Grateful for Life

Reglan patient advice including side effects

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:59:00 +0000

Anti-Acidity

Prevacid

Our price: $0.58

Prevacid (Lansoprazole) decreases the amount of acid produced in the stomach.

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Zyloprim

Our price: $0.51

Zyloprim (Allopurinol) is used to lower blood uric acid levels.

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Nexium

Our price: $0.40

Nexium is used to treat symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other conditions involving excessive stomach acid such as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.

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Pepcid

Our price: $0.42

Pepcid is used for treating and preventing ulcers. It is also used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), conditions that cause increased acid secretion, and esophagitis.

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Prilosec

Our price: $0.64

Prilosec (Omeprazole) blocks the production of acid by the stomach.

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Tagamet

Our price: $0.32

Tagamet is used for treating and preventing ulcers of the stomach and small intestine, and treating gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

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Gasex

Our price: $26.24

Gasex helps in digestion by exerting carminative, antispasmodic, antiflatulent and antacid actions.

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Aciphex

Our price: $0.82

Aciphex (Rabeprazole) decreases the amount of acid produced in your stomach.

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Protonix

Our price: $0.46

Protonix (Pantoprazole) is used to treat erosive esophagitis (damage to the esophagus from stomach acid).

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Metoclopramide

Our price: $0.74

Metoclopramide works by increasing the movement of the stomach and intestines to help move food and acid out of the stomach more quickly.

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Bentyl

Our price: $0.53

Bentyl (Dicyclomine) is used for treating symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

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Zantac

Our price: $0.42

Zantac (Ranitidine) is used for treating certain conditions that cause your body to make too much stomach acid.

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Allopurinol

Our price: $0.95

Allopurinol is used for treating gout and high uric acid levels in the blood or urine caused by certain types of cancer chemotherapy.

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Ranitidine

Our price: $0.53

Ranitidine is used for treating certain conditions that cause your body to make too much stomach acid (e.g., Zollinger-Ellison syndrome).

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Carafate

Our price: $2.92

Carafate (Sucralfate) is used for treating and preventing ulcers.

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Cytotec

Our price: $1.36

Cytotec (Misoprostol) is used to prevent stomach ulcers while you take NSAIDs (e.g., aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen).

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Colon Clean Supreme

Our price: $39.84

Colon Clean Supreme is an extra strength colon cleanser.

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Super Antiox GSE

Our price: $39.14

Super Antiox GSE is a herbal antioxidant and increases antioxidant levels in body.

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Reglan

Our price: $1.03

Reglan (Metoclopramide) is used for the short term treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

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an apology for the spam......

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Dear readers,

I want to apologize sincerely for the spam. Someone has apparantly highjacked my blog and is posting some really awful spam on this blog. I can't figure out how this has happened. I have deleted the last 7 posts. I am looking into this. This is just the rudest thing.

Today.....

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Today, I'm greatful for my family. As a young adult, I never wanted to be married or have kids. At least, I didn't think I did. My relationship started with my husband sort of oddly. Neither of us was looking for anything serious, but we just sort of fell into step. Six years later, we got married and were expecting our first child.

We've been together for 15 years now, and have three beautiful children. Our children are amazingly gifted little people. Looking back, I realize how silly I was in my younger years to have thought I could get through life without the love of my own little family.

280 emails later.....

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Wow. Okay, I had a GREAT weekend. For the most part. My baby girl learned to climb out of her crib not too long ago, so my husband built her a toddler bed because we couldn't find one that we liked. It was so cute, that we decided to go ahead and redo her entire bedroom. Then we decided that the boys, who share a room, needed her room, because it was bigger, so we needed to swap rooms first. This was a HUGE undertaking!! You have no idea how much stuff my children have. I had no idea how much stuff my children had, lol!!!

