Discovery and Diagnosis

Veronica is ten months old and growing like a weed...mainly "out," but busy as ever--running, not walking and eating anything she can get her hands on--whether edible or not!


Kimberly is finally dry all night and no longer in pull-ups! Those things cost a small fortune so that is going to save us a ton. She is wanting to learn "preschool" and is working with me and Rebecca to complete a preschool workbook. She is the most diligent child I have and constantly wants to clean her room or complete various chores around the house, so she can have Wii time or computer time. She's also picked up her older sister's singing talent.


Stephen will be presently making his final bridge to Boy Scouts...that ceremony is tonight, so I'll post pics of that later. I honestly don't know who is more excited...Paul or Stephen. Paul is living vicariously through his son, everything he ever wanted to do....at least it is a short list. Stephen and Rebecca are basically done with their homeschooling, except for their standardized tests Monday. Stephen & Rebecca had birthdays, but I didn't get any pics of Becca's due to no camera...here are two of Stephen's. He actually will be celebrating his birthday next weekend with a party.

Katie is in Chicago for her choir trip this year. I think they have one performance tonight and then various activities planned. Mrs. Norris sure knows how to keep her students busy...therefore out of trouble! They are a good group of kids though and I know Katie will surely miss it next year. Her senior year she decided to just take three classes and get off at lunchtime so hopefully she can get a job or do some dual-enrollment. She has been so busy lately that her head is swimming! She took her ACT and got a 31. She is trying to decide if she wants to take it again and this time actually study for it. Although I have reminded her that 31 out of 36 ain't bad and is good enough for scholarships and any school she wants to go to. Her top interests right now (I think) are Benedictine, Belmont Abbey, Franciscan University and Creighton University. She wants to combine Computer Science with Science and these all looked promising to her. I think Belmont Abbey actually even had Biotechnology as a major. She has yet to visit three of the four schools, so no final decisions have been made. She also had her first boyfriend this year, but the relationship turned out to be more platonic than romantic and ended well. They are actually good friends...actually his whole family is good friends of ours so thankfully nothing went sour. I think this was a major stress for his parents, as much as it was for us! She also took a driver's ed class to help her get over her fear of driving....it didn't work, but we've been working on that more and hopefully she'll be ready in the next few weeks to get her license.
Paul has been working a lot in Nebraska and has kept him out of pocket quite a bit. The neighbors are all so sweet to look out for us. This stress is probably what has contributed to my recent medical issues. A friend has been praising Dr. Daniel's abilities as a doctor for a year now and I'd been pretty much putting off going to the doctor after my last bout with a podiatrist turned out to be a painful mistake. Anyway, I'd packed on about 15lbs due to the fact that my stomach was hurting ALL THE TIME. The only time I had relief was when it was full...so I kept munching all day long...Joined Weight Watchers and lost 10 lbs, but then it stopped and my stomach pain got worse, so I finally decided it was time to go to the doctor. He is a personable smart man and immediately requested my medical records from my cardiologist and set me up with a gastroenterologist. The gastro dr. wanted to do an EGD...long story short, the final dx was Celiac Disease, which wasn't what I expected. I also have a mild hiatal hernia, which explains the difficulty eating solids when pregnant (it worsens with lack of space) and problems swallowing at times (food often gets stuck and I have to throw up to get some relief). Basically CD is an inherited autoimmune disease that is triggered by stress or childbirth (gee, do you think I qualify?). I cannot tolerate wheat, rye, barley or oats. This answered a lot of questions for us and I was somewhat relieved with the dx. Paul was thrilled that there is finally an answer and has been extremely helpful and supportive. My diet has changed dramatically and I am dropping weight again. Although I cheated and had some of Stephen's birthday cookie cake...took me two days to feel well again! CD is not a diet you can cheat on! It is a learning process, but eating Gluten free is helping me to feel tons better! After almost two weeks, my premature "age spots" on my hands are decreasing & getting lighter, my arthritis is tons better, my depressive mood is definitely lifting, I am sleeping better, and my abdominal pain & swelling is gone. Things that I had no idea were related are! The kids were sweet and for Mother's day made me gluten free cupcakes...they don't want to eat *my* food, but they will make it for me! Well, my morning is getting away from me so I'd better cut this short.