A month without posts and a quick catch up

I realized today that it has been about a month since my last blog post.  I guess we've been a bit busy.  

 

We've made a quick trip to Indiana for John's Granny's funeral.  We made stops along the way at the Tennessee Aquarium, Rock City, and Tellus Museum.  We ate at a German Restaurant and Cheeseburger in Paradise.  We came home tired and decorated for Christmas.  We picked out a 12 foot Christmas tree this year.  Then, last week John woke one morning and had no recollection of our trip and even called his mom to see how his Granny was!  

We bought a bug...a Beetle, so we could get better gas mileage.  Since it takes us over 3 hours to get to the VA that John goes to, this will help out a lot. We got tickets via Vettix to the Georgia game on New Years.  

Boys posed for Christmas Pictures and we hurried to send out a few cards to close family.

John ordered me an anniversary present and it is now on the wall.  He picked out a "silly face" picture from October's trip to Disney.  It is amazing to me that he has went to great lengths this year to try to remember holidays and events and strives to get presents.  We did have a few years when he forgot to get anything or forgot that there was an occasion to remember.  So, I'm grateful that he's remembered this year.  Sometimes he is early and sometimes the present comes late, but the effort has been there and he's taken the time to cherish taking pictures this past year.  For that, I am also grateful.  For the first 6 years of our marriage, John refused to take a picture at Christmas and we had very minimal pictures, especially of all four of us.  Now, he is often the one that asks to take a picture so he can hopefully remember that he tried to have good times or that the boys will remember that he tried to do fun stuff and spend time with them.

We've got presents for the holiday but we've also been able to give a lot and to teach our children to give, especially to those that are less fortunate.  We've donated to individuals we know, we've donated to individuals and families that we don't know, we've picked out toys for Toys for Tots, we've gave things to people that might not otherwise get anything for Christmas.  We've watched people with tears in their eyes be thankful for the gifts received, and I got a phone call from someone close to tears who was grateful for the gift that they received. 

Life has its ups and downs but it is best when shared with those you love and when you are able to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Remember the Reason for the season.

What exactly is the problem? Thoughts on TBI & Fibromyalgia

Photo from www.brainline.org

You don't feel good.  You go to the doctor.  You take meds.  Hopefully, you feel better.  That's the way things ideally should work.  With the invisible illnesses it goes so much farther than that.  You don't feel good.  You go to the doctor.  He gives you meds.  You might not feel better.  You keep going.  You keep having symptoms.  Life can be quite miserable.  What is the real problem(s)? What exactly is it? What can we do to make it better? Will it ever get better?  It is TBI? Is it PTSD? Is it something else?

Here we are, over a year from the time that I brought up to the doctors that my husband had been having these "absent" type seizures.  He has went through a host of drugs, some with allergic reactions.  A few have truly helped his functioning.  The neurology department diagnosed a few types of seizures.  Then, they dismissed them as psychogenic in nature and referred him back to mental health.  We have been through the works and spent much of the last year and a half in various doctors offices.  

While it is obvious that stress makes most any illness more exacerbated, we have always thought that there is a more physical relationship to John's symptoms.  Even with a diminished sense of self awareness, he still has these feel awful days when he reports virtually no stress. 

John's case is complicated and that's why we bypass the most local VA facility to go to what we thought was a better one, yet so much is still left unanswered.  Fatigue, confusion, dizziness, sleep disturbances, daily headaches, and this brain fog of  taking long times to respond and trouble speaking were all symptoms we (and doctors) attributed to his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or maybe his severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  John has always had pain.  He gets compensation from the VA for arthritis related to some injuries and he takes daily meds for pain.  Last year, we found out about some nerve conduction problems in his extremities.  John would drop things or loose feeling in his arms and legs.  Now we have radiology reports that there are hotdog shaped tumor like places along John's spine and throat.  Part of what we have been looking at as a typical seizure like episode includes falls, change in consciousness, dizziness, vision disturbances, and a massive nose bleed out his right nostril.  This massive nose bleed has been unexplained by any doctor or medical professional and I've started taking lots of pictures when this happens so providers can see what I am trying to describe.  

An interesting finding for me was that I looked back into our first case management phone note from the VA Medical Center and found that headaches, falls, dizziness, confusion, and nose bleeds were his complaints before ever presenting at the facility over 6 years ago.  I remembered the headaches, because they dominated life.  They were terrible.  I remembered John spilling numerous drinks on a brand new room sized rug.  Within a year, it was past the point of being cleanable and I had to trash it.  John spent most of the time at home sleeping while I was at work and I didn't pay extreme attention to his daily routine or symptoms.  Then, looking back I saw these same host of symptoms that are only worsening. 

