Rough Six Months - Dr. on Monday for Princess Two

Maybe kind of a lame post but Princess is going to a Dr. on Monday and she was asked to write up a Medical History for her visit. So, she went through her journal and started writing down the different symptoms and I went through her pictures we downloaded off her memory cards this week and we printed a Mission medical history.

It seems that for the most part, it all started after she touched black mold growing on her luggage from a clogged drain in her apartment. Her health went down from there. I am surprised she didn't lose more than seven pounds with it all. I think she did a great job keeping her health up having had such a hard past six months. 

History - 

December 2, 2011- Nauseous for about 3 weeks. vertigo for about 2 weeks.

 

March – sore throat, mold in my apt.(black mold with sewage on luggage and floor for weeks) stomach cramps started

April and May-

0. sores on legs – pussy and then huge rash around it pink red and itchy. Rash was not round.

1. Charley horse cramps in legs

2. rash on back and stomach

3. bites on hands

4. blister bites on my left leg.

5. huge sores on my face

6. PMS and Menstrual pain worse each month

June-

1. Sore throat

2. metal taste in my mouth and can’t eat out of the right side of my mouth. (dentist couldn’t find anything)

3. nightmares

4. leg cramps

5. stomach cramps all the time, not only when I ate. Doubled over.

6. swished with cinnamon oil in my mouth – after that got a huge sore in my mouth but I didn’t have teeth pain anymore.

7. PMS and Menstrual pain worse each month

8. Exhausted and fell asleep giving lessons

July-

1. Diarrhea for 3 weeks and more. (Started in June)

2. 9 new bites that itch and bubble.

3. stomach cramps when eating

4. nightmares

5. leg cramps

6. PMS and menstrual pain worse each month

7. Exhausted and fell asleep giving lessons

August-

0. Huge bites on my face

1. Weight Loss

*2. Antibiotics/ face and leg sores clear up and started sleeping better. Doxycycline

3. yeast infection.

4. Frequent Urination

5. nightmares

6. stomach cramps when eating

7. started having hot flashes and cold other times

8. started taking parasite pills for 20 days felt little better. Less nightmares and cramping

9. PMS and Menstrual pain worse each month

10. Exhausted and fell asleep giving lessons

September-

1. Diarrhea

2. leg cramps

3. Fever for 5 days highest 102 degrees

4. Nose bleed

5. Headaches / sore throat

6. Hot and Cold flashes

7. stomach cramps every time I eat.

8. frequent urination

9. yeast infection

10. Exhausted and fell asleep giving lessons

Gifts from Taiwan - Great Money Maker

Since Princess two was sick and working most of the time she was in Taiwan, she didn't get to go shopping much or do much sight seeing. 

In fact, yesterday, I transferred over her pictures of the almost year she spent on her mission and was really shocked to see that she had only one and a half CD's and many of the photos were blurry as she had a problem with her first camera. 


She was sad that she hadn't bought anything for her sisters and she actually had to leave lots behind due to weight restrictions. She unpacked and found that near the beginning, she bought something that she found unique and decided to get them for her sisters. 

She was shopping and noticed a man with an engraver. He was using it to carve things into little stones or pebbles. 

He would then drill a hole in the top and put a string through the top and make the little stone into a necklace but the cool thing is that he personalizes them. He did one that said "mom" for me with the Chinese Characters for "peace" above it on one side and then on the other side, he did drawings. On mine, I have a heart with wings flying.   


On each of the girls necklace stones, she put "Peace" and then all or part of their names on one side, and on the other, she told him to draw whatever he wanted. Some have fish, others clover, others hearts and other things.


I thought how smart the man is for making something out of free stones. The string he used is thin nylon and two small beads. The string and beads are the only items he used other than the stone.


I know that this photo is a bit washed out but it was the only way I could get the carvings to show up well. It is really cute and different and who doesn't like jewelry! 

I thought the idea would be a great carnival or festival idea to make money for the PTA or scouts or any great fund raising purpose. 

You can buy cordless engravers online and we bought some and used them on little metal and plastic necklaces a few years ago at our school fall carnival. However, how much cuter to get stones, let the child pick one out and carve their name on it. Or, you can collect stones from a favorite place or tourist attraction and make them from there or on shells etc. 

The girls liked their presents and we all wore them today. Princess two and I even went to visit Princess three at college today since Princess two used to live in the same house and wanted to see how it had changed. Just getting in the door, she ran into someone she knew from when she went to college there and had a long conversation with her while I cooked lunch for us all. 




 So, even though she thought she had forgotten and felt bad that she didn't have time to get them something, in the end, she did and it is something the girls liked. Good choice Princess!

Princess Four Sings Solo at the Fair

I am so proud of Princess number four. She asked if she could sing at the fair. She has never sung a solo before and you have seen and heard her perform duets and with the rest of us as a family in other posts. 
 
Here is a link to my post about them singing the national anthem together. I posted twice on this and here is post one.  
Here is post two. 

I tried for over an hour to upload this video on this site and had no luck so I had to go to youtube direct. Here is a link to her singing. 
 
Her beautiful and talented sister, Princess five, played the guitar for her. I love that they are using their talents. 

