Software delivered

Finally, software was delivered Wednesday afternoon. Today King took my place up at Princess' school for lunch and recess duty. Toward the end of recess, a boy was pushed from the top of playground equipment and fell, causing a seizure and concussion. King was the one to call 9-1-1 and direct rescue personnel to the child. I am really glad he was there and not me. He's so calm in a crisis. The boy will be fine, we hope.

Another biggie ... it looks like we will sign a lease for office space this week! We are hopeful that God will continue to lead us in good decisions. The office looks great and is small enough for us now and will allow us to grow a bit this next year. It will be weird to have a real office and to hire employees. Neither of us is terribly excited about it because of the changes that it will bring, but it seems to be the right time and the right thing to do. Change is always hard for me. The good thing is that I should be able to maintain my home office. I spent the day in my sleep shirt and fuzzy slipper socks. Not exactly office attire, but I have been quite sick today and dressing for success took on a different meaning today.

Dixie is doing great. You can tell she feels oh, so much better! :) Pictures to come after her bath tomorrow.

Dixie's Surgery

The poor old girl lost 7 teeth yesterday. One tooth was so rotten that it fell out as they were cleaning. I should have taken a picture of her teeth before they were cleaned. Ugh. I started to upload a picture from the web, but it's too gross. Let me just say that instead of having white teeth, hers were grey and yellow. She had abcesses under several teeth. It's no wonder she had such terrible breath. I can't believe how much she's changed. She doesn't even have any smell to her mouth today and her teeth are white!!

She has slept alot today and she makes little piglet grunting sounds when she sleeps. Her nose also whistles when she breathes. I guess it's all the swelling still. She's pretty cute and we are glad she is feeling better!

Surgery

Our little Dixie is having oral surgery Tuesday the 29th. We rescued her in July when she was 8 years old and her teeth were awful. Simply awful. Her mouth is so infected that you can smell it with her mouth closed. Her gums are infected and she may have abcesses all the way to the bone. Poor little thing. Hopefully they won't have to pull all of her teeth, but we want a healthy mouth, so the poor little old lady may come back to us tomorrow mostly toothless. We hope she comes through the surgery well and has a healthy mouth again soon!

Symbol of Life

This is a symbol of how our life is currently. There are too many things to do. Not enough time to do them. Too many projects to finish. Not enough time to do them. We planted some rose bushes in late summer/early autumn. Somehow we never got the potting soil put away and it sat in the same spot long enough for this to happen...

On our Girl Trip to see my Granny, Bonnie, Princess and myself stopped by a pond to take pictures with the Canadian geese. They are beautiful birds.

The trip was a fast one and it was good on several levels. I am so glad that I went as Granny did not know our names. I could tell she knew me as someone that she loves, but her mind is really deteriorating and has changed since I saw her New Years.

I am just tired all over since the trip. I know that my body interprets a trip of any kind as "STRESS" and stress not only makes me tired, but it produces migraines and paralysis. I've had a few episodes since I got back as well as a couple of migraines. King has a major software release due today and we are not going to make it. ACK! We are praying that he can make it by tomorrow. So many things are coming together right now and we have so much required of us. Good thing that God is Almighty and the Great Provider.

Random

I leave today to go see my Granny. My sweet friend, Bonnie, will go with us (Princess and myself). It will be a quick trip. 6.5 hours one way. We will see Granny tonight and for a while in the morning, then leave to drive home.

I was able to walk on the treadmill this morning and even increased my speed. I was almost jogging, but I couldn't jog because it would make my knee pop worse. So, I just walked reeeeally fast. :)

I am still having a lot of Hypo episodes. We've had a lot of cool, rainy weather and I'm convinced that the Barometric pressure has something to do with my episodes. The cold will trigger an episode as well. I can't even take Dixie out to go potty without it triggering an episode. It's the weirdest thing. The only thing that I have noticed is I have an episode after a flat line followed by an uptick on the pressure chart. I can't even say for certain that the flat/uptick has anything to do with the episodes. It's something to watch.

JUST WHAT IS BAROMETRIC PRESSURE?

