Tuesday, April 01, 2008

next thing you know we're going to be vegans.

public disclaimer:
the following information you are about to read is of personal opinion. i am in NO WAY writing to offend ANYONE. i promise. remember. this is my own little journal of sorts. and this is "where we are" right now.

who knew i was the type to need a disclaimer on this here blog o' mine. but you know me and my notwantingtooffendpeople issues.

so we begin a new journey here in the wisner house. yesterday was Day One Of The Wisner Lactose Free Journey. or at least it was for the goo.

a little background to help keep people up to speed. goo? not herself. hasn't been herself for i don't know how long. and buz and i have tried almost everything we can think of to "fix it." and honestly, i don't know what "fix it" looks like other than sleep. lots and lots of sleep. or "yots and yots of syeep" as big h calls it. he's missing it too. we all miss it.

The Fall of '08, which resulted in an ER trip for some dermabond and a permanent scar that she'll be forever trying to cover up with Maybelline as well as a sedated CT experience. good times. grumpy goo. don't care for her. so more times to the pedi than we care to admit. ear infection. check. another ear infection. check. one or sixteen more. check. daddy and mommy reaching their limit. check.

off to our third surgery center for tubes. (you know, one of the ones in the metroplex that we hadn't tried yet.) that was a monday. no sleep that night. interesting. cranky for three more days. and no sleep for three more nights. more and more interesting. pediatrician on thursday to see what's wrong. almost consider bringing him a gift card of some sort because...well, i don't know why. but we choose not to seeing as how we personally make sure his family has food on the table each month.

he says ear infection. i say what the ____!

sorry. this is a family-friendly website we're running here.

don't think i didn't want to have the guts to say what the ____, but decided that "seriously? are you kidding?" was more appropriate.

antibiotics. again.

let's stop here. and talk about the fact that since the goo was about eight or nine months, homegirl has taken something out of a syringe at least once a day everyday. everyday, people. to say that the goo does NOT like taking things that taste like powdered toilet cleaner disguised as a starburst is a bit of an understatement. kinda like me saying i don't really care for the summer months so much but they're ok.

so on to more antibiotics. buz and i have high hopes that once the antibiotics do their thang, we'll have old school goo back. no such luck. still sad and grumpy during the day. still not sleeping. no one. and we're actually cry it out (or CIO as they say on the internet) people. so buz and i are going in there several times during the night. actually, let me correct myself. buz is the only one going in there because goo automatically wants more from me than she does with buz. he can pull off going in there and resting his hand on her chest for thirty minutes or three hours. remember...this guy has to go to work the next morning.

well, blah blah blah. i've just read all of this. and whew...talk about a glass half empty post. cut to the chase, janet.

fast forward to this past sunday. she is up a LOT saturday night. sunday we miss church. so we head to the park. buz and i have talked a lot lately when we're praying at night that we just want the Lord to reveal something to us. anything. so we get to the park and there is one other family there. somehow the mom and i begin talking because she has a son roughly goo's age. it turns out she's a holistic health care provider.

i know. work with me here.

after our conversation, her two suggestions are

  1. take milk away from goo's diet. mainly just the drinking it in a cup part. but try hard not to have anything else in it either (cheese, yogurt, etc.). do this for ten days. see if we start to notice a difference. on the eleventh day, reintroduce it. she's almost positive we will notice a difference.
  2. take her to a chiropractor. she begins to tell me that she thinks goo's second vertebrae might possibly be "out of whack" and may be pinching her eustachian tube, causing ear infections.

she says a lot of other things that frankly i don't understand.

before i go any further, here's a little shout out to my buddy, angela. hey angela, i know you're a lurker. know that after this post, i am expecting either a comment or email about what kirk's take on this whole thing is. deal?

so today was Day Two of Goo's Lactose Free Journey. we're doing fine. lots of lemonade and juice and water.

and thursday at ten-thirty in the morning, we head to our first holistic experience. goo's first chiropractic appointment. and i'll be honest. i'm pumped. i'm trying not to get my hopes up. but i really feel like this could be a great thing.

rest assured. i'm not going to stop shaving my legs or start making our whole family wear these.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

ugh. I feel your pain. But kudos to you for making the whole ordeal humorous and easy to read. I am cracking up over here.

