Life on the Road

This is a cool event coming up this weekend.  It’s being orgaized by my great friend and dedicated La Leche Legue leader, Kristin Jayd.

Tickets available at the gate $6 per person, kids 12 and under are free.
For more info call 305-247-5727 or visit www.myspace.com/greatgreenfamilyfestival or www.REHSonline.com

Bring a blanket on Saturday to lay on the lawn and enjoy live music by Groove Kitchen, Psychadelic Mist, Usual Suspects.
On Sunday, sew your own cloth grocery bag from Morsbags: Sociable Guerilla Bagging.

Special Presentations include Green Trends Fashion Show
Soul Full Eating by Maureen Whitehouse Reducing Household toxins by Migule Cisneros Abreu

Buy local, independent, & handmade, from over 40 vendors including:  Arnica Spa to go Bee Heaven Environmental Productions First Choice Pet Food Going Bananas Green and Beyond Green Energy Products Green Veranda Hortitech Kypie Tzexoba Mama Kanga Mandala Art Mansura Stoneware and Raku Mindy & Lola Naturally Naked Nature’s Love Nature’s Natives Richard Lyons Nursery Romney Farms Suriya Thai Spa Tea N Sanity The Potluck Craft Collective featuring Bella Ella Boo Ehbip Arts Cheri’s Naturals Kristin Jayd Motherpath Ropa Vieja Vintage And MORE!!

Eat yummy food from the Crepe Maker Juice Blends Jamaican Organics Thai Donuts & More

Feed your Brain with Biscayne National Park DERM Earth Save Miami Everglades National Park Family Chiropractic Florida Energy Forum Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary La Leche League Patches Soil & Water Conservation Division Sunrise School of Miami the GREEN Party the Mustard Seed Initiative TREEmendous Miami Tropical Everglades Visitor Center and others!

CAUTION:  There is some graphic discussion of unpleasant subjects in this post, and in the links provided.  Please use your discretion about reading it yourself, and especially on behalf of your children.

 A source I deem credible told me that Barack Obama supports Partial-Birth Abortion.  I was horrified.

First, a definition, so we’re all on the same page:

I received a host of fascinating facts and links.

Here’s a highlight of the voting record:

• Obama voted against a ban on partial birth abortion (SB 230 in 1997) while serving in the Illinois senate.
• He also supports and co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act (Bill Number: S.1173) in the U.S. Congress which removes all restrictions (including parental notification in the case of minors) on abortions.
• As an Illinois senator, he shut down a bill that would have provided protection for infants born alive after a botched abortion (instead of being able to leave them to die.)

Someone posted a quote from the good Senator as saying:

On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I’ve said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn’t have that.

This, to me, sounds like nothing more than a political spin. 

It’s really easy for him to say whatever he wants to, knowing that his position alienates a whole big segment of the population…  But actions speak louder than words, don’t you think?  Simply look at the voting record, above. 

Here’s a video of Mr. Obama with a telling quote:

A BABY is…  a PUNISHMENT?

I hugged my kids tight and cried hearing him say that - and all the more so thinking that people are trying to elect such a person to lead our country. 

What happened to MORAL leadership?  A president we can look up to?  (I guess that all ended with Clinton?)

The Bible, of couse, says that children are a blessing from the Lord.  But even without that guidepost, can you jiggle your baby on your knee, and look at their drooly little smile, and …  I simply cannot fathom that as a serious position…

An intersting “scientific” tidbit was presented in the group discussion:

Of all methods of second-trimester abortion, the safest procedure (using mortality surveillance data) is dilation and extraction. - Source: http://www.emedicine.com/med/TOPIC3311.HTM

Erm…  SAFE?  Does the BABY think so?  As far as my understanding of the procedure, the mortality rate is 100%!  (Okay, or 50%, I suppose, if you count the mothers).  Talk about missing the point…

Here’s a powerful - GRAPHIC CONTENT - video on the horrors being perpetrated on over 3,000 American babies EVERY DAY, and about Barack Obama’s position with regard to them:

And just to leave you with a smile, let me suggest that perhaps the reason the good Senator doesn’t “get it” is because he’s an alien.   ;>

I have several issues wrapped up in this one, but my primary concern is the dental use of Fluoride.

