You Might Live in the South If....

....You have this conversation at the zoo:

Little Girl: What's his name? (pointing at Landon)
Me: His name is Landon
Little Girl: Like an airplane?
Me: Ummm...what?
Little Girl: Like landin' an airplane? (looks at me like "duhhhh!")
Me: (not sure how to answer) Oh...um...yes. Like landin' an airplane.

John Landin' Pfaffl?
I love it! :oD

Gosh Darn It

Did I really title this "Gosh Darn It"? I don't even SAY "Gosh Darn It"...Oh well. It's the first thing that came to my mind and so it must be. Let's press on! We have important business to discuss.

The reason I say gosh darn it today is because I am highly disappointed in myself. I watched Twilight for the first time tonight (yes, I am behind the times) to see what all the hype was about and I am sad to say that I am the newest member of the Edward Cullen fan club (*sigh*). I watched the movie with my mom, two of my brothers and my brother John's girlfriend (hee hee--still excited about that), so basically it was like watching it Mystery Science Theater 3000 style. A movie has to be flawless to slip through the cracks when we're all together and, come on, this was Twilight, for Pete's sake. EVERYTHING was funny: the random scenes where the vampires would fly through the air with serious looks on their faces...trying to take the dude from Can't Hardly Wait seriously as Edward's "dad"...the long staring scenes...the teen angst...and best of all the part where Edward announced that he was "a vegetarian" because he only ate animal blood--hahahahahahahahahaha! I still have tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. It was a riot. When I close my eyes, all I see is Edward and Bella running up that giant tree at warp speed. How am I going to sleep tonight? And more importantly, why in the world do I want to see the sequel? Because I do--I really, honestly do. It's all Robert Pattinson's fault. (If you don't know who he is, you must live under a bigger rock than me.)

I still don't get it. When Edward first entered the movie, I thought, "Hmm..he's not that hot. Why is everyone so obsessed with this guy?"....but by the eeeEEENNNNNnnnnd (that was a sing-song-y "end" by the way) he was looking mighty fine if I do say so myself. Mmm-MMMM-Mmmm! Helllo! I think they put subliminal messages in that movie. Anyways, I've got to run for now (off to find a way to floof up Andy's thinning hair like my new celeb crush...maybe I'll paint his face white and line his brows, too).

Attempts at a Family Portrait

See why we need you, Anita?!! :oD

Maid Marian and Her Merry Men

A Robin Hood craze has hit the Pfaffl House. We watch the Disney movie. We look it up on You Tube. We're even reading the "chapter book". Landon will usually only answer me if I call him "Robin" and the rest of us have all been assigned our parts, too. Andy is the thumb-sucking Prince John ("too late to be known as John the First, he's sure to be known as John the Worst"--Appropriate, I think). My brother John is Little John. My sister Nancy is the chicken lady (none of us know her name) and I, of course, am Maid Marian (tra laaaa!). Landon walks around our house all day (Sherwood Forest, if you will) lamenting the arrows his dad threw into the fire and collecting coins from everyone to give to the poor. I'm enjoying the whole thing because, as Maid Marian, Robin Hood tells me he loves me "more than life itself" (instead of telling me I'm going to time out) and he tells me I'm a "lady of quality" (instead of telling me I'm not his mom anymore).

I am not enjoying the fact that all of my coat hangers are disappearing out of the closets, but I guess Maid Marian has to understand that Robin Hood needs his Bow and Arrow to be with him at all times! What can a lady of quality do besides cave? ;o)

St. Patrick's Day???

Do you know that on Friday the 13th of March this year our water heater that hadn't been working well for months "fixed itself" suddenly and has been fine since? Also on Friday the 13th of March Andy found $22.00 on a gas station floor and was prodded by everyone there to keep it!

It's true.

Now here we are on St. Patrick's Day, a day that's supposed to be all skipiddy-doo-dah and lucky and my poor Wittle Wan has been throwing up every hour since midnight. Yes, we are having our first battle with the "stomach flu" (probably thanks to the preschool visit, darn it. The teacher told us the kids had been dropping like flies all week--SUPER!)

This is a horrible way to spend St. Patrick's Day, but, hey! (This one's for Sharon) At least we're all wearing green! (*snicker, snicker*)

Definitely Andy's Son

Landon has recently decided that having people pull his finger helps him to perform his "#2's" better on the potty. He doesn't do this to be funny, whatsoever....and sadly, it seems like it really helps.
A few days ago, he told me he needed to go potty. He ran to the bathroom and worked on his business for a while with no luck. He called for my sister and when she got to him, he looked completely frustrated and put out.
"Pull my finger," he said.
"What?" answered Nancy, thinking she had heard wrong.
"Pull my finger, please", he repeated with a forlorn look on his face. What else could she do? She pulled his finger. He pooped, said "Thank you", and went on his way.
This has happened several times now.