First, I took her comforter to Home Depot, and used their handy little color matching machine to match the colors of paint I wanted. My husband painted the bed, and we are having a large M laser cut to mount on the head board. We moved everything the boys had out of their room and into the hallway, living room, and kitchen. We dismantled their bunk beds and put them outside (my husband had such success with the little one's bed, he wants to build them their own beds as well.). We painted her room a beautiful sage green color, with hazelnut cream trim, and moved her into that room. We were so inspired by how well it turned out, we've decided to redo the boys' room next.

In the midst of all the mess, I could feel myself start to get agitated. With three kids, everything is always cluttered and messy in our house. I hate to clean house, and it's a constant job. It occurred to me during this, that it's not the kids making me feel like I'm losing my mind, as I've often blamed them for, but the fact that everything in my life is out of order. It makes me feel out of control, and I don't like that. Kind of a big introspective moment for me.

So I'm working on controlling the clutter. I rejoined FlyLady a while back, and that is helping a lot, with learning had to make lists and routines, and the mini missions of decluttering one thing at a time. Her motto is "you can do anything for 15 minutes" and you can. While we pretty much worked nonstop to get the rooms moved around, so that we could complete this project in one weekend, I did incorporate some of her ideas into the project, like do we love this? If not, why are we holding on to it? I managed to take 3 GARBAGE BAGS full of baby clothes to a dear friend that just had her baby prematurely and had not had a shower yet, and was totally unprepared. She also got the baby carseats ( BOTH of them) that our little girl had out grown, and a bunch of toys and blankets. I have 5 garbage bags of boy's clothes that will go to bless someone at the Salvation Army. Most of these things had been given to me by other people, my children never wore half of them, but I was holding on to them because ??? Maybe it was a feeling of guilt because they were given to me, so I needed to keep them? Who knows.

Anyway, my load is much lighter now, and I am working on decluttering everything else. I bring all this up because, since we were working so hard this weekend, I never found the time to get online and take care of anything. I logged on this morning and had 280 emails to wade through. I deleted all the obvious junk mail first, and group notifications because I'll be visiting those later anyway, and then found a great email from Kendra Thornbury, someone who's blog I subscribe to. In her post, she talks about feeling peace by going with the flow, and not having peace because you are fighting against the flow. There was a great little ten reasons why part at the bottome that really got my attention, mainly because it was part of my light bulb moment that I experienced this weekend.
Here it is:

10 Ways You Stay Out of the Flow and Fight Upstream:

1) Frustration
2) Holding on to Emotions
3) Resistance
4) Clutter
5) Control
6) Fear
7) Force
8) Victim Consciousness
9) Doing Things the Way You've Always Done Them
10) Attachment

10 Ways to Get in the Flow:

1) Relax
2) Create a Daily Practice to get Still
3) Allow
4) Surrender
5) Feel Your Emotions
6) Do Things That You Feel Alive In
7) Become Self-Aware (then will know when out of flow and can change course)
8) Learn to Hold a Healthy Detachment to Everything
9) Practice Acceptance (of self and others)

AND number 10?

You guessed it...

GRATITUDE. :)

I have been experiencing every single thing in the first ten. This is something I am going to work on!

Today, I am grateful for the abundace my family has, even if sometimes it doesn't seem like it. I am grateful for my wonderful husband, because he's an incredible father, he doesn't bat an eye when I decide to do something like remodel half the house in a weekend, he's creative, and handy. My middle child (he's 6), said to me today, don't worry mom, if we break it, Daddy can fix it, because he can work on anything, he's an awesome builder. Unfortunately, we were discussing him not taking care of the Playstation, which most likely, my husband CAN'T fix, but my kids think he can, and that's a great thing.

Grateful for Other People's Lives

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:18:00 +0000

I'm sure you've heard about the plane crash in the Hudson River today. It was incredible! So today, I'm grateful for the pilot of that plane for saving so many people's lives, not just the people on the plane, but all the people on the ground if he hadn't made it to the water, and for the flight crew, who stayed behind to make sure everyone made it out of the plane and on to the wings to be rescued.

I'm grateful to the ferry boat captain, who quickly changed course to come to the rescue, and get those people off the plane's wings to safety.
I'm grateful that not a single life was lost in this horrific crash.

