Healthiest Life 4 Me

Since it’s poetry month, I thought I’d post one of my favorite poems of all time.  It is called After Apple Picking by Robert Frost.  I was first introduced to it by my High School IB English teacher. 

AFTER APPLE PICKING

by Robert Frost

My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough. 5
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass 10
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell, 15
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear. 20
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound 25
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch, 30
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap 35
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it’s like his 40
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.

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I have not been happy about the school my kids go to for sometime.  But now both of my kids spend each day complaining about all the things that make them miserable there.  I am now on the search for the right place for them both.  I just don’t think that elementary aged kids should absolutely HATE school with all of their being.  It should still be fun.  It should still bring them great joy.  I am in school and it brings me joy and I still like it.  Yes, I am not normal, but I think that there are ways to make kids like school even if they don’t LOVE what they are learning.

My dilemma all these years is that my husband, the bread winner in the house, works for the public school system.  We have always had the option to take them to his district, but it is a 30-40 min drive from the house and since I have been at home I didn’t want to do that every day.  Now that I am subbing, it makes it difficult because I don’t always know where I’ll be.  So, we’ve put up with what is going on.  UNTIL this week.  We have written 7 emails in one week about things that are UNACCEPTABLE to our kids school, district, and teachers…each one about something different (and that number doesn’t include the people we either cc’d or bcc’d).  I don’t think that is the best use of my time.  I am fully aware of the troubles in CA and the stress on teachers and staff…but that is not an excuse!  Everyone has a job to do whether or not they are nervous about what is to come…it’s not our children’s faults: they didn’t vote for anyone who has played any part in this screw up on the part of the state, they can’t vote, they can’t change it, and they STILL deserve our best.  And my kids (and the other children at this school) are not getting the best.  And it is SAD.

So, in the process of looking most of the year for somewhere different to send my kids, I’ve explored many options.  I even talked to the kids about homeschooling, but the problem is that since I have all these student loans to pay for now that I am a college graduate, I need to work.  So, this week a good friend (THANKS KIM) I was introduced to River Springs Academy.  It is a public charter school, so it’s free and yet looking so wonderful.  It is a 4 day a week program with an independent study day.  After talking to someone there, I am looking forward to going to see their Open House.  I am so excited that there are options that are affordable and accommodating for my students.

I will keep you all posted.  The decision to take my to-be 6th grader and 5th grader out of the only school they’ve ever known is very difficult…but I am trying to make their experience better and hope that in the process they will start to enjoy school again!

I know I missed last week, but life has been crazy.  All the stress of my son’s chest pain and trying to keep up on my school work, workouts, working, and all the other fun things life offers us moms!  Despite much of the same still going on, I am bringing you another one of my Favorite/Not so Favorite Friday!

Favorite:

I love Valentine’s Day!  I love to have a moment in our busy lives that my husband and I take to spend a lil extra to make for an extra special date night.  We don’t do much without the kids because we work and I go to school, so the free time we have we ENJOY spending time with our kids and our family friends doing things as families!  When we do have some time alone, it’s usually just having dinner and often with friends or we go to a sporting event for the high school he works for.  I don’t complain about any of these things.  We love our life and how we spend our time (except when it’s cleaning! LOL).  But Valentine’s Day is a great reason to take an entire night away from our kids and just have a good time together!  Thanks to my parents for being available to keep the kids overnight for us to have a good time. 

Not so Favorite:

My least favorite thing at the moment is dealing with doctors and their offices that can’t just be honest and not come up with wild stories of why something is taking so long.  This past week I called the pediatric cardiologist office to see why it was taking so long to get the approval for the take home heart monitor.  We were originally told 1-2 weeks, then I called to see what I could do to speed up the process and the receptionist said she just got all the transcripts from the doctor and could fill out the referral now so to call them back in a week.  I did on Wednesday (and honestly it was only 5 days from the last call) and the receptionist got quite snippy with me.  After getting the paperwork out and telling me exactly what she said last week, I called her on it.  She wasn’t pleased and said, “Mrs. Survillas…I told you it could take 4-6 weeks the first time we spoke.”  UM…NO YOU DID NOT.  Every person in this office told my husband and I 1-2 weeks.  So, instead of fighting with her, I decided to call my insurance company.  Believe it or not, they were great.  They suggested I call the pediatrician and discuss what is going on with him.  After a great discussion between my hubby and the pediatrician who did some checking for us, it turns out that the reason for the hold up is that all the take home heart monitors are in use and then there are some more urgent cases in front of us.  He assured us that there isn’t a risk for our son and that there is nothing major wrong with his heart.  The take home monitor is just for checking to see if there is something minor going on. So, had the pediatric cardiologist office just told me this to begin with, we’d be fine!

