For the last 2 and a half weeks, we’ve been dealing with sickness. It passed through the family in a sort of cold that hit every person differently. The coughing the aches, the fever, the sinus, the chills, you name it. Nasty stuff, that.

The Gremlin got hit the worst and his lasted the longest. He couldn’t shake his fever, it would go away and then return a day later. He was coughing so hard that he would throw up. We thought he was finally getting better and withing 24 hours, he wouldn’t move off the couch or bed. He was a very sick little guy.

We took him to the doctors and started him on an antibiotic since his system was clearly struggling and not making headway. They also put him on a decongestant, an expectorant, and a cough medicine (just for the night time). Not making progress, and fever creeping up again, we took him in a 2nd time.

This time they prescribed a steroid and Tamiflu. I asked if they would test him for the swine flu before we treated it with something with such strong side effects. They would not. When asked if they thought he actually had the flu, since all of us had just gone through nasty colds, they told me they were fairly certain he did not. Yet, I was expected to give my child a very strong and expensive medicine.

I was informed that the CDC is telling health professionals to treat anyone with “similar” symptoms to the flu with Tamiflu. (Whether or not they have it.) They are also told not to test for it. (I even asked about paying for the test out of pocket.) “They don’t do that anymore…. Your son is obviously sick, why wouldn’t you want to give him the medicine if it could help him?” (Now I’m a bad mom because I have put my foot down on the amount of medications I will allow you to shove at my child!?) This child rarely gets antibiotics, we prefer to treat most things at home unless we are risking ruptured eardrums or he isn’t getting better.

At this point, I was miffed. I asked how the CDC was getting its numbers to report that the nation was experiencing a pandemic, if they were refusing to test for the illness. Also, would my son be counted as a swine flu case if he took the medicine or did they only report the cases that tested positive …..but how does that work, if they won’t test them anymore?! The doctor couldn’t answer either question, he and his staff just had to comply with the CDC recommendations.

There is definitely something wrong here. The media has gone along with someone’s agenda to whip the public into a frenzy over the swine flu pandemic, but the powers that be are refusing to test!? While doctors question your parenting when you hesitate to comply….. this is why we don’t go to the doctors very often.

School is going much better now, the Imp is taking off in reading. I have solid hope that she will be an excellent reader before she heads off to college some day. The boys have stopped making excuses and have settled into a good routine. We managed to juggle a week of schooling, field trips, choir, co-op, play dates, and PE last week. This week we are happily just doing school, PE, and co-op. I needed a break after our insanely busy week!

It seems that the sinus infection that I managed to get over after Disney, never totally went away. I felt better for about 2 weeks, and then I started getting a tight chest and sinus related symptoms. I hoarffed the garlic, oj, and vitamins…..but alas, it is back…….with a vengeance. My head is exploding and I am living on Tylenol just to get through the day. I have also found that the Bed Buddy (heat pack that goes in the microwave) has become my best friend. I tie it around my forehead like a turban, and it helps keep my head from exploding from the pressure. Lights have become the bane of my existence, I live in darkened rooms or bury my head whenever possible, the kids are beginning to think that I am a vampire…..with really puffed eyes and a bed buddy turban on my head. Sigh.

Yesterday, I came to the conclusion that I felt like I was going to die, so I called the doctor. They were out to lunch, so I planned to call back later and continued schooling, before my head got any worse. By the time I was able to get hold of a live person, the soonest they could get me in was this morning. So here I sit, waiting to go in and find some relief from this pressure in my head.

The Imp informed me that Mommies are not allowed to get sick….because we have to be able to take care of everyone else in the family. From her mouth, to God’s ears! It may not be pretty, but I have been able to function enough to keep everything going. (school lessons, PE, laundry, and meals……the lawn needs mowing and the house needs vacuuming, but that involves noise and bending over….I don’t see that happening until I get the pressure to let up some.)

I’m being summoned to listen to the Imp read her lessons.
Blessings,
V

Almost 3 weeks later, and we are finally on the mend. After 2 weeks of house guests and Disney, we all came down with wicked versions of a respiratory-bronchial-chest gunk-cold. We hoped it was just all the public cooties that we were exposed to, but we couldn’t be sure. We also had an “incident” with some water that had sat too long in the water tank of the RV. We had treated it prior to storage….but apparently the treatment chemicals break down and become ineffective after time and extreme temperatures…..Who knew!?

When the offending water came through the pipes, we immediately cleared the kids to grandma’s trailer and Hubby and I vented the RV and purged the water systems…during the process, Hubby ended up sprayed in the face and I got hit by the black plague-water too. Within 2-3 days, all 5 of our family ended up with a respiratory plague.

Upon returning home, we rode it out until the two littles took a turn for the worse. We explained what we had been exposed too for the doctor, but opted not to use antibiotics……except as a last resort. The Imp cleared up with mass amounts of garlic, oj, chicken soup, Rx cough medicine, and a steroid that helped her lung rattle. The Gremlin continued to get worse and we finally opted for the antibiotics for him. I’m still not sure if that helped him much, but 4 days into it, he finally began to improve. Now, we are just coughing occasionally and feeling almost normal again. It’s good to be among the living.

Well, the symptoms are all gone. So the lovely health care provider figures his job is now done. No idea what caused my week and a half of abdominal mayhem and chaos. Two doses of antibiotics “cured” whatever was causing my belly to feel like I had been a kick boxing bag…..and by cured I mean, the insurance company won’t take pictures if the pain isn’t there anymore, they waited long enough to be safe and nothing ruptured…. so it must not be anything serious.

I detest small town medicine! We have ruled out 2 causes, but they listed about 4 other things that they wanted to look for. After freaking me out, they decided to stop looking, because the pain went down. Hmmm.

My talk with the doctor went something like this:
Me: So have we ruled out cancer, polyps, diverticulitis, adhesions, or cysts?

Dr: No, but your pain is gone!

Me: But will it come back?

Dr: Well it’s possible…maybe..yes..probably, but THEN we can run tests that will determine what’s causing it!

Me: Then why didn’t you run them this time….when you were poking and prodding me while I was being scraped off the ceiling?!

Dr: Well, we had to establish that it wasn’t your appendix.

Me: But the mention of cancer, cysts, and scar tissue that takes over my abdomen…..that doesn’t concern you anymore, when it did last week?

Dr: Well the pain is gone now, so we can’t really order a test for something that isn’t there

So there we have it….no symptoms, no concerns…..just ignore all the things he mentioned ruling out last week while he scratched his head and looked worriedly at my charts! Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to have the pain let up, I’d just like to have a few more of those “could be’s” ruled out. SIGH.

Mommy has been sick lately. I went in this week to get it all figured out. I was poked and prodded, x-rayed twice, and then they did blood work. Now we wait and wonder….the hardest part. Hopefully they will have more answers by the end of the week.

Apple Cider Vinegar in a non processed (unpasteurized) state still has the “mother” in it. The mother is a cloudiness or scum layer of bacteria that grows at certain ph levels. According to the health forums (remember these are not professionals) there is much benefit to be found in small doses of ACV daily. 2 Tbs. was the max recommended dose on most sites. Though some encouraged making up a pitcher and sipping on it all day for weight loss. If you do this, please look into cautions and warnings because there are tooth enamel issues and reflux issues if you don’t monitor the ph levels closely. Baking soda can bring the levels down. Google it.

Some groups also encouraged growing the mother to a larger, thicker state, and ingesting bits of the mother itself. (Let me know how it goes if you choose to do this….I’m not willing to try that. A little bit of cloudiness in my ACV works for me. I would find eating slime, akin to eating mold, and since mold has very strong properties, I don’t feel comfortable messing with it in larger doses, grown without knowledge of other chemical factors.)

The raw honey (never been heated above 110 degrees) is supposed to do two things. First it makes the tea taste sweet which helps with cravings. Second it still contains trace pollens that over time, help build up an immunity to some allergies. Some of the health nuts argue against using honey in the ACV tea, (the anti-sugar purists) and others encourage it as a healthier alternative if used within reason. Common sense says, if your going to eat honey in mass amounts, you might as well pick up your Snickers bar, again!

There have been several articles stating that ACV and honey have little to zero nutrient and homeopathic properties. While that may be true, there are lots more users claiming what the benefits were to them. Honey and vinegars were commonly used during Biblical times as foods and medicines. Both trace their medicinal uses WAY back but…… so is blood-letting and cauterizing which we know to be harmful today. Use common sense and be wary of “over the top” claims.

All this to say, I am testing things for myself. I want to learn more about health and medicine from a more natural approach. I would like to gain some working knowledge of home remedies in case there comes a time when we are unable to get outside help for awhile because of natural disasters or terrorism. Ya never know when it could come in handy.

What I’m trying currently:
I drink the tea 2-3 times per day. I mix 2 tsp ACV with 2 tsp raw honey, then add about 16 oz of warm water per cup. Make sure you google cautions and warnings for ACV and raw honey to see if they apply to you. Discuss with your doctor the effects of acidity on any of your medications. (I have approval from my doctor, though not endorsement, he wants to know what the results are over time and is willing to monitor any concerns related to it. We are working together to explore this avenue.)

It’s too soon to tell if it’s doing anything, but I like the taste of it and it helps with craving sweets. As always, research it for yourself because there are some things to be careful of.

Here are a few sites to get you started:

This is a retailer….take any claims with a grain of salt and an eye on your checkbook, but a good overall view!

This is a health site, Overview, Ted’s Questions, Warnings and Caveats, and Feed back sections were very helpful.

This site debunks ACV Remedies and explains why it has no medicinal value

My weight has been stalling all month and I’ve been playing with the same 2 pounds. We’ve been alternating between increasing our walking speed and distance. But it’s having very little effect. In our quest to walk faster, I attempted jogging….and…promptly blew out my knee. (Note to self: big gals DON’T jog!) Ice packs, heat packs, and pain meds became my main staple for about a week.

In my immobile boredom, I sat and read the possible side effects of the over the counter pain med, and figured I should try something homeopathic that won’t potentially cause internal bleeding of the stomach lining. (Just a thought.) That’s how I found Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). The health forum touted it as helping with arthritis and joint swelling from injury or over doing. They encouraged mixing equal parts of ACV (with the mother, a cloud of happy little organisms, still in it) and raw honey (never heated over 110 degrees) into warm water to taste.

I started following links on both the honey and the acv and found the health community really likes this stuff. It helps with all kinds of things, but reacts differently for everyone depending on what nutrients you are low in. (To be fair, I also found a few sites debunking it as a myth.)

Several weight loss forums were touting it as an effective appetite control or toxin flush. Some claims were way out there, but I figured it was worth a shot. In one week I lost 4 pounds per the doctor’s scale! I’m hoping it wasn’t coincidence, but I plan to continue taking it for 2 months and see what happens. If it produces good results, I’ll see if Hubby is interested in trying it, if not, it’s not anything that can hurt me.

My total weight loss so far is 38 pounds in six months. Still a LONG way to go,but at least it’s a start. I’m trying to find a way to lose that I can live with. Banning carbs, swearing off sugar, eating like a vegan, and treating desserts, pizza, and Mexican food like the plague doesn’t seem sustainable in the long run. I’m trying to portion control and only limit things that I am willing to live with in the long haul. I’m losing much slower, but I am losing so I hope it will produce lifestyle changes that I can maintain once I reach my goal.