Gravity pulling the air toward the earth causes it to exert a pressure that is measured by a barometer. If the barometer is rising, the air is exerting higher pressure on the ground, which implies it is sinking, clearing out the clouds. If the barometer falls, the air exerts less pressure, which can imply it is rising, leading to cloud formation and precipitation.

"Poppy" Knee

My right knee has decided it needs more attention. Yesterday I noticed that my right knee makes a distinct "pop" when I bend it. The really icky part is that I can feel it pop inside of my knee at the same time. This is not like the normal "pop" I hear when I bend down and stand back up. This is, "Hey, I'm wearing out down here!"

Good thing is there is no pain involved. It just makes me squeemish when I step with my right leg a little too deep and hear/feel that ... pop. Pray with me that this is nothing but a tired body that is ready for heaven. I already have surgery scheduled for my dog next week and King's hip is in need of some help as well. Oh, won't it be nice when Jesus hands us that new body!

Random Things

Tomorrow: I pack to go to see my Granny
Feeling: Wistful as she is going downhill fast and may not know who I am when I get there
Happy Because: I have the ability to go to see Granny
Today I: have to work
Laundry: Love to wash, like to fold, hate to put away
Something I know: Jesus loves me ... little ole me
Currently reading: Praying Successfully by Charles Spurgeon
Wanting: To sell the company ... or at least hire some help
Favorite gadget: Our new coffee pot (that also makes a mean cup of Peppermint Tea)
Thankful that: I have a husband and daughter who love me
Wondering why: It's so hard to learn good grammar!

Care to fill in any of these with your own answers?

Never take for granted that your body works

When you are able to roll out of bed in the morning, Thank Jesus.
When you are able to walk to the bathroom, Thank Jesus.
When you can take a deep breath, Thank Jesus.
When you can swivel around to hear what someone said to you, Thank Jesus.
When you can run back into the house for something that you forgot, Thank Jesus.
When you agree to do something for someone else, Thank Jesus that you will be able to keep that commitment.

Not everyone is able to roll out of bed, walk to the bathroom, take a deep breath, swivel around, run anywhere, or keep commitments. Sometimes the body just doesn't respond. Praise God for the little things that you expect from life because you may not always have them.

I am laying in bed this morning in Hypo episodes. First thing this morning I did most of the things listed above. I even worked out on the treadmill, but life can change in a matter of minutes. It reminds me of Who is in control and how He expects us to praise Him in every detail of life ... to be mindful of Him in every moment.

Acts 17
24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man[f] he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist."

I made it!!

I weighed 136.6 this morning!! I'm so excited as that is the exact weight I made it to in the autumn of last year. It's the lowest weight I have had since I started gaining weight with my neuromuscular disease. I began to have full body paralysis in the summer of 2000. At that time, I had lost my baby weight (50 lbs!!) and was back down to my normal weight of 125 or so. Weight wasn't a huge issue for me back then, so I don't know the exact 120 number. Then I began this whole long journey with Periodic Paralysis. In the beginning, I mostly had Hyper episodes which had to be aborted using sugar. Straight sugar. I ate sugar cubes to stop the attack. Well, when you do this 5-10 times per day and you lay around paralyzed, you are going to gain weight. It's simple consumption/consequences. Over time those sugar cubes and paralysis add up, let-me-tell-you. I got up to 170 in March of 2007. That's when I began to feel better paralysis-wise and could "fast". What I mean by fasting is when my body has used up it's immediate source of fuel (the previous meal) and begins to be hungry again. While I was so sick with PP, the first sign that I was hungry was full body paralysis episode ... not a stomach growl. I couldn't let myself get hungry because then I would be paralyzed. Trying to live a normal life of carpool, mommyhood and wife, homemaker, chef and chief family organizer ... there's really no time for paralysis. So, in order to avoid paralysis, I had to avoid hunger which means I had to eat every two hours. I began to take a medication called Avandia, which helps my body use insulin properly and thereby allowed me to "fast" without episodes. Halleluia! It was a breakthrough. I am still on Avandia and doing great. I have lost 33.5 pounds and I am so grateful. My goal is 130, but if I can, I'd like to be back at 125 or so.