When Nick was little, I looked into fluoride, since natural-living folks like Mothering Magazine raised some serious concerns about it.  I was convinced.

We use regular toothpaste with fluoride in it.  If we drink tap water, we drink it and the fluoridation isn’t something I worry about.  But I never let them slather that toxic goo in his mouth during dental cleanings.

Fast forward a decade.  We move to soouthern Florida, and pick a new primary care dentist for the kids.  According to the plan booklet, they treat ages 2-99.  But they didn’t want to see Jewel.  Last time Nick went (when she was 2) I assumed she was just under some age limit they had, but this time (at age 3) I was concerned.

They told me they usually see kids starting at age 6!  WHAT?!  How is a kid supposed to learn about going to the dentist?  Get their version of the oral hygeine instructions?  A free toothbrush?!  But seriously…

After twisting ther collective arm, they scheduled her for a cleaning.

The hygenist said she has a cavity, plus a tooth that should be long since in by now, so I should take her up to the pediatric specialists in Miami.
 
Aside from the fluoride issue itself, I was miffed at the nerve of the hygenist

1.  She told me dogmatically that if Jewel had been drinking fluoridated water she wouldn’t have a cavity! 

Ummmm…  if that were true wouldn’t it mean that practically nobody in the U.S. would ever get cavities?!  Obviously it’s not working quite that well, eh?

2.  She gave me a look that suggested she was debating calling Child Protective Services, and insisted that I was being foolish by refusing the topical fluoride treatment, as well as bottled fluoridated water. 

Wait, but you didn’t even want to SEE her for another *3 years*, right? 

PLUS, I have done my homework on this one.  Fluoride is a toxic chemical, period.  Here are some good articles (with references!) on fluoride and fluoridation: 

• Dr. Rosenbaum has a readable, brief summary of the issues.  A few highlights:
  • Research is also beginning to show that the cavity-fighting power of fluoride may have been overstated. Recent studies in the Journal of Dental Research conclude that tooth decay rates in Western Europe, which is 98 percent unfluoridated, have declined as much as they have in the United States in recent decades. Indeed, it’s only in the United States that fluoride is championed by the government; most European nations — including Germany, France, Sweden and Holland — prohibit fluoride on public health grounds.
  • Dr. Dean Burk, former Chief Chemist of the National Cancer Institute, showed that there are 10,000 or more fluoridation-linked cancer deaths yearly in the United States. The National Cancer Institute, the New Jersey Department of Health, and the Safe Water Foundation all found the incidence of ostereosarcoma (bone cancer) to be substantially higher in young men exposed to fluoridated water as compared to those who were not
• NaturalNews.com raises some more interesting points:
  • A government-sponsored report has concluded that levels of fluoride that people are regularly exposed to in drinking water can cause serious malfunctioning of the thyroid glad, leading to even more serious health problems.
  • Whoever heard of drinking a topical medication in the first place? It’s like swallowing sunscreen to prevent sunburn. Even worse, putting this into the public water supply effectively mass medicates everyone with a bioactive chemical substance that no one has been given a prescription for.
• Two from the IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology) - here and here.  Their synopsis:
  • In IAOMT’s ongoing examination of the toxicological data on fluoride, the Academy has made several preliminary determinations over the last 18 years, each concluding that fluoride added to the public water supply, or prescribed as controlled-dose supplements, delivers no discernible health benefit, and causes a higher incidence of adverse health effects.
• I saved my favorite for last: HolisticMed.com has a fantastically detailed list with a multitude of links.  Here’s a few teasers:
• #1 Neurotoxic and Lowers IQ
• #4 Changes Bone Structure and Strength
• #6 Proven Ineffective
• #13 Causes Permanent Disfigurement of the Teeth in Many Children

And let me reiterate that in all of the sources linked above, they have further explanation and documentation for the information mentioned.  This is not just one person’s opinion, but rather published clinical data. 

