My dishwasher kept making more and more noise a couple of weeks ago and last week it groaned so loudly that I had to see what was wrong.
Actually, I asked Himself to see if he could figure things out and he took a hands-off approach. You see, he's gotten to know me quite well over the past 28 years. He understands that if he promises to do the job he'll feel pressured to get it done even when he's dog tired from work. (Me nag?? Never!) He also knows that I'm mechanically minded enough to take something apart, see what doesn't work, fix it, and put it back together. He's also aware that I hate leaving a job in pieces and will do whatever to finish it. Plus, my appreciation of the convenience of a non-human dishwasher is often and emphatically made known to all and sundry.
So Himself knew it'd get fixed more quickly if he left it to me. Himself was right.
A couple of hours more or less at the computer produced an exploded diagram of my model dishwasher, a site where I could order parts with pictures to identify them, and a forum of what others had found and done when their dishwashers started sounding like balky teenagers. Six trips to Mike's toolbox finally produced the right size socket wrench and torx driver and I took it apart. Sure enough, the upper pump was broken and one of the plastic pieces was being ground up so I ordered a new pump and two gaskets. They came yesterday afternoon and I put everything back together today. It works just fine.
$35 and a few hours of my time is a far better deal that calling a repairman. Plus, he didn't see the two pistachio shells, two screws, one rivet, and what looked like two sewing pins in the bottom of the dishwasher. (They'd been down there so long they were pretty rusted out and I only spent the two seconds from the washer to the garbage trying to identify them) I know one screw must have come from the upper pump when it came apart and I can see how a couple of pistachio shell halves might have gotten past me but the other screw? And the rivet?? And how did the sewing pins thingies get past me???
I'm kinda pleased with myself.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Richelle
I took Richelle to our fantastic chiropractor yesterday. He's far more than a just a "bone-cracker" but also uses supplements, homeopathic remedies, and applied kinesiology. He strongly urged me to have Richelle tested through IgeneX or Spirostate for a complete workup of all the bacteria, viruses, spirochetes, etc. (also known as co-infections) that might be in her system. The run-of-the-mill tests done in your average Lyme illiterate labs don't test for those (and you have a better percentage of accuracy by flipping a coin if the lab uses the ELISA test). But at about $650 for the battery of tests, I'm going to have to see if insurance will pay for it.
In the meanwhile, she is taking several supplements known to be beneficial with Lyme disease and will soon start another herbal preparation that my sister recommends. If you really want to know what they are, drop me a line...I don't want to bore the rest of you!
We think the second bout of paralysis was a herxheimer ("die-off") reaction to the doxycyline she's taking. With Lyme, it's typical to get a herx reaction two days and as well as four weeks after starting antibiotics and her second episode was at the two day mark.
Other than hating to give up sweets because of long-ish term antibiotics, annoyed at watching her gluten intake because of what Lyme typically does to the gut, and detesting the amount of water she has to drink to wash everything down, she's doing well. She had a short bout of "why me" but when I pointed out that at least it's invisible to the public unlike her brother's Bell's palsy six years ago, she pulled herself out of it.
Lyme also causes increased fatigue and we came to an agreement: As long as her bedroom light is off and she's going to sleep by 9:30pm, I'll let her sleep herself out instead of bouncing her out of bed at the usual 6:00am. It means a change in our school schedule but we'll figure it out.
In the meanwhile, she is taking several supplements known to be beneficial with Lyme disease and will soon start another herbal preparation that my sister recommends. If you really want to know what they are, drop me a line...I don't want to bore the rest of you!
We think the second bout of paralysis was a herxheimer ("die-off") reaction to the doxycyline she's taking. With Lyme, it's typical to get a herx reaction two days and as well as four weeks after starting antibiotics and her second episode was at the two day mark.
Other than hating to give up sweets because of long-ish term antibiotics, annoyed at watching her gluten intake because of what Lyme typically does to the gut, and detesting the amount of water she has to drink to wash everything down, she's doing well. She had a short bout of "why me" but when I pointed out that at least it's invisible to the public unlike her brother's Bell's palsy six years ago, she pulled herself out of it.