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:33:00 +0000

I've had a lot going on over the last several months, and as a result, I've forgotten to be grateful for a lot of things. My life has felt like it was spiraling out of control, and I can't seem to get a grasp on it, to stop the spinning. I haven't had any focus, I'm scattered.

I want 2009 to be the best year ever. As a result, I need to set my goals, get my priorities in order, and be grateful for what I already have.

I am grateful for the opportunities that I have to better my future, and my family's future. I am grateful for the love that is all around me. I am grateful for my life.

I've been Neglecting you...

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:51:00 +0000

And I'm sorry. I have neglected this blog for a few months now. As 2009 rolls in, my New Year's Resolution (or one of them anyway) is to be more productive. I am revamping this blog entirely. All of my work from home stuff will be archived. I've created a new Working From Home blog, and will be renaming this one.
I want this one to be a more personal one, with a more positive outlook. This will be my gratitude blog. I want to talk about things that make me happy, like great books I've read recently, things I've seen, etc. Basically a place to express my gratitude over all the blessings I find in my life each and every day.

But I promise to be a more faithful poster!

Man auctions life on Ebay

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:58:00 +0000

I was cruising the news articles today, and came across an interesting tidbit on MSN about a recently divorced British man living in Perth, Australia, who is auctioning off his life on eBay. His house, motorcycle, car, clothes, even his job are all for sale in a package deal. Fake bidders have jacked the price up to $2.1 million. The general consensus is, if this guy doesn't want his life, who would?

I've always believed, if you weren't happy with your life, do something to change it. I've never believed in wallowing in self pity, nor understood people that did. It's your life, you and you alone have the power to change it. I guess that's exactly what this guy is doing. Seems pretty drastic, but then again, sometimes you have to take drastic measures. Except for the part about his divorce, his life really isn't all that bad. He's got a 3 bedroom house, a car, motorcycle, a job. He's got the life many people really do wish they had, not all that exciting, but stable. He's got a roof over his head, transportation, clothes on his back. He's looking for something different, and he's going about getting in a different way than most people. I hope it works out for him.

I've been working on changing my life, one step at a time. My goal is to be home with my kids full time, and I'm getting there. I'm creating multiple streams of income, and they are starting to establish themselves as steady and reliable.

Would you change lives with this guy? What do you wish was different about your life? You can have that life, if you are willing to work for it, and do something about it. Believe me, if I can change my life, you can!

Is there a song that makes you cry?

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:12:00 +0000

Many people have that one song. The one that makes you lose it, no matter when or where you hear it. I never really had one until my grandfather passed away last April.

First, I want to say that anyone that knows me knows that I don't listen to country music. My tastes in music tend to run towards the harder edgier stuff. Anyone that has visited my myspace page knows this is true, and are genuinely shocked to hear some of my favorites. There's this one song though, Tim Mcgraw's "Live Like You Were Dying". I had heard it plenty of times before my grandfather ever even got sick, and it never made me cry before that. Even though I don't like country music, living in south Alabama, you tend to hear a lot of it, even if it isn't something you would play yourself.
Anyway, Papa wasn't feeling well for most of the summer of 2006. He was very, umm, cantankerous when it came to doctors. He hated going, and he had no patience. A few times, my grandma would actually get him to go, and he would get so mad sitting in the waiting room that he would walk out. The pain got so bad around August, that he finally was persuaded to go and behave himself. He was promptly sent to a urologist, where he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He had let it progress for so long, that the only treatment available was to remove the male hormones. This did nothing for him. After that, it was a pretty rapid decline, and he passed away on April 5 of 2005 at the age of 79. It was so hard to watch a man that was so full of life and so constantly active waste away in such pain. To give you a clue to that, he still worked full time as a small engine repairman up until he was diagnosed. He even tried to go back to work after that and wasn't able.

Anyway, for some reason, ever since he passed away, every time I hear that song, tears start rolling down my face and I can't stop them. There is no real significance to it, other than the song is about the singers' father who is diagnosed with a terminal illness and then begins to live life to the fullest, and do all the things he wanted to do before he died. My grandfather didn't get to do much after he was diagnosed. He was in too much pain. But he did live a long full life, with lots of people that loved him so very very much, including me, his oldest grand daughter. He was the first love of my life, and I can't believe how much I miss him.