What's a mother to do? He has backtracked a little with his potty "training" (if you can still call it that) lately and I don't want to mess up a good thing here, but COME ON!! Pulling his finger? I could clobber Andy for exposing him to that one! What happens when he goes to school and asks the teacher to pull his finger? (Something dads like Andy never seem to think about...). We took him to a preschool interview this week and I stopped him from proudly telling his trick just in the nick of time.

I can hear the teacher-to-parent phone calls now. *sigh*

Nancy

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather this week and went to a downtown park to take bridal portraits of Nancy. These aren't "THE" bridal portraits, of course--we were just messing around--but some turned out really pretty. Here are a few from the day!

HOW in the.....???

Today I noticed a strange phenomenon: My son has GROWN several inches. While this might seem like a normal thing to happen to a little boy who's about to turn four, I am astonished.

You see, Landon hates to eat. He really does. He is picky, for one thing. (Andy's son, for sure!) If you sneak in any vegetables, be ready to meet the gag reflex. A pea=throw up (even if he just THINKS he ate a pea!). An onion?: Better watch out! He inspects any plate put before him with a look of displeasure on his face. He takes the first bite with a snarl on his face while Andy and I wait anxiously for the verdict....He chews....He thinks....He inspects the plate..."What is that yellow stuff?" he asks us suspiciously. "It's just cheese", we answer (even if it's not really cheese). (pause, chew, chew)...."Otay."

Can I just say, I NEVER thought I'd cave in and play his reindeer games? Never in a million years! I was going to be the mom who said, "Here's your food. If you don't want it then don't eat!" I'm quickly learning that when you plan to be a certain type of mom before having kids, you usually end up being the exact opposite of what you thought you'd be. When mealtime rolls around, I think about how stubborn my son is (If I tell him "Fine, don't eat!", he will trot happily away and think nothing of it). I think about how cranky my son gets when his tummy is empty. I think about all of my deficiencies and can't help but thinking he MUST have some! I look at his skinny little legs running around all day outside with nary a nibble and I will do ANYTHING to get that kid to eat.

Part of the problem is that he is just too busy to eat. If he's doing anything at all, it's more important to him than food. I approach this with a sneak attack. I crank out grilled cheese sandwiches and scrambled eggs (which I have to call "buttery grilled cheese" and "buttery eggs" because the child is a butter FIEND! I am not kidding.) I am constantly chasing him with yogurt "popsicles" and fresh strawberries or spooning bites of oatmeal or cereal into his mouth as he plays. It never amounts to much in his belly, but it's something. At the end of the day (sometimes after attempting to shovel dinner into him during bath time, when he's most distracted), I mentally calculate what he's had to eat and breathe a sigh of relief when I remember he hasn't had his vitamin yet. He looooo-oooovvves his vitamins and so do I. Vitamins in place of food isn't the greatest plan, but right now they're our insurance plan. This stage is a tricky one for Andy and me and, I can tell, it's going to be a fight to the finish!

Daylight Savings

Yippee! Hooray! Tra-la-la! (Clicking heels together) I have never, ever, ever been as excited as I am today to lose an hour of sleep! I am not kidding--After the horribly long "Fall Back" period, I am ready for more sunshine in my life. It has been so terrible having darkness roll in at five thirty because when Andy finally rolls in at 8:30, it feels like the day has gone on forever. To some people, that might be a good thing, but when you're sick (and scared of being alone--shhh!) and trying your best to entertain and care for a little boy, a couple of extra hours of daylight seems promising.

Here's to a positive change for all of us this Spring! (Cartwheel) (<---As if!)

Drumroll Please!

I have decided that daffodils are hands down the BEST plant ever created!!!...at least for people like me who were born without their green thumb. Every year these flowers are trampled by kids and animals & run over by our lawn mower, but they still lift their bright yellow heads every March and make me smile. This year, the poor things bloomed and then were immediately frozen solid in the snow storm. Guess what? Within two days, they had perked up so much that you couldn't even tell we'd had a hint of bad weather. Daffodils are beautiful. They remind me of spring. They bloom no matter what and make it look like I know what I'm doing in the garden. I love them. :o)

I Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry...