Lyme also causes increased fatigue and we came to an agreement: As long as her bedroom light is off and she's going to sleep by 9:30pm, I'll let her sleep herself out instead of bouncing her out of bed at the usual 6:00am. It means a change in our school schedule but we'll figure it out.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
That pesky tick
Richelle's test results for Lyme's disease came back negative.
I wasn't satisfied because I know of two people who tested negative and by the time they finally did test positive after 20-30 years, their health had been permanently broken. Both are ladies (is that a common factor?); one in the mid-west and confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis (yikes!) and the other here on the west coast with permanent damage to internal organs (don't know which ones). One of my aunts (another woman...) has had ill health for about 25 years and I understand she was diagnosed with Lyme's but I'm not certain if she's actually tested positive or if they've just come to that conclusion.
So.
I asked the nurse who gave me the results if the doctor would be willing to write a full prescription even with a negative result and she promised to memo the request to him. Then I talked with two of my sisters who are in the medical field and they both strongly encouraged me to go with my instincts.
I was all geared up for a (polite) fight for the antibiotics armed with information from my sisters...and the nurse called the next day to tell me the prescription had been called in to the pharmacy and I could pick it up at my convenience.
I'd been gearing myself up from the beginning; Would he order a blood test or will I have to fight for it? If it came back negative would he write the prescription or would I have to fight for it? For whatever reason, the most I had to do was politely ask if the doctor would be amenable to treating Richelle as if the tests had come back positive.
Now she's taking 100mg of doxycycline twice a day for twenty-one days. One of my sisters (a nurse practitioner) is also getting me an herbal preparation that, in her estimation, gets what the antibiotic doesn't.
She feels normal but had some paralysis in her ankle Wednesday morning and her knee went numb during Bible study that evening. SO glad she's on meds! Damage done by that bacteria is irreversible.
Quite a saga.
I wasn't satisfied because I know of two people who tested negative and by the time they finally did test positive after 20-30 years, their health had been permanently broken. Both are ladies (is that a common factor?); one in the mid-west and confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis (yikes!) and the other here on the west coast with permanent damage to internal organs (don't know which ones). One of my aunts (another woman...) has had ill health for about 25 years and I understand she was diagnosed with Lyme's but I'm not certain if she's actually tested positive or if they've just come to that conclusion.
So.
I asked the nurse who gave me the results if the doctor would be willing to write a full prescription even with a negative result and she promised to memo the request to him. Then I talked with two of my sisters who are in the medical field and they both strongly encouraged me to go with my instincts.
I was all geared up for a (polite) fight for the antibiotics armed with information from my sisters...and the nurse called the next day to tell me the prescription had been called in to the pharmacy and I could pick it up at my convenience.
I'd been gearing myself up from the beginning; Would he order a blood test or will I have to fight for it? If it came back negative would he write the prescription or would I have to fight for it? For whatever reason, the most I had to do was politely ask if the doctor would be amenable to treating Richelle as if the tests had come back positive.
Now she's taking 100mg of doxycycline twice a day for twenty-one days. One of my sisters (a nurse practitioner) is also getting me an herbal preparation that, in her estimation, gets what the antibiotic doesn't.
She feels normal but had some paralysis in her ankle Wednesday morning and her knee went numb during Bible study that evening. SO glad she's on meds! Damage done by that bacteria is irreversible.
Quite a saga.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Summer Loving Fun...
I was appalled that my last post was three months ago. So much has happened this summer! A new daughter-in-law, our first grand-baby, a family reunion, conventions, activities with Girl Scouts....
I posted a cryptic message on Facebook about Richelle, a tick bite, and Lyme disease that I thought I'd explain in more detail here.
Speaking of Girl Scout activities....
June 11-13th we went camping at a Boy Scout camp that our girls have re-named Camp Lotsa Ticks - in 48 hours, we pulled six ticks off our girls. That Saturday afternoon, Richelle came to where us adults were sitting and plopped herself down on my knees. The girls were so jumpy about ticks by that time (and one adult in particular) that I couldn't resist having a little fun.