She chose to sing "The Call" by regina Spector. Here is a link to a post I wrote about this song.  

 I wanted to post it because I think she is amazing. She recently tried out for an exclusive choir in our area for high school students and made it. They are working on earning money for a trip to Costa Rica next Christmas to perform and do service in that area. Way to go Princess! You are amazing and I am blessed to have you as my daughter!

Adjusting to the Adjustment - Glad she's home

 This post will probably be short as well as yesterday. We are still trying to figure out how things will work with everything now that Princess number two is home. 

We were shocked to get a call saying she was coming home as we had hoped the Dr. visit would show something. I guess they were looking for other things and they didn't do the tests needed to figure things out. 

I got a call saying she would be home in under 48 hours and I never got to speak directly with Princess number two so things were hazy until she arrived home.

We both felt it was a better thing to have her home where we could take medical matters into our own hands but she was so sad to have to leave so quickly from her mission where she finally felt she had a grasp on the language and was looking forward to moving to a new area. 

She is still very tired and trying to get used to the time change but what showed up and what I thought would show up are very different things. 

She only lost 7 lbs in almost a year and the fact that she has had stomach cramping for four months, and that the seven pounds was after the week she had five days of fever, headaches, nose bleeds, diarrhea, and sore throat, she probably lost 5 of those pounds those five days. 

When she pulled on a pair of her old capri's today, they fit her well. I was expecting emaciation but if you look at her smiling face (which is thin but not emaciated) and compare it to Princess number one's face when she arrived home sick two years ago, (click here to see that post) Princess number two actually looks pretty good. No make up and tears included. My nephew actually arrived home from Taiwan last month. He is MUCH thinner than princess and I realize that riding bikes and walking all day, those with fast metabolisms would have to eat all day to keep up with the energy spent. 


We have a private joke between us about being "crazy" and I knew she would be having a hard time coming home so I made name tags. I had her wear one and I wore one and we took a photo. She is "one wild and Crazy gal!" (Those of you who watched Saturday night live will get that joke.) 

I loved seeing her hugging her sisters and she cried with the relief of being home and where she is loved and will be taken care of until she is better. Of course, I cried seeing her as well. Just a mom thing. 

My favorite photo of the day was this one of her hugging my dad. He has been the father figure in her life since she was disowned by her dad at age 15 or so. See here for a blog post about her relationship with her grandfather.        

Princess Number 2 - Good and Bad News

I have some good news and some bad news about Princess number two. The good news, (being positive first) is that Princess number two is home. 

The bad news is, Princess number two is home. 

I got a call on Thursday saying I would need to pick her up on Saturday about noon. I got no information about why or how come it is so sudden. I made some calls and tried to figure things out but to my best understanding, they were fed some false information and didn't get the tests done that needed to be done and so, Princess is home to finally get the medical tests done needed to prove what is wrong with her. 

I don't think it is Morgellans disease as to the fact that someone over the phone prescribed some antibiotics for the sores that spread all over her body. I wish when I wrote them months ago and asked them to culture them saying it looked like a staff type infection, that they would have listened. 

The sores stopped but the other issues still remain. 

With her home, the family came for the weekend and driving to the airport to pick her up etc has got me quite tired and it is now 4:30 a.m. after the family left and Princess could tell me how things went, it became a very late night. I didn't get to talk with her while she was in Taiwan as the misinformation didn't allow for it but we are just grateful that she is home and I will share more when I have had a little sleep! 


Thank you all for your prayers. We truly are blessed that she has arrived home and pray that we can figure this out ASAP. 


UPDATE- Look into Six Feathers Formula Black Salve Indian remedy. Some claim it has helped them cure their Morgellans! 

Local Humanitarian Center - Tour and Working

 This is the post I thought I had blogged about in the past. I guess I missed that one on paper but worked it out in my head. 

A few years ago, I started a group that did humanitarian things in my local church. Right after I got moved to another position and the women in charge of the womens group for our area (not just our church) decided to start doing it weekly on Tuesdays for one side of town and Wednesdays for the other side of town. They also are open one night a week for those that work during the day. 

They take donations of all sorts of things and have a room for fabric lined with shelves. A room with batting and stuffing. A room full of sewing machines, and one full of fixings and threads. There is a bigger room where cutting, pinning, laying things out and quilting happens. 


Because I am usually out of town on the mornings my side of town meets, I usually do my humanitarian work at home. I decided to take my princesses down to tour the local humanitarian center. It is open from 9:30 to 12:30 both days. You can go any time and leave anytime and they have a "take home" table where they put things that can be done easily while you watch TV or are driving in the passenger seat etc. 


We sat down for an hour or so and finished tying this quilt off using the "universal" quilting stitch where there are no "knots" but it is looped through a few times. Princess number six had never quilted anything before so it was something "new" for her that day. 

I have been down there a few times since picking up things to work on and dropping finished things off. We are still working on finishing the dolls we posted about last week.

At the moment, I have four new projects I brought home to show princess number 1 that I think she would be able to do easily and I have the materials to make them so perhaps I can teach the other girls how to crochet squares. Perhaps I will take a photo of them. The hat with flower is absolutely cute! Many of the projects stay local but others get sent up to the main Humanitarian Center to be sent out to the world when needed.