...or PUKE, but as soon as I heard the words, "Guys! Hurry! I found a COCKROACH!!", I think I wanted to do all three! Today was a gorgeous day with a high around 80, so you know my yard was teeming with little boys. Everything was going well. There was lots of digging and swinging and running. I was sitting on my porch, thinking about how much fun it was to have a street full of little boys when they all came running from the side of my house holding a long stick with a big, fat (gasp, gasp, GASP!) ROACH crawling all over it (shiver, shiver!) What is that saying? "It's all fun and games until someone...whips out a roach"? Yes, I think that's it. In case you're wondering what my exact sentiments are toward these creepy crawlers, refer back to my post: 100 Things About Me and look for number 48 (should have been number ONE!!!!).

At any rate, these boys took my favorite flower pot (ACK!) and made a home for their new pet, "Cocker". Then, when Cocker kept crawling out, they opted to move him into Lanodn's sand box. They chased one mom with Cocker and then went after my stepdad's car as he drove by....and then tried to come after ME (I don't think so, you crazy little children--Let me eat my banana in peace)!

Why? Can someone tell me WHY in the WORLD....??!!! Never mind. Just never mind.

I am recuperating upstairs on my bed.

Blehh! Boys...

The Countdown Begins!

Until recently, my sister's wedding seemed soooo far in the future. Now it seems like we are having to rush to get everything done in time. What kind of rushing, trimming, cutting corners are we doing? Weeeellll, we have decided to try to make our own flower bouquets and boutonnieres! (No, we are not crafty. No we have never tried this before. And yes, we are probably a little bit crazy.) Here's our first crack at throwing something together. Let me know what you think of our efforts!

March...In Like a Lion!

You better sit down for this one (as if you haven't seen it on the news already!): WE GOT SNOW!! And it wasn't just the whisper of a frosting that we southerners usually call snow, either! It was real snow! Landon, of course was out playing with his friends all day long. Here are some pictures from the day. (They would have been better, but this snow was southern in one way: It had already begun disappearing by morning!) The first one is a picture of when it first started snowing. Also notice the lovely picture of the ingredients the kids were using (on the sewage drain mind you) to make SNOW CREAM (gag, retch!) and the indoor pictures of some of the neighborhood kids piled into my mom's dog cage (someone call DSS!!)

Oops!

I left something important out!

My labs showed something that I think is going to turn out to be very important and I wanted to mention it because it's something that it could easily affect anyone. I had high levels (extremely, unusually high) of sulfate in my urine. This is usually caused by sodium lauryl sulfate which can be found in lots of different kinds of soap, shampoo, cleaners and lotions. You guys know I am usually on top of (okay, maybe "hyper-diligent" about!) keeping the dangerous stuff out of the house now, but somehow this one slipped through the cracks. I found this stuff in the shampoo I've been using since the "good" one Nancy gave to me ran out, in our toothpaste (that I know we shouldn't be using anyway), and worst of all...in our antibacterial hand soap. This stuff is not good for you! The doctor told me that it could be one of the causes of my heart arrhythmias. It's an interesting thought! Just thought I'd pass it along. :o)

"Good" News?

Hey everybody! I just got back from my appointment with my functional medicine doctor and, even though my body is still feeling bad, my mind is a little more at ease. We're still not sure exactly what is going on, but my labs gave us a starting point. Here are the things my recent labs indicated:

Vitamin B-6 Deficiency
Vitamin B-12 Deficiency
Carnitine Deficiency
Chromium Deficiency
Zinc Deficiency
Copper Deficiency
Possible Type II Hypoglycemia (Adrenergic kind)
Hypotension (which we already knew)

No heavy metal toxicity. No systemic fungal infection. (Phew!)

So, basically, I'm missing a lot of things that I should have. Important things. The doctor is sending me an e-mail later, telling me what we're going to do to get started digging through the mess. You keep praying. I'll keep you posted! :o)

Casting Crowns

I heard this song last night and it made me cry. Wow.

(Sigh)...smile....(Sigh)....

I spend the better part of last night in the ER again with SVT. They kept talking about giving me adenosine to slow my heart back down (which was just scaring me and making my heart beat even faster!), but thankfully, the old standby of drinking ice water did the trick and I was eventually able to go home. They did see that my potassium was low (3.0) again and that my blood glucose was high (147) again...Either of those things could be triggering the SVT, but as usual, no one really knows. I took some liquid potassium at the hospital last night and seemed to feel better, but then this morning....SVT again. Lovely. The homily at church yesterday was about Jesus as the Divine Physician and it inspired me to call our pries for the Anointing of the Sick. I have an appointment tomorrow at one o'clock to get results from my functional medicine guy, an appointment with my electrophysiologist on Friday, and an appointment with my internist on Wednesday.....Please pray that at least one of them can help me and I will try to keep my head in the right place in the meantime.