And that is my installment of Favorite/Not so Favorite Friday!

Today was our big day with the cardiologist.  Doctor wasn’t any friendlier, but the sonogram tech was great!  He was friendly and upbeat and made the process that much more relaxing for us.  It was so cool to see the heart doing what it does and how it works.  It was neat to hear it again…took me back to the days of hearing the kids heartbeats when I went to the OB and heard them in my tummy. 

After the doctor told us that all this was normal and that their didn’t seem to be a problem, we asked about why we were told something so scary to begin with from the pediatrician.  He got out both of my son’s EKGs and show us the “blurp” (his words) that the first EKG registered as a very large peak when it was supposed to be a small peak like on the second EKG.  Not that he was friendlier, but the time he took to explain and show us what we needed to know gave me so much peace.  And the fact that my son had a pain during the sonogram and told us about it made me feel even better.  We all left very relieved.  Although, I did say I still wanted the 24 hour monitor just to be safe.  After all we’ve been through, I want to be positive. 

My son was very excited when the doctor told him to play as hard as he could this weekend in his 2 basketball games and his 1 soccer game.  My son said, “so I can knock people over?”  The doctor didn’t respond…not surprised, but my husband, myself and the sonogram tech chuckled.    Then the sonogram tech gave my son a picture from the sonogram and he can’t wait to take it to school to share with his friends. 

So, now we wait for the insurance company to approve the take home monitor and go from there.  Until then, I think I may be able to sleep again! Or at least I hope it will!!

Thank you all for your prayers and positive thoughts…I can’t explain how comforting it was to have so many people praying for my son and our family!!  God Is GOOD!!

I am so impressed that I am being able to sort of keep up on my blog.  It has been a difficult few weeks and although I would like to mostly blog about nutrition and exercise, I like to use my blog for personal diary type stuff too.  It is a great way to relieve a bit of stress…

Anyhow…here is my Favorite/Not so Favorite for this week!

FAVORITE:

My favorite thing this week is ASPARAGUS!  I am really enjoying eating it.  It has been the highlight of my meals lately.  And did you know it is a natural diuretic?  Yes, that is right ladies…eat it for a bit of help with water loss.  A few days before a big event or a beach trip or pool party, have some asparagus and you’ll shed that bit of water weight.  Now remember, it’s just water weight, so try to steer clear of sodium at the same time and it’ll work even better!!

Not so Favorite:

My not so favorite thing this week is waiting between appointments for additional tests with the doctor to find out if something is wrong.  Especially when it is about your kids.  I wish there was an easier way.  I understand that we are really getting things done pretty quickly, but I just want answers and wish they could be faster!

That’s it for this week.  Stay tuned to see what I will like and dislike next week!!

Today was our big appointment with the pediatric cardiologist.  Last night was the worst night I’ve had in a long time and all day I’ve had an upset stomach.  As my son an I laid on the couch this morn before getting ready for the doctor, I held him close and prayed, “Please Lord, give us answers but please don’t make them bad!”  Haha…I was told a long time ago to be specific!  Never before have I been as scared as I have this week, and my body feels the stress.

When we arrived at the doctor’s office, there was another young boy there (6 years old) and I heard him say he was tired of doctors.  It made my heart ache.  Then it was our turn.  We didn’t have to wait long at all…very different for a doctor’s office, let alone a specialist.  That was good though, I didn’t think I could wait any longer. 