From the time Nick was little through the present, I have always made sure I told the dentists that I have an open mind.  I ask if they have any factual evidence to SUPPORT dental fluoride use.  And this time, as always, they hem and haw, and never come up with anything. 

Bah!

Guess where I was last Saturday?

Yeah, really.

After I suffered through a round of fierce chills and fever Friday, Wolf took my to the ER on Saturday morning.  They measured my temperature at 102.7. 

So I got IV fluids and antibiotics while they ran the labs. 

They even let me take my IV pole out into the lobby to nurse R.T. in the middle.  Maybe my last fiasco there actually had an impact on policy…

The test came back showing an acute kidney infection.  Suriprise!  Er, not.

So I got a prescription for antibiotics and came home.  (And had to put together a bog carnival for Tuesday! LOL)

This alsao meant that the Lithotripsy (for kidney stone breaking up) that was scheduled for Monday had to be cancelled, since they don’t want to do it when you’re sick.  Which is frustratingly circular, since we’re doing it to correct the reason I keep getting sick…

Well, hopefully at least this course of medication means that I will be able to have the Cystoscopy done on the 30th.  I haven’t heard yet when we can try the Lithotripsy again - the machine is only there once a month!

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be well…

Since this is already all put together, I’m just going to give it to you, as something important to be aware of: 

AMA Supports Proposed Legislation to Make Home Births Illegal

ABC News reported on July 11. 2008 that the “American Medical Association has agreed to support proposed legislation that, some physicians say, could make make having a planned birth in one’s home difficult, to virtually impossible.”  Presently their is no legislation but the AMA is backing what is called “Resolution 205″ which is a request to support the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) position that home births are not safe.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) spokesperson Gregory Phillips, stated clearly, the ACOG position, “We are against home births, period.”  He continued in the ABC story by stating, “Women who give birth outside of a clinical setting risk putting themselves and their newborns at risk.”

In opposition to this stand the American College of Nurse-Midwives has come out with a strong statement in support of planned home births. Jennifer Block, author of “Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care, who also writes a column for the LA Times stated in her columns that in Britain they routinely ask expecting mothers if they would like to have their babies at home instead of in the hospital.  In her column Block noted that a hand-out is given to expecting mothers from Britain’s National Health Service that says, “There is no evidence to support the common assertion that home birth is a less safe option for women experiencing uncomplicated pregnancies.”

Block also noted in her column that last year a joint statement was issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Royal College of Midwives that said, “There is no reason why home birth should not be offered to women at low risk of complications, and it may confer considerable benefits for them and their families.”

Ms. Block concludes her article by noting that she believes this entire issue is nothing more than a turf war by physicians not wanting to give up control. “The AMA’s statement calls for legislation that could be used against women who choose home birth, possibly resulting in criminal child-abuse or neglect charges. The group says this is about safety, but with no credible research to back up its claim, this argument falls flat.”

The various articles noted that the reaction by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) and the AMA came about due to a documentary film called “The Business of Being Born” by talk show host Ricki Lake, where she exposed the American system of birth as a business. Abby Epstein, the film’s director stated in the ABC story, “What the film has done is to cause a lot of women to choose midwives over OBs — especially younger women who’ve never heard of midwives,” said Epstein. “We’ve received calls from midwives saying that their practices have doubled since our film was released. There’s a lot of ego in this — that one would want to choose a midwife over an MD. It’s really a turf war going back 100 years between the medical establishment and midwives.  The trailer for the film can be seen on YouTube at the following address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DgLf8hHMgo

I just finished reading a book about tandem nursing (Adventures in Tandem Nursing: Breastfeeding During Pregnancy and Beyond), and although I would highly recommend it, after four months it didn’t really have a lot to say on the subject that was news to me.