And on that note, now that I have made myself cry all over again, please urge all of the men in your lives to get tested often for this. It would have been so easy to treat this if he had taken better care of himself, and now it's too late.

On becoming a mom

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 02:28:00 +0000

I had my kids kind of late in life, by some people's standards. I was 29 when I got pregnant with my oldest child. I wasn't even sure I wanted kids. My husband got excited, I got nervous. I was too selfish for kids. I liked my life. I am not a "girly girl", and have never thought of myself as the maternal type. It took me a few days to get as excited as my husband, but I eventually did. And then he was born. You hear all the time how having kids changes you. Those of you with kids know exactly how true that is. My whole world tilted. I didn't realize you could fit that much love in your heart for one little tiny person.

Hubby immediately wanted to start trying for number two. No way. I didn't have room in my heart for another child. My heart ached, it was so full of my first born. Elijah was 8 months old when I found out I was pregnant again. Again, I cried, hubby was ecstatic. How was I ever going to love this baby? Elijah took up all the space in my world, it wasn't fair to this new baby.
When he came in to this world, and opened up his little eyes and looked at me, I melted just like it was the first time. Elijah was 18 months old and so happy to have a baby in the house. He couldn't stop touching him and giving him kisses. It was perfect. We had the perfect family.

Six years later, and this time the baby bug bit ME. I am due to deliver in about 3 weeks. It was all my idea this time, and I don't have the same doubts as I had before. I have different ones. This time it's a girl. A GIRL. Did I mention I am not a "girly girl"? I hate pink. I don't wear much makeup, spend hours (or even minutes) on my hair, wear jewelry, or dress up unless I absolutely have to. I hate to shop, especially for clothes. My entire wardrobe is made up of jeans, shorts and t-shirts, most of which are interchangeable with my husband's wardrobe. What if she WANTS to wear bows in her hair? I cringe when I think about the teenage years ahead. I want to hide under a rock. My husband seems to think everything is going to be fine and dandy, he's happy again and hoping I change my mind about having a fourth (absolutely NOT). My boys have no doubts either. Both my boys are thrilled at the idea of having a baby sister. They love helping with organizing the new baby room, and picking out stuff for her. They have been sorting through their older toys in search of baby toys that haven't been discarded so they can hand them down to her.

I know in my heart everything is going to be fine. Where do these silly worries come from? In all the other areas of my life, I am usually sure of myself, and rarely filled with self doubt. Some how these little tiny people come in to the world, knock us down a peg or two, then make us the best people we could ever be. Seven years ago the thought of me being a mom was laughable. Today, I can't for the life of me remember why.

Brighter side of Gestational Diabetes

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:48:00 +0000

Being pregnant is both wonderful and horrifying all at the same time. On the one hand, you have this beautiful baby to look forward to. People are extra nice to you, there is so much excitement in your life right now. On the other hand the list of things you have to worry about is astounding. Forget about worrying about the kid when it grows up. Just getting through the pregnancy and delivery are scary. I have been lucky in that I have had very few complications. I don't suffer from water retention, have hemmorhoids, and have never had morning sickness. I did develope gestational diabetes with my second child, and again with this one. I'm due in about 3 weeks. I really want a piece of cake........

Gestational Diabetes can be a really bad thing. It can cause a host of health problems and cause your baby to be oversized, resulting in major complications, especially if you have planned a natural delivery. There's the fact that you can't have cake. The special diet. If the diet doesn't work, then you will probably have to have insulin shots as well. To someone that isn't ordinarily diabetic, this can be quite traumatic.

