This Moment

This Moment

Earth Day

"But now," says the Once-ler,

"Now that you're here,

the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.

UNLESS someone like you

cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better.

It's not." -Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Dr. Seuss, while not one of my favorite authors when I was a kid, ranks up pretty high now that I'm an adult. I feel like when I read The Lorax to my class, they really understood that they can't just pass the buck. They have to take action. Today, in honor of Earth Day, we picked up trash at our local park. I'm always looking for ways to reduce, reuse, recycle with the kids. Things that they can actually do. Yesterday, Lia posted these, and I can't wait to give them a try!

I hope to raise Max to be respectful of this beautiful planet we live on. I hope that not only is he angered when he sees it mistreated, but he does something about it. I hope he's more socially active than I am. But it's never too late, right?

My health questions - very few answers.

So, many of you might know that I've been struggling with some health issues for a couple of months now.  I wasn't going to write this post until I was certain of a diagnosis, but that's looking more and more distant at the moment.  Here's what we know so far:

In mid-February I began to have digestive problems - I had to get up urgently to use the restroom about 3-4 times per night.  I wasn't sleeping well and was easily fatigued.  These problems persisted every day and I could count only two different times from February to mid-March where I didn't have to urgently get to the bathroom, if you catch my drift.  I was super tired, cloud-headed and pretty unhappy about it.

Figuring I just had some sort of parasite, I continued to work and maintain my regular schedule as best I could.  Despite my low energy levels I attempted to ride the Tour de Cure in Sahuarita - needless to say, it was not a success.  My doctor would later explain that with the constant digestive issues, I was most certainly suffering from malabsorption (and as a result, malnutrition) and that a 100km bike ride was, in his words, "a stupid thing to attempt".  A number of blood and fecal tests all came out negative for all sorts of cancers, parasites and other disorders.  I was certainly frustrated that we seemed to be no closer to a diagnosis.

After coming down with Strep in early March, I decided to make another trip to my doctor.  He reviewed my tests again and found that there was an abnormality - my anti-gliadin antibody count (specifically my IgG) was really high - a hallmark of Celiac Disease.  The doctor advised me to start a gluten-free diet immediately and he referred me to a Gastroenterologist for further diagnosis.

From Wikipedia:

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages from middle infancy onward. Symptoms include chronic diarrhea, failure to thrive (in children), and fatigue, but these may be absent, and symptoms in other organ systems have been described.  Celiac disease is caused by a reaction to gliadin, a prolamin (gluten protein) found in wheat, and similar proteins found in the crops of the tribe Triticeae (which includes other common grains such as barley and rye). Upon exposure to gliadin, and specifically to three peptides found in prolamins, the enzyme tissue transglutaminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the small-bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction. That leads to a truncating of the villi lining the small intestine (called villous atrophy). This interferes with the absorption of nutrients, because the intestinal villi are responsible for absorption. The only known effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. While the disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is not the same as wheat allergy.

A diet without gluten is going to be a challenge for me.  No more breads, cookies, pastas, cakes, (most) soups, beer, and a great deal of other things that have wheat in them.  There are a lot of restaurants that are doing well to accommodate these kinds of diets. but it's still a big challenge.

Once I began the gluten-free diet, my symptoms improved within a week.  I felt better, my clarity improved and I was a little less easily fatigued.  I visited Dr. Gottlieb at Desert Sun Gastroenterology and he gave me two options - either undergo a gluten challenge for several weeks and submit to an upper-GI biopsy or genetic blood screen.  The upper-GI biopsy would look for damaged villi in the digestive tract (the "gold standard" test for an accurate Celiac diagnosis).  The genetic blood screen would rank my results on a 1-to-8 scale.  If I ranked a 5 or higher, Dr. Gottlieb would be comfortable with a Celiac diagnosis.  I figured, "okay. Soon we'll know what's happening to me".  Unfortunately, I wasn't so fortunate.

My ranking would be less than a "1" on that scale.  Faced with the possibility that my gluten-free diet and decline of symptoms was merely a coincidence, Kerri and I went to Cheesecake Factory the other night to have what was possibly my final meal with gluten and my symptoms, while milder, have returned.  So, what does this mean?