I slowly pulled her shirt up her back, waiting for her to ask what I was doing, upon which I was going to answer, "Searching for ticks, of course," and wait for her leap off my lap shrieking. She didn't ask, so I kept lifting her shirt (modestly, of course!) until I came to her bra strap. Still no response, so I lifted that (I was really wanting a reaction) and froze stock still.
There, embedded up to its shoulders in a circle of angry red flesh, was a tick already half engorged. Visions of a trip to Urgent Care or the emergency room danced before my eyes.
My absolute stillness alerted two of the adults and they were beside me almost instantly. Out came the well-used tweezers and the tick was "unscrewed". All three of us checked that the head was attached to the body and it was carefully placed in the campfire. I scrubbed the site with an alcohol prep pad and hoped for the best.
The strange thing was that Richelle hadn't felt the tick boring in. Perhaps because it was on her back.
Over the next few weeks, I kept an eye on the site. Other than it taking a while to go from angry red to pale pink, there wasn't anything unusual and I eventually forgot about it.
About six weeks ago, Richelle came out from her (hot) shower with a towel wrapped around her, walking away from me. I saw the tick site was an angry red again. I felt something like a little pustule at the site and it itched Richelle for me to touch it. I decided to talk with a few nursing friends of mine before I spent time and money at the doctor.
Last Tuesday evening Richelle complained of a sore throat, post-nasal drip, and a general not-feel-good feeling. I gave her half an anti-histamine and sent her to bed. Next morning (I let her sleep in) she said that along with her sore throat and post-nasal drip, she had a headache, an upset stomach, felt feverish and generally unwell. I encouraged her to take a shower and she said she didn't think her legs would hold her up long enough for that. I thought she meant she felt weak, left her in bed, and did our normal Wednesday afternoon/evening activities in town.
Imagine my horror when I got home later that evening and realized she'd meant that her thigh muscles were partially paralyzed! I had her wiggle her toes and move her feet but she was slow to move her knees in any direction I asked; up, back, out, or in while she was lying down (she said they didn't respond at all when she was in the sitting position). So I knew it wasn't something spinal but for some reason, she'd lost at least 50% use of those muscles for about thirty hours.
(I'm giving all these details for those readers in the medical profession, not to scare the non-medical ones to death!)
When questioned intensely, she admitted to having paralysis in one leg or the other for the preceding two weeks but since it would occur in one leg or the other and last just a minute or two, she didn't say anything to me.
I had a chance the next evening for a nurse friend to look at it (thank you, Dawn) and she noticed discoloration and the beginnings of a welt around the site. She also confirmed that 14 weeks wasn't abnormal for signs of Lyme's disease to show up.
So I took her in yesterday and they removed a plug of tissue at the bite site to get whatever we'd unknowingly left behind and they drew blood to send off for Lyme's disease testing. Results should be in by the beginning of next week.
I posted a cryptic message on Facebook about Richelle, a tick bite, and Lyme disease that I thought I'd explain in more detail here.
Speaking of Girl Scout activities....
June 11-13th we went camping at a Boy Scout camp that our girls have re-named Camp Lotsa Ticks - in 48 hours, we pulled six ticks off our girls. That Saturday afternoon, Richelle came to where us adults were sitting and plopped herself down on my knees. The girls were so jumpy about ticks by that time (and one adult in particular) that I couldn't resist having a little fun.
I slowly pulled her shirt up her back, waiting for her to ask what I was doing, upon which I was going to answer, "Searching for ticks, of course," and wait for her leap off my lap shrieking. She didn't ask, so I kept lifting her shirt (modestly, of course!) until I came to her bra strap. Still no response, so I lifted that (I was really wanting a reaction) and froze stock still.
There, embedded up to its shoulders in a circle of angry red flesh, was a tick already half engorged. Visions of a trip to Urgent Care or the emergency room danced before my eyes.
My absolute stillness alerted two of the adults and they were beside me almost instantly. Out came the well-used tweezers and the tick was "unscrewed". All three of us checked that the head was attached to the body and it was carefully placed in the campfire. I scrubbed the site with an alcohol prep pad and hoped for the best.
