Healthy Me

Boy are my kids going to be mad at me when they get home from school today.  I went grocery shopping today and didn't come home with any processed, sugary, fattening snacks.  I came home with bags of fruit.  They're going to get a little upset when they find out mom only bought them healthy food without any of the processed stuff they like.

I won't be voted "Mother of the Year" today!

On Friday, all the kids were finally back in school.  It was the first day since August 28, 2010 that there wasn't a child home sick.  It's been neverending illnesses around here. Right now as I type, my middle daughter has a low-grade fever so I think she's going to be home sick next.

With my first day to myself, I did some cleaning, trying to rid the house of germs, cleaned the bathroom, had a riding lesson, and soaked in a tub without a child at the door wanting something.  So, a little "domestic" stuff and a little "me" time.  I started thinking about how to decorate for Halloween - it's just around the corner now and it is my favorite holiday!  Pretty soon, it'll be time to decorate for Christmas with white led christmas lights!! 2010 sure is going fast.

Hopefully, since my kids have been hit with illnesses so hard since school started, fall and winter will breeze by.  I need to wipe down the surfaces the kids touch more often (faucets, handles, etc.) and make sure they're washing up when they come home from school, carrying germs with them.  I hesitate to use anti-bacterial cleaning solutions because they're just breeding superbugs (did you hear about that?).  It's called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1.  Last year it was the swine flu.  The year before, was it MRSA? 

According to an article on Yahoo Health, Japan has found a gene in bacteria responsible for making bugs into superbugs (drug-resistant to antibiotics). Right now, the gene is widespread in India. Expect it to come to the states soon I would imagine. This gene will make antibiotic resistance a huge issue for all.

If swine flu caused massive panic last year, I think this is going to make the swine flu panic look like child's play. The wait at the doctor's office will become longer as panic over illnesses rise, antibiotics will be given less, and people will be start looking more at life insurance like at Wholesaleinsurance.net.  Despite antibiotics being over-prescribed, they are also life-saving.  Is that going to change now?

I am so not looking forward to the next health panic.

A study I just read on Yahoo Health talks about how Vitamin D3 (not D2 which is found in most multivitamins) may help reduce flu and asthma attacks.  Speaking from personal experience, I give my kids gummy chew Vitamin D3 every day and none of them were sick through the winter months until March.  Then I ran out in March and didn't replace it right away.  Three out of four of my kids had to fight off the stomach flu TWICE EACH in one month's time when they'd avoided colds and flu all winter long prior to my running out.

I take Vitamin D3 as well and I didn't get the flu at all this winter and my asthma has been just fine as well. Even when my kids were really sick, and I was cleaning up after them and taking care of them, I didn't get it.  I really believe there is something to that study and look forward to reading about more studies in the future.

I really need to get off of here.  I get on my blogs and start messing around and forget my "to do" list.  I am supposed to be looking up an epson receipt printer for a friend. I love my regular Epson Artisan printer and I'm supposed to find out more about their receipt printers. I better get to work now!

What do medical doctors have against doctors some consider "alternative" (like chiropractors)? If it isn't the "stick a drug down their throat for the pharmaceutical company" routine, they don't think it's right or safe? I've seen it with my former Endocrinologist who wouldn't do anything but synthetic medication when there were natural treatments that had been around for 100 years that worked for people.

Today my daughter came home and told me that her best friend's pediatrician told her that chiropractors (who her best friend has been seeing for a pinched nerve) give strokes to children. I was thinking about taking my daughter to a chiropractor for her back pain (from a fall) so I looked it up. There is a big debate between chiropractors and neurologists about the risk of stroke with a chiropractic neck adjustment.

From what I found here:

“Even if neck adjustments cause strokes (and no one can say for sure that they do) the risk is low— 1 per 100,000 chiropractic patients who receive multiple adjustments,” says chiropractor William Lauretti, an assistant professor at New York Chiropractic College, and a spokesman for the American Chiropractic Association.

I've heard the possible side effects on those commercials for a pharmaceutical drug. They go on and on and your jaw just drops listening to them. Sometimes you wonder if the side effect is worse than what it's treating. So what is the bigger risk? I'd seriously like to know the answer to that.

How do you know who to trust? How can you give your blind trust to any medical professional? It doesn't matter if they're wearing lab coats - they don't always know what is best for you and you're left wondering if you can find a medical professional (mainstream or alternative) who you can literally trust your life to.

My daughter has been having a lot of headaches and dizzy spells this week. She doesn't have a fever. I'm thinking either sinus infection or dehydration (they practice cheerleading for two hours a day and I doubt she's drinking enough water). I kept her home from school today so she could rest. If they keep up, she'll have to go see her pediatrician.

This month, we have a flurry of activity at different doctors scheduled for the family. I have appointments with a new endocrinologist, my family doctor, and a gynecologist. My husband has to see our family doctor for tests and to check his arm for pain he's been having. My kids all have check-ups scheduled. We also all have eye doctor appointments.

We schedule like this because my husband's employer requires certain doctor's visits and tests every year and they have a deadline that it has to be done by. While it is a pain, it is best for our health to have preventative visits. Though by the time these are all done, I am going to be SO glad not to see anymore lab coats for a long time! My kids aren't looking forward to them because two of them are due for vaccinations. Even though they are older, they still dread the needle pokes. I can't blame them. I do as well.

I was in Wal-Mart the other day and stopped in the vitamin aisle to look for Lil Critters Omega-3 Gummy Fish that my kids love (it's the only one I've found that they actually like). I saw something new in the aisle called Voots. The box said it has three servings of fruit and vegetables in each two tart serving. I figured I'd give it a try since my kids gag just looking at vegetables. I found this online about them:

They taste really good to my kids, but I want to know more about them. Just because Wal-Mart sells them doesn't mean they do what they say, ya know? Does anybody know more about Voots? Here is what the box looks like: