Sunday, May 2: I can't remember whether Jade did an Explode the Code lesson or not. He's nearly done with it all, though. We're still in Mark, and we read a proverb daily. This night we watched "Planet 51," which is an animated movie about a man from our planet landing on Planet 51, to find green people living like we did in 50s America. The astronaut is targeted as a dangerous alien. The people on that planet were programmed to think that those of other planets were a threat and would take over and kill them, just as the people on this planet are programmed to think the same way. Well, in a way, it's true. There will be an alien--someone "not of this world"--who will come and indeed kill those who fight him upon his arrival. I'm a little different, though, in that I look very much forward to his coming, and I even plan to be a part of the fight...on his side. Ha, does that make me a "terrorist?" There are probably some idiots out there who would think so, and then there are the real terrorists who would falsely accuse me of being so.
The boys liked the movie all right. It wasn't worthy of some special award or anything, but I thought it was okay, too. Nathan didn't even stay awake for it all. Maybe it was boring to him.
Monday, May 3: I got a phone call from someone to let me know of my thyroid test results. My TSH was in the "normal" range. That is the hormone the pituitary gland makes to stimulate the thyroid to make more hormones. It is used to diagnose hypothyroidism. If it's out of range on the high end, then a person is considered hypothyroid, because the pituitary is having to secrete a lot of TSH to get the thryoid to make more hormones. However, my free T4, one of the two most dominant thyroid hormones (the other most dominant one being T3) was low. The nurse told me that I was diagnosed with "subclinical hypothyroidism," because the TSH was normal. Of course, that name is so very stupid. "Subclinical" is a term used to describe something that is not major enough to cause symptoms. The whole reason I went to get tested in the first place is because of a host of symptoms, some of which have become quite frightening. Then, my free T4 (as opposed to total T4), the actual thyroid hormone that was tested, is indeed low. I wonder how surprised the doctor was that my free T4 was low. I suspected that she just thought I had some serious anxiety issues, and I told her right off the bat that I know I didn't look like the usual hypo-t patient, since I'm very thin, and most hypo-t persons struggle with weight gain. I struggle with the exact opposite, and while I do have some symptoms that can fall into either the hypo-t or hyper-t, I believed strongly that I was hypo-t. I told her this and said that I only wanted to make certain, before I started treating myself and possibly put myself in even more danger.
The nurse on the phone said the doctor did not want me to start taking my thyroid supplements that I'd ordered and to wait for three months so that she could retest me. Well, that's easy for her [the doctor] to say, but she's not the one who feels like she's having a heart attack! Furthermore, she'd had me set up to go somewhere else to get a 24-hour holter monitor, which is a portable EKG that I'd have to wear for 24 hours. The EKG they had done in the office was normal, which had brought me great relief. I couldn't understand, then, why they wanted me to be hooked up to a holter monitor. The reasoning? It was because the regular EKG only lasted a few seconds, and so they wanted to see whether they could pick up heart palpitations. What a waste of my husband's money and my time! I already know I'm having heart palpitations. I told them so. What is the point of picking them up on the monitor just so that they can say they did? How pointless! Is it any wonder this nation is second in medical technology (last time I checked) but toward the very bottom in health among the industrialized nations? They misuse and abuse it! They do far more harm than good.
I did some research and found that it's actually quite common for a person's TSH to be in the "normal" range and for the free T4 to be low and for there to be hypothyroid symptoms present and that those who are treated have improvement. So, I decided to treat myself. I also canceled the appointment for that holter monitor. I've continued to take extra magnesium via magnesium oil on my feet and bigger portion of dark chocolate (the best food source of magnesium), and chlorophyll supplements. I then started taking one Thyromine capsule a day, which includes bovine thyroid and adrenal tissue, from naturally-raised beef (pastured, no hormones or antibiotics). I'm writing this a week after this date, and I've had a great reduction in heart palpitations, and I can't remember the last time I had chest tightening, lump in the throat, and other feelings of anxiety. The doctor had told me that if my thyroid testing came out normal, she wanted to treat me for anxiety. I feel like I have none now. I will re-test myself in several weeks. I'll order thyroid tests online. I just wish they would have tested for free T3, too.
I'm genetically predisposed to thyroid issues. My maternal grandmother had her thyroid removed and took replacement hormones. I'm not sure whether my issue is in any way related. I don't believe a person is destined to have the same problems, and there's nothing he or she can do about it, but there is that inherent tendency. So I'll be exploring some possible causes of this. My instinct has told me for a few years, though, that the main problem is two mercury amalgam fillings in my teeth. I believe that is a major root to most of anything I have wrong with my body. I do not feel safe having them removed while pregnant or nursing, and so I have been stuck with them, which sadly means I've also been gassing mercury to my children via placenta and breast milk. I hope that I will successfully weed out the root problem in due time, but until then I will treat myself with extra magnesium, since I continuously have deficiency symptoms (and apparently hypo-t contributes to that) and thyroid supplements. I'm hoping not to have to take thyroid supplements forever.
