Update on Jackie

Well, It is only 2 weeks later, we have been to Boston twice for Jackie, once to actually meet the doctors, and the second time for her to have a colonoscopy and Endoscopy.

We got the results of her "E & C" on Tuesday, and she has Celiac Disease. Which means she has to go on a Gluten Free Diet. Meaning nothing made with, Wheat, Barley, Oats or Rye or any of their counterparts. Celiacs cannot eat gluten(which comes from the WBRO listed above) because it sets off an immune system response that causes damage to the small intestine, which then interferes with the bodies ability to absorb nutrient found in food leading to malnutrition and a variety of other complications.

So, she is going to be a meat and potato girl from now on. Luckily she is young so she WILL adjust fairly easily. I think it is going to be harder for me to adjust in that I will not be able to rely on cooking the basics or at least not as much a I used to, meaning no more "Blue Box" Mac and Cheese among other things. LOL.

But it does mean we will ALL get healthier, and we ALL could certainly use it. I am actually glad to know why she was sick because at least it is something controllable. She seems to be feeling better already after just 2 days of the gluten free diet.

Thanks to all of my friends for their food recommendations etc.

Jackie and doctor

Brought Jackie to the doctor today because she has had bloody stool for the last couple of days and they told us to come in if it continued for more than 2 days. So we went in last night to see the doctor who was on call, Dr Bodie, out of another office in Plymouth. She had us bring a sample of the stool for some teats and told us to call our primary Dr Schmitt this morning.

So I called for an appointment with Dr. S this morning and we went in and she did a rectal exam, Jackie was super good considering, and the rectal came back positive for blood. So we now have an appointment with a Gastro intestinal specialist at Mass General Hospital on Tuesday.

I am trying really hard not to stress over this because it could be something like a small tear, a polyp, etc., and Jackie has been acting pretty much like normal. Dr. S just wanted to take it another step further cause you never know. So that is what is happening, as of today will let you know more when I know more.

Nate's First Day

It was Nate's first day of school today. He had a really good time, he did not want to leave when I got there to pick him up. They were outside playing when I got there so I am not really surprised.

I found it very strange not having him for the whole day. My sister said to me that it is because I feel like I have lost a playmate. Now that is pretty funny cause I almost agree with her. I have gotten VERY used to him being here, to play with everyday. I missed him. LOL.

It was calm and peaceful with just Jackie and I. We went to speech therapy, did puzzles, watched Dora, had lunch, just goofed around and then went to run some errands before we went to pick up Nate. It was good but different.

I think it will be every nice to be just the two of us while he is at school. I just hope he does not become jealous that she is home with me when he is at school. We shall wait and see.

Updates I said I would get to ...

Well starting with the washer ours was broken with "rotten tub syndrome" so for those of you wiht front loading washing machines make sure to leave the door open when it is not in use. We ended up taking the washer from Michael's aunt, I actually do not think that I will go back to a front loader again I like th fact that I can start the machine and soak some clothes that are stained and add clothes if I forget them upstairs without having to shut the machine off. I also think my clothes smell better, wierd huh.

Buttonwood Park Zoo... we had a great time, what a great zoo and a great price. The weather was perfect, we saw lots of animals, the kids enjoyed it, and it is only about 40-45 minutes away.

Here are some pictures from the Zoo.

Our Day...letterboxing

We had a great afternoon letterboxing. We made our stamps this morning just after getting out of bed, wooden blocks with self stick craft foam. Not bad for a starter, we may have to upgrade to hand carved as we continue. The stamps we got are absolutely amazing. Two out of the four were hand carved, and are amazing in detail. We had a really good time, we were out for about four hours exploring, playing and just having fun.

We ventured to Plymouth, to do our searching. Attempted to find five, but only found four, it seems one of the boxes we looked for has gone missing. Which did not show on the website until I went to post that we attempted to find it. But the missing find didn't really disappoint anyone because we got to play on a playground for a while for fun anyway.

One of our finds brought us to Forges Field in Plymouth. We have discovered a wonderful place to walk, ride bikes and play at a playground that is fairly local, off exit five in Plymouth. It has completely paved walking/biking paths, it must have at least six or seven recreation fields(soccer/football/baseball), the playground area and tons of parking. I did not even know it was there.

I figured this is a fairly inexpensive way to get out with the kids doing something different. We made our own stamps, our Family book was a little expensive, it is a unlined memory book, with heavy cardstock paper, but we got an artist sketchpad for Nate at Ocean State Job Lot for $1.99. I would have probably done the same for the family book, if I had thought of OSJL before we stamped ours. The only other major cost was the gas, since at almost $3.00 a gallon it does cost a little to drive the truck.

I also found another website that is a little easier to locate letterboxes that are close to where you want to search, it allows you to put in a mileage (25, 50, 100 miles) that you want instead of an area(e.g. Plymouth County). It is called Atlas quest.

So on to new things, and good boxing.