Happy New Year!

January 3, 2011-My first post of the New Year.  I'm hoping to post more this year, I'm thinking shorter but more often.  This past year I've linked up with several encouraging homeschooling Moms who blog, and they have been an inspiration. 

Our holidays were nice and quiet-ahhhh.  We of course would have loved to spend them with our families in California or Minnesota, but it didn't work out this year again.  Times are tough and it is expensive for a family of five to travel!  So, it was just the five of us.  Nick came home from school in mid-December for a 2 1/2 week break!  He just went back to Clearfield last night.  It is looking like he may finish up his certification within the next month or so, then hopefully a job and an apartment will be next for him. 

So, today was back to the regular routine of homeschooling and activities.  I didn't make any resolutions this year, just loose ideas of what I'd like to do better.  With chronic illness, I think I beat myself up enough throughout the year when I can't do what I planned to, so why make it worse on myself with resolutions?  Some things I"d like to improve this year are:

Food/menus/meals: I already started this last year, and I've done pretty well.  I'm trying to make home cooked dinner from scratch most nights.  We stopped eating fast food (except for the occasional big treat) a few years ago, and aside from frozen pizza and leftover nights, I'm trying to not use any prepackaged, processed foods for our dinners.  I'd love to make out menus far in advance, but I buy each week based on what is on sale, so it doesn't work out well to plan too far ahead. 

Budgeting/couponing: I'd like to get a tighter reign on our budget, and keep better track of my savings using sales, rebates, and coupons. I don't want to have to use Credit cards at all (had a few emergencies last year that we had to), and work on using Dave Ramsey's plan to pay down debt and increase savings.  I'd also like to completely pay for Christmas gifts with earnings of gift cards, etc. from rebates, surveys, points earned in various programs.  This past year, I earned about $200, which was just a little short of my goal of covering everything. 

Exercise:  This is a very vague one.  I'm really not supposed to exercise in any way, except pool therapy, which is too expensive. The fear is all the hardware in my neck and upper back and base of skull-there is just way more than there should be, and the neurosurgeon worries something will break.  But, I can handle very short walks or pedaling a stationary bike for short bursts.  So, I'm going to try to do that more often.  My semi-regular diet of steroids puts on about 5 lbs. each round, and in the past few years I've gained about 25 lbs. from my normal weight.  That may be a losing battle, but who knows? 

Reading/Bible: I want to continue reading more and watching TV less.  I'll continue reading one fiction book at the same time as at least one non-fiction book (mostly bible studies).  I also want to spend more time in the bible this year, and I think I'm off to a good start!  I'm participating in The Bible in 90 Days!

Today was the first day.  I'm on a team of several other women and one man, many of us are homeschooling moms. Many have blogs. Some are living in other countries-China and Africa are where two participants live. We have a mentor, who is encouraging us and I'm enjoying getting to know her as well. We check in with each other and are getting to know each other along the way. It is a lot of reading to get this done in 90 days, so obviously not much 'studying'.  What I'm looking to get out of this, aside from reading through the bible completely, is to make a better habit for myself by spending a large chunk of time daily in the bible.  I'm really excited about this!

That's all I can think of at this time, not that there isn't a lot more rolling around in this head of mine!  This year should be an exciting one in our family, with lots of changes, especially for our oldest two, Nick and Alyssa, as they navigate these older teen/young adult years!

                                                               

Six weeks down............

So, I've been busy the past six weeks. I've neglected lots of things, one of them being this blog. What was the big change six weeks ago? I started homeschooling my youngest, who is seven years old. Now, I have been homeschooling for 12 years so you would think I'm a pro at this by now. No. Every child is different. Also, my oldest two are much older-one has graduated and is in technical college and the other is a sophomore in High School. Technically I am still homeschooling the High Schooler. But her program is different-she has teachers for each class and live classes through the internet. I am basically a supervisor, or 'learning coach' as they call it in her school. I help her when I can (if my brain cells can recall the high school days, that is), but she is mostly independent. So, it has been several years since I have homeschooled a child who needs my one-on-one teaching all the time. Wow-I forgot how that is!

The other difference is that curriculum has changed-there are still the old tried-and-true curriculums out there, but also a lot of new stuff. I bought some new curriculum, and I must say I absolutely LOVE All About Spelling! I put a banner at the bottom of the blog if you want more information. Chad learned very little in public school last year, I think it was for several reasons, but he just seemed to get lost in the shuffle. So he is at a kindergarten/early 1st grade level in reading and math. This program is making a huge difference.

Thanks to my friend Amy at Life's Little Crazies for her help and direction with this newer curriculum, and also for heading me in the direction of Homeschool Creations. Jolanthe has great ideas, downloads, and is just amazing with all the information she puts out. I don't think she sleeps!