That's it about me. Now, as for Trusten, I cut out his dairy a few weeks ago. Almost immediately (two days later), he started getting up a little earlier and continued daily. Another nearly immediate reaction was that he stopped asking for cheese all day, every day. He clearly had a dairy addiction. He still remained quite hyperactive, though. Well, more time has passed, and he's only had a few infractions. While still hyper, possibly due to his age and personality, he has calmed down somewhat lately. I can better reason with him. There are still tantrums, but there's been a drop. He's become more pleasant. He'd had horrid breath. It smelled like a sewer. I figured it was either due to a yeast overgrowth in his gut or tonsil stones. He'd been diagnosed by a naturopathic doctor with enlarged tonsils, but she said we shouldn't rush into removing them (and I agreed). I definitely believe he had (has?) sleep apnea. The smell didn't immediately go away, and it's not completely gone, either, but it is drastically improved, almost gone.
I'd wanted to cut out dairy with him in the past, but it was so difficult, and I didn't have a lot of support. It is difficult, but we're making it, and I believe it's so worth it. It's easy for Nathan to forget, still, because he's not here with us all during the day most days, but he's been supportive of it and is trying to remember. I was starting to think we were going to have to have his tonsils removed. Surgery is a big deal, especially when it's the removal of organs that God has put there for a purpose. So, while we'd do it if we had to, it's a last resort. Living without dairy isn't the end of the world, and removing tonsils wouldn't change the fact that casein (milk protein) is unacceptable to his body. Something is simply damaged in his body, and it cannot process the protein correctly.
Ah! That reminds me. I inquired whether they thyroid panel would include tests to see whether an autoimmune disorder was responsible for the trouble. It was not. I said that I was curious about that, because I did recently acquire an allergy to raw tomatoes. What she said after that indicated to me that she didn't really have a clue. She didn't seem to realize that allergies and autoimmune disorders could be linked. I didn't say anything more, as I knew I'd be wasting my time. Allergies are a very big interest of study to me. I just do not have enough time in this SHORT life to try to understand everything the way I'd like. I'll never understand everything.
Okay...back to this day's events. We went on our daily walk, but I didn't even take the camera on some days during this week. Jaden wrote his Gamma Pat, my mil, a letter today.
Tuesday, May 4: I don't know what all occurred on this day, except Jade wrote my parents--Papa Chuck and Nana--a letter.
Wednesday, May 5: We went grocery shopping, Jade learned about context in reading in the CC3 book. He has already used context, I've noticed. He did one page of double-digit addition for math, and the boys watched some Youtube videos: how to hand spin wool and fibers, flax spinning, One Sensitive Scorpion--BBC part 1, Scorpion part 2
Thursday, May 6: Jade wrote his Grandpa Bill, my fil, a letter. We read the boys' magazines for this month, Jade's Your Big Backyard and Trust's Wild Animal Babies. We learned about animals mothers, May flowers, the folly of four-leafed clover "luck," and Trust learned about skunks. We went to the recycling center, where Jade and I sorted through our stuff to be recycled.
We also talked in great detail about how God knows our thoughts. I explained the modern technology of man, how the U.S. government tracks every single email and phone conversation now, and it's on file in a big building full of computer storage. He was amazed enough by that. I also told him about the history of phone tapping and about recording devices such as black boxes in airplane cockpits. I talked to him about people tracked wildlife and other animals to keep up with their locations and habits. I told him that it was nothing for the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and everything in them to have a recording feature. I explained that God knew at any moment how many ants, crocodiles, and blades of grass were alive on the planet. It sounds impossible to us, but just look at what man can now do. Can the One who created us all and this planet not do much more? It's all about knowledge and the application thereof (technology). And He's the Mighty Genius, the One reigning above all others. I explained to Jaden that manmade computers were really copies of creatures that God has made, including us. God has made organic computers. I told him his memories--his videos, still images, sound clips, and everything that was stored in his brain is accessible to God, just the way those same type of things are accessible to us on our computers. I also reminded Jaden how all the different cameras (visual equipment) that man has made, including black-and-white photography, color photography, infrared, etc. are all things that God already has done. Some animals have only black and white vision, others have color, some have infrared. Our eyes are our cameras, our vocal chords are our speakers, and our ears our microphones.
Friday, May 7: ????? Besides preparing for the sabbath, I do not know.
Saturday, May 8: It was the sabbath, and I did the boys' sabbath school lesson outside with them, and it went well. We had a nice, restful day. We went for a walk. It was also my fil's birthday, and so we all talked to him on the phone.
Until next time...
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