Category Archives: family

January 21, 2011 · 10:34 pm

Day 2…

Coming toward the end of day 2 of my seven day clear liquid diet for surgical prep. I can have sugar free jello (made with protein powder), sugar free popsicles, low sodium broth,crystal light for six days, then the day before surgury, just the clear liquids, no protein.   As you might guess, this is FUN!!!!!! It will be worth it though, during the surgery and after. I’m getting tons of support from my HFH bariatric patient support group on yahoo, and from my CCU friends (the best home education yahoo group around!). 

The other day we had the guardianship hearing for our eldest son, who just turned 18. He is developmentally disabled, and cannot be on his own. It went well, we now have full guardianship that doesn’t expire, and a back up guardian who loves him and will take him, should something happen to us.  Now we just have to get to work on the legalities of making sure our other kids will go to her as well if something happens.  This is the same wonderful friend (or as we told the judge, “chosen family”) who will be keeping our children while I’m in the hospital.  (better pray for her, LOL!) I don’t have a lot to say no, but will try to really write about this particular journey after surgery, the good and bad, the changes I make, etc.

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Filed under family, health, weight loss

December 1, 2010 · 12:36 am

Been a while…

So, it’s been a while since I’ve put anything on here. I often don’t really feel I have anything very interesting to say, so I neglect to come and just write.

It’s just past Thanksgiving, and we had a nice time. My cousin Kathy and her little boys came for the holiday, as is becoming a very nice tradition. Instead of doing all the prep and cooking, etc, my husband suggested I take it as a less stressful day and just order a pre-made meal from one of our local stores, so I did! It was very good, cost considerably less, and reheating everything took a total of two hours (turkey, spiral sliced ham, loads of sides). I’m thinking this may become a nice tradition, too!  I even bought foil baking pans for everything to help with clean up.

As I feared would happen, though, I have regained part of the weight I lost before my surgery consult, so I now have to get back on the wagon and be tough on myself. I have until January 26, 2011, which is my pre-surgery weigh in to get it back off.  I can do it, I did it before, it’s just tough. I’ll need to dump about 14 pounds. I’ll be doing the meal replacement protein bars and protein powder, lots of fruits and veggies that are mostly water, drinking tons of water, being careful again about my portion sized, etc.  And I need to get back on the wagon with the exercise DVD’s. It’s getting close. I’m nervous, but excited.

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Filed under family, health, Uncategorized, weight loss

June 13, 2010 · 1:55 pm

Busy weekend…

This has been one of the busiest weekends I’ve had in a long time! Yesterday, I was up and out much earlier than usual to grocery shop, because I go to several different stores in order to get the best savings, and we had two graduation open houses to attend as well. I did not get all the shopping done, but had to get home and ready to head out to the open houses, all the while hoping the rain that had been forecast would hold off. It did, so both graduates had a good day for their parties. I was good, I resisted the lure of drinking pop, and had only about a half of a brownie for dessert.  On the way home, we stopped off at the last grocery store I had on my list, Kroger, and I went in while my husband and children went to gas up my car for me, since I won’t have time tomorrow. While in Kroger, I had to get three money orders, totalling $75.00, which I realized a few hours later had not been handed to me, I had only gotten my change. Went racing back up to Kroger, and thankfully they were waiting for me in the cashier’s drawer. God is so good even when I do something stupid! After all that, and running all children through baths and showers, I had them all bringing down clothes to pack for an overnight trip to a friend’s tomorrow. We’re going for the birthday parties of two of her children. So today, in between church services, I’m trying to get the rest of the stuff ready, get the last of the bills paid, and update this blog. Tomorrow morning I have a Dr. appointment at 9:00, and my husband has one right after, so he will meet me there with the kids so that we can leave right from my appointment for our little trip, while he goes home to a quiet house. 🙂 Right now, we’re working on finishing up the laundry, and our two oldest children are still at church working on the VBS play. Our VBS will be starting a week from Monday and go through that Friday, and this is the first year for my two oldest boys to be characters in the play, which is done in five parts, one for each day. The play is about the Apostle Paul and his journeys, and the two of them are very excited to be participating this year.

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May 9, 2010 · 9:34 pm

Mother’s Day

Today is Mother’s Day, my first one since we added the twins to our family.  This morning in church, the message was from 1 Samuel 1 & 2, about Hannah, who was very bitter because “the Lord had shut up her womb”  In her bitterness and grief she prayed that the Lord would give her a son, that if he would, she would give him back to the Lord all the days of his life.  And the Lord did.

I remember feeling that bitterness and grief, I remember when I didn’t even want to go to baby showers anymore because it hurt too much, and I remember spending Mother’s Day at family gatherings and being the only woman there who’s day it wasn’t.

