Slique Challenge

Working out has always been something I love to do but for some reason over the last 19 years I have found reasons to not workout. It's the girls, the laundry, time constraints, pure exhaustion, family activities, surgery or whatever else popped up. I guess I forgot that it's of the utmost importance to take care of myself so I can take care of my family. Over the years I have slowly gained...well let's just say a lot of weight. The final blow was injuring my hamstring in July, surgery, 6 weeks on the couch and then a slow recovery. In December I started PT and walking on the treadmill but by the end of 2018 I want to say I have completed a half marathon. This is going to take a tremendous amount of work but who doesn't love a challenge?

This "condition" didn't happen over night or even over a couple of months so recovery will take many months as well. Competition drives me so I joined the Slique Challenge. This is a weight loss challenge and as much as I would love to win the grand prize 60 or 120 days from now I also will be a winner if I drop several pounds and re-enter the active life I use to have. My first goal is to shed 20 pounds.

I wasn't going to tell anyone about this challenge. To be honest, I'm afraid of failure and more afraid of anyone knowing about my failure. What a defeatist attitude! As soon as I click on "PUBLISH" to this post, it's out in the light for everyone to know, and I believe that is the first step towards success.

Instead of using my kids as an excuse I am using them as a reason! 

I took measurements and a horrifying picture of myself. One of the worst days of my life. UGH! When they say the truth sets you free, I literally almost ran away. The truth of that image and those numbers were staggering. Instead of posting that sports bra and shorts pic I am posting the picture that serves as my short term inspiration. The picture on the left is from May 2017 at Emma's graduation. The picture on the right is from November 2017. The face says it all!

Here's to Health in 2018!

This body is the temple of Christ and it's time to treat it as such!

Road to Recovery

Reagan is ten weeks PI (post injury) and six weeks PO (post operation) Already she is hitting benchmarks that remind us "she is going to get there!" From the beginning I told Reagan we weren't going to focus on what she can't do or how long it was going to take to get back on the pitch. Rather we would take a look at the next goal and look back at how far she had come in one week, two weeks, etc. It's been a great plan, so far. 

I love lists and spreadsheets. I haven't made a spreadsheet or line graph (yet) but it is very encouraging to look back at what Reagan has accomplished thus far.

MRI before surgery 10/18

Getting around before
surgery. 10/17

3 days PO 11/17

BENCHMARKS
1. 1st Doc appointment and MRI (Oct 18)
2. Rehab to heal MCL and regain ROM for surgery
3. Surgery (Nov 14) This was a big one...she got sick 4 days before surgery and there was a strong chance that surgery would be post-poned. I loaded her up on several essential oils and surgery safe supplements all day long. Her body fought it well enough to go under.
4. Start Physical Therapy (Nov 17)
5. Pooping...no one wants to talk about it but anyone on painkillers KNOWS this is an issue!
6. Off Pain Meds
7. Back to school (Nov 27) and back to soccer practice.
8. Two week PO appointment (Nov 28)
9. No Crutches (Dec 11)
10. 6 week doctor appoint (Dec 27) = no brace and start driving

I hope I can get the video below to work. For 2 weeks I dropped Reagan off at PT for her hour long visit. A couple weeks I stayed to watch her progress. The emotions caught me off-guard. Seeing Reagan walk, march and ride the bike without crutches, a brace or even the ace bandage was overwhelming. Reagan is doing so well and even though there's so much she is waiting to do, she can be very proud of her accomplishments in such a short time. Then two days later at PT again she was kicking a soccer ball. Claire, her therapist understands the psychological side of this injury, touching the ball is critical!

Dr Arnold explained today that the next six weeks can be difficult. To this point she has had very visible benchmarks but weeks 6-12 PO are all about strengthening which happens gradually without much fanfare. It's also a time when athletes such as Reagan begin to think, "I feel good, I can do that." WRONG!!! No you can't! Use caution! Think about the future not the immediate limitations! These are difficult things for a 16 year old to do but Reagan is up for the challenge.

On a personal note, Reagan and I attend physical therapy together from time to time. Our injuries are completely different, our bodies are completely different but we are both extremely competitive. Claire (PT) put us both on little wheeled chairs to scoot across the floor. First thing she says, "THIS IS NOT A RACE!" To that Reagan exclaimed, "OH YES THIS IS A RACE!" Ha She makes me laugh. Only because I have to enjoy it while I can... I won! :) My leg hurt later that night but that's ok, it's been many years since I have been able to beat Reagan at anything physically.