When the doctor came in, he was not as easy to talk to as I had hoped.  He didn’t seem all that interested in my son…in fact, I really felt like he thought I was over reacting.  The whole time I kept thinking…we’re going to need a second opinion if surgery is needed because this guy isn’t going to do it!  He asked a lot of questions…tried asking my son, but he is really quiet anyway and has been unusually quiet these past few days so I knew he wasn’t going to answer if he didn’t have to.  The doctor listened to his heart, took his blood pressure, and then did another EKG.  This time the EKG showed nothing according to the doctor.  So he isn’t too concerned.  When he said that all that ran through my head was, “wait a darn minute!  I have done a few science experiments in my days and you don’t just test twice and come up with different answers and then just pick which answer you like more.  If that were the case, then taking tests in school should have been so much easier, because it’s just about the outcome we like better not about the right answer.”  Then he continued…with his back to us I may add…that he is going to have to get approval for an echocardiogram (basically a sonogram of the heart while also being hooked up to the EKG machine…according to internet)  and walks out of the room.  He was back before we knew it and apparently he was checking something because he said we had approval for the echocardiogram because he told us we could schedule it for this Friday if we could and there was an available appointment.  Then he talks about a 24 hour heart monitor that we could do and that would need insurance approval…but then gives us some mumble about how the machine is $2500 and if a kid bumps him and it falls and breaks the insurance won’t cover it.  I said, “then we’ll keep him home that day.”  But HELLO…I still want it done.  My 9 year old is having chest pain daily at least 2 times and up to 9 times…so we talked about the machine some more.  My husband and I told him we were concerned because when we listen to his heart with our ears to his chest we hear something very different than when we listen to our daughters.  His doesn’t sound right…sometimes the beat changes a bit…speeds up or slows down…so the doctor says, “well we don’t have to do the monitor.”  Um HELLO AGAIN…we want to cover ALL bases…we explained that we’d like to do it and we’ll take care of the machine.  

The doctor ultimately isn’t concerned (just like the first time), but is running the extra tests to see what is going on for sure.  We’ll have more answers on Friday I hope and hopefully the monitor will come through by then. 

In the meantime, my son is thrilled that the doctor said he could resume activity.  When we got home he ran around the driveway around and around the cars, played on his skateboard and scooter, and threw the football around with daddy despite the rain starting to fall…we just let him for a bit after the week he’s had. 

So, I have a lot of questions but am waiting to see what the echocardiogram will say before jumping the gun.  

Thank you all for your prayers and please keep them coming.  God is Good and He DOES Heal.  I believe that, but need to be sure there isn’t something weird happening. 

FAVORITE:

This week my favorite thing is my kids!  After all the stress and worry about my daughter and her throat/ear problems the past few years, we finally got the tonsils and adnoids removed.  It was a rough few weeks, but so necessary.  Now we are dealing with my son and his chest pain/heart.  We have appointments coming next week to find out what is going on.  Until then….WE PRAY!  Through all this I know God is Good!  He gave us these two precious children and he will take care of them.  He’s already taken care of me by only giving me one hurdle at a time knowing that I couldn’t handle it all at once with school and work as well.  I praise God for my loving family and friends who also give me the strength and prayers to get through the bumps in life’s road!

Not So Favorite:

Well, as much as Southern California needs the rain…I HATE IT!  I wouldn’t mind it so much if we could have it spread out a bit more, but an entire week and wind, thunder and lightening as well…I AM NOT A FAN!!  I love my yard, but am totally willing to use rock or spray my dirt green in effort to save water.  So long as CA has enough water for me to shower, do dishes, etc…I am cool with having an ugly yard and having MORE SUNNY DAYS!  LOL 

Yes, I know you all from the other parts of the country and other countries think I sound like a baby…and I am COOL with that!  I live in Southern California, deal with earthquakes, gangs, heat, droughts, a bankrupt state with few jobs and high taxes, all so I don’t have to deal with weather! 

That is my latest installment of Favorite/Not so Favorite Friday!  Hope you enjoyed it!

Today I was able to call the pediatric cardiologist that we were referred to in order to make an appointment for my son.  The first available appointment they had was February 1st.  FEBRUARY 1ST!!! What?? This is my 9 year old and his doctor said his heart had a problem and he can’t play sports.  It sounds too serious to me and scares me to wait that long…I explained to the poor receptionist.  She assured me that the doctor would go over all of my son’s information and they would call me to get me in sooner if he thought it was necessary.  So, I went back to work and tried to keep my mind off of it.  Then my phone rang and about gave me a heart attack since the number was the same as the doctor’s I had just called.   I couldn’t answer because I was teaching, but they left me a message.  They said that the doctor reviewed my son’s information and he would be okay to wait until the 1st to be seen.  I guess that should be good news, but it sure left me unsettled. 