It is taking a lot of work to lose weight. For instance, last night I wanted to eat chocolate chip cookie dough, Rocky Road ice cream, and a big cheeeeesy pizza. I did not. I instead had lentil soup with rice and for my snack I had some almonds with blueberries. I'm glad I made that choice and was rewarded when I stepped on the scales. I was able to work out again this morning, having only missed Sunday morning since I was sick on Sunday. I worked out Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday. Not bad for a paralytic!

No Workout, Just sick

I wanted to work out before church this morning, but I just didn't feel like it was the right thing to do. Turns out, that hunch was right. A couple of hours later, I was on the couch with big Hypo episodes. (Last night I had so many Hypo episodes that I had to just go to sleep.) This morning I started with hypo episodes, then I got a migraine and a stomach bug. I'm not a happy camper. :( One great thing is that I am reading Charles Spurgeon's book on prayer. I think it's called Praying Successfully. It's very, very good.

My weight is down a bit more (137.2). Down is a good direction. :) I'm not feeling my best and it makes no sense, but what I want for dinner is a nice, big, cheeeeesy pizza! I will instead, eat rice. :) 136, here I come...

Good Progress

I was able to walk on the treadmill again this morning. That makes 3 mornings in a row and I was able to do my 35 minutes. I did lunges for the last five minutes. Typically, I walk about 3.4 miles per hour and I kept the pace the same while doing the lunges. I didn't realize it would increase my heartrate the way that it did. It turned out well and I hope it worked my inner thighs.

Weight-wise, I made it back down to 137.8. I set a goal for a pound a week, but I didn't figure on fluctuating so much. I thought I'd be at 135.6 today. I'm two pounds from that, but will keep working hard.

Ephesians 1

I try to memorize scripture while I am on the treadmill. This does more than one thing:
1. I hide God's word in my heart.
2. I'm changing more than my body while I am on the treadmill
3. It reminds me what I'm after. My purpose is not this broken body and making it "hot". I'm after an eternal goal of sanctification. (I obviously need to be reminded because I forget this goal frequently!)

I have been reading Ephesians through for a month or so. I will skip around some mornings and just read the last couple of chapters or the middle one or just the first. The last few mornings, I have been meditating on this series of verses: 11-14. Yesterday I could only get verse 11 memorized. It is so full of meaning and rabbit trails! Your mind can go in so many directions. This morning I confirmed verse 11 and moved on to verses 12 and 13, with a stab at memorizing verse 14 as well.

"11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory."

When you read this, what do you think about God's plan for you? What is "the purpose of His will"? What does it mean for us to "be for the praise of His glory"? What does it mean to you to be "included into Christ"? What is the benefit of being "included into Christ"? Who guarantees your inheritance? If your inheritance is guaranteed, can it be revoked? Did you catch the last verse ... "the redemption of those who are God's possession"! Wow. To be possessed by God is unspeakable. What does it look like for you to be possessed by God?

These are some of the questions I ask myself as I am sweating along on the treamill. It makes 35 minutes go by very fast. :)

Up a Pound

Darn brownies. :) Isn't this little guy cute? Looks like me yesterday, licking the brownie bowl. I am back to 138.4, however I was able to work out on the treadmill again this morning. That's two days in a row. I'm not sure how my muscles will respond as I can not over tax them without injury. I haven't had an episode, so that's good. It is, however, cold and rainy ... prime conditions for a whopping Hypo episode.

Down a pound

Well, I am down another pound (to 137.4), but I ate two brownies tonight. I fixed dinner for a friend and it's never good when there is dessert left over. ;) Tomorrow is a new day. One other bright spot is that I'm able to walk/run on the treadmill for 35 minutes now. Cool!

Princess has a 4 day holiday over the weekend. Not sure what we will do. Probably just veg.

My Princess and "Dixie" asleep at Nana and Papa's house on Christmas.

Blankets for Ethiopia

Some of you know that for years I have dreamed of adopting children from another country. I really like Ethiopia and enjoy reading about others' adventures as they have adopted in Ethiopia. One such story is Mary, from Owlhaven. She's a Christian, homeschooling mom of 10: 4 biological, 2 from Korea, 4 from Ethiopia. Some of her children are pictured left on Christmas morning. Her blog is so inspirational. Just this month, she decided to tie a ribbon on her Ethiopian Adoption Blog, but you can still read her archives there. Her daily blog is on WordPress. She is the oldest of 8 kids and some of her family is taking a month long missionary trip to Ethiopia soon. The nurses there have asked for baby blankets among other things as the women come to the hospital with nothing ... not even a blanket for their baby. If you would like to wrap a newborn, drop by Mary's blog to find out more!