All joking aside, I am so proud of Reagan's hard work and determination to return better than ever. There's something to be said for a warrior who can fight the battle on the field but also the one that rages within. You've got this kid! Keep working hard and reach your dreams.

Shingles Are the Worst!

There are topics that instantly tug at my heart...Human trafficking, Child abuse, Infidelity, Emma's Fall, Colic and now I will add Shingles to that list. In no way am I suggesting all these topics are equally horrific. Each one of them pierces my heart. Never again will I hear about a person suffering from shingles and not think of what we have endured the last 10 days in our home. I love that my name to three special little girls is "mom." Back in 1999 I had no idea the blessings and the torment that would come with such a title.

Here is Reagan's virus story

Saturday afternoon Reagan got ready for her first homecoming (yeah, I haven't posted those pictures yet.) She wore a beautiful soft flowing short black dress. Comfort is a must for Reagan, fashion is always a distant second place. She noticed that the dress was irritating her left thigh but couldn't find anything poking her skin and it wasn't really that bad so she went to dinner and the dance with her group of friends. (this is something I will learn about later)

Sunday Reagan and her dad headed south for another college soccer recruiting visit (yeah, I haven't posted those pictures either.) They attended a D1 women's soccer game on Sunday and did the whole tour and meeting the coaches on Monday. They got home just in time for her club soccer practice. Like any other day on the field, Reagan worked hard in practice, came home starving and had a back log of homework due to missing school. Some time before bed she began complaining of pain in her groin area. I told her to ice bath and left it at that. 

Tuesday was typical day as far as I knew. School...Snack...Soccer  I guess those are the important S's in Reagan's life. Soccer practice was ran by another D1 college coach who is recruiting Reagan, she was focused and worked hard but afterwards complained again of pain in her groin. When I showed her how to roll out the groin muscle, it didn't bother her at all. That was my first clue that she did not have a groin pull. After her shower she said, "oh look mom, this is weird I have a little rash on my thigh." It was odd but certainly didn't cause any real concern.

Wednesday morning was the kick off of Reagan's SWEET 16th Birthday. Only it turned out to be NOT-SO-SWEET! She noticed a pain in her lower left back/butt area and complained of a bad night of sleep. This all was really disrupting my perfect birthday planning. If you know me, I had balloons, special breakfast and gifts everywhere. Birthdays are important to me. Actually, she wasn't too bad yet so off she went to school. I had some fun surprises at school too. Fast forward nine hours and our birthday girl was falling apart from pain, mostly in her back. The poor thing, she wanted to celebrate with family and about all she could do was lay on her bed in tears. At this point, I knew it was time for a doctor but wasn't sure who to see. That night was horrific! I've never seen a child in so much pain for two straight hours, this is when my birthing class preparations helped.

Thursday morning I marched in the pediatrician's office and pretty much demanded to be seen first which worked. I feel bad for everyone else that day, Dr Lisa started her day off 40 minutes behind. I am so impressed with our pediatrician, she is amazing with my children and understands me. She was really confused on what Reagan was presenting until she saw the rash. The L3 nerve path was perfect to explain Reags had a case of SHINGLES. Just like you, I was shocked. I thought this was a disease for octogenarians. We spent the next 5 hours at children's hospital having tests ran. Which I might add that the blood work STILL ISN'T BACK...8 DAYS LATER! Thank goodness we aren't dealing with a life threatening condition.

Sept 28th

Reagan's internal pain continued to increase in intensity and longevity. NSAIDs did nothing for the pain and narcotics took off the edge just enough that she could sleep at night. You caregivers (especially moms) out there know what I mean when I ached and cried for my girl. The rash intensified as well, first blisters arrived on the 29th and then seemed to reproduce rapidly. 

Sept 29th

Saturday was a tough day. Reagan had lost the use of her leg. That's right, she couldn't walk. Fear set in and it didn't really matter that I explained to her that this was just a virus and would leave just like any other virus. Secondly, EGA ECNL 01 (her soccer team) was playing in Chicago without her. The girls were so kind and concerned about Reagan but with each snapchat she got more upset, not to mention the constant shooting pain in her back and groin were bringing her down too. The pain Reagan endured was greater than anything I have ever seen any other person go through. 

I don't want to forget a high point for Reagan, Emma came home from college. A sisterly surprise visit was the best medicine! That Emma is a great kid!

Sunday, October 1st was more of the same.

