General

We were planning to work until 5 p.m on Sunday then throw our stuff in the truck and take off down to Andrews AFB to spend time with our new FabGrandbaby, Owen. But then my son, Seth called around 12:30 p.m sounding frantic, asking if we could come any earlier. He had taken Sarah for a routine 4 day check up and they put her back in the hospital. He was at home with the baby and Michael, his 10 year old son and really needed us to be here to look after them so he could go back to the hospital.

So, I called the boss and explained the situation, and we got off early and came on down. I had really been looking forward to this quality Grandma time, but not like this. This trip has been a nightmare.

Sarah is still in hospital. We didn’t even know exactly what was wrong until tonight, when I finally got a chance to talk to the nurse on duty. She has a “hospital acquired bacterial infection in her bloodstream”, MRSA. They are giving her a very strong antibiotic called Vancomycin by IV. On Friday, they are taking her over to Walter Reed Hospital to put in a PICC so that they can send her home and continue to give her the antibiotic by IV for 14 days at home. Now, the infection started out at the place where they inserted the first IV when she was in labor with Owen, in her arm. There is a HUGE, and I do mean HUGE, place, about 5 inches by 8 inches, on her upper arm right above the needle hole for that first IV. It is very ugly.

While we are glad that they are taking such good care of her now, we wonder if they had taken such good care of her before this happened if would have happened at all. I am trying to remain calm about this. But, Owen needs his mother. While I am absolutely certain that he does not care WHO is holding his bottle, as long as someone does, I really believe that he needs his mother to be there. And she really wants to be.

So, I have been cooking meals, cleaning house, doing laundry, AND feeding and changing the baby, and getting up in the night with him, and I am here to tell you that no matter how FAB a Grandmother I think I am, taking care of a newborn is a sport for a much younger woman than me. I have found myself wondering about those crazy women you hear about on the news who have gotten pregnant in their late 50’s and in their 60’s with donated eggs–WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING!??! There is no way I would sign up to do this on a full time basis.

At least the people at the hospital are very understanding about visitation. They have allowed us to bring Owen up to visit with Mommy several times a day. Seth takes him in the morning for a while. Then Jim and I take him in the afternoon, and Seth takes him back for a little while after dinner. She is not able to feed him or change him, but she can hold him and just let him lie on the bed with her for a while, which helps her, I am sure.

What a nightmare!

I recently found a neat place, called The Leftover Queen Forum. The subtitle for the website is “Where foodies come together to meet, greet, and share ideas.” It is a fun place, with food bloggers from literally all over the world as members. If you look over to the right on the sidebar of this blog, you will see a list of links to Foodie Blogs. There are many good food writers there, so if you’re hungry and need some ideas or recipes, check them out.

There is a blog tag thing going around, and while she didn’t actually tag me, Karina at The Gluten Free Goddess threw down the gauntlet when she invited anyone who wanted to join in the fun to do so. So, in the spirit of fun, here are my 8 Random Things About Me:

1.I also curse like a sailor. Well, what do you expect, I grew up in a house full of truck driving men. All the male members of my family are truckers. And if they weren’t truckers, they were in the Navy. So, there ya go.

2. I used to BE a truck driver. Well, technically, I still am, because I drive a four door Ford F-250 diesel pick-up truck. But, what I mean is that I used to drive a truck delivering freight to make a living. Yes, it WAS a Dodge Ram pick-up truck with a camper shell on the back, but it WAS a TRUCK and I DID deliver freight all over the United States in it.

3. I was once frisked by the Secret Service while I was wearing a bathing suit. Just ask if you want the details.

4. Here is a picture of me with the only “celebrity” I have ever met.

5.I live in a travel trailer and work at campgrounds and resorts.

6. I am diabetic and gluten intolerant. My husband has a thyroid condition and can not eat beef. So between us both we lick the platter clean, hahaha.

7. I was a Girl Scout leader and Service Unit Director for 8 years while my children were growing up.

8. I am from the south and everyone knows it as soon as ah open ma mouth ta speak.

I am not tagging anyone, but if you read this and want to do it, feel free.

Back on July 18, I wrote a little bit about The Gluten Connection by Shari Lieberman. The subtitle of this book was what really grabbed my attention–How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health and What You Can Do To Take Control Now. That is quite a mouthful. I had only read the first two chapters then, but I have now finished reading it, and want to say again, I think it should be required reading for anyone who thinks they may be gluten intolerant.

Not only did I see so much of myself in her descriptions of how gluten intolerance can present itself in various ways, but I also saw my brother, my sister, my two daughters, my two grandsons, and my father. And, I really think that a lot of my mother-in-law’s many health problems could be gluten intolerance related. If only I could have had this knowledge 35 years ago when my children were young, before they had to suffer so many years because I thought I was feeding them good nutritious food! I think I am going to send each one of my family members a copy of this book, along with a card telling them how much I love them.

Chapter 12 of The Gluten Connection is about taking dietary supplements when you go gluten free. I had already started thinking maybe I should be taking some vitamins, but this book spelled out what you should be taking in the beginning when you eliminate gluten from your diet. I took my book with me to the store and showed it to the woman who works there. So, now I have started taking a food based multi-vitamin with minerals, fish oil capsules, and co-enzyme Q10. It has only been a few days since I started taking them, but I am starting to feel better.

Just as a side note, Jim also started taking the co-enzyme Q10 and he is saying that he has a lot more energy. He has been trying out different supplements for a few months now trying to get his energy level up. He has no thyroid, and even though he takes Synthroid every day, it is hard to keep him energized.

The FabGranddaughter, Sarah, came to visit from Seattle, Washington. She flew in by her eight year old self, to visit with her Dad for two weeks. While she was at his house, they came up to Gettysburg to camp out with FabGrandma and FabGrandpa for three days. Later, we went down to spend four days at their house.

The last day we were there, I was sitting there with FabGranddaughter. She said to me, “My other grandmother is boring. All she did when she came to visit me was wear her headphones, listen to the radio, and snore.” I asked her if I was boring, and she said “No, you are the best grandmother in the world.” Now that is a compliment!

(more about our visit to come…)

Karina’s Kitchen is a great blog written by multi-allergic (Is that a word?) and gluten intolerant Karina. She creates some of the most wonderful recipes I have seen, and I say “SEEN” because she also takes some very beautiful photos of the food she creates. I am jealous of her photography talent. I hope that someday when I grow up, I will be as good at photography as she is.

Anyway, if you want to see some pretty food, take a look over there. And check out all those other gluten-free bloggers, too.
Karina’s Kitchen: Recipes from a [Gluten-Free] Goddess: Gluten-Free Bloggers