Archive for health

I will be adjusted

My last pregnancy I suffered horrible headaches the second and third trimesters. After 5 years, I really hoped my body’s response to pregnancy had changed…but nope! It seems once again headaches are to be the bane of my pregnancy. I have had a headache for most of every day for the last 2 weeks. Of course, given how damp and overcast the weather has been I likely would have had headaches anyways…but I believe they are worse than they would have been, and am sure the pregnancy is not helping matters, nor  is the fact that I cannot take my trusty Advil, only Tylenol which may as well be a tic-tac for all the good it does me.

So, I am going to be adjusted. I have never seen a chiropractor before, but my midwife highly recommended it (and this specific chiro), so I am going to give it a try. I’ll let you all know how it goes! I am kinda scared.

Tomorrow? The BIG ultrasound. Maybe I’ll find out the gender? Nope! I will be checking if this baby is okay though, and am a bit nervous as I did not do any of the earlier screening. Crossed fingers and toes please!

UPDATE: No adjustment today, just a 1 and 1/2 hour assessment (most of which was spent with me waiting in a room for the assessment) and I discovered there are no less than 37 things wrong with my spine! OH well…my first adjustment is Tuesday.

I am very, very nervous for my ultrasound tomorrow.

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Is it tonsillitis or the flu?

Sore throat, headache, neck-ache, fever, chills, exhaustion? Yuck! No white spots on the old tonsils yet, but I’ll be watching for them. Meanwhile Tylenol is so not cutting it and I almost hope it is tonsillitis since antibiotics (the ones I use anyways) are safe in pregnancy and start to work really quickly.

What is it with me and long weekends? I am never ever healthy over long weekends (and this isn’t even a real long weekend since the Holiday is Tuesday, but everyone is treating it like one since a lot of people-though not me-get Monday off work.)

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people can be projectile!

I have an annoying rule in my car; I do not move the car until everyone is wearing a seat-belt. I mean adults as well as kids. Many times, adults have complained about my rule. They state that they are more comfortable without seat-belts, that they never wear them, that they’ll pay for a ticket, that they’ll be fine, and that they are adults and it is up to them if they want to take the risk.

Well, not quite. Firstly, I don’t want anyone to die in my car, adult or not. If that ever happened, I would never be able to drive again. I am not sure I would be able to live with myself. So someone risking thier life by not wearing a seat-belt in my car is also putting my mental health, and my livelihood (as I cannot do my job without driving) at risk. Secondly, when someone is not wearing a seat-belt it is not only themselves they are putting at risk, but everyone in the car. If they become dislodged from the seat (and in an accident, they will if they are not restrained), they can become projectile; banging around the car injuring or even killing those of us that are in seat-belts, and possibly hitting the driver who could lose control of the car even more as a result.

Here is a video that perfectly displays this concern. Buckle up!

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blech

I woke up at 5am-ish with a stiff neck and a sore throat and a headache…and at almost 10am it is all still here.

Great.

Sick on a long weekend.

And the man is working today (yes, on good Friday…the life of an accountant during tax season) so I am sick and on my own with the girl.

And my parents are taking the girl overnight tonight.

So I am also sick on date night.

As if having my period on date night does not suck enough.  

Lets just all cross our fingers that it does not morph into tonsillitis, which I  have not had for 3 months now. So far…no white pus spots, so that is good news.

for now.

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Adventures at the ENT

So, today was  the day I have been fearing for a long, long time;  The day I had my appointment with an ENT to discuss my recurrent tonsillitis that is becoming a royal pain in my butt.

Before I went to the appointment, I googled the doctor and discovered this article and this website and found myself kinda sorta freaked out. Does my doctor think I need plastic surgery? Reconstructive surgery? WTF?

Having no idea what else to do, I went. Firstly, may I say that I want to live in his office? It is beautiful old house.

When I got there, there were pamphlets and advertisements for plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures everywhere. I felt really confused and asked the receptionist if this was a cosmetic surgery clinic. She told me the doctor was also a ENT. Phew. I looked at his card on the counter and saw “ENT” in tiny letters next to the proclamations of all his cosmetic surgery credentials. I don’t think routine OHIP covered tonsillectomies are his bread and butter. No wonder I got about 3 minutes of his precious time (after spending 40 minutes of my precious time in his waiting room).

