Too Beautiful to Blog

Too busy enjoying the beautiful spring weather to write. Yesterday we enjoyed a walk along the flood wall (Max appreciated the ability to run free a great deal.) And we played outside for a while. I even broke out the patio furniture. Today we have been relaxing in the sun. G is currently napping, but soon some friends are coming over and we will head outside again to soak up the sunny weather while it lasts.

For those of you who have been wondering how our trip to NYC went...it went ok all things considered. John actually saw the doctor this time. We spent about 6 hours altogether between the doctor's office and the medical imaging place. Giuliana was with us, which could have been disastrous, as those of you with kids know, but she did really well. We are blessed with this little angel of ours, who just goes with the flow and finds fun in everything. So blessed that I don't know if I want to take my chances with another one. But that's a different post. So, John saw the Dr. She ordered some blood work and an MRI of his pancreas, both of which he had done that day. She is ruling chronic pancreatitis back in until she sees the results. She thinks there might be a lesion on his pancreas, or something like that that is causing all this pain. If everything turns out normal then she said that it might be a neuropathic pain that no one is ever going to be able to truly diagnose, but that there are better pain management medications that he can try instead of popping handfuls of vicodin all day long. So, not great news, but at least someone has some ideas and alternatives to the status quo.

We didn't get lost this time. Traffic wasn't quite as bad as last time. G did great. She didn't get a lot of sleep (so neither did I) but she was a trooper. She had her first Happy Meal at McDonald's on the way home. I was ridiculously proud. And we still haven't heard from her doctor about the results of her ultrasound.

So, that's where we are. I'm going back out into the sun. Have a great Sunday.

Survey For The Truly Bored

Five names you go by:
1. Kamin
2. Kami
3. Mama
4. Baby
5. Kam


Three things you are wearing right now
1. Red and white floral top
2. white tank
3. Red necklace from my mom for my b-day
(which I built the whole outfit around, wouldn't you?)


Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. to not get lost anywhere in or around NYC this time
2. for it to be the weekend


People who will fill this out
1. Kami or Kristina

 
Two things you did last night:
1. cleaned up the dog do-do in the yard
2. wore bunny ears to amuse G


Two things you ate today.
1. salad
2. peach slices


People you last talked to on the phone
1. John
2. Sue from work


Two things you are going to do today or already have done
1. drive to NYC
2. complete a large stack of paperwork


Two of the longest road trips
1. cross-country drive to Yellowstone park
with my family when I was 12
2. D.C/Virginia with John


Three of your favorite beverages
1. coffee
2. just about any kind of fruit juice
3. diet coke

As The Giglios Turn

Hey all my faithful followers! I don't have time to truly post, but I wanted to update everyone on Giuliana's testing yesterday.

It was not fun times. G started screaming the minute the u/s tech turned the lights down and didn't stop till we got her out to the car. Luckily, the tech was wonderful and got us out quickly. She tried very hard to calm G down and was super friendly. G was just in a panic state. We could not get her to stop screaming and sobbing. It was, in a word, awful. We have to wait for the doctor to call with the results, the tech had no idea what she was even supposed to be looking for, so she just measured organs and such.

Glad that's over. G is back to herself today. Thankfully.

We are leaving tonight to drive to NYC for John's appointment with the gastroenterologist tomorrow. Wish us more luck.

Thank you to everyone who helped me climb off the ledge the other day with your warm words of support and good thoughts. I love you all!

When did I become the star of a tv medical drama?

Despite the overly self-absorbed title of this post, it is not about me. Nor, surprisingly, is it about my husband and all his maladys.

No, this post is about my precious 15 month old daughter. G went in for her 15 month physical on Friday. She, as I have written glowingly about, is the peak of perfection in every way. She is hitting every developmental milestone soundly and thrillingly. She lights up our every day.

But Friday her doctor found something she thinks is wrong. Not necessarily wrong in a big way, but wrong none the less. And even though it may be (please God, let it be) nothing, it still has to be checked out, and that is causing me a lot of anxiety and heartache.