Blueberries

We found these delicious dried blueberries at Sams Club on Saturday. Oh, dear, they are so yummy. I also bought some chopped dates. Blueberries, dates and almonds make a very delectable snack, I must say. I've done some research and this article incorporates several of the scientific studies that I've discovered regarding blueberries. I am also doing this Flat Belly Diet sans the book. I don't think I need to pay $30 to get the goody out of adding some new ideas to my eats, thankyouverymuch. I do like the encouragement to drastically cut down my sodium intake for the next few days. In researching this diet, I found great things about monounsaturated fats. Turns out that this new info is very easy to incorporate into our new eating style. King is on board. I'll let you read about the results as we go along. Oh, I forgot to add, I lost another pound! 138.8!

Yesterday we started Princess' Upward Basketball Games. She is on a very athletic team this year and did very well herself. I'll have to video a bit next week and post some. They are keeping score this year and won 34 to 16.

I've had a lot of hypo episodes this week and as you can see from the 2nd graph from the top, the barometer has really been bouncing.

My goal has been to lose a pound a week. Remember my post about date night on Tuesday night? Well, I loved that meal, but let me tell ya ... I gained about 4-5 pounds that night. I am not kidding. My weight was at 137.8 and my lowest weight in the mornings since was 141.something. I was weighing as much as 145 at times this week. So, while I loved that meal, it reminded me that free night is free, but not STUPID. :) With much work since, I am back down to 139.8 this morning. I'm off to work on the treadmill before church. I really want to lose a pound a week ... not gain f-i-v-e!

More Episodes and a new "diet"

Episodes and Migraines. That is what my week has been like. Today I really hit my body hard with slow release and liquid potassium and Advil with Excedrine. Eventually I got my K+ up high enough to keep episodes away, but I never really got rid of my headache.

Julia was here all day today (my housekeeper) and what a transformation. This afternoon I packed all the Christmas stuff away and undressed the Christmas tree. It's sad to pack it all away. This has been a sweet holiday season.

I love the things I learn every day. Most of them are very useful. I learned about the Flat Belly Diet from prevention.com. I don't like the term "diet" because that denotes a temporary solution. The Flat Belly Diet is a great way to eat every day. David and I are going to start tomorrow. I have to read up on it some more tonight. David also ordered a book stand for our treadmill. I'm so excited as it is hard to hold my bible while I am walking really fast or jogging. My eyeballs bounce around every time I take a step!

More Episodes

Last night was date night and for those health buffs among us, that also translates into "free night". We had appetizers, dinner and dessert at a steak restaurant. Yum. Yum.

This morning, Princess awoke sick. She stayed home from school, but is feeling very well. I think school is in her future tomorrow.

After I returned from carpool (drove the other family to school and got Princess' homework), I had a low episode around 8:30am. King helped me to bed and I took 60 meq of slow release as well as drinking 35-40 meq of liquid K+. I slept for two hours and was still sluggish when I woke. Now it is 3:00 and I feel very well. Almost strong. Almost. I have no idea what is going on! Still documenting and watching things.

Biggest Loser Update: I've been eating high sodium the past couple of days. Wow, the scales do not lie. I need to drink more water. I've had 40 oz so far today. Only 30 more to go. Gee ... I read that I need to drink half of my weight in oz of water. Does that make sense? So take your weight, divide by two and that's how many oz of water to drink a day. I am going. to. wash. a. way.

As far as the TBL show last night ... i was so sorry Curtis and Mallory were sent home! I really liked them and thought they showed such a great marriage. They were such a great example. I was blown AWAY by their progress! I'm so happy for them. I think the teams voted wisely in that Curtis and Mallory were strong enough to go home, but the yellow team is obviously not strong enough. I hope the yellow guy (forgot his name) learned from losing to temptation. Honestly, that's what we all do. He just had to do it on national TV.

