Bone cracker/General

So, I made it to the chiropractor. I was nervous. I talked about it all day. I drove my co-workers nuts. Anyone that came within three feet of me I asked them if they had ever been and what it was like. Obnoxious with a capital O.

It was no big deal. It didn’t hurt, it didn’t feel good. It didn’t make me feel any different. She was super nice, explained everything, spent a lot of time with me, but I just didn’t feel any difference. My chiropractor friend (I couldn’t go to her as she has a funky license that insurance doesn’t cover) says to go once a week for a while and see what happens. That means I have to gear up for another visit, oh boy.

Connor started soccer this week. He towers above the other kids as it’s first and second grade together. He’s a ball hog because he’s so competitive. He’s so used to competing with his older brother and trying desperately to win and get the upper hand so he’s not quite grasped the whole “team-work” approach to sports. Maybe next year! We are hoping for some above 50 degree weather so we can enjoy ourselves while watching him.

Noah has his first practice tonight and doesn’t even have a team yet. I am not sure when we will be up in full swing with those practices and games. Gonna get nuts real soon I am afraid.

Noah finished book number 6 in the Happy Potter series so it’s Movie-With-Dinner night in the Budach house tomorrow night. We all look forward to it. I am thinking we may even need the fireplace as it’s THAT cold here. Noah tells me I will like this one best as there is kissing in it. Bonus!

My new favorite wine……Moscato! It was bubbly and yummy. I hear there are many kinds and they are cheap! My neighbor brought it over and shared it with me. Super yummy and great for summer.

Kids have been loving the new trampoline. It’s a heavy duty one and we are hoping it lasts until they are done jumping and need cars.

Mike bought me the reflector I wanted (good thing he reads my blog). I haven’t had the chance to use it, but it’s way bigger than I thought it was! It folds up into a small package but Mike almost gave himself a black eye opening it for the first time! May consider getting a smaller one in the future if I can figure this one out.

 

Have a great weekend. Seems like when the month of May gets here, these weekends cannot come soon enough. Kids at school are nuts. Too many interruptions in their day, too many kids playing outside too late at night, too hard to get them to care much about what is happening at school. But, we will keep swimming!

Peace out,

LB

 

Saw the Doc

 

Had my second opinion this afternoon on whether or not to have surgery for my Meniere's. I was glad to be going as I had a rough week/weekend. Started Friday at school. My head was buzzing with internal noise so loudly I had to eat lunch in my classroom and avoid the lounge just to get 20 minutes of quiet. It was all I could do to get through the day.  There hasn’t been much improvement in the last 4 days and it makes me exhausted. Sounds silly but trying to be focused, stay balanced, hear people, and think when there is so much noise and pressure inside my head,  is a lot of work. I went to bed at 7:30 Friday night (after falling asleep numerous times) and slept until 7:30. Exhausted.

This doctor didn’t tell me much. I knew pretty much everything he said thanks to my long hours of research and joining a forum about 3 months ago. He did, however, let me know a couple of things.

1. He DID NOT recommend the surgery and wasn’t at all surprised my first doctor had. He said my initial doctor created and perfected the surgery and he recommends it to every patient he sees. Mike and I had already deduced this after our appointment with him but this confirmation was reassuring.

2. He also told me that my hearing wasn’t going to come back. I had wondered if having the surgery would possibly restore some of what I lost. He told me it would not. This was sad, but necessary information.

He did tell me that the vertigo burns itself out eventually. I had never read that anywhere. I know people that have had it for years and years and they are way older than me. So, although this new info sounds nice (I would love to burn out my vertigo) I am not sure how much I buy it. Apparently the fullness, ringing, and lack of hearing will be with me forever, but the vertigo will burn out. Stay tuned for that exciting conclusion.

I left there feeling pretty much the way I felt when I went into the appointment and I have decided a few things. I am not going to pursue the surgery route just yet. I will save that for if and when my vertigo becomes a weekly hindrance.

I am going to start chiropractic care. As much as it scares me, I have read too many good things about Meniere's and chiropractic visits to ignore it. I have also had a few conversations with my friends who are chiropractors (yes, I have two) and they have finally convinced me. I am quite nervous about it and wonder if they will treat drunk people. Might take many cocktails to get me in the door. Any support in this department would be greatly appreciated (you know, things like…”You will never feel so good”, “You will feel like a million bucks”, “It doesn’t hurt at all!” “That deafening crack you hear is no big deal”. Stuff like that).

If going to the chiropractor doesn’t help, I may try acupuncture. This new doctor recommended it. Of course, the recommendation could come from a selfish place as his wife does acupuncture, but I will consider it. Why does this scare me less than the back cracker?

I am DONE trying to figure out what my triggers are and firmly believe I don’t have any. I am tired of eliminating things and avoiding things only to have it not matter. I don’t have triggers, many people with this disease don’t.

So, that’s it! I have this disease. I sometimes get vertigo, spin, and puke. I can’t hear you most of the time. I am often unbalanced.

Not such a big deal.

Peace and GO TWINS!

LB

Some things

We are back in the swing of things around here. Back to work, back to school, back to church, back to homework, back to practice….UGH! I miss Florida with each passing day.