Back to being busy this past six weeks! As all of us Moms know, being a Mom itself is a full-time job. Taxi-driving for the teens is major, getting everyone to music, sports and church activities. Throw in a handful of chronic illnesses (some with fatigue), lots of meds daily including narcotics that make one sleepy, and then homeschool a seven-year-old. He is now with me 24/7. He is high-energy. It's not easy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. He is halfway through some of our 1st grade curriculum, so it is obvious that he needed this one-on-one time to catch up. Aside from the academics, we are creating an even stronger bond than we had, one that I have treasured with my oldest two as well. I also noticed he is not coming home with the sassy-mouth remarks that he would learn in school. So, it's difficult at times, but totally worth it. I must add that I couldn't do it without my wonderful husband, who is willing to jump in and help out when he is home. Over the years, we have scrimped and stretched and gone without pretty much everything 'extra'(i.e. eating out, entertainment, new clothes, etc....) on a social worker's small salary to be able to homeschool, and it was and is worth it all. That topic is for another post though-I've been asked by several people to post how we do it on our income, so I am planning to post on that soon, promise.

I said at the beginning of the year that I would post our curriculum choices for the year, so here they are:
All About Spelling
First Language Lessons(Grammar)
Explode The Code(phonics)
Horizons Math
Abeka History and Abeka Health, Safety and Manners
Peterson Directed Handwriting
God's Wonderful Works(Science)
Writeshop Primary(Creative Writing)
Leading Little Ones To God (Bible)
He also is part of the Awana program, which I highly recommend!
Throw in some art and music, field trips, sports and that about covers it. Whew. Thank you Lord for your strength and grace!
Here's to the next six weeks and beyond!

Swine Flu part 2 (originally H1N1 fun)

So, our H1N1 saga did continue. Alyssa completely recovered from her H1N1 and subsequent infection, though it took a lot out of her. A couple weeks after she recovered, Chad got it!! Of course this was at the start of swim lessons, and he was having allergy issues anyway, but the chlorine seems to make him cough the first few days he is in the pool. So I didn't take him to the Dr. right away, thinking it was allergy/asthma related. Once I took him in (about 4-5 days after onset), it was too late for Tamiflu. So he was on his regular nebulizer regimen, which helped but didn't get rid of it, and we ended up back at the doctor's the next week to get a steroid prescription. That finally got rid of it. He had a few high fevers that got us really nervous, but he did really well while he was sick and confined to the house. I got on Tamiflu AGAIN. So, after school ended it was one child after another, and by the time all three kids were through this *crap*, it was just a few weeks until Chad started 1st grade (year-round here). So, no camping trips or quick trips to nearby fun spots. Oh well. Maybe in October when Chad is on track break. Since the high school kids are homeschooled we can do things like that (if it isn't too cold then!)

So, that is (hopefully) the end of our Swine Flu saga. I'm hoping the kids have an immunity to it if it breaks out again in the Fall!

H1N1 Fun!

Not really. It hasn't been fun. If you had told me a month or so ago that H1N1 would sweep through our family, I would have freaked out. But, it really has not been that bad, not as bad as I had it hyped up to be in my mind. Granted, ours stayed under control and we got medical attention quickly with a diagnosis, which I think was the key. So, here's what happened:

About 1 1/2 weeks ago, Nick (17) had a sore throat and dry cough one night. Jeff was thinking H1N1, and with my illness(es), was considering putting either Nick or me in a hotel. We decided to wait and see how he progressed. He ended up with a low grade fever, cough, and mild chest congestion. Being as he is the only child with a bedroom down in the basement, we told him he needed to stay there (I hope that doesn't sound cruel). When he occasionally came upstairs, he had to wear a mask and use hand sanitizer. We also prepared all his food/drinks and passed them to him at the top of the stairs. Poor guy, sounds like he had leprosy but we really didn't want this to spread. We did take good care of him, really. We never took him in to the doctors because it never got concerning, so we just figured it was a run-of-the-mill cold/flu.

Fast-forward to one week ago today, Friday. Alyssa had a scratchy throat and dry cough. BUT, she also had her year-end dance recital the day before and had been running around like a wild woman for a few days, so she/we figured she was just over-tired. She spent the day taking it easy and by evening, reported that she felt fine. The next morning, Saturday, it only took one look at her emerging from her room to know she wasn't fine. She looked like death warmed over. She had a fever, cough, sore throat. Since my husband was home from work and we try our best to have me avoid any medical places not necessary, he decided to take her in to urgent care. They did a swab for Influenza A, and it came back positive. Apparently, H1N1 is a subcategory of type A, and as it is the one going around right now in Utah, especially among teenagers, if you test positive for A they assume you have H1N1. There are so many cases right now here that they have stopped testing directly for H1N1. So, she got a prescription for Tamiflu, which is supposed to hugely cut down the illness symptoms and time frame right away. They also prescribed it for me, due to my immune system. Nick, who by now was feeling much better, they said for sure had it but it was too late to give him the Tamiflu as he was on the mend.

