Daydreaming while waiting impatiently!

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh dang.... challenging times. So sorry you're dealing with that! It's really hard to take care of others when you're exhausted. Makes me think about the time that my folks were living here. I didn't get a full night's sleep for months...and that made it hard to do anything well. Hope the medication helps your son. Not trying to be flippant at all - and you're most likely already on top of this - but fresh batteries in the smoke alarms might be a good idea....

 

[tortoise]

He has (had? ) been starting them in outbuildings. He had two very close calls. One near compustible/explosive fluid/vapors. The other he tossed the into a wood bin and left. It was not put out all the way. He is getting to be a danger to himself, but not in a way that we can chapter 51 him. Very frustrating!

I'm waiting for information from a day treatment center/alternative school. 100 mile round trip commute per day might be worth it. Boarding schools are beyond our budget yet we dont qualify for financial aid.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I am so, so sorry. I sincerely hope you can find a workable solution and know from what I went through with my son, just how hard it is. When he was about 9 he was in his bedroom with the door partly closed. I smelled smoke and ran in. He had lit a paper towel on fire and then when he heard me coming shoved it down between the wall and the bed. He had one of those cheap bed spreads that was nylon-ish and it very quickly started smoldering. Very scary and thankfully - it scared him enough that he didn't try anything like that again.

 

[tortoise]

It's been a little while, so here's a big update.

I'm doing fantastic. After 4 years of elimination diets, I finally figured out what has been making me so sick. I don't know if it's due to (IgE "true") allergy or from my mast cell activation diagnosis, but I'm going to refer to it as allergy for ease of communication. I'm allergic to coconut, palm, and soy products. This is arguably the most difficult allergy combo for finding safe foods. Anything enriched, fortified, or containing natural flavor is a no-go. Produce wax is most often made from coconut, soy, or palm, so just starting with whole foods isn't good enough. I've had to get creative and involved in sourcing food, but the results are so worth it.

I'm off meds, wheelchair is stowed in the basement. I still have the POTS (think of it as post-COVID long-haulers, I got it from Epstein-Barr virus when I was 19), but its less severe. I have been able to work from home - contract work writing sections of a textbook. Previously I was unable to work at all.

I didn't even try to garden, but I've been canning and putting up as much safe food as I can get at the end of our harvest season. I have rolled my pantry over to safe foods. Almost everything I want to buy I have to look up copycat recipes and source individual ingredients. Dairy and grains are most difficult, but some organic and imported foods are safe for me.

DH and I, and DS14 are vaccinated, but of course DS6 is not. His elementary school isn't following CDC guidelines so we switched to homeschool about 3 weeks into the school year. Perfect timing, the next week showed exponential growth of COVID cases. I did not want to homeschool this year, but I can't risk getting sick and worsening my dysautonomia. We are in a hot spot, low vaccination area so we have to be more cautious than most to stay COVID free.

We bought a travel trailer this spring after renting for the last few years and had some great getaways and nice vacation.

My retired service dog Baymax is continuing to decline into palliative care. She is only 5 years old.

My service dog Boi is almost 2 years old and has some behavior problems from being an unsocialized COVID puppy. He has anxiety related reactivity to other dogs. We got his CGC, CGCA, and CGCU this year and are taking a break from training.

 

[tortoise]

Almost forgot farm update.

Our 2 wethered Nigerian dwarf goats are still kicking. They are 9 years old.

We had a weasel problem with my Sillies and lost all but 1 hen and roo. Momma hen raised 3 chicks. I bought 4 Barred Rock pullet chicks to. Momma Silky is broody again with 5 eggs.

Gracie the barn cat is hanging in there. She is at least 9 years old.

Sheep flock is holding steady. We haven't grown out flock yet, we are keeping it at about a dozen ewes and a ram. We bought hay equipment finally and put up hay this summer. Bought some hay too just to be safe.

Our young apple trees were girded by mice 2 winter's ago and only one appears to be alive.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Wow! Glad to see the updates!!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Absolutely fantastic that you are feeling so much better! It's got to be a huge relief to finally have some answers.

Go Boi! Despite his issues he seems to have made progress with those certifications.

Sorry to hear Baymax is not doing so well. My Beau, at only 15 months old is having major health issues. Not sure how that will end.

Great to hear from you!

 

[flowerbug]

It's been a little while, so here's a big update.

I'm doing fantastic. After 4 years of elimination diets, I finally figured out what has been making me so sick. I don't know if it's due to (IgE "true") allergy or from my mast cell activation diagnosis, but I'm going to refer to it as allergy for ease of communication. I'm allergic to coconut, palm, and soy products. This is arguably the most difficult allergy combo for finding safe foods. Anything enriched, fortified, or containing natural flavor is a no-go. Produce wax is most often made from coconut, soy, or palm, so just starting with whole foods isn't good enough. I've had to get creative and involved in sourcing food, but the results are so worth it.

I'm off meds, wheelchair is stowed in the basement. I still have the POTS (think of it as post-COVID long-haulers, I got it from Epstein-Barr virus when I was 19), but its less severe. I have been able to work from home - contract work writing sections of a textbook. Previously I was unable to work at all.

I didn't even try to garden, but I've been canning and putting up as much safe food as I can get at the end of our harvest season. I have rolled my pantry over to safe foods. Almost everything I want to buy I have to look up copycat recipes and source individual ingredients. Dairy and grains are most difficult, but some organic and imported foods are safe for me.

DH and I, and DS14 are vaccinated, but of course DS6 is not. His elementary school isn't following CDC guidelines so we switched to homeschool about 3 weeks into the school year. Perfect timing, the next week showed exponential growth of COVID cases. I did not want to homeschool this year, but I can't risk getting sick and worsening my dysautonomia. We are in a hot spot, low vaccination area so we have to be more cautious than most to stay COVID free.

We bought a travel trailer this spring after renting for the last few years and had some great getaways and nice vacation.

My retired service dog Baymax is continuing to decline into palliative care. She is only 5 years old.

My service dog Boi is almost 2 years old and has some behavior problems from being an unsocialized COVID puppy. He has anxiety related reactivity to other dogs. We got his CGC, CGCA, and CGCU this year and are taking a break from training.

so glad you figured out what was making your problems worse and yes, trying to find foods that don't have any of those ingredients is pretty tough these days, especially as there are so many soy derivatives that aren't even named soy so you have to know all those names too. we hardly ever bother to go out to eat any more since places get their foods brought in a lot of the time and often they are using those ingredients and other spices that Mom has no tolerance.

 

[Mini Horses]

LOVE your updates....both the good news and just having you post it!!

Great you are finally able to function again, having finally found a cause that you can eliminate. Hope you keep posting.

 

[baymule]

WOW! This is GREAT news! I am so happy that you have improved your health. That is just freaking awesome.

I'm glad for the update, stick around.