Last week, John spent a couple days in the hospital with chest pain.  It was unexplained.  EKGs were fine.  Blood pressure and pulse were normal.  It wasn't anxiety.  It wasn't stress.  It was just atypical chest pain.  A stress test ruled out any other cardiology related problems.  So, they sent us home without any real answer of why his chest was so severely hurting that he couldn't move, had trouble breathing, walking, talking, and feeling his legs and arms.  

John did some research on fibromyalgia.  Virtually every symptom that I can find and research fits.  Not one, not two, not 10.  Almost every symptom fits his unfortunate daily life experience.  From the emotional symptoms of anxiety and depression to the gastrointestinal symptoms, it all fits.  The neurological symptoms of dizziness, fainting, numbness or tingling sensations, ringing  ears, sensitivity to light, and noise intolerance all are real and present. Other symptoms are feeling spatially disoriented, balance difficulty, clumsy walking, dropping things frequently, difficulty judging distances and difficulty seeing what you are looking at. (Click here for one blog I referenced) 

John read somewhere on the web that the VA has linked a service connection to fibromyalgia and vets, particularly ones that served in Southeast Asia prior to 2002.  These vets were given a host of anthrax and other immunizations that may be linked to this and other problems.  So, these thoughts have sparked our interest.  We've already began to ask our medical providers for answers.  In the meantime, I thought I'd share this with you.  You can can offer any feedback that is helpful, it is welcome and appreciated. 

Mini Apple Pies in a Jar

After being in the hospital for a couple days and resting up, John was itching to bake an apple pie.  I saw mini pies in a magazine so we decided to try it. The recipe yielded 7 individual jars for us.

-Make a pie crust
-Line 1/2 pint jars with crust
-Fill with Apple pie mixture
-Lay lattice crust
-Brush with egg and cinnamon sugar
-Bake at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes
- Cover tops with foil if needed to keep from burning
-Cool and enjoy

What I got for .24 and a few other things!

Wal-Mart Trip - oop .24 (tax)

Couponing is so fun....unless you get unexpected surprises at the register.

You can find most of the coupons I used by searching the database at www.krazycouponlady.com  or using www.coupons.com or www.southernsavers.com 

I started off last night at CVS to take advantage of their great ad that "started" today.  I got:

• Lindsey olives  (used 1.00 coupon)
• 2 Right Guard deodorant (2.00 Coupon)



CVS Haul November 2012

• baby shampoo (which is why I went)
• Advil- Childrens 1 oz

for about 6.10 and got back 6.37 in EB which I used today on my second trip. 

I went ahead and picked up a buggy of stuff because I didn't want to do so many transactions and I spent 15.55 (plus tax) and saved 37.84 on these items (getting about 24.00 EB back):

• 2 Minute Rice .40 (.60 coupon)
  
• 2 Lindsey Olives (used 1.00 coupons)
• Nips 
• Powerade 
• Listerine Zero (used 1.00 coupon)
• Chex Mix (used .35 coupon)
• Easy Feet 
• Kotex 
• Starbucks Refreshers 
• Caramex (used 1.00 coupon)
• Cepacol 4 ct 
• CVS asprin 
• Scooby Snacks (gummies) (used .35 coupon)
• 2 AirWick Warmers (used $2.00 coupon)
• 2 Sparkle Towels 
• Charmin Toilet Paper (used .25 coupon)
• Glade Warmer Plug In (used 1.00 coupon)
• Play Doh soft Pack 

Then, I used those $24 EB to buy these things with an oop cost of about $5 with $21 EB remaining:

• 2 Taster's Choice Coffee Sticks (used 2/.50 coupon)
• Ladies Speed Stick
• Belvita wafers
• South Beach Diet 5 pk
• 1.25 lt Fanta
• 2pk Energy Drink
• Makeup kit
• Phillips Remote
• Green Bag Tag
• 2 M& M Tubes (cost of having kids)
• Command Strip (used 1.00 coupon)
• 4 pk Sleep Sampler 

I plan to go back later to get the Kraft Mac n Cheese, 12 pk DR Pepper, Hot Wheels, Advil, another Listerine, and a few other things to keep rolling the EBs.

My quick Wal-Mart trip included 
1.00 Duck Tape Packing tape (1.00 coupon) FREE
2 /.98 Beach Nut pouches  (2/$1.00 coupons)
FREE coupon from General Mills for the 12 pk 90 CAL Brownies
.24 (tax) oop

Happy Saving!