- I do not have Celiac disease.
- I get sick whenever I eat bread products (or some unknown ingredient that does not present itself in gluten-free food).
- Gluten-free bread tastes like shit.

So I still don't know what's happening.  I plan on returning to Dr. Gottlieb to figure out what's happening.  Even if it's just a gluten intolerance, I'd like a diagnosis to move forward.  I'd prefer the certainty of a diagnosis to the nebulous possibilities that can present with the same symptoms.  But for now, I'll just stick to my gluten-free diet.

At the Park

We went to Reid Park yesterday.

To enjoy the park.

And feed the...

ducks?

Max's Friend

My mom and I took Max to get his pictures taken Saturday. As usual, he was uninterested in sitting and smiling. During one of his escape runs around the store, he met a little boy, probably 4-years-old, and he kept going back to this boy to play with him. So finally I asked his parents if the little boy could come sit with Max while he got his pictures taken. They agreed and the kid was more than happy to come play. He sat down right next to Max and started lining up the trucks and passing them to Max. When the photographer said "smile!" the boy leaned over and hugged Max.

It was just the sweetest thing. I couldn't help it, I cried right then. In front of everyone. Max is such a social butterfly; he loves playing with other kids. It was so nice to see this little boy giving Max love back.

This Moment

Pictures from my phone

We used the bubble blower Max got for his birthday for the first time yesterday. I laid it on the ground, next to Max and I, and just casually turned it on. Within 10 seconds, we were bombarded with hundreds of bubbles. It was overwhelming, because neither of us were expecting so many bubbles! But after we backed up a bit, we enjoyed the bubbles immensely! This morning, Max reached for the blower and insisted that I turn it on. So before I left for work, we used up the rest of the bubbles. I'm going to have to buy more bubbles! Here are some of the photos from my phone.

Three Days Off

Both Jeff and I had a three day weekend and it just might have been the best mini vacation ever.

Friday, Jeff and Max went for a morning ride. Max fell asleep on the way home, I posted a photo of that on facebook.

We later went to the Fourth Avenue Street Fair. It was a hot day, in the 90s already, and the street fair was busy and filled with the sound of the steel drum band. Jeff finally got his flattened beer bottle that he's wanted forever. He picked out a Fat Tire bottle, and we also got one for a friend. The saleslady was super nice and threw in a Red Stripe bottle as a house warming gift. Red Stripe always reminds me of Jamaica, from our honeymoon. We got some lunch, a street fair poster for my mom (she collects them all), and a healthy dose of vitamin D.

Friday evening we headed over to my work for First Friday Family Dinner. We ate on the lawn, surrounded by families and coworkers. Max was enthralled with all the other kids. He wanted nothing to do with Jeff or me. He stepped in Milo's grapes, sat in Ruby's spaghetti, and tried to drink Wren's juice. He had a blast. We had to leave early though, cause he was having too much fun and was refusing to eat!

Saturday, we went to one of my student's t-ball game. She was so excited to see me, so that was fun. Jeff later went shopping with Jamie for some bike stuff and Max and I had a great time playing. He was in a wonderful mood all weekend long. When Jeff got home, he and Jamie put up the new canopy in the backyard. It took them awhile, and it was HOT outside, but they got it done! And it looks great! And to reward them for their hard work, Max took an extra long nap, which allowed them to relax and play some Mario.

We then went to Barnes and Noble, to use our Groupons, and we bought Max some great books and Jeff got a few too. When we got home, Jeff made tostadas for dinner, and we ate them outside under our new canopy! The weather was perfect by then and I don't think we've ever been happier in our new house. The evening was just great.

Come Sunday, we went for a morning walk, then ran some errands, which included buying sand for Max's sandbox (from Sam).

Max loves his sandbox. We might need to get some more conventional sand toys though!

Jeff had kickball, and we met him afterwards at Sir Vezas with some of his teammates, which is always fun. Max refused to sit after about a half hour, and wanted to just walk around. He sure can be handful. But he made everyone smile, so it was worth it.

As you can see, it was a weekend full of every day things, nothing special. But it was perfect. I love my little family.

This Moment