Mama Speaks

I am all about being pro-active about one's health.  I read all kinds of news articles, I watch documentaries, and I am trying to make conscious efforts to improve the quality of my family's life by the things we eat, the things we clean our homes and bodies with, and how we store our food.  We avoid HFCS, cellulose, and now canola oil.  We have slowly transitioned from our old plastic storage containers for leftovers to only using pyrex glass containers.  Ayla doesn't drink juice anymore because of arsenic and all the other garbage in juice, even the organic brand that we'd switched to after deciding to no longer purchase Juicy Juice due to our Nestle boycott . But I must admit I am neglecting to take care of an issue that has been going on for over 4 months. In August, I made an appointment with a new doctor.  I don't have a primary care physician, and I needed one.  To be honest, if I hadn't been at my wits end in need of a possible migraine medi...

Source My daughter will grow up knowing what it is like to have a mom with chronic pain.  With a disease  (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy aka RSD) that impacts her mom's quality of life in many ways.   My daughter will be impacted by this.  She will be affected.  She already is affected by it.  She knows about my migraines.  When we talk about it, I tell her, "Mommy is sick.  She has an owie here (points to head)."  She kisses my "owie" (head) and tells me "make it better."  Because in her world, a kiss makes everything okay again.   Today she pointed to her head and said, "Kiss owie," to which I told her she was okay, that "only Mommy" was "sick." I am afraid of the moments that RSD will steal me away from my precious baby.  I mourn the moments passed it has stolen already.  It robs me even in good moments because I am always worried about if I will experience agony on her birthday/my wedding day/her speci...

Giving birth in a hospital isn't the experience many women, including myself, hoped it would be.  Many envision a different experience, based on the Mama's lovely tour prior to giving birth in said hospital.  Many of us walk away...disappointed.  Disenchanted.  Powerless. In November, my sister-in-law Jessica gave birth at home (HBAC-home birth after Cesarean)  to my beautiful new little niece E.  Jess had a less than great experience with the premature birth of her second child, my sweet nephew, W when he was born via c-section.  And of course I have to mention wonderful little N, my very first niece (no nephews before W too) who was born shortly after we moved to this beautiful sunny part of the country.  Back to Jess.  She worked closely with a midwife who monitored her nutrition and exercise closely so she wouldn't have baby #3 prematurely like she did with #2.  Jess didn't gain more than 25 lbs (if I'm not mistaken), and she was in...

Health care in our country (and elsewhere as well) is pitiful.  I do not think it is all bad or ineffective, but overall I would have to say it leaves a lot for wanting.  Note:  I've come back to the beginning to give this warning.  I don't have a plan for this blog...I am writing wherever it takes me.  It may become a series of blogs, as I have a lot to say that I can't even begin to cover in one night. As previously mentioned, I was injured at the tender age of 12 due to the negligence of a grocery store and poorly designed freezer.  The result of that injury is a lifelong illness, one that may possibly disable me completely someday.  One that paralyzes me from the sheer, agonizing pain it entails. Medicine, both Eastern and Western, failed me throughout the years.  The health care and insurance companies failed my family.  Insurance is more about profit for those companies than for the benefit of its policyholders.  My mother t...