog? Of course, it will require generating traffic, I will work on that next! :)So I went to

Customized Christmas Gifts

2009-11-20T19:23:00.002-05:00

While searching around for a site to make promotional materials for HelpCureChildhoodDiabetes.org, I was reminded of this great site. You can even make personalized shoes! Check it out!

Cutting Cost

2009-11-18T15:36:00.002-05:00

With our current economic state (and I mean our family, but could be said as a country) I find myself, racking my brain, everyday, wondering how I can cut household costs. Being a stay at home mom, I figure my contribution to the family is to save money. With my oldest son having celiac disease, I do have to be somewhat careful as to what I bring into the home. Mind you, we live a

Help Cure Childhood Diabetes

2009-11-12T11:16:00.004-05:00

Ten years ago this January 31st, my son, Westin, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes. He was two years old and we have zero type 1 diabetes in our families. I remember, after being admitted into the hospital that Monday night, all the doctors and interns coming in to ask us the same questions over and over again. (Eventually, that is what they do in a teaching

Nothing is more comforting than...

2009-11-10T19:55:00.002-05:00

FOOD IN THE CUPBOARDS!!!! Our family sits in this crummy Michigan economy with a business that is auto related. With the down turn in the auto industry on top of the recession, our business isn't even recognizable from a few years ago. We have spent the year in some what of a sabbatical. Jason has done some work but mainly we have been living off of selling things around the house. I have

Putting myself out there

2009-08-25T13:13:00.003-04:00

Today I took a huge step! I started a profile on "my diet" on facebook and I posted my stats to my facebook profile! Crazy? Maybe! Here is my figuring...I had to be held accountable. This was the best way to do it. Do I wish I could have not included my exact weight and only just the weight loss pounds, sure! But that wasn't an option and this is the best way to be honest with myself, being

Things that make me cry

2009-08-23T18:45:00.004-04:00

Today I got a message on Facebook from an old friend. We really haven't spoke in years, only because we just don't cross paths. But with Facebook being so popular, it is easy to cross cyber paths, which really makes happy. So I wanted to share her message. She will remain anonymous as I didn't tell her I was going to blog about her message.Hi Michelle,I just wanted you to know something...I read

It's been a LONG time...oops!

2009-08-04T18:12:00.002-04:00

I was reminded on facebook that I have a blog...oops! I think I kind of mini blog on facebook and forget about this one.So we are finally feeling some heat here in Michigan. The first time since probably June. Mind you, today is great but I think it will get hotter this week. I could be wrong...it happens ;) I got in the pool today and gave it a little TLC in anticipation. We just have a

Ning for Dummies by Manny Hernandez, a review by a current user and group owner

2009-06-09T12:22:00.004-04:00

Recently I was privilege to receive a copy of Ning for Dummies to preview and review on my blog. I joined my first Ning group a few years ago. The group was Tudiabetes.com and it was created by Manny Hernandez, the author of Ning for Dummies. He had an amazing fire and was very successful in growing his Ning group to what is now 9,000 members! Manny has always been very helpful in answering