Filed under: Family, Me, Rants

I had to write this down SOMEWHERE because I am really pissed off. I thought about Facebook, but there is too many in-laws and family members not my own that read it, that would get angry.

My family has allergies. I’m pretty sure that in some of my many entries I have stated this fact. So if you are a reader who has stuck by me from the beginning, you know this.

Matthew has had Asthma since he was a kid. Supposedly his parents also had a cat when he was little and it made him very ill. I have had Asthma since I was a toddler. Back then it was mostly controlled by a heavy dosage of meds. My parents weren’t very responsible and bought animal after animal, EVEN AFTER learning that I was allergic to animal dander. These days my allergies to them are much more severe, but my Asthma is better and controlled by exercise and not much else (I do use my inhaler occasionally, but it’s mostly when I’ve been around animals or cold weather).

When Leilani was a toddler we noticed she would get sick whenever around animals. Then in Florida she developed a cough that later we found out was Asthma. Her’s is mild, but can get worse when around allergens and cold weather.

Forrest has some form of an animal allergy. We aren’t sure if it’s all animals, but he is definitely allergic to dogs. It seems his DNA decided to go another direction and gave him Autism instead of Asthma.

Lauralei was breastfed for 14 months. I tried my damnedest to make sure she didn’t develop Asthma and I am so angry that it didn’t turn out that way. She is the sickest child of the three of them. Always developing colds. Every time she gets a cold she gets extremely sick and has to use the Nebulizer for a week. Regular Asthma drugs like Albuterol do nothing, so she needs it combined with a steroid inside the Nebulizer. She has been sick so many times this year I have lost count. When she is around ANY animal dander she gets a cold, which in turn develops into her respiratory infection.

Matt’s family doesn’t seem to understand. We have gone to many of their family events through the years and most of us come away feeling awful. Wheezing for days (sometimes more than a week for Lauralei and I) and feeling like someone has squeezed our lungs with a vise. It isn’t fun to feel that way for a long time.

So just recently I have decided to forgo every single event in the future at his dad’s house (his dad owned a dog for years and the dander is EVERYWHERE even though the animal is gone) and possibly only go to his Granny’s twice a year. His grandma doesn’t own pets, but most all of his family members do.

Can you believe it only takes a little bit of dander on someone’s clothing to make us sick? You probably don’t, because you don’t have Asthma or allergies to animal dander.

It’s not fair to live like this and make the kid’s lives miserable by not letting them go to friend’s houses that have pets, but it’s life. It’s our life. And I know I may sound like an overbearing parent, but I want my kids to be able to breathe well and not feel terrible.

Matt’s dad invited us over for dinner at his house this Sunday. The last time we went, Lauralei got very sick. It took me a week to recover. He has been putting new flooring down and the dog is gone. But his father doesn’t clean. The house is always dirty. I can guarantee there is dander lying around. So we aren’t going. It upsets Matt a little and I understand where he is coming from. It’s his family…but this is MY family and I need to protect them. So I am finally taking responsibility for their health.

So if his family doesn’t like it, then they can all just kiss my ass. I am literally SICK and tired of their ignorance.

Filed under: Cool Links, Me

I just made a donation to Boobiethon AND I submitted a couple shots of my rack! Haha!

It was actually harder than I thought this time around. I tried to be more creative than I was last year with some material I had, but man, it’s hard to take a picture of your own boobs! Especially when they aren’t the perkiest. Darn kids. Oh but it’s worth it. They are worth it. I love my kids more than anything and I’m so happy I am healthy and get to watch them grow up. FEEL YOUR BOOBIES GIRLS!!! So you can see your kids grow up too!

This is my cool little button for donating. I am going to do it every year!

Filed under: Me, My Business

I’m walking!!!!!

I started last week Tuesday, after my appointment. The doctor said my x-rays looked good and to begin full weight bearing. So as soon as he said that, I did! I went into a cleaning frenzy the next couple of days and did a LOT of work, then ended up having to rest because my leg didn’t like it. I graduated to a cane, so I look and sometimes feel like a much older person. Crutches at least give off the idea that something was recently broken.

My Achilles is tightly wound. Well it feels like it is anyway.The mobility in my entire ankle is bad, so I have a pronounced limp. I do exercises for it about 3 days a week like the doctor told me. I hope I can get mobility back on my own because I know physical therapy will cost more money we don’t have.

There is still pain at times and the swelling comes and goes, but I’m getting better!

Because things are improving I have to start thinking about the business again. I had a nice little break for a while but it’s time to get serious again. Plans are to reschedule my Open House in October and leave Brown Bag then. I have the vinyl for my car. Now I just need to draw up a waiver (found out I can do it without needing a lawyer), get a business license and find out about liability insurance. And, I need to get back to dancing!

For now I will end this entry with: Five things that made having a broken leg, not so bad.

1) I gained a wonderful amount of upper body strength from using the crutches and hauling myself around.
2) People are a lot nicer to you and you get waited on.
3) The realization that my break and my life isn’t that bad. I have all of my limbs and eventually my leg will work right. Having limited mobility opened my eyes about the disabled. I saw things from their perspective and realized how awful it was not being able to do things for myself.
4) Very cool x-rays that I get to keep forever.
5) Watched lots of cool movies through Netflix and On Demand. Alone. What’s better than that?

Filed under: Me

Time has flown by and next week is my second post-op appointment. I’m relieved but I’m also feeling kind of scared because I know the recovery won’t be pain free. These last 7 weeks have been hell with the first 3 being the worst. I don’t have as much pain now, but everything frustrates me and my leg is a burden.

It’s not all bad. Today Matt took me to get a haircut and my eyebrows waxed. I thought I would come away feeling giddy and beautiful, but I don’t. Having a full length mirror in front of me while I had my hair done probably didn’t help.

The weight issue has been a big thing for me during this time. I can’t exercise worth a damn. If I want to sweat and get my heart rate up I could hop around a lot, but that leads to falling. I have terrible balance. I think since the accident I have fallen 5 times. None of them were bad falls, but its proof I should be careful when I use the crutches.

Nobody seems to understand WHY I choose not to go up or down the stairs with my crutches. I’d rather slide down on my butt and go up on my knees. I’m scared to death of falling down them and re-breaking my leg. Or worse. If they had a broken leg, maybe they would get it. For now they can all suck it.

My incision seems to be healing. There was a large scab that I thought was normal, but I think it was dried blood sitting on top of a scab. It continually kept coming off in bits and pieces (yes I know its gross, but its my blog) and one morning I took the dressing off of it (I wrap it every night because I’m a paranoid freak that something will hit or scratch it like Matt’s big scary toenails – he totally needs someone to tie him down and give him a pedicure!) and the entire scab pulled away. It hurt! And it left a nice little dent in my leg but its closing up and healing like the rest.

Sleeping at night is very uncomfortable. I sleep with a body pillow so my left (broken) leg can be on top of it. I sleep sideways, usually on my right side, so underneath the body pillow is my right leg and a regular pillow making the body pillow higher (got all that?). But every couple hours I get tired of sleeping on my right side so I turn to my left and I end up doing this while half asleep. So when I wake up my broken leg may still be on the pillow, but its in pain so I have to turn over again. A few nights I’ve grabbed a Percocet because I couldn’t stand it. Last night was almost one of those nights.

I’m worried about what walking will be like. My leg is atrophied. It jiggles, which is so unlike my right leg that has beautiful muscle in it. So when I stand up, it feels like its going to give out. I wonder how in the world I’m going to build it back up to what it once was. I wonder when I’ll walk normally. But what I really want to know is when will I be able to dance again on the pole? I miss my job.