Friday, December 23, 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Lady of the Rivers (The Cousins' War, #3)The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A little bit history, a little bit magic. Love the way this story was woven.....love the story of Jacquetta....rarely told. Enticing.



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The Red Queen (The Cousins' War, #2)The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read these completely out of order reading the last one first...this one on the middle. I enjoyed them anyway, and I was able to follow the English monarchies easily enough. Interesting, but sad...so much bloodshed......




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The White Queen (The Cousins' War, #1)The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I am on a English History kick...Philippa Gregory brings this time period to life. Really enjoying this series of books about the "Cousin's War".



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The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the RainThe Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sweet. Life told from the perspective of a dog. Strangely insightful...full of life lessons.



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Monday, December 19, 2011

Mom of the Year: NOT

I am not feeling like the Mom of the Year....in fact, I Amy not be in the running for quite a while.
Today, Elvis went in for his annual eye exam... 2 years past due....with a complaint that he could not focus well...and he was seeing in duplicate and quadruplicate( is that a word?). Doctor H gave him a good exam, knowing that Elvis had/has Lyme Disease.
His exam shows Neurological Palsy and optical nerve damage. Prognosis...?????
This was probably caused by Lyme...you know that disease...which isn't really real....which only needs some doxycycline and you become in the class known as "adequately treated".

So, I am sending his pediatrician...who decided he was " adequately treated", his report while I do some research and try and find a doctor who can REALLY adequately treat him.

So, here we are, almost 3 years into this battle....with some wins and other losses...
So far or wins are good....he is out of bed and doing something daily, he has gained some weight, he is not depressed anymore....

Our losses: he is still in pain in his joints ....especially his elbow and wrists....he is having sleep issues, wired but tired....he has no appetite.....he still can't study, and he has lost a good portion of what he already learned in high school.

So, the bad mom award goes to me...for not being aggressive enough in his treatment, for not being forceful enough to insist on IV antibiotic treatments earlier, for believing his body would fight to get well if I gave him enough good food and vitamins...for not listening to the little voice in my head that said we should treat more aggressively.

And now, We go on to the fight of our lives....to live Lyme Free and healthy....2012 is our year to get well....
Faithe

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Carl's Quest: To Beat Lyme Disease

I am serious about not being able to get ANYONE to treat ds further inside what insurance will allow. All other doctors are NOT covered, and unfortunately...who knows then who you are getting. It is like the insurance company is sending us back to charlatans.
Thank God my ds is getting better.....through vitamin and nutritional therapies I kind of designed myself through research. He was diagnosed 5 years after his first exposure. He spent 6 months in bed...not able to stay awake longer than 15 minutes at a pop. His doctor thought he was "depressed". I was livid! Depression does not make you run fever every day, it does not give you brochitis and pnemonia repeatedly, it does not make your elbows swell......I insisted on a Lyme test, which came back falsely negative.......then he got infected AGAIN!!!! He must be a tick magnet. He finally had a tell tale bullseye in his armpit. jerk doctor said he had chafing because he wasn't washing.
I asked him to humor me....and run a western blot. I had just read about them.....it came back with a romping active Lyme and the evidence of long term Lyme.
He gave him the Doxy for 21 days...I insisted on 28... Then on the zithromax.

I took him to the head of infectious diseases in Kingston....he said he was adequately treated ( that is the phrase they use to tell you it is all on your head and they are not treating you any further.). He gave him a long talk about aids....and sent him on his way.

Then I took him up to the head of pediatric infectious diseases at Albany med. After a 2 hour consultation...which happened the day of my mother's funeral.....she recited basically the same verbiage.....it seems like the doctors have been handed a script and damn well better recite it well.

Anyway.....that was a year ago. Since then he has had good days and bad days. He is having more good days ...these days. As I continue on my research, I am looking for alternatives to anti biotics, mostly because he thought he was going to die the whole time he was on them. He ended up with systemic yeast....and the fun that goes with that. He has outright refused to go the IV route....if I could find a doctor to do that for him.

You would think that with the number of Lyme patients in this area SOMEONE would be willing to treat...or research their heinie off, if for no other reason than financial gain.....but, as we know it seems the research is blocked off, the insurance companies are in
Cahoots with the research labs...and in the meantime...Lyme has become endemic.

I am incredibly frustrated.

Faithe

My blogging plans for 2012

I have been thinking about what I want to blog about for the next year....and maybe try and be a bit consistent. A few things have been going on that definitely need a place for me to vent, and revisit....and maybe make some order out of chaos.

So, these are the topics at hand:

1: homeschooling during all of the following:
2: home business
3: Lyme disease
4: Hashimoto's and Auto-immune disease....but you don't look sick...
5: BOOKS
6: Marriage and family...keeping it all together and having some fun too
7: anything else that strikes my fancy .


So, in the midst of trying to keep everything moving...and everyone happy, I am going to try to use my blog as my working memory....because the one in my brain isn't working so hot.

~~Faithe