I appreciate all my prayer warriors, GOD IS GOOD!! And he answered my prayer…later this afternoon I got another phone call from the doctor’s office to tell me that they had two cancellations and that they could see my son Monday or Tuesday afternoon.  We took the Tuesday appointment since it’s an early day for the kids and my husband has a game on Monday.  What is one day when I get a week that I didn’t have earlier? 

So, we were told we still have to honor the pediatrician’s recommendations to abstain from athletic activities until we are cleared by the cardiologist.  Otherwise, he should be okay until his appointment on Tuesday. 

Please keep your prayers going.  GOD IS LISTENING and I know he has a plan for my son and our family.  I pray the plan is to see that all our faith can’t be in medicine and must be in him and there be NOTHING at all wrong.  A mom can pray ya know!  AND I PLAN ON DOING MORE OF IT!!  And I hope you will too!

So, it’s been a long week.  Almost 2 weeks ago my 9 year old son started complaining of a pain in his chest.  At first, I thought it was heartburn or indigestion…but when it happened every day for a week and multiple times a day, I got a bit worried.  He came to me one night as my husband and I sat on the couch and said “I was just playing a video game and it started to hurt.” His eyes were glossy and he was pointing to the left side of his chest.  I asked him to let me listen to his heart while it was happening.  After listening, to his heartbeat I made him go let his dad listen too. After we both listened he said he was feeling better and wanted to go back to video games.  After he left, we looked at each other and discussed that we must make a doctor’s appt as soon as possible because his heartbeat didn’t sound right to us.  First thing Monday morning I called and got right in to the doctor. 

First thing Monday morning came and the doctor got us in right away.  He’s a great guy and very knowledgeable, but he wanted to call this normal chest wall pain associated with growing.  I explained that I wasn’t comfortable with that because it’s been happening a few times a day and everyday.  I explained that it scared me to take chances with athletes dying on the fields all the time of unknown heart problems.  So in order to put my mind at ease he had us get a chest x-ray and an EKG.  We had to wait for a referral for the EKG, so since it was Martin Luther King Day we went to the movies with the kids and then had the x-ray done and went out to dinner.  When we got home there was a message that the referral was approved already.  With the fear of something being wrong with his heart, he cried right before getting the x-ray.  I think his nerves just got the best of him.  He did great though even though I couldn’t be in the room with him when they did the x-ray. 

I took Tuesday morning off and took my little guy to the hospital to have this scary test done.  He was so nervous.  I was pretty nervous too.  We had to sit and wait to be admitted for almost an hour, but we worked on his school work and that helped the time pass.  And kept both of our minds off of the test.  When we were finally called back, the tech that did the EKG was so nice to him.  She was friendly and positive and explained everything so he would understand what was happening.  She asked if we had any questions before we started.  She showed him the screen of his heartbeat.  He and I both have no idea what we were looking at.  It was a quick test…like maybe 4 to 5 minutes.  She let him help take all the clips for the machine off and then took all 10 of the stickies off of him.  She told him she was so proud of him for being so brave and told me the doctor would have the results within the hour. 

I took my brave guy to  lunch at Coco’s at his request.  He had his favorite Peek-a-Boo pancakes with a side of bacon and ate every last bite!! We went home and finished a bunch of his project on Native American Indians and then picked his sister up at school.  After they got started on their homework and reading, the phone call came. 

Boy, oh boy do I wish that the doctor’s gut was right and not mine.  The doctor started with the fact that the chest x-ray came back clear, but the EKG showed that there was something going on with his heart.  He called it AV DISSOCIATION and said that his heartbeat was starting in the wrong place.  He explained a bunch of other stuff too…but all I remember is that there is something wrong with my 9 year old’s heart.  He told me that it could take up to a week to get a referral approved by the insurance company to go see a pediatric cardiologist.  I prayed all night that it wouldn’t.  AND IT DIDN’T.  The call came as the doctor’s office was getting ready to close that it was approved.  Now tomorrow morning I get to make the appt.  I am saying my prayers that I can get an appointment really quickly.  I don’t know how much longer I can handle not knowing what is going on with my baby boy!

Please be praying for us…this could be a long haul ahead.