Thursday, January 21, 2010

Wheat free again........

Okay, I've decided that I'm going to go wheat free again and see after a few months if the pain continues to increase or not. I still think that wheat free is for the birds so to speak, but I'll keep doing it for my health....as hard as it is. The short break was nice and I pigged out on Krispy Kreme and "human" pizza. Oh, wheat....how I will miss you. I hope that you make a repeat apperance after time.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Wheat free is for the birds!!

So as many of you know, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in Nov and have been on a wheat free diet since around Thanksgiving. My major symptom was pain, all over and to the point I needed pain medication to function. When I went wheat-free just before Thanksgiving, I had almost no pain and was feeling great. Now, not even 3 months later, I'm starting to feel like my old self, which is not good. I've been VERY religious about keeping out foods that contain wheat and limiting my diet to gluten free things but to no avail, the pain has come back. So after talking with Mike, we decided to start me back on wheat and see how I feel. Last night we had Papa Murphy's pizza. Wheat, of how I've missed you so..... It was the most delicious pizza I have ever tasted and today, the pain isn't any worse than it was on the wheat free diet. So right now, I'm not sure what to do. Should I keep with the wheat-free and see if the pain gets worse, or stay on wheat and see if the pain gets worse? My other problem is the fact that Mike's insurance is going to run out soon and we can't really afford a bunch of medical bills because my insurance SUCKS. You'd think that a hospital would give their health care workers good benefits, but no. Sorry. Apparently we are just supposed to never get sick or have any medical problems at all. Yeah, nice try!! With all of the stress of Mike being out of work and sick, insurance changes, and money worries, maybe it's stress that's making things worse. Who knows. Nothing ever shows up on my blood work so maybe I'm just crazy. Isn't there a pill for that? Oh yeah, I tried it and it didn't work. I just hope I can find an answer soon. If not, I'll be drivin' the crazy train right along side Mike. We sure are 2 peas in a pod.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Mike's follow up appointment after his pulmonary function test

Mike had his follow up appt with Dr Darby today after he did his pulmonary function test. Apparently, he doesn't fit the "diagnostic criteria for asthma". I guess he's not "sick" enough. On the day he did the test, he was completely wiped out. He had a headache for 2 days afterward. But his O2 sats were fine. Something tells me that there is damage in his lungs but it just didn't show up on that test. Mike is scheduled for a follow up test (a different one) on Jan 28th. It's a meta choline challenge test. Basically, they make Mike breathe increasing amounts of meta chlorine and at a certain point, he'll have an asthma attack. The doctors will treat him for the attack and then they will judge how much of the chemical it took to induce the attack. Maybe then they'll make the diagnosis of asthma. Either way, Mike has a reactive airway, diagnosed with "asthma" or not and he's still unable to go back to work where he was due to the risk of exposure again. We still aren't getting paid from his initial injury, so money is tight around here. Mike is also going insane not being able to do much around the house. Between the weather, and the fact that exertion causes an attack, he's going crazy and he's trying to take me with him!!

Keep us in your thoughts. We need all the help we can get. Mike is hoping to go back to work soon, but I don't think it will happen. I'll let him dream, though. If not, I'm likely to kill him. Hope life finds you in better spirits than us!! Lots of love.

The Lowmon Clan

Monday, January 11, 2010

I found pancakes....AND PIZZA!!

So this year, thanks to my secret santa I had a chance to broaden my gluten free horizions. In my last gift, there was gluten free pancake mix and a pizza dough package. First, I made the pancakes and with a little help from cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla they were not totally disgusting. They actually were edible and we might eat them again. Mike even commented that these were so much better than the last batch we tried. I'm very happy to have an option when it comes to Sunday morning pancakes.




The next day, I decided to try the pizza dough package. It took some odd ingredients but it turned out pretty good. Mike even ate it AND liked it so that's saying something. I needed to cook it a little bit longer or split the dough because it was not done in the middle but over all it was very good.


Saturday, January 2, 2010

A new look for the New Year.

New Years Eve, I was lucky enough to get 12 hours of low census and got to spend the evening with my wonderful family. So for those of you who haven't seen us since New Years, Mike shaved his beard off. All of it. He has no facial hair what-so-ever. He hasn't been clean shaven since his time in Iraq. He looks like he's 12, which is why he doesn't keep himself shaved most of the tome, but I guess he decided that it was time for a change.



During my 12 hours off from work, I had a chance to rearrange the pictures on my fridge. The space available to work with keeps getting smaller and smaller as Jack gets taller and taller, but I think I got everything I needed. All the pictures of friends and family that I have (minus Christmas cards) plus a few sentimental things I like to keep around. I think that it is safe from the reaches of a 22 month old monster. Here's a picture of all my hard work.



That was the extent of our New Years excitement and Jack would just like to send his love for a very great New Year!!