Here's the thing. The doctor noticed that she has slight premature breast development. John and I hadn't even noticed it, that's how slight it is. The doctor did a physical exam and said, just to be sure, G should have an x-ray of the bones in her wrist to determine "bone age." Dr. Zhu assured us that most of these x-rays come back just fine, and it is no big deal, let's just check to be sure, and oh, go do it right now and I will call you Monday with the results, I'm sure it's fine, but don't do that blood work order yet in case I need to add to it, I'm sure it's nothing, I've never seen worrying results from one of these x-rays...

So, we took her right down to radiology and John went in with her and held her while they strapped her little wrist down and took her 1st x-rays. And then I stopped worrying about it because, it's no big deal, the doctor hasn't ever seen any worrying results, it's probably just a slight hormonal thing that she'll ourgrow, yada yada....

Then, yesterday, Dr. Zhu personally called my cell phone. I didn't answer it in time and she left a voicemail. And just said to call her. No message saying, the x-ray is fine, nothing to worry about. And the fact that the doctor called, not the nurse. Yeah, my anxiety level spiked a little, you could say. So I called her back, and of course she had stepped away from her desk, so I had to wait for her to call back. Which she did. She said that though G is 1 year 3 months old her "bone age" is 1 year 9 months old. That is a difference of 6 months...more than 1/3 of her age. What the hell???

So, G has to have a pelvic ultrasound tomorrow to look at her development and rule out any cysts, tumors or anything like that. Oh, yeah, they want my 15 month old to drink 32 oz. of water 1 hour before the u/s so she has a full bladder. Um...32 oz of water would fill more than her bladder...and how the hell am I supposed to keep her from peeing to keep her bladder full?

I keep telling myself that I AM sure it's nothing, she is perfectly normal in every other way, it's got to just be a developmental quirk. But if anything turns up in the u/s the doctor is going to order additional blood work and refer G to a pediatric endocrinologist. That scares the crap out of me. Please tell me how this is nothing to worry about, ok? Thanks.

33

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm 33 today. No drama or regrets, I'm happy to be 33. Last night my husband told me he thinks 33 is a "cool number" and a little sexy, too. I have a beautiful family and a great life. I'm happy and content. I have a fun b-day weekend planned. It's spring outside (OF COURSE IT IS, PEOPLE, I KEEP TELLING YOU AND TELLING YOU I HAVE A SPRING BIRTHDAY, IT'S ALWAYS SPRING ON MY BIRTHDAY) and I feel great. Thank you, God, for every blessing these 33 years have brought me.
And now, I have to go stop my daughter from eating crayons. Happy Saturday!

So Far On My Ipod and, Today in Modern Medicine

Well ladies (et. al.), I told you so. I told you I had "musical issues." I do thank you all for your great suggestions, I am excited for the day that I can actually check them all out. But so far, my Ipod looks like the 90's threw up on it. (The 90's after being a little hung over from the 80's, that is.) I am loathe to divulge to you all how OLD this makes me feel. I feel like I am that pathetic woman in 1990 who just couldn't get unstuck from 1978. You know the one, she was still wearing long, straight hair when everyone else was ratting theirs, she wore the pants that were flared too wide when everyone else was pinch-rolling, wore flowery shirts when others were just discovering the warm coziness of flannel. Or, as I am writing this, maybe you don't know her, because a lot of you were, oh, what...5 in 1990? GOD! I AM OLD.

Here's a sampling of what I have so far...either purchased or copied from my cd collection:

The Bangles
David Bowie
Aerosmith
Colby Caillet
John Mayer
Alicia Keys
The Supremes
Garth Brooks
Elton John
Dixie Chicks
Tina Arena
Jars of Clay
George Michael
The Beatles
Wham!
Sarah McLachlan
Queen
Big Pretty and the Red Rockets
Run-DMC
The Police
Harry Connick, Jr.
The Duhks (thank you Colleen and Kristina)
Oh, and Stevie Wonder, of course

Oh, my embarrassment. This is going to take a committed effort on my part to get out of this deep trench I have dug myself into by listening to NPR on a far too exclusive basis.