Oooh! Speaking of praying, listen to this! We all prayed and prayed that I'd make the right decision about whether or not to take Florinef to raise my blood pressure, right? Well, last night, I remembered that a side effect of the drug is that it depletes the body of potassium pretty quickly (which can be very, VERY dangerous). Imagine if I had decided to start taking it earlier this week, already (unknowingly) having low potassium! Would you also believe that my blood pressure was extremely HIGH all night long??!! It would not have been a good idea to be on a drug that raises blood pressure! So, thank you God for listening!

Fair Weather Neighbors

After living here for a few years, I'm starting to notice that the people who live around us are a lot like me: They don't like going out in the cold! Today we woke up to blue skies and light breezes and it reached a perfect seventy degrees by lunch time. All of the kids (who seemed to have been hibernating for the winter) came out of the woodwork to play in our yard. Instead of "kids", I should be more specific and say "boys" because out of about 17 kids on the cul-de-sac, we only have three girls. Since two of the girls are too old to play and one is too young, I was surrounded by wild, rambunctious, dirt-slinging, stick-flinging boys. It was crazy, but so much fun!

At the end of the afternoon, one teeny tiny Cindy Lou Who of a girl showed up to see what the boys were up to. I snatched a quick picture of her and her royal pinkness before going inside for a much needed rest. This is the most action I've had in weeks and I think I kind of overdid it....But it was worth it! Doesn't being outside on a gorgeous day bring a world of good to your spirit? It does for me. I hope the spring-like weather sticks around longer than a week (but still keeping fingers crossed for our annual snow day!)

RESULTS!!!...(But I can't have them yet)

My functional medicine guy called this afternoon and said MY RESULTS ARE IN!! I can't get them until Tuesday of next week, though, so it's going to be quite a weekend, being sick and waiting...I decided to hold off taking the Florinef until I get my other test results. I called my PCP's office to talk to the doctor about waiting to take it until I knew whether or not I have a systemic fungal infection (a contraindication). The nurse wouldn't let me talk to the doctor and seemed unsure about what to tell me. She said that it'd be dangerous to wait before telling me she wasn't sure if it was more dangerous to try the drug. Then she went on to say I better start it because that's what the doctor originally told me to do before saying to do what I felt was right. *sigh* I'm following my gut on this one (and hoping my gut is in better shape than the rest of me!)

So, I'll keep you posted! :o)

(Sorry to talk about nothing but my health for days on end :oP--I am kind of swamped in all of it right now.)

In the thick of it

I talked to my doctor's office a couple of days ago and have been a nervous wreck ever since. The results of the blood pressure monitor were no surprise--my blood pressure dives dangerously low, especially while I'm sleeping and my pulse goes right with it. They told me they were calling in a prescription for a drug called Florinef (click on the link and browse a little if you really want to feel my anxiety) to bring my blood pressure up. I knew a little about this drug from researching adrenal issues like Addison's Disease (something I could possibly have, something that hasn't been tested for, something this drug treats specifically) and let's just say, I knew before looking that it's not like popping an Advil.

I love this doctor so far, but my other two doctors have e-mailed me saying that this drug should not be administered without proper (and specific) diagnosis. They didn't think I should take it based on low blood pressure alone. So, I'm stuck again. My "functional medicine guy" told me he's expecting results from the lab any minute now and asked me to please wait to start therapy until we could get to the root of the problem.

Meanwhile, I am at home (not alone this time, thank God! Andy's off today), afraid to spend another night with fainting spells, wondering if my blood pressure will dip too dangerously low and land me in the hospital (or worse), not understanding why it's happening in the first place...

This morning, I got my journal out and just started writing prayers. I asked God to take care of my doctors and give them wisdom. I asked Him to strengthen me and lead me through this. I asked for answers to come soon, but, most of all, I asked for peace of mind. The worst part about all of this (besides the obvious physical symptoms) is the fear and uncertainty that goes along with the process...The responsibility I have for making my own decisions regarding my health is a big one and it is overwhelming me lately.

Please keep the prayers coming.

If this gets fixed, I will know beyond the shadow of a doubt who fixed it. THAT, I know for sure!

Another Health Update

When I got home from my dad's house tonight, I saw that I had missed a call today from my doctor's office. There was a message for me to call them first thing in the morning.