But seriously, I'm totally hoping that the vertebrae is to blame. Totally. I hope that this all gets worked out.

Sleep is for the weak.

And. we. are. NOT. WEAK.

Oh no, we are not.

Kelly from Montana said...

no milk i get - but the vertebrae of such a little girl should be left alone. sorry - have to put in my plug for modern medicine. on the other hand, just say "no to drugs" - i.e. antibiotics;)

mrsf5 said...

I doubt I'll surprise you when I say that just reading the words "holistic health care provider" caused my heart to burst into song.

I am wishing you all so well on this journey, and am abundantly hopeful that it's a very short and happy path back to old-school Goo.

Great big love and so many prayers...

Ani said...

fingers crossed that the lactose free diet does the trick. and if a visit (or 2 or 3) with the chiropractor helps with the sleeping thing, then heck, get a season pass for that office too!

Anonymous said...

oh janet - i am so anxious to see how all of this pans out! it is so great to finally have some direction after the last couple of weeks and i am all for the holistic healing approach. it's not as if traditional medicine hasn't taken a whack at the problem...well, you see where i am going.

hugs to you all!

Jill said...

Well, friend, a phone call is about to come your way. Because over the past year and a half, we've turned totally granola with all sorts of holistic health practices. I was a skeptic. Until it changed my child and it changed me. And we were both pretty bad off. Is that lurker Angela MY Angelas???? ;)

Janelle said...

Good for you. Anything to help goo is what a mommy should do.

I am sure Alana will comment on this post, but she has just started into the chiropractic care after a MEDICAL doc told her she needed more sunshine for her ailments (as if!).

Anyway, IT HAS CHANGED HER LIFE!! She can tell you more, but she is a believer! I am trying to think of things that are wrong with me just so I can go. :)

Alana said...

Well, we've already talked about this, so you know my thoughts. I am praying for you guys and hoping for great things. I really think you'll be happy with the results. No worries! Let me know how it goes!

Angela said...

You rock, Janet!! I got your card last month - LOVED it, but haven't gotten around to reply!! But I miss you and I LOVE reading your blog!

And yes, Kirk sees lots of kids with ear problems. Chiropractic is definitely worth the try!! When modern medicine isn't working anymore, there is so much to be said for the "holistic" ways. No matter what, the chiropractor will not hurt her - it can only help. And if you don't see results, once again, it didn't hurt her at all!!

Good luck!!! Take care and keep writing!! And know that i think of you often!

PS - our kids have gotten adjusted since they were newborns, each child has only had one ear infection (ages 5, 3, and 1) and they LOVE to get adjusted but the first time may not be so easy for the goo, it takes some getting used to. Blessings!!

Anonymous said...

Is Dr. Pepper vegan ;-)

Randi~Dukes and Duchesses said...

I'm coming out of lurking just to offer some encouragement. I'm not stalking you ... really. Just enjoy reading about your life with your kiddos. :)

I'm VERY, VERY pro-medical side of things, so I get the hesitation but I also understand being willing to try almost anything. We did the lactose-free thing with one of my twins and it may or may not have helped ear infections (we did it for other stomach issues) ... we saw a decrease but I couldn't swear it was that.

Two of my kids have also seen a chiropractor ... we see a Christian, no-cracking kind of chiro which makes me more comfortable when it's my kids she's dealing with. It's not the perfect answer but I do know that it's helped. It makes sense to me that if something is out of alignment then other body systems just don't work as well.

Hang in there! (and I hope you're not freaked out at my lurking!)

Alana said...

Thinking of you and praying for you and Goo today!!!

Let me know how it goes!

Nicole - Life in Progress said...

I don't even know you (found you from Big Mama's blogroll) & I really feel for you. My youngest is around goo's age & I just can't imagine this roller coaster you've been on. I'm really sorry.

Also wanted to say that I've known several people who SWEAR that chiropractors have helped their little ones with various issues. So, hopefully.....

I'm saying a prayer for your sweet family that the Lord will guide you to answers for your baby. I'm also going to pray for good, long sleep for all. God Bless!

Chrys and Mike said...

i think it's awesome and can't wait to hear how it goes. i'm a little crunchy that way, though. you're discerning and i think you're smart to check it out.

sorry i'm just now getting in on this news...i've been a little, uh....distracted this week. :)

chrys