The strange thing was that Richelle hadn't felt the tick boring in. Perhaps because it was on her back.
Over the next few weeks, I kept an eye on the site. Other than it taking a while to go from angry red to pale pink, there wasn't anything unusual and I eventually forgot about it.
About six weeks ago, Richelle came out from her (hot) shower with a towel wrapped around her, walking away from me. I saw the tick site was an angry red again. I felt something like a little pustule at the site and it itched Richelle for me to touch it. I decided to talk with a few nursing friends of mine before I spent time and money at the doctor.
Last Tuesday evening Richelle complained of a sore throat, post-nasal drip, and a general not-feel-good feeling. I gave her half an anti-histamine and sent her to bed. Next morning (I let her sleep in) she said that along with her sore throat and post-nasal drip, she had a headache, an upset stomach, felt feverish and generally unwell. I encouraged her to take a shower and she said she didn't think her legs would hold her up long enough for that. I thought she meant she felt weak, left her in bed, and did our normal Wednesday afternoon/evening activities in town.
Imagine my horror when I got home later that evening and realized she'd meant that her thigh muscles were partially paralyzed! I had her wiggle her toes and move her feet but she was slow to move her knees in any direction I asked; up, back, out, or in while she was lying down (she said they didn't respond at all when she was in the sitting position). So I knew it wasn't something spinal but for some reason, she'd lost at least 50% use of those muscles for about thirty hours.
(I'm giving all these details for those readers in the medical profession, not to scare the non-medical ones to death!)
When questioned intensely, she admitted to having paralysis in one leg or the other for the preceding two weeks but since it would occur in one leg or the other and last just a minute or two, she didn't say anything to me.
I had a chance the next evening for a nurse friend to look at it (thank you, Dawn) and she noticed discoloration and the beginnings of a welt around the site. She also confirmed that 14 weeks wasn't abnormal for signs of Lyme's disease to show up.
So I took her in yesterday and they removed a plug of tissue at the bite site to get whatever we'd unknowingly left behind and they drew blood to send off for Lyme's disease testing. Results should be in by the beginning of next week.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Children
I was visiting Nick and Jenn the other day and my heart warmed at the picture of Nick cuddling Little Bradlee. Nick gazed at the little guy contemplatively, smoothed his duck-down-soft hair and observed, "Usually, when you bring something life-changing into your life, you spend time researching it and choosing your options before ordering your specifications; 'Let's see....we want brown hair...blue eyes...about eight pounds....' With a baby, it doesn't work that way but we're sure happy with what we get!"
"But," Mike pointed out when I told him later, "you choose your specifications beforehand when you look for your spouse."
Well, yes, I guess you do. But I never saw '9lbs, 11oz' on Mike's manifest, nor did I see 'nearly bald for the first six months'. But I agree with Nick - we're sure happy with what we get!
I got a few more pictures of Bradlee and this one of Nick but Jenn was not ready to be photographed and I didn't even ask.
Here he is taking a peek at the world.
Enough of the world. Back to sleep again.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Baby Bradlee
Here's the latest addition to the Miller family corner. Little Bradlee arrived Tuesday, July 20th at 9:22 pm. He weighed in at 8 pounds even and measured out at 20 1/2 inches long. He has a head full of dark hair and long fingers and toes.
While Jenn was on oxygen because of minor complications......
Nick was catching up on a bit of missed sleep.
Proud Daddy!
Happy Mama!
New Grandma
New grandpa
First bath
We've got the diaper on and we're content.
He's adorable and we love him to pieces!!
Cameron and Serena's Wedding
I've finally gotten some pics of the wedding. Here's Richelle as one of the bridesmaids. She, Serena's two sisters, and Serena's best friend (who happens to be male) were her attendants.
Here are Cameron and the groomsmen. His brother Nick is second to last and his cousin Chris is last. The ring-bearer is Serena's nephew and the other young-un is the ring-bearer's brother.
Mr. and Mrs. Cameron Miller!
They were so kind to each other cutting the cake.
Richelle was wearing Melissa's fine pearl necklace so all the siblings were included in the ceremony.
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