Monday was Reagan's 3rd day home from school which was causing her a lot of stress. As the internal pain decreased the rash became more bothersome. This is when we noticed all the extra red splotchy areas, I am guessing hives. They eventually went away.

Oct 2nd

Tuesday the 3rd, Reagan visited practice. She had a limp but could walk out on the field. Playing wasn't an option but she needed her team. Who knew hanging with mom 24/7 for 6 days just wasn't enough for her. :/  On our ride home she said, "I'm going to Wisconsin this weekend and I AM going to play." At this point there's no reason to argue so I said can we make that decision on Friday? Here's the deal, my kid is so stubborn, determined and hardworking that when she said she was going to do something she meant it and there really wasn't any chance of changing her mind. I talked to both her pediatrician and her chiropractor, both in agreement that playing would not hurt her body or cause a relapse, it would hurt to play. That's all she needed to hear.

Oct 4th blisters starting to dry up

Today is October 6th

Reagan went to school half day Wednesday, full day Thursday and half day today. Her teachers are being very accommodating as she will most likely receive incompletes in 3 of her 4 block schedule classes and they will allow her to finish the work over fall break and then adjust her grades. 

Just as she said, Reagan is currently in transit to Wisconsin to play soccer with her favorite 18 people where another D1 college coach plans to be in attendance to watch her play. The girl hasn't ran in 10 days so I'm not sure how well she will play but it will be a victory to Reagan to be back on the field.

Shingles is the result of a compromised immune system in someone who has the Herpes Zoster virus hanging out in their spine and the greatest attacker of the immune system is stress gone unchecked. Our household has been ravaged with stress over the last 5 months.  I think Reagan's little body held out just as long as it could and when I finally was able to take care of my family again the body broke down. Reagan has healed incredibly quick. The combination of a young healthy body and a mom who did everything possible to boost her immune system gave her a fighting chance. Here are some of the things we did to support her health...

-Chiropractic adjustments daily

-Young Living essential oils (immupower, elemi, helichrysum, frankincense, copaiba)

-Supplements designed for the nervous system (sulfurzyme, calcium)

-Eating LOTS of healthy fats (avocado, Omega 3, coconut oil) which coat the nerves

-Rest and Ice

-Limiting stress, lots of laughs

-Domeboro soak for the rash

-She ate chocolate which made her happy

-Drinking oceans of water

-Our most important treatment was prayer. God is our healer. He loves us and wants nothing bad to happen to us. I know He can use this difficult time to shape us into better more compassionate people. I'm not glad we went through this but I kept praising God inspite of it. I look forward to the benefits God has for us because of this trial. God is Good All The Time!

Essentially Taking Down The Pests

Like most of you, longer days and warmer temps bring a smile to my face however the emergence of all things creepy and crawly kind of bugs me. This the season for bugs but we don't have to eat, sleep and play with them. I have never been one to blindly follow the pack I also don't want to reinvent the wheel so I find myself researching and trying something new, well new to me.

Each of these bottles contain 250 extremely potent drops of oil. These oils have been around since God created the plants. No chemicals just pure oil. Recently I came across this list of anti-pest oils that won't kill my cat. We already use these oils for things like clear breathing, coughing, nausea, digestion, energy, snoring, purifying, dry skin, relaxation why not add killing spiders. Tonight I'm tackling spiders in the basement and in a few months I will be trying out lavender for mosquito repellent. We are always up for an experiment, hope you will try too.

ANTS- Peppermint, Spearmint

APHIDS- Cedarwood, Hyssop, Peppermint, Spearmint

BEETLES- Peppermint, Thyme

CATERPILLARS- Peppermint, Spearmint

CHIGGERS- Lavender, Lemongrass, Sage, Thyme

CUTWORMS- Thyme, Sage

FLEAS- Peppermint, Lemongrass, Spearmint, Lavender

FLIES- Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage

GNATS- Patchouli, Spearmint

LICE- Cedarwood, Peppermint, Spearmint

MOSQUITOES- Lavender, Lemongrass

MOTHS- Cedarwood, Hyssop, Lavender, Peppermint, Spearmint

PLANT LICE- Peppermint, Spearmint

SLUGS- Cedarwood, Hyssop, Pine

SNAILS- Cedarwood, Pine, Patchouli

SPIDERS- Peppermint, Spearmint

TICKS- Lavender, Lemongrass, Sage, Thyme

WEEVILS- Cedarwood, Patchouli, Sandalwood