I already know the results from my blood pressure monitor were awful (I had readings from 168/90 to 78/44 that I know of...there is definitely a big problem) so I'm a little nervous about what they're going to say. They weren't even going to call me at all--I was supposed to be getting my results at a pre-scheduled follow-up visit in a few weeks. I'm trying to remember that I prayed before finding this doctor and then poof! there he was...I prayed before my appointment and got more accomplished than I could have imagined...I was trying to get someone to monitor my blood pressure and he did it without me even mentioning it...It has to be God at work here, right? So, I should just stop wondering and worrying and go with it, right? Take that leap and let go....fall backwards with my eyes closed and know that there will be someone there to catch me...

Maybe this will ultimately lead me to a good outcome.

Please pray for me as I turn over this new leaf. I am waiting on so many other test results besides this one (any of which could greatly impact my health and life) right now and I can use all of the prayer I can get!

Hello Again to the Two People Who Still Dare Check My Blog! :o)

I just made up the bed with fresh, clean sheets and got too comfortable under them to get up and do anything productive, so I decided to sit here and update my poor, lonely blog. :o)

Tonight, after we craftily coaxed our over-tired son out of the bath he didn't want to get into in the first place, I told Landon playtime was over and this is the conversation that ensued:

Landon: (puckered lips, low serious voice) You. Are. Not. My. Mom. Anymore. (I've been waiting for this "lovely" stage to commence!)

Me: Well, if I'm not your mom, who is going to be your new mom?

Landon: I'm not going to have a mom anymore

Me: Who's mom will I be then? (trying to look forlorn)

Landon: (ponders this a moment) Nobody.

Me: So, you're just going to have a Daddy now and that's it?

Landon: (ponders, looks slightly alarmed, then smiles): No, Mom! You're not going to disappear! You'll still be here...You just won't be my mom. I'm just putting you in time out for tonight and I'll let you out in the morning.


In other news :o)

I am supposed to be in Columbia, SC right now, visiting the in-laws for the Super Bowl (read: the equivalent of Christmas for the Pfaffls), but I didn't make it. The bags were packed into the back of the car and we were on our way, but decided to stop at Whole Foods Market to pick up some healthy snacks to take with us. I went down maybe two aisles and grabbed some produce on the fly, but nothing that would require much exertion and definitely nothing that should have caused any physical illness! Wouldn't you know it, I had a horrible fainting episode on the way out and thought for sure someone was going to have to scrape me off the floor! My heart was going crazy. My legs stopped working. I got so dizzy and nauseated that I couldn't focus my eyes on anything. Somehow, by the grace of God, I made it out to the car, came home, checked my blood sugar (85--good) and...well, you know the rest. After a struggle, I am now snuggled up in my warm bed with my laptop (aka: "pacifier"), blogging!

Not every day is this bad. I have "normal" ones, too. I put "normal" in quotes because I mean normal for the new me--not normal for what I was. I'm still not sure that I'll ever be "old-me-normal" again, but that's really okay. Right now the "new-me-normal" feels pretty fantastic!

We're making great strides with a diagnosis now. I feel like prayers are finally starting to be answered, but I find myself wishing I could hurry the process along (and worrying what they might find...) instead of trusting that God is in control. *sigh*

That's a tough one for me.

I have a new doctor who, if all continues to go well, will be "manning the ship" (as per the recommendation of my last ER doctor). He is an internal medicine specialist and (finally!) seems to be on the same page as me as far as which direction we should go with everything. He already performed and asthma test on me, sent me home with a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours, and set up a glucose tolerance test and a follow-up visit for me. He is patient, very up-to-date with his research on chronic and autoimmune diseases as far as I can see, and, best of all, he LISTENS...to EVERYTHING! He doesn't discount what I say. He doesn't tell me I read/research too much--He actually seemed happy with what I've learned. He is totally fine with all of the tests I am having run through my functional medicine "guy" and wants copies of every test we do! I feel like I've hit the jackpot with my doctors right now, which is nothing short of a miracle in and of itself....but I'm feeling like it's going to take another (bigger) miracle to sort through the mess that is my poor exhausted body and make it better...(Seeing a 78/44 blood pressure reading will bring on that kind of overwhelmed feeling).

If I'm looking for a miracle, I'm sure God would appreciate me carrying a little bit of my own weight around here...which means NOT staying up past 12:30 at night blogging when I should be sleeping--ha ha ha! So, I'm off to bed. I'll keep you posted!