I was fascinated to learn, however, that a mama kangaroo makes different milk in each teat!  She makes baby milk on one side for the tiny joey finishing his development in her pouch, and “toddler” milk on the other side for baby’s older sibling who will still stick his head in and nurse.  What a great trick!  Doesn’t God think up cool stuff?

And kangaroos have it down pat for carrying the kids around, of course.  We even name a parenting philosophy/practice after them: Kangaroo Care.

If you’d like to see some lovely photos of mamas in other cultures “wearing” their babies, check out this babywearing slideshow.

Sorry, but that’s all for today.  We’re all sick, so I’m even more behind than usual… 

I am so very, very tired of being sick…

And I NEED to SEW, since Mr. Grow-Like-a-Weed no longer fits well in Medium diapers and I have barely anything to put on his booty.

 Okay, I’m done whining.  Thanks for listening.  It’s tough being in a new town with no friends and family to whine to…

Hard to believe, isn’t it?  And I’m still just trying to catch up!

I went to the ER Thursday, April 24th when I woke up with chlls and fever (over 102) and an inflamed and swolen breast.  Yowch!  (This on top of the ongoing kidney/UTI situation).

I ended up being admitted to the hosptial, and stayed until Monday evening (who knew they would discharge someone after 7pm!). 

The whole thing was a nightmare of conflicting opinions, fighting for the right to nurse my baby, and uncommunicative doctors.  I think “An Open Letter to Homestead Hospital” will be appearing here soon…  It was really so frustrating that I’ve sort of tried not to think about about it.  But on the other hand, it’s just not going away.

I called my PCP for a follow-up appointment, and was told that I couldn’t get an appointment for months, but that I could come in as a walk-in.  She suggested coming on a Wed or Thurs, and coming early in the morning.  Great.

So I went in that Thursday, and was standing outside at 8:45 am (they open at 9).  That made me #4 in the walk-in line.  Which meant I got to see the doctor…  at 1 pm!  (Not, of course, that they told us that right away so we could go do something in the meantime.)

I got a referral to a Urologist, but just got the run-around from them regarding a referral for a lactation consultant, as well as getting the insurance to cover my medications. 

When I got hold of the Urologist they gave me, it turned out that they were pediatric only.  So I called the PCP back and got another name (after a big hassle).  When I got hold of that office, they said that they no longer take my insurance.  I called th PCP back (grrr!), and they said they would call the insurance for a current provider list and call me back.  Excuse me if I don’t hold my breath.

Frustrated (happens a lot lately, doesn’t it?), I called my insurance company.  They said that I could self-refer to a Urologist, and didn’t need a referral at all! 

So I started calling down the list of Urologists from the insurance company’s website, which they said was the most current list.  Pediatric only.  Doesn’t take that insurance any more.  We can see you at the end of June (that’s 2 months away at the time!).  Doesn’t take that insurance.  We can see you next year(!).  Phone disconnected.  And on and on…

After calling a dozen doctors (I kid you not), I found someone who could see me in two weeks, who was an hour’s drive from my house.  Not ideal, but sounded pretty good after I’d been worn down by all the others!

The insurance has a transportation benefit, so I figured I’d let them pay the gas to drive all the way up there.  Well, it turns out that they will drive the patient and one “escort” person.  If I bring the baby (which I obviously have to, for a trip that will easily be three hours), I then have to bring Nick or Wolf to hold R.T. while I’m with the doctor.  But they won’t allow 2 people to come… 

So we ended up driving after all.

At least we all really liked Dr. J.  He’s built like a football player, shaved bald head, and wore motorcycle boots under his scrubs!  And he was very nice and seemed very competent.