**************************
On a completely unrelated topic...I just wanted to update you on my husband's continuing health problems (and I guess I am into lists today, sorry.)

He saw his primary care doctor today (Shout Out! to Dr. Zhang, he's awesome!) who didn't have anything new to tell us. John seems to be getting sicker as the days go by, not better. He had some blood work done last week at my suggestion because it hadn't been done recently. Nothing to show, though. Everything looks normal. Now, I know that's supposed to be good news, but at this point, ANYTHING showing up would be appreciated. The doctor extended John's disability leave till April 19 at the earliest. We are making the trek back down to NYC next week and having faith that they won't tell us he doesn't have an appointment this time.

But, just for fun, we asked the doctor if there is ANYTHING, ANYTHING other than rest, that John could be doing right now to help himself. ANYTHING AT ALL. The doctor...could not come up with ONE thing that he thinks will help John. Not diet, not exercise, not acupuncture (and this guy's Chinese, too), not yoga, not a vitamin cocktail...nothing. He did give us quite a lengthy list of all the diseases/disorders that they have ruled out. I'm going from memory, here, but here is a partial list of what he spouted out for us:

gallbladder disease (he had his gallbladder removed 4/08, just 'cause)
acute pancreatitis (had that, 7/08)
chronic pancreatitis
hepatitis a, b, and c (had hep A 10/07)
liver cancer
pancreatic cancer
stomach cancer
Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (had a procedure for that, just 'cause, 7/08)
kidney stones
kidney failure
any infectious disease
parasites
Crohn's disease
colon cancer
colon polyps
irritable bowel syndrome (not completely ruled out, but not likely to cause this much pain)
vascular restrictions around the stomach
ulcers

And I know I am forgetting some of the things he listed.

The doctor asked John what he is hoping for. John was at a loss for words, as no one has asked him that before. I jumped in and said "I would like him to be able to function, because right now, he's not functioning at all. I would like him to be able to live, if not a completely normal and pain free life, at least to have his pain controlled so he can do things like, go to work, play with his daughter, enjoy anything." I know, so much to ask for.

Thanks, I mean it, really, THANKS! for your continued love, support, prayers, good karma and vibes, shoulders to lean on, food to feed my family, all of it. Thank you.

A Sunny Sunday Morning Kitchen

Quiche is a gustatory extravagance. With the heavy involvement of eggs, cream, and, generally, cheese...not to mention the butter or, even worse, shortening in the pie crust, quiche is anything but artery friendly.

But, this morning, with the sun shining brightly in my kitchen window, and all ingredients on hand, I had to go for it. Cause you know, sometimes you just have to say, "let there be quiche!"

I have a recipe that calls for 6 eggs and 2 cups of heavy cream. Um....let's look and see what else we can find in my pile of recipes and cookbooks. Here's a much better option! Light(er) Quiche. I decided to make 2; Spinach/Feta/Bacon, and Ham /Cheddar.

Light(er) Quiche

Basic quiche:

1 9" refridgerated pie crust (yeah, I cheated on that part)

Preheat oven to 425*. Press crust into a 9" pie pan. Bake 5 minutes. Remove, reduce heat to 375*

3 eggs
3/4 cup low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. Add fillings. Mix.

Spinach/Feta/Bacon Filling:

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 handful fresh spinach leaves, diced (sorry, I didn't measure)
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella


Ham/Cheddar Filling:

4 oz ham steak, cubed
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (cause I ran out of cheddar, but this is a nice mix anyway.)

Pour entire mixture into pie crust. Bake at 375* for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.

Meanwhile, play in the sun.


Oh, and it's a good idea to have some swell music going, too. It makes the quiche turn out better.

Remove and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. This can be served hot, room temperature, or cold...it's good anyway you choose :)