Roll Call September 2013

[Purpel1]

Hi Everyone. Welcome to September, and back to school. One of my photos got accepted into the fair. YAY!!! How was everyone's summer?

[mg12061]

YEAH for the picture!!!
I haven't posted in so long... It's been a very busy summer. Kathleen has had the best summer she's had in about 3 years. I think we've finally gotten all her health issues in check. 3 years ago she was diagnosed with Celiac, after that Crohn's then cronic constipation caused by dismotility (had surgery for this in 12/12), then hydronephrosis caused by neurogenic bladder (she had surgery for this in July of this year).She's recovering nicely and feeling pretty great. no belly pain since the surgery. Once all of this seemed in control she had a recheck with her orthopedic Dr. and she has Atlanto Axial Instability , an instability between the 1st and 2nd vertebrae. she will have an MRI to check further to see if it's causing any damage to the spinal cord. She wears a soft neck brace for sports to protect it. School starts tomorrow and she very excited!!! I think this will be a good year since she's feeling so much better. We did lot of fun stuff over the summer so we're very sorry to see it end.
Mary G.

[GFStephanie]

Hi, I had a good summer. My son is in the best health he has been in for a long time. I hope that I can keep it that way. I've got lots of harvesting from the garden to do in the next few weeks.

[annelb]

Wonderful to hear that everyone is doing well. Hope when others check in they have good news too.

My good news is that I survived my 30 days of exercise with a trainer and now I have signed up for another month. Yes, I do notice a difference. :)

My bad news is that I got a bug bite that had a bull's eye rash. I never saw the bug but my doc was concerned it was a tick. So now I am taking Doxycycline 100mg 2 times a day for 10 days. :( I also decided that I needed another tetanus shot - it is the only vaccine that I do get. After the vaccine and when I started the Doxy I felt really lousy. I even had to cut my exercise session short. I thought it was the Doxy but today I feel much better. I bet it was a reaction to the vaccine. I will find out tomorrow if I can handle a whole session.
Anne

[GFStephanie]

That's good that it doesn't seem to be the doxy. You need to keep taking that for 10 days. The vaccine is done. A little reaction is better than tetanus. I think I may need another one soon too. That's great that you are surviving exercising. I'm a big proponent of that. I think that every person that I have seen who is in good health in advanced years was a big exerciser. That includes my dad who still plays tennis at 82.

[JudyLV]

This is the first fall since 1994 that we have not had a child in the public school system. It made late summer a bit less hectic. I am glad to hear about improvements in health!
I am sorry about the tick bite Anne. It is good your doctor went right for the antibiotics instead of fooling around with unreliable testing first.

My garden had been producing a steady stream of veggies all summer and I am getting some fall crops of lettuce and greens started. I am sad the pool has closed because I have made lap swimming a regular part of my exercise regime. I may just have to put up with some chlorine exposure and swim indoors this winter. At least I will give it a try.

Stephanie I agree that exercise at any age is important--especially for older people. My mom is 86 and she is going to play bocce ball in the regional senior olympics later this month. Bocce ball may not be much for cardio but it does involve walking and bending over to pick up the ball. A lot of seniors can not do that.

--Judy

[canoe]

Anne, So glad to read that you are enjoying working out with a trainer. I am so missing my trainer and friend since the move. Sorry to hear about the tick bite, but glad you are on the doxy.

DIL is having her radiation treatments and is about 1/2 way through them.

Had a wonderful weekend and was able to paddle the canoe w/o too many problems with the shoulder tendonitis. I will see PT tomorrow.
I had a massage as a BD present and the therapist noted that my scoliosis was not noticeable. I have been dealing with scoliosis since some time in the 90's and this is the first time that anyone has said
that it was not noticeable. I am guessing that all of the shoulder exercises to loosen up the scapula has made a difference. An unexpected surprise, and I am thrilled about it.

Judy great to hear about your mom.

Glad to read about the improvement is health for others. This is great news.

Marilyn

[jcc]

Good to read everyone's updates. This is my daughters last year of high school and that is hard to believe. I started on this forum before she was in kindergarten. That is crazy.

This summer will go down in my personal history as the lost summer. My dad had his heart attack mid June and we have been scrambling ever since. First many hospital visits, then nothing home visits while he was in rehab, then running back and forth to clean his condominium and get it ready for sale. And it is a 3 hour drive each way! Of course we are thrilled he survived and is doing relatively well, but he clearly has a fair degree of dementia now providing for many new challenges. And there are financial concerns. He has run out of money until he sells his condo or gets more VA assistance. It has all been very consuming. He is also getting a skin graft for his foot ulcers and he has had the procedure repeated for 4 weeks now which includes leg casts and needing a motorized chair. The upside is that we have him in a fabulous assisted living facility that I seriously would not mind living in myself!

This school year is going to fly by so fast for my daughter and next year I will be the empty nester.

No complaints about my health but clearly I need to get on the exercise band wagon. I've been a little lax. Want to get back to yoga which I found huge benefits from. I don't know why I ever stopped because I love it!

[NancyM]

I'm still struggling with lower back pain, but started taking prescription NSAID for it and it feels much better, although I hate having to take the meds. (Meloxicam). The physical therapy didn't really help, but I am still doing my PT exercises 1-2x a day and I'm adding pilates reformer things to it. Have an appt. to see DO for possible spinal injection tomorrow (cortisone).

Oh yes, the rheumatologist ruled out ankylosing spondylitis from the MRI.

Haven't had any reoccurances of the BPPV, yay!

Can't wait until the weather cools off. It is way too hot in San Diego.

[GFPaperdoll]

Greetings from Houston!!

Hi Everyone!
I am back from my third trip to the arctic, Northwest Territories Canada.
Still working full time. Got some sand fly bites on my face while in the arctic - forgot to wear the bug shirt that covers your face with a fabric screen. I had a huge allergic reaction & my face was very swollen & one eye almost swollen shut! love the scenery there, the cranberry picking, the helicopter rides, and of course good reindeer meat and meals with my GF friends there. The matriarch is 83 & she went GF last year & she has lost a lot of weight & feeling very energetic & happy!

Good for you Anne with the trainer!! I have been very bad about going to the gym this year.

I now cannot eat nuts or chocolate. I can cheat but I pay for it...

My HS is way into remission & I only have whispers of a problem if I eat something wrong. Most everyone on the internet with HS now knows about gluten free and Paleo and HS issues. A lot of people cannot eat tomatoes, fresh ones. Some can eat the ketchup or tomato sauce occasionally, which is where I fit in. I no longer work with people with HS. I got totally burned out & now there is a lot of other people doing it.

I am much happier working on my DNA projects, genealogy, photography, scrapbooking, gardening and reading!! oh yea, & mailing boxes of goodies all over the world! well, mostly Canada, Norway & U.S.

My 13 YO grandson is now Paleo - very strict, his choice, he did his own research. He also cannot eat white potatoes, like me. his mom is GF & had to recently go grain free again to get rid of her back pain and fibro symptoms... My 15 YO granddaughter is mostly GF. Both kids are homeschooling online with the public school system.

My sister has been strictly paleo a couple of years now. Well she went on an artist retreat to Italy last year & there were 4 other GF people in her group. But, she cheated on wheat, lost her wallet, & lost her glasses, & was sick for months..., not to mention the clumsiness & brain gog... She is just getting back from 3 weeks in Hawaii with her husband & 6 other couples, so I am interested to see if she cheated again!