It seems that although the kidney stones aren’t causing any of ther own kinds of problems, they probably are responsible for the recurring UTIs.  As foreign bodies, they make a place where things can hide and grow in there…  Eeew!

So we scheduled an outpatient surgery for Lithotripsy - the ultrasound breaking up of kidney stones.  They can only do so much at a time (since it’s also hard on your surrounding healthy tissue), so he said we might need as many as three sessions to get the three stones taken care of.

We also scheduled another in-office procedure for further diagnosis, as well as treatment, of the recurring UTIs and the constant, but perhaps at this point self-perpetuating, symptoms.

Whew!

Obviously, there’s pelnty more to tell…  

I just watched the neatest video on YouTube, and I had to share it.

 No, it’s not the latest music video….  Or stupid pet tricks…  Or …  

 Actually, it was made by a governmental agency in India, with help from UNICEF and the WHO.  I’m a lot of fun at a party, eh? 

It’s really, really amazing how God made us!

My philosophizing about why so few people would imagine that’s possible will have to wait for another day…

Thursday (March 17) started out like any other day, and I had a long list of errands for the kids and I to accomplish…

I sat at the couch at the computer to check my email while I nursed R.T., and Jewel sat behind me and played with my hair.  Then Jewel screamed…

She had climbed up onto the arm of the couch, then fallen off into the narrow space between the couch an the end table (metal and glass, yikes!).

I quickly detached R.T. and laid him in a safe spot on the couch next to me, while calling Nick to come grab him.  Then I reached over to extricate Miss J from her landing place.

Although she was very upset, there was nothing obviously amiss.  She wasn’t bleeding, and all her parts seemed functional.  She said that she didn’t hit her head, and what hurt worst was her right arm (she seemed to indicate elbow).

I gave her some children’s Tylenol, then nursed her.  I became concerned when she sat up from laying in my lap, screamed, and clutched her right arm against her chest.

Watching her try to hold the arm still just really set off my “mom radar,” and I decided there was no harm in taking her in for an X-Ray.  Heck, we knew the pediatric ER was actually a pretty nice place! 

I called Wolf to let him know what we were up to.  We had to swing by Knaus Berry Farm anyway to drop off the sodas he was supposed to bring for a coworker’s birthday lunch, and I wasn’t too surprised to see him standing outside ready to go with us when we got there.  (Heck, when you start work at 5 am, by 11 you’re mostly done anyway!)

We made the now-familiar trek to the Homestead Hospital ER, and signed her in.  As before, we quickly received a private room in the “Speediatric” ward.  The nurse brought Jewel some liquid Motrin, as well as baby-strength Tylenol with Codeine!  Yikes!

They brought in the very cute giraffe-painted portable X-Ray machine.  The techno-geeks in Wolf and I were fascinated - it’s all DIGITAL!

But back to reality, where Jewel is screaming hysterically, and I’m being told to hold her arm “like this”… 

Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then, to our dismay, they wheeled the giraffe back in, declaring that they needed three views of the wrist specifically. 

These were even harder than the first set.

I’m surprised they could see anything, and the doc did indicate that they weren’t the clearest…

But they said she had a small fracture of the distal radius where it meets the wrist.  They fixed her up in a splint (cool piece that hardened after they conformed it to her body) wrapped with an Ace bandage.  We then had to follow up with the Orthopedic Surgeon.  (Luckily the insurance referrals and what-not were fairly simple.)

Lots of chewable Tylenol and Motrin to get us through until Monday (March 21)… 

The Orthopedic Surgeon was a great guy, and said he had a granddaughter Jewel’s age.

He X-Rayed her wrist, and after talking to us, her elbow.  By now she was calm, and this all went smoothly.

Guess what?  No break!

The doc said that in the ER they will always make the “better safe than sorry” call in that situation, and that the splint was actually probably great for the sprain/strain/contusions she did have.

So the splint is off, and she is much happier…

Just another week in our house.  Stay tuned, it keeps coming!