But I digress. The waiting room of a plastic surgeon is a fun place, everyone eyeing each other nervously…wondering who is getting what done. There were several older women in the waiting room giving me encouraging smiles…I wasn’t sure if I should be offended that they thought I needed plastic surgery, or flattered that maybe, just maybe, they thought I was coming for follow-up treatment and didn’t realize that my exquisite beauty is all natural!  Imagine, I could be pretty enough that someone thought I spent thousands of dollars to look this good !?

Then, after spending a lot of time looking at magezines full of before and after pictures of nose jobs and breast implants, I finally got called in to the office.  The doctor was much much cuter than the pictures on the website would have had me believe. I may have actually blushed. Meeting went like this: (FM-me, CD=cute doctor)

FM-Hi

CD-Hi, so, you’re here for throat problems?

FM-Well, recurrent tonsillitis, actually. I have gotten it 3-4 times a year since I was in university, and have most recently gotten it  it in July, September and December of 2007. It usually now requires a couple of rounds of anti-biotics just to get rid of it, and some of them don’t work anymore, and it keeps coming back…

CD looks in my throat for 1 second.

CD- Well, they look swollen and inflamed and infected, I recommend a gargle. Starts to walk out.

FM-Wait, what kind of gargle? Is that all?

CD-Hydrogen peroxide with water, and a little salt. 3 times a day. Good-Bye…

FM-Wait. That’s all? I get sick with tonsillitis several times a year, 3 times in the last 6 months, and you want me to gargle?

CD-Well, it is not that serious. Some people have it 10 times a year.

FM-Not to you. It is very painful, and I miss a week or so of work every time. It is a real problem for me.

CRD-Well, the surgery is serious, and I don’t think it warrants that, yet.

FM-Okay, I agree, and I don’t want surgery. But I have read about the effectiveness of long term anti-biotics on recurrent tonsillitis. Should I try that?

CRD-No, I am worried about the effect of anti-biotics on your body. (Does he not realize I have already spent 1/2 of the last 6 months on anti-biotics?). Try the gargle for a few months, it may help get rid of the infection in the tissue. If it does not work, ask your doctor for the anti-biotics. I wont prescribe them, as I don’t see you enough to monitor you (in my head: 1. You could, just ask! 2. OK, could you tell her about the recommendation please, she is not going to believe it from me, You are the ENT, tell her how to help me! If she knew about this treatment, she would have done it already!). If that doesn’t work then come back and we’ll talk surgery.

At this point he ran out of the room, screaming “nice to meet you” as he went.

Hmmm. Salt water with Hydrogen Peroxide. Ever taste it? Blech! But I will do it. I will do anything to avoid another round with the evil pus-covered tonsils.

I am not even sure how I feel. On one hand, I am relieved, as I DO NOT WANT THE SURGERY and I was very scared he would take one look at my baseball sized tonsils and announce that they must be hacked off on the spot.

On the other hand, I have been gargling salt water and Cepecol forever, to no avail. Maybe Hydrogen Peroxide will be better, I am not sure…but this is a big problem for me and I was really hoping for a more aggressive approach than gargling. I was really hoping to try the long-term anti-biotics route. I know  ABX can be hard on the system, but I take them so much for acute tonsillitis that one long term round of them for chronic tonsillitis  would really not bother me. I don’t get sick from ABX, so I am up for that.  As well, I have done tonnes of research on treatments for recurring tonsillitis, and found nothing about gargling Hydrogen Peroxide as a cure. I have read that it help ease the symptoms and promote healing when the tonsillitis is acute (and I have even tried it) but not that it has had any long-term impact on tonsillitis that keeps coming back.

Oh well, off to gargle again..and inspect myself in the mirror to see if I have an excuse to go visit CD again. He was really really cute. I assume he is rich too…sigh.

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highlights of today, a pictorial essay

 divacup.jpg

 

DSC00958.jpg picture by botterflylover

DSC00960.jpg picture by botterflylover

DSC00957.jpg picture by botterflylover

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New Year’s Momma

Last night we had dinner out (sans the girl) with several couples, and then a small get-together with the adults and kids at a friend’s house. I was by far the most over dressed, but that is nothing new for me.

I tried out some dramatic smokey blue eyes:

newyearsblue.jpg picture by botterflylover

 To go with a striped sweater dress and boots:

DSC00893.jpg picture by botterflylover

  and I enjoyed one of my favorite drinks:

As for New Year’s Resolutions, this year I am going to make them much more broad than I have in previous years, since tight ones never seem to be attainable anyways! I wish I had last year’s to go over, but they were on my now dead and gone first blog! Oh well, I do remember doing a tummy-roll was a goal of mine, and I’ve done that (who wants a video??). For 2008 I will:

1. Be more focused on my family.

2. Make healthy lifestyle choices.

3. Make positive changes with regards to my career.

4. Be kinder to the world and encourage others to do so as well. Starting here, with my blogger pal C.K..

Happy News Years Everyone!!!