The next day, I had a sore throat and felt yucky, but that could have been allergies and my normal junk. I guess we'll never know for sure. I kept taking the Tamiflu and came out fine. Alyssa felt better Sunday, and a lot better Monday. The doctor said that as long as she didn't have symptoms she was not contagious. Well, Tuesday afternoon my teens were to leave for a 3-day retreat in the mountains outside Park City in Wanship, UT. Not tent camping but in a lodge. After calling the doctor yet again and being told she was not contagious anymore, and Alyssa begging, I went against my mother's intuition (big mistake) and let her go. At this point she didn't have 'symptoms', she just had a tight, raspy voice.

This same day, Jeff was feeling like he might have it. He went in right away (major for him, as he never goes to a doctor) but tested negative and was told it was probably a sinus issue. He felt better the next day. All during this time, I was worried about our littlest guy, Chad, as he has asthma and just has a hard time fighting off any respiratory stuff. We were still being diligent with face masks, hand washing, etc. so I'm sure that helped him to never get it.

So, off the kids went on Tuesday, with my intuition nagging at me. Yesterday morning, Thursday, I got a phone call from Alyssa asking me to come get her. She had been vomiting all morning and felt awful. She also thought she had run a fever the day before and had a very tight chest. My first thought was the H1N1, that it had turned into pneumonia. My second thought was what a bad mother I was to not go with my instinct and make her stay home. My third thought was she had probably infected everyone-yikes! Bad mother again!

Chad and I packed up in the car for the long drive. I've never driven in the mountains by myself, so I was a bit nervous. Of course, once we got up into the windy mountain roads and the windy narrow dirt road to the camp, it started pouring rain, hailing, with thunder and lightning. Great. It took about 1 1/2 hours each way to get her, and I did it. Whew. Alyssa was actually feeling better, but I could tell right away how tight her chest was. She also has lots of respiratory problems (seems to be her weakness), so on the drive home I made a doctor's appointment. The entire drive home I was thinking Bad Mother. Bad Mother. Bad Mother.

Surprisingly, the doctor said it was not the H1N1, but rather a secondary bacterial infection in her chest. She had finished the Tamiflu the day before, and the doctor was certain this was not the flu at all. Whew. I was also very relived that her lungs were clear, as she has a tendency toward pneumonia. So, we left with antibiotics and Mucinex and orders for her to rest for two full days before getting out and about again, with more days of rest if needed. She crashed out at home (there's no place like home after you've been sick on a trip!), and we're hoping she improves today.

Through all this, I've wrestled with the whole issue of whether I should have made her stay home or not. I think I should have, but I also think she learned a lesson in all of this. At a certain stage, we have to let them have some input with these types of decisions, and Alyssa is a very mature, level-headed young lady. She knew I had reservations, and now I think she knows to lean on Mom's reasoning a bit more. I could have kept her home, and she would have not argued, and I should have gone with my instinct. I question that instinct constantly, but it almost ALWAYS turns out to be right. Also, I'm relieved that in our case, the H1N1 was not that bad-we've had worse flus, much worse. With my illness, everyone tends to freak out just a bit with things like this, but it all turned out okay. Hopefully Alyssa will be herself in a couple days too.

Sleep Study

For several years, I've had various medical professionals suggest I get a sleep study, due to my fatigue/sleepiness. I always brushed it off, thinking who wouldn't be sleepy/tired with all the medication I take, most of which has drowsiness as a side effect? Then when I got my autoimmune diagnosis last year, it made even more sense that I was so fatigued-that's one of the biggest symptoms of autoimmune disease.

Well, in April when I had a stomach bug I went in to the doctor, and my regular PCP was not available. I got a new doctor to the practice, who specializes in sleep disorders. He right away mentioned that my airway is extremely narrow, and started talking about a sleep study. After thinking it through, I decided it couldn't hurt to get it done. Then at least when the next doctor asks me, I could say I had it done and don't have a sleep disorder.

The night before memorial day I went to the lab to have it done, super anxious about if I'd even be able to sleep. I got all hooked up and tried to get to sleep. The lab was very comfortable, it was like I was in a bedroom. The problem I was having was with the thing up my nose-just like the oxygen one that has the prongs in your nostrils, yet this measured inflow and outflow. It was sooooo annoying. Anyway, I guess about 1 1/2 hours later I fell asleep. They woke me at 5am to go home. I felt like I had been a little more restless than a normal night in my own bed.

Anyway, I got the results a few days ago-sleep apnea! The doctor said I stopped breathing at least 10 times per hour, plus I NEVER had the deep REM sleep. So, no wonder I'm tired! Now I'm super excited that maybe I have the chance to feel a lot better once I get on the CPAP machine. I will have to go back in overnight for them to get the pressure right on the CPAP, and then I'll get my own machine later that week.

I know it probably seems wierd to be excited about this, but I really am! Honestly, I thought my life would always be the way it is now due to meds and my illnesses, but now to have something that can actually be fixed/helped-wow!! I don't have my appointment to go back to the sleep lab yet, but I should get it within the next week or so.