Fortunately for me, I was able to control mine with diet. Having eaten low carb off and on for several years as a means of controlling my weight and my high blood pressure, this part wasn't a big deal to me. the problem was the cravings!! They are so much magnified when you are pregnant. I remember being at my young cousin's birthday party when I was pregnant with my 4 year old, the first time I had GD. I wanted that cake so bad, I almost started to cry because it was so unfair. Everyone was going on and on about how yummy it was, and there I was, not having any. It was awful. This time around I was better prepared.

I have been on message boards reading posts and offering advice for women that are dealing with it the first time. Many don't have a clue that it can be controlled with diet, their doctors are putting them straight on the insulin. Why torture yourself any more than you have to? Being pregnant without GD is hard enough!! The ones that have doctors that are willing to try to keep them off insulin are sending them to nutritionists and Endos that are all telling them something different. They are being put on the ADA (american Diabetic Association) diet. They are told to limit carbs (but not what kinds of carbs), and watch calories. The same ADA that refuses to admit that they may have been wrong all this time about what carbs actually do to your body. Then, when that diet fails them, they are made to take insulin anyway.

The fact is a diet low in carbs, particularly flours, starchy veggies, and sugar in all forms, including most fruits,and eating more of the low glycemic veggies, protein and a moderate amount of healthy fats can keep you healthy and off of insulin. You don't have to starve yourself. Cutting out those foods that aren't good for you does not mean you can't replace them with something else. For every starch you cut out, replace it with something healthy, like more veggies or protein. For goodness sake, women, eat something when you are hungry. Forget the stupid schedule. If you are hungry now, eat now.

Some other things that bug me that women aren't told when trying to control blood sugar:

The fact that something is sugar free doesn't make it diabetic friendly. A sugar free muffin is still made with bleached flour and will still have negative impact on your blood sugar. Just because something is only 100 calories doesn't mean it won't impact your blood sugar. Fat free dressings aren't a healthy alternative. They contain High fructose corn syrup, and will raise your blood sugar. Stick to full fat Ranch. Not only is more tasty, but it's better for you than the alternative. Read labels, not just the little number panel on the side, but the ingredients list as well. Just because something is low in sugar doesn't mean it isn't there, and if the first ingredient is enriched Bleached flour, avoid it like the plague.

READ. Read every lowcarb diet book you can find until you understand exactly what insulin does, and how your body reacts to carbs. The recipes in the back are handy too and will keep you from getting bored.

The bright side to managing your diabetes with diet is that you won't really be big as a barn when it's over (even if you feel like it). And of course the complications from birth are decreased and you and your baby will be healthier.

While I don't have a medical degree, my doctors do. I'm one of the lucky ones that had doctors not scared to stray from the norm and actually learn from things that work. I have survived through one GD pregnancy with a VERY HEALTHY baby to show for it, and have 3 weeks to go with this pregnancy. I have networked with many women on my low carb diet board that went through the same thing and did it the same way I did, and had no problems or complications.

Whether you follow this advice or not, do one thing for yourself and your baby. Do some REAL RESEARCH!!!

SAASMITH@gmail.com (Sonya) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 05:59:00 +0000

My 4 year old is so funny. I picked him up from Kindergarten today and he tells me he knows how to yoodle. What the heck is a Yoodle? Then he proceeds to start humming. I finally figured out he was trying to say Yodel. Thank god he doesn't really know how, because the humming was bad enough, and he did it for the rest of the afternoon.

Both my kids are so great. My 6 year old is reading about a grade a head. This is so important to me. I was concerned that he would hate it now that it's mandatory in his class to read a book a day. Who likes to do anything they are forced to? Instead, he's reading that book, then asking if he can read another. OF COURSE HE CAN!!!
A friend introduced me to Anna Milbourne's series of children's books and I am so glad she did.
The boys have enjoyed both The Dinosaur and Under the Ground immensely. They have asked for more books by her. I will do my best to be accomodating!! I really enjoy watching them learn. I wish I had the patience for homeschooling. Don't get me wrong, they are both getting an excellent education, and we do supplemental work at home by taking every opportunity we can to turn something in to a learning experience with out them realizing it. I was introduced to a site today that provides an excellent homeschool spanish class for younger children. There is so much out there we can do to help our kids succeed in life.