Health updates

Last week we took Cary to the ENT. After a battery of tests, he agreed with the doctor from the Hearing Assessment Center: Cary needs tubes in his ears.

We conferred with our pediatrician and he is on board. So tubes it is.

All the doctors agree that there's no real rush, so I think we will make the appointment for a week or so before or after our trip to the beach in mid-July.

Strangely enough, I'm not worried or nervous at all. I just want my sweetie to hear normally. The end.

About me: I got my results back from my blood work.

The good news: My cholesterol is much lower than it was the last time my doctor tested it, so he's not worried about that (for now).

The OK news: My blood sugar levels are at 6.2. For background, doctors consider less than 5 to be absolutely normal. They consider 7 or more to be diabetic. Anywhere between the high fives and the high sixes is "pre-diabetic." That's me.

The last time I was tested my number was 6.1. So my doctor considers this to be "holding steady." No medication necessary, no real intervention needed. He did tell me to continue to watch my diet, and to "add in some exercise." To which I say, "Yes, of course," and "Easier said than done, doc."

The bad news: My Vitamin D is miserably low. Most things I've read say a good number should be somewhere between 45 and 60. My number is 17. (Tam, you were right!) Ack!

The jury is still out about all the true health benefits of adequate Vitamin D, but I admit to being intrigued by the hypothesized connections to blood sugar and to immune system health. 

My doctor told me to take 5,000 mgs. a day of Vitamin D. We looked for capsules that high in Target and didn't find them, so as soon as we get to a health food/vitamin store, I'll pick some up. I fully intend to try to build up my Vitamin D and see if it helps at all with all the sickness. I have also been taking my sweet time  when walking in the sun, although I am nowhere near up to 15 minutes a day.

Maybe I can build up a whole year's supply of Vitamin D when we go to the beach!! Hmm, now there's a thought.

All in all, not great news on the health front, but not terrible, either. Nothing we can't work with.

40 means better health

Since I last posted about what things I want for myself as I approach turning 40, I have been felled by a barrage of sicknesses.

First, I caught the upper respiratory thing that Cary, Dean and Clair had. And then, I got the stomach bug that Cary and Dean had over the weekend. Oh, didn't I tell you that C & D had a stomach bug? And that they both threw up multiple times Friday evening into Saturday? And that we had to change sheets and pajamas a total of 4 times? No? I must've blocked that out.

But it is much harder to block out when the bug comes for you. So I have been suffering with sickness for days and days. Sunday was the worst, and to add insult to injury, Lester came down with a sudden, bizarre, achiness-chills-fatigue thing that kept him in bed for hours.  I was wiped out and weak from not eating, plus my throat hurt, so I took to our bed too.

This meant a record low point in the Davis family parenting. When the kids woke up from their naps, neither Lester nor I had the energy to do anything - nothing - not one thing. So we tossed the kids in the bed with us, piled a breakfast tray with grapes, goldfish, chicken nuggets and water, and laid, catatonic, for 4 and a half hours, while the kids watched episode after episode of Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba and Curious George. Four and a half hours of TV in one day. No engagement. No nothing. Occasional grunts of affirmation or opposition. That's it. Like I said, a record low.

Lester and I both stayed home from work yesterday, that's how bad it was. Today, he's much better; I'm marginally so. Clair's still hacking away; Cary's got a nose like a dripping faucet. My stomach is still gurgling and my throat still hurts.

All this is a long lead-up to the very first thing I know I want for myself and my family as I approach 40.

I want GOOD HEALTH.

I am so sick of being sick (seriously, no one warned me how sick we'd be once the kids went to school. I hold all of you accountable). I am so sick of saying "I'm sick." I am so sick of worrying if I'm going to get sick when one of the kids get sick. I'm sick of the kids getting sick.

I want good health in our house and I'm willing to consider all suggestions as to how to go about getting there.

A mom in C & D's class once told me all about all the vitamins and supplements and castor oil-type yuckiness she serves her kids every morning before school. "My kids hardly ever get sick," she bragged. This was the beginning of the school year, before the boys were attacked at every possible juncture by germs, so I thought to myself, "Neither do mine, sweetie."

I secretly scoffed at her, but now I'm planning to ask her about her regimen.

I know I need to quit playing around and just EXERCISE, fercryingoutloud, but other than that, there has to be something else I can do to fight these germs. Vitamin C pills? Should we stop eating all processed foods? Become vegetarian? Eat Paleo? Someone suggested a shaman -- I'm this close to Googling one.

I don't know what I have to do, but I'm going to find out. It's time for better health in my house.

(First up: Get thee to a lab to get sugars tested, Tanika!! And take this pre-diabetes seriously!)