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My new favorite thing

A few months ago, I switched from my Nalgene water bottle to a Sigg one. I had read too many articles about the dangers of Polycarbonateto ignore even though I know very well that it may just be paranoid hype (are eggs good or bad for us?). Since I use my water bottle every day and suck from it constantly, I just figured better safe than sorry. After some research I decides a Sigg was my best bet and bought one. I am not sure if it is really healthier or not, but I do love it. It looks great, and the water tastes great too. I fill it with filtered tap water nightly, and I find that water has less of a chemical taste from my Sigg than it did from my my Nalgene. I took the Sigg to Disney World, where it fell out of my bag no less than 1200 times. It lived, but is really scratched up and dented and doesn’t really stand straight anymore. Last week I finally made it to The Big Carrot to get a new one. Lucky for me, they had the one I have been coveting in stock. May I present my new suck toy:

Lovely, yes? If you are gonna spend $34 on a water bottle, it may as well be pretty, pink and give some proceeds (and create some awareness) for a good cause.

P.S. I really really recommend reusable water bottles, be it hard plastic or aluminum or even steel or glass. The cheap one time plastic ones are awful. Not only am I concerned about the health aspects of sucking on flimsy plastic all day, but the waste is just enormous. Every time I go to the supermarket I see people buying piles of cases of bottles of water, and it hurts me to think how most of those bottles won’t even make it to a recycling bin. Disposable water bottles are a huge contribution to the world’s waste problems, and even reusing them is not safe. I am lucky to live in a city that has safe regulated water, and am glad to take advantage of that!

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2 things I have, 1 thing I want

So D and I hit the mall early today for some Boxing Day shopping. We had fun together, but there was really not much to buy. There were no spring/summer clothes on sale, and the winter stuff was very picked over and mostly stuff that had already been on sale for weeks. Also,  I don’t really need anymore winter clothes and have gained about 6lbs in the past few months (hello writer’s strike good-bye elliptical) and just don’t feel like trying on clothes until I feel better about myself again. There wasn’t even anything to buy for the girl, as she only wears dresses and there were tonnes of girl’s separates on sale, but only holiday dresses which she does not need. I looked for the man too, but all the nice men’s stuff was either super big or super small  (though I admit, I didn’t look too hard for him!).

I did score a pair of boots though. I decided I need flat(ish) boots as I have been wearing a lot of leggings and long sweaters/short sweater dresses this winter, and it looks sorta…um…trashy with high heel boots, and wrong with shoes. I avoided the dreaded hideous Uggs(yes M, I know they are comfy, but I just cannot do it! They belong in the Hell I normally reserve for Crocs) and scored these instead. Cute, eh:

DSC00890.jpg picture by botterflylover

I also have swollen, pus filled, scarred tonsils. I took a picture for ya’ll, but it is scary, so click here if you dare. I am feeling better though, the fever and sick feeling are almost gone, just another day or so of sore throat, and another 7 days of anti-biotics to contend with.

As for what I want. I WANT A Wii! NOW! I played it for the first time at my cousin’s house today, and let me just say, it is like crack. I would drop those 6lbs like nobodies business if just I had a Wii. As it is, I’ll just have to invite myself to my cousin’s house every day, until I score a Wii for myself. Cousins, listen here: Sorry, but I will not return the favour and invite you to my home for lunch.  I’ll cook for you. I’ll clean for you. I’ll even baby-sit you kids and walk your dog. But any future get-togethers will be at the house with the Wii. And that’s your house. Deal with it. Or give us the Wii. It’s up to you (see ya at 9am tomorrow, k? I’ll phone at 6 to make sure you are awake).

P.S. I know that there are some cute Uggs online, but I have never actually seen them. Luckily, I have never seen these in real life either. It is a good thing, as I think if I did I would have to gouge my eyes out:

P.S. S. Sorry I have been not around much lately. Between being sick and being very busy at home and work right now, I have been rather remiss in my blogging duties. I’ll try to be around more in the New Year! I know how much you all must suffer when I am not here for you…

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Tonsillitis

again. I have a consult with an ENT on January 22. Blech. I hope the tonsillectomy diet is as good as they say.

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