Noah passed his written gun safety test (3 wrong out of 50. I guess you can get 13 wrong and pass) and he also passed his field test. He’s an official hunter. Crazy to think about. Mike will take him out this fall deer hunting. We are lucky Grandma Cindy has her land still. Makes me feel better that we know who hunts on it and when. Connor may get a small taste and get to go shoot the pellet gun with dad and Noah sometime too.

Basketball wrapped up and baseball in next. This Saturday is try-outs for both boys. I use the term “try-outs” loosely as it’s more about getting the teams even and not stacked with all the skilled players on one team. I am so glad they do it this way for 5th grade. Next year it’s based off ability and that is too early to me. I think they should still keep the teams fairly even. Noah will play both park-and-rec and traveling this year.

Connor is also signed up, of course. It’s his first year of coach-pitched. He’s more than ready. That’s one thing about having an older brother that lives and dies a sport…..the wee one has no choice but to play it constantly. We are all looking forward to him getting to play something closer to real baseball.

We are getting rid of the swing-set. Kind-of makes me sad that the kids have outgrown it. We are going to enjoy having more space in the yard though. We are replacing the trampoline and getting a new one. The kids still have a blast on it.

My wishes for Mother’s day are two things…..

 

 

This reflector is my latest obsession. I always have trouble with light and this should help me. You can fold it and carry it easily. It has a black, white, silver, and gold side and this provides different light (white is bright, gold is a warm light, black can be used to diffuse the light). They are inexpensive and I want to try it!

 

The other item I would love is new patio furniture. I would love nice, big, comfy furniture. You know, something like this………

But since the money tree hasn’t been as fruitful as we had hoped, I would settle for a nice lounger like this…

I think this would allow for maximum reading potential this summer.

I am off to another doctor on Monday for a second opinion on my Menieres. I don’t think anything will come out of it, but oh well. I almost considered canceling it, but figured what the heck. You just never know when you might get lucky. Mike will go over to Mankato with me. I also will have a Mayo appointment set up shortly. I am sure that one won’t be for months from now, but figured it was okay to set it up. I can always cancel it if I want to.

Noah is inching closer to first communion. He’s nervous about the wine. I told him I would be too.

Hope you are having a great week!

LB

 

Florida Days 5 and 6

Day 5 turned out to be everyone’s favorite. We went to Ft Myers beach!

We drove until we couldn’t drive anymore, to the end of the point, and parked in public parking. Right there was a place to change and use the bathroom. We walked down the dock and found a perfect place to set up shop and for the next 3 1/2 hours we soaked up the sun!

Mike went and rented the two of us a couple of beach chairs and with the breeze off the ocean, it was a lovely, relaxing day.

We saw all kinds of sea life…..starfish, crabs, sting rays, even some dolphins! They came in very close, but then got scared away by someone walking out to them.

Mike was sure he stepped on a sting ray at some point while out with the kids. Whatever it was it scuttled away very quickly from under his foot! EEK!

The boys threw a water ball back and forth the whole time we were there. It was nice not to have to worry about them hitting someone or getting too crazy like I had to in the pools. You could go out very far and still not be past your waist. I spent most of the time with my Nook on the beach. I love my Nook. I might even have to do a separate post about how much I love it. The list is getting longer and longer every time I use it.

 

They boys only came out of the water to eat lunch and then went right back in. I was glad to see them enjoy the water as both weren’t quite sure they wanted to go at all when I told them the plan for the day. Even after seeing all kinds of aquatic creatures, they still kept going back in. Me…not so much. I wasn’t super crazy about swimming with all that stuff and kept getting freaked out with any little thing that touched my leg, sure it was a killer organism of some kind. Give me a nice chlorinated pool. However, it was nice to read on the beach and I liked not getting hot while reading and enjoying the sun. The breeze is constant and cooling.

That night we ate at Stevie Tomato’s Sportspage. I probably had the worst meal I have ever had. Mike had their ribs and thought they were good. I ordered a chicken gyro and it was terrible. The service was lacking as well. Oh well, can’t win them all.

Day 6 was spent doing some GIRL stuff! We drove down to Sanibel Island and shopped and had lunch. They have the nicest, unique little shops. I could have stayed about 4 hours more and tried stuff on! I loved checking out all the stuff bought a few fun things. We ate lunch at The Blue Giraffe. Sanibel is tough to get around as there is one main road everyone uses. You spend a lot of time in stop-and-go traffic trying to avoid pedestrians and bikers. I always wonder if we should try a week there, but it seems so busy and crazy. I don’t know.

Then we headed back to the hotel for the last day of pool time. It was overcast and getting a little gloomy but the kids didn’t care. They had a blast, as usual.

That night we ate again at Carabba’s. We love that place and wanted to end our vacation like we started. I tried chicken, spinach cannelloni and it was yummy! Mike likes the shrimp alfredo. He says it’s the best shrimp.

After supper we hit the batting cages and stopped for ice cream. We had been to this one place, called Ice Screeeeaaaaaam, so many times the owner asked if we were doing research! Ha!

Day 7 we flew home! BOOOO! It’s so hard to be back to frozen grass and leafless tress. It’s even worse to think about work next week. How many weeks until summer break?

Enjoy the weekend ~

LB