Barometric Pressure

So, I quit having episodes yesterday around noon. Then I had another one this morning. I was weak when I woke at 5:30a and had my official episode around 8:10a. It's 11:57 and I feel great. This is the barometric pressure for yesterday, today and the week...

Health

I know some of you who read this blog must wonder why I blog about such mundane things as I do. It's really just a way for me to document life. I can already glean good information about my health from months gone by. I told King that I need to be very purposeful about blogging health changes, new research info (like the glycemic post), and my health in response to diet and exercise. As I go forward, each thing I learn helps me prevent episodes.

For instance. Yesterday afternoon we were in Target shopping for a "rollie chair" for Princess' room to go with her new desk. I felt a hypokalemic episode coming on. I told King, "I'll bet the barometric pressure is changing." Sure enough, when we got home we looked it up and just as I had my episode, the barometer had bottomed out and was beginning to rise. As it rose, I felt better. Here is what it looked like in the picture on the left. The barometric Pressure is the second graph from the top. See how it dips Sunday afternoon and starts rising toward midnight? It's not back up to where it was on Sunday noon, but it is still rising somewhat. I have been having hypokalemic episodes since 4:30 p.m. yesterday. It's gotta have something to do with the pressure ... either the change upward, downward or the rate of change. This is one of those things to chart and blog about.

The Biggest Loser

We watched this show for the first time on New Year's Night. I love people stories and that's what this is all about. I look forward to watching these brave people over the next few weeks. Who is your favorite, if you watch, and why are they your favorite? I'm not sure I have a favorite yet. I'll be working along side them. I have been working hard at my eats the whole time we were on our trip and especially after I got home. As I posted already, I didn't gain any over Christmas. The other good news is that I have lost two pounds since coming home! Anyone who is working on weight/health issues has tricks. My main "trick" is eating 6 times a day and tricking myself with a no calorie/no fat drink when I am "hungry". Sometimes I just want something sweet, so hot tea or decaf coffee is just the key. My SIL also introduced me to Fat-free half and half. Yum!

Low Glycemic Foods

The glycemic index is a numerical index given to a carbohydrate-rich food that is based on the average increase in blood glucose levels occurring after the food is eaten. Basically, it's how long the food burns. Low GI foods burn longer and that's what I need for two reasons: 1) I don't get hungry as often, making losing weight easier, and 2) it releases glucose slowly in my system. A slow glucose release lowers my insulin levels and insulin levels are critical to the position of potassium in the muscle cell. Thankfully, I really like most of the low GI foods. Here's a list...

Glycemic Index Foods

Fruit:
Grapefruit Low 25
Apricots (dried) Low 31
Apples Low 38
Pears Low 38
Peaches Low 42
Oranges Low 44
Grapes Low 46
Kiwi fruit Low 53
Bananas Low 54
Pineapple Medium 66

Pasta:
Spaghetti, protein enriched Low 27
Fettuccine Low 32

Root Crop:
Carrots, cooked Low 39
Yam Low 51
Sweet potato Low 54
Potato, boiled Medium 56
Potato, new Medium 57

Vegetables and Beans:
Artichoke Low 15
Asparagus Low 15
Broccoli Low 15
Cauliflower Low 15
Celery Low 15
Cucumber Low 15
Green beans Low 15
Lettuce, all varieties Low 15
Low-fat yogurt, artificially sweetened Low 15
Peppers, all varieties Low 15
Snow peas Low 15
Spinach Low 15
Young summer squash Low 15
Tomatoes Low 15
Zucchini Low 15
Chickpeas Low 33
Black-eyed beans Low 41

Dairy Foods:
Yogurt low- fat (sweetened) Low 14
Milk, chocolate Low 24
Milk, whole Low 27
Milk, Fat-free Low 32
Milk ,skimmed Low 32
Milk, semi-skimmed Low 34
*Ice-cream (low- fat) Low 50
*Ice-cream Medium 61

Cereal Grains:
Rice, instant Low 46
Rice, wild Medium 57

Breads:
Multi grain bread Low 48
Whole grain Low 50
White bread High 71
White rolls High 73

Juices:
Apple juice Low 41
Pineapple juice Low 46
Grapefruit juice Low 48
Orange juice Low 52

Other:Cake, angel Medium 67