Saturday, October 27, 2007

Bella

This movie was moving and Tom and I really enjoyed it. Stephen McEveety, who also produced movies as "Braveheart", and "The Passion of Jesus Christ", signed on after the movie was finished to help market and distribute the film.

I don't want to give too much away so I will just refer you to the website www.bellathemovie.com. I hope that you will go and see it if it comes to your town. It isn't going to be showing everywhere, unless it becomes a big hit. You know Hollywood. There's got to be big money in it for them. Oh well. Go and be moved and inspired to love more deeply and live more fully. I do have to say that I found the Puerto Rican/Mexican family delightful and real.

Farm City Festival

This is a Eurasian Owl.

On Monday night, I took the boys to a Farm City Festival. It took place on Bartlett Ranch here in Montgomery. The children had so much fun. There was face painting, free treat bags, Birds of Prey Show, pony and horse rides, hay stack jumping (a favorite for the boys), free hot dogs, chips, and drinks, hay ride, and a whole lot more.



Here is the picture that was put into the newspaper:


Saturday, October 13, 2007

Movie suggestion

Someone from my Catholic Homeschool list wrote and asked for support on a movie. Her name is Kerry Wall and the movie is called Noelle. It comes out in December. They are a Charlotte Mason Catholic Homeschooling Family and her husband wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the movie. Kerry starred opposite her husband and three of their 4 children also acted in it. Check it out and please try and support Catholics that are making films (if they are decent movies of course!!). I saw the preview and it actually looked like it might be good.

Thyroid issues and a Silly Face


In the last couple of months, I (Chris) have been under the supervision of my doctor for hypertension, which came back as soon as I gave birth to Peter. We got that under control with medication. I do think that a healthy diet and weight loss will contribute to my improvement, but that takes time to achieve, so it was important to get treatment as my bp was 190/109 and sometimes higher :( Now it is holding steady at 120/70 :)

So now onto the thyroid issue. My doctor also did some blood tests and found that I had hyperthyroid. That meant that my thyroid was overactive and producing too much hormone. That would explain the palpitations I was having soon after Peter's birth. I was also experiencing irregular cycles which I attributed to breast-feeding. My doctor ordered a more extensive test for thyroid levels, and based on those results ordered an ultrasound scan of my thyroid. All this was between August and September. Meanwhile I read some stuff online and I was guessing that I have post-partum thyroiditis. My reason for thinking that was that I didn't have any family history of thyroid disfunction, and the information online made sense to me. I didn't have that many, or severe symptoms.

I was then referred to an endocrinologist based on my enlarged thyroid and disfunction. The endocrinologist examined me and looked over my records. My symptoms of palpitations had abated, yet my cycles were still irregular which even the doctor said that it could be due to breastfeeding(bf).

She left the room and came back with a diagnosis of Grave's Disease. I was shocked. I had read extensively on Grave's and didn't think that was what I had because I didn't exhibit many of the symptoms associated with Grave's except for enlarged thyroid, some palpitions and irregular cycles. I truly was shocked. I asked her couldn't it be postpartum thyroiditis, but she said no based on my enlarged thyroid. So she prescribed some anti-thyroid drugs and said to come back for blood tests. She also had me do a blood test that very day to see if anything had changed since August and Sept.

I went immediately and got my blood drawn, got the prescription filled and took the meds. By the second dose (the next morning) I was feeling ill and so down. I wondered why this was happening and wished it wan't me. I asked God to protect my liver from the drug, as it can tax it, and to protect Peter from it getting into his body through the milk. The doctor had asured me that very little leaked into the milk and should not affect him, but that I should let his doctor know I was on the drug and bf.

The next day, after my appointment with my endocrinologist, we had a light school day and we got ready to go to play ball with other homeschoolers at a local park. It was a hard day for me as I had Grave's Disease on my mind alot and I was trying to figure out what I could do diet wise to improve my health. I was all ready drinking carrot-apple juice and green juices. Plus had added lots of fiber, fruit and veggies to my diet. I read online that too much iodine in the diet can worsen hyperthyroid. So I made a list of foods to avoid and posted them on the fridge.

The children got their sneakers on and we prepared to leave. The phone rang and I saw that it was my doctor. I knew immediately that she was calling about my bloodwork. Instinctively I prayed that it was better not worse. She told me that the thyroid levels were no longer hyper. That I should stop the medication immediately. In fact I currently am the opposite hypothyroid and not producing enough hormone. That sounded just like postpartum thyroiditis to me! She still thinks I have Grave's but that it is going into "remission". She will be re-checking my blood in mid-November as originally planned. Then we shall see how it is. Chances are that I will still be hyothyroid and may need to be given meds to up the levels. At least that is what happens in post partum thyroiditis. So we shall see.
I am relieved that my body is trying to repair itself and Lord willing it will get better. Please say a little prayer to St.Blaise to intercede for the healing of my thyroid as it is located in the throat.

Unexpected Trip


Towards the end of September we made a last minute trip to NY to visit Tom's parents and family. Tom's dad had surgery to remove cancerous tumors. He did very well with the surgery. Tom's brother's and mom were great at keeping us updated on dad's condition. There was bad news the next day and dad had to have another surgery. He did fine with the second surgery, but suffered a terrible blood infection. He was in critical condition and we really didn't know for sure whether he was going to survive. They called it sepsis.
We then decided that we should go and see dad. Thankfully he got better from the infection and unfortunately got another mysterious infection. By God's grace he recovered from the second infection and began to slowly recover.

It was an emotional "roller coaster" as Tom's mom would say. One minute he appeared to be doing better then a set-back. But thanks to God, our supplication through prayer, and dad's fighting spirit, he has pulled through and is now off his ventilator and eating and moving. Our God is always good, but He was especially good this time to all. He spared dad. Now dad is cancer free and should, Lord willing, recover fully and go home. We pray for him daily that he continue to improve and that there be no more set-backs to his recovery.

So the trip to NY was sudden and a bit stressful and sad, but was also full of joy in seeing dad recover, and reconnecting with family members we hadn't seen in over a year or since Christmas.
We will certainly miss everyone while we are away again!