Humanitarian Center Tour, the 111 on Charity - Part Two

 I wrote yesterday about how we toured the warehouse at the Humanitarian center. That is on the main level. In the upstairs level, there is a huge room for people to work and put together projects and in display cases are the different ways they help and send aid to areas where there is a disaster or to impoverished areas of the world.

They have "modules" which have a variety of things in them but specific items. They have medical modules that are larger and Children modules that have clothes, shoes, toys, blankets and wall hangings. They would go to places like orphanages. 

As you can see, they have smaller items that they send such as bedding, colorful quilts etc. They tell a story of a woman who visited an orphanage in and Eastern block country and there were white walls and no color. She wrote and asked friends to make colorful wall hanging to hand so the children would have something to look at. They use bright colored fabrics with run prints for these. 


Other things they have put together are layette sets for babies. They include diapers, pins, a few outfits, hat, soap, and cloths. This came about when a volunteer missionary witnessed babies going home from the "hospital" in newspapers because the families were too poor for blankets. Groups put the kits together and then each mother gets to take one home after they are sent to the needy country.

They have lots of homemade toys, clothes and other items that are all made and donated with love. They make school kits. Chalk board, chalk, paper, pencil, colored pencils all in a draw string bag.  

Humanitarian kits that go to disaster zones include toothpaste, soap, cloth, comb, toothbrush etc. My sister went to hear about a woman that came to the area as a refuge and tells of how she received one of these kits when they had to leave their home or be killed. She ended up in a refuge camp and got a kit. She said that she and her family and friends all share that one kit and what a blessing it was in their lives. 

They also do training in farming, newborn resuscitation, water purification and provide specific medical items such as wheel chairs and other items as needed. The trainers are all volunteers as missionaries helping locals increase their knowledge for their betterment. At the end of the tour, there is a video. 

When I walked in, I joked about all the tissue boxes sitting on the chairs and said, "This must be a tear jerker movie with all these tissue boxes." Well, I used some. The stories that were shared by the actual people that were helped were so touching.  

Touring the facility renewed my resolve to continue doing service and making items to donate to help these unfortunate people and pray that I am never in need of the items myself! 

I couldn't help but smile when at the end of the tour they have a world map and some pictures with numbers of people helped last year. In 2011, there were 111 disasters! Kinda weird I thought! There are 111 black dots on this world map for all the places the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent relief in the year 2011. Let's hear it for the Mormons! That is a lot of relief in 49 countries!

If you want to know more, here is a link to their page explaining "Why we help." If you want to learn even more or find a way that you can help or donate, google, Humanitarian Center, and lots of sites will come up. Follow a few and you will have plenty of information! If you want to see some of the projects we have done, click here for dolls and here for hats.  

Humanitarian Center Tour - Part One

 I wanted to write about this weeks ago but so much was going on that I wasn't able to so I thought I would write about it now as it was such a wonderful thing. I had never been to this place before but have heard about it so I called to find out times and address so we could take a tour. 


It is a HUGE warehouse where they take in donations or buy items to donate to victims of disasters or people in hardship around the world.

They run stores with the donations that are taken in of used items. At the second hand stores, they train people who may need help learning skills They start them out sorting, then pricing, then on the floor putting items out and then working the cash registers. Once they are trained, they help them get job placements with other companies. 

I have a friend who is Russian who ended up at a woman shelter. She got a job working at the second hand store and once trained, they helped her get a job. Since getting a job, she was able to obtain a drivers license, she bought a car and is working on buying a home.

Without the store that is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, she would never be in the place she is with her two daughters. She is hoping to adopt her nieces children who's parents died and are living in Russia in an orphanage. 


When the girls and I went to our local Humanitarian center, they talked about how they donate their items many times to the larger based Humanitarian Center  in Salt Lake City as they can get them where they need to be to help those in need.  

The local center told us about how they toured the larger center and were impressed with what they saw. I told Princess number six that perhaps we could take a tour on our road trip. I was glad we made that happen. See our trip to the local humanitarian center here. Ok, so you can't see that here because when I looked to find the post, I realized that I hadn't ever posted that post. So, I will post it later this week. :-) 


It is so funny that I thought I had posted that already. So, anyway, we went on the tour and I have to tell you, I was VERY impressed. They have a flag hanging on the wall from each country of their current employees at their warehouse. They bring in refuges from other countries or those in need, and let them work sorting the clothes by type (winter, summer) and by sizes so that when there is a disaster, they can send clothes approprate for the climate and season. 

This allows the refugee to learn the language and marketable skills while making money. They teach English classes as well. 

While touring, we saw many different nationalities and colors of people and many in native dress. We weren't allowed to take photos of the workers for obvious reasons but it was amazing to see the items they have stock piled. 

They bundle the clothes like large bails of hay. They have blankets they have made and packaged for distribution to victims as well, you can see a blanket in one of the photos. This part of the tour was just in the main floor of the building. Tomorrow, I will post about the second floor. To be continued...