And this morning, and this evening a church, I looked around me at all the families with all their children, and smiled, because my family just about fills a pew.  God had a different plan for my husband and me.  He trusted me with very special children who needed me to be their mother, and I’m thankful for that. I cannot imagine my life without our three adopted children, and my step-son who has now lived with us for more than half of his life.

A while back, I came across the following essay written by the mother of a special needs child.  I think it’s as appropriate to those of us who did not give birth to our special children as it is to those who do.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability- to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this…

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip -to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”

” Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”

But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around… and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills… and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away… because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But… if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things …about Holland.

While searching for the text to the above essay, I came across the following to go with it:

Celebrating Holland- I’m Home
By Cathy Anthony

(my follow-up to the original \Welcome to Holland\ by Emily Perl Kingsley)

I have been in Holland for over a decade now. It has become home. I have had time to catch my breath, to settle and adjust, to accept something different than I’d planned.I reflect back on those years of past when I had first landed in Holland. I remember clearly my shock, my fear, my anger, the pain and uncertainty. Inthose first few years, I tried to get back to Italy as planned, but Holland was where I was to stay. Today, I can say how far I have come on this unexpected journey. I have learned so much more. But, this too has been a journey of time.

I worked hard. I bought new guidebooks. I learned a new language and I slowly found my way around this new land. I have met others whose plans had changed like mine, and who could share my experience. We supported one another and some have become very special friends.

Some of these fellow travelers had been in Holland longer than I and were seasoned guides, assisting me along the way. Many have encouraged me. Many have taught me to open my eyes to the wonder and gifts to behold in this new land. I have discovered a community of caring. Holland wasn’t so bad.

I think that Holland is used to wayward travelers like me and grew to become a land of hospitality, reaching out to welcome, to assist and to support newcomers like me in this new land. Over the years, I’ve wondered what life would have been like if I’d landed in Italy as planned. Would life have been easier? Would it have been as rewarding? Would I have learned some of the important lessons I hold today?

Sure, this journey has been more challenging and at times I would (and still do) stomp my feet and cry out in frustration and protest. And, yes, Holland is slower paced than Italy and less flashy than Italy, but this too has been an unexpected gift. I have learned to slow down in ways too and look closer at things, with a new appreciation for the remarkable beauty of Holland with its tulips, windmills and Rembrandts.

I have come to love Holland and call it Home.

I have become a world traveler and discovered that it doesn’t matter where you land. What’s more important is what you make of your journey and how you see and enjoy the very special, the very lovely, things that Holland, or any land, has to offer.

Yes, over a decade ago I landed in a place I hadn’t planned. Yet I am thankful, for this destination has been richer than I could have imagined!

Cathy Anthony is a parent, advocate and presently the executive director of the Family Support Institute in Vancouver, BC (www.vcn.bc.ca/bcacl/fsi.htm

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who have given birth, adopted, or are in some way mothering young people!

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Filed under adoption, family, Kids

May 8, 2010 · 1:04 am

Busy Day

Tomorrow (Saturday May 8), my twins are having their birthday party, the first one since they’ve been with us, because they hadn’t yet been placed with us for adoption at this time last year, so I did my grocery shopping today, which means the only shopping tomorrow will be to pick up their Disney Cars theme cake from Kroger (they make a very good cake, and all our boys have been able to find any theme they really wanted in the book at the Kroger bakery).  Their birthday was actually a week ago, but the friends with whom we always have our children’s parties could not be here last week, so we’re having it tomorrow instead. I just finished printing coloring pages of all the main characters from the Cars movie for all the kids to do tomorrow, plus business card size Lightning McQueen for them to use for the “pin the Lightning McQueen on the Mater” game.  The weather isn’t very dry, so instead of playing outside we’ll do the game, coloring pages, and we’ll play the Cars movie. My husband will be cooking burgers and hot dogs on the grill though, he usually puts the grill under the carport.  I think they’ll have fun, I got Cars theme decorations, tableware, & favor boxes with Cars theme things to put in them.

On another note, while shopping today I bought a pedometer and a small food scale, to go with the Complete Food Count book I bought the other day, so I’m ready now to get going on my food and exercise log that I have to keep for my bariatric program. My blood sugar levels have been much better lately, and I’ve found an online source (thanks, Leslie!) for protein powder that allows you to order samples of the different flavors, it’s http://www.unjury.com, so I’ll be doing that too, probably this weekend.  I’m going to check out the library for some exercise DVD’s that will make exercising fun, too, because I’ll be much more likely to actually do the exercise then.

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Filed under adoption, Birthdays, family, health, Kids, weight loss

April 29, 2010 · 9:55 pm

Another day in Detroit…

I was just too tired to do this last night when we got home, instead, I put my feet up and fell asleep! So, here’s what we did yesterday.

We got up WAY earlier than usual, the alarm was set for 5:30 am.  Mike (my husband) got up to have the first shower, then got all the kids up and downstairs for breakfast, and to get dressed in the clothes I’d had them put downstairs Tuesday night before bed. When they headed downstairs, I was able to go get my shower and get dressed, then downstairs to check my blood (159, best morning reading in a LONG time) and have my breakfast.

We left the house at about 7:40 to go drop the kids off with wonderful friends who have been helping with child care when I have appointments, and got to their house just on time for the kids to help collect the morning eggs from their chickens!  Then, we got going to Detroit for my first appointment for the day, the initial consult with my surgeon, Dr. Carlin. Commuter rush traffic is SOOOO fun!

My appointment with Dr. Carlin (this was the appointment that I was required to bring my husband to) was for 10:30, I actually signed in a little before 10:00, I think, and actually was able to have my appointment begin a little early as a result. I had to go with a nurse to be weight, blood pressure checked, height checked, and answer questions. Then I was taken to an exam room and saw Dr. Carlin’s P.A., who asked many questions, measured me, checked to make sure I’d brought and handed in to the nurse my lab reports, my letter of intent, and my 11 page questionnaire.

I Finally saw Dr. Carlin after that. We talked about the surgery and the hospital stay, and he gave me my weight loss goal that must be met before the surgery, which is 15 – 20 pounds.  The reason for this is that it will shrink the liver, making it easier to do laproscopic surgery, as opposed to open.

After Dr. Carlin, Wanda (the nurse who is the coordinator for the bariatric progam at HFH) came and took us to her office for scheduling.

Wanda & Me

The surgeons have very busy schedules this time of year. My medical clearance appointment will be June 1, and my appointment to schedule surgery is August 13, unless there’s a cancellation before then. This will be a four hour appointment, because I have to be seen by three or four different people.

Once we were done with this appointment, we went to the hospital cafeteria for lunch, then on to my other appointment, the mandatory class with the exercise people.  We had a one hour presentation, then on to exercise machines. I was able to do 15 minutes on treadmill set to 1 mile per hour, I did a quarter of a mile. The treadmill is very hard on my back.

Then I did 15 minutes on a recumbant bike, which is more of a workout than I would have guessed! I did two miles in that 15 minutes. 

After that, the specialist spoke with me about what I should do to build up strength and ability to exercise.  To begin, I’ll walk the length of my block, because that way if I get out of breath or hurt, I can stop at my porch to sit long enough to drink some water. I’ll do that until I can walk long enough without a break that I won’t need to have something close by for a sit down.  I want to get to where I can go down the street and walk the track at the high school. I’m also going to dust off the wii fit and get back to using it, especially when the weather doesn’t permit outdoor exercise.

When we left there, it was time for commuter rush traffic again, so we decided to go have dinner before coming home. We went to Big Boy, knowing I’d be working hard on changes starting today, and I had things I probably won’t have again, some for a long time, some forever. I had chicken parmesan with salad bar, and an ice cream sundae for dessert. No pop, I quit pop already. I had water.

Then we got on the freeway in time for just the tail end of the rush traffic, went back to Port Huron, and went and got our kids, picking them up about a quarter to nine. I was in bed by 11:30, which is early for me, because I’m generally up until at least 1:00 or 2:00 am.

Today, I had a breakfast hotpocket and some strawberries for breakfast, a cracker, ham & cheese lunchable for lunch (Thursday is the day my kids have their home-school gym & swim program at the YMCA, I do a lunchable or the asian chicken salad from Wendy’s), 2 slices of swiss cheese for snack,  a small piece of boneless pork chop roasted with garlic and rosemary seasoning and a serving of mashed potatoes with margarine for supper. I will probably have a small amount of deli sliced ham and cheese for a snack later.

While dinner was cooking, I went out and walked. I walked the length of my block 6 times.  I need to find out how long it actually is so that I know how far I actually walk.

I washed the dishes, folded some laundry to be put away, and did my piano practice.

I’ve decided that since I’m going on a journey to a healthy me, I may as well take care of all the things my doctors have been nagging me about, so a couple weeks ago I had my mammogram, which came back normal, then this past Monday I went to the gynocologist for my yearly (it’s been two years sice the last one, and I’m supposed to see her every six months because of having had cancer), and set up my appointment for the “you’re over 50” colonoscopy, which will be on May 11. So, I am truly working on a healthier me.

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Filed under Bariatric Surgery, changes, exercise, family, food, health, just me, Kids, weight loss

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