Archive for January, 2013

The Liebster Award

January 28th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

So the strangest thing happened, I started a blog and people started reading it. I am actually not trying to be humble here, I am still in shock. Along my trip through the blogosphere I have connected with some pretty amazing people. One of them being the heartfelt blogger at The Madness of Mommyhood and incredibly funny admin with a cult following at The Madness Of Mommyhood Facebook addition. Last week she nominated me for the Liebster Award.

Here I am accepting my award

So after a quick Google search as to what exactly I had been nominated for I can tell you that the Liebster Award (German, meaning “dearest” or “beloved”) is granted by fellow bloggers to up and coming bloggers they feel are deserving of recognition and encouragement. This is kind of a big deal considering it came from a gal who found me early on and has truly played a part in Just Mildly Medicated’s growth.

Now as a word of mouth Blogger to Blogger award the Liebster comes with the honor of being able to pass it on to others. My predecessor has asked I post 11 random facts about myself, answer the questions she has asked of me, and then create 11 new questions for the bloggers I pass the award to, choose 11 new bloggers to pass the award to and link them in this post and let them know I have passed the torch.

11 Random Facts

1. I think 11 is too many so I am changing to to 5.
2. I have a hard time understanding rules apply to me.
3. I want to bring awareness of my chronic illness, Dysautonomia, by being open and sharing.
4. My kids over the age of 4 can pronounce Dysautonomia
5. Of my four kids my oldest daughter has neurocardiogenic syncope and fibromyalgia, my oldest son is color blind, my youngest son has Celiac disease and my youngest daughter keeps us all in check.

Questions asked of me
1. Where do you live? Home is where the Army sends us. We are now in the midwest but home is always a bit further south
2. What is your favorite book? I am a reading gal, to pick one book is like picking a favorite kiddo… I mean yes I always have one but it does change. I would say Perfect Match and 19 Minutes both by Jodi Picoult are my timeless favorites. Oh and The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, I also love Julie Kagawa’s young adult Iron Fey series… see I could keep going…
3. What is your favorite hobby (besides blogging)? Reading
4. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be? Okay I went a bit too serious on this and was thinking of things that would keep my hydrated and nourished… chill out.. chips and salsa
5. If they made a movie of your life who would you pick to play you? Natalie Portman or maybe Rachel Weisz
6. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Maybe north Georgia
7.  Do you have a lucky charm? haha my IPad mini
8. What is your birth sign? Capricorn
9. Name one thing on your bucket list. See my book not only as a finished manuscript but a published novel
10. What is your favorite candy? reese’s pieces or twizzlers
11. What was the saddest moment in your life? The night before my husbands first Iraq deployment, we didn’t know how long he’d be gone or when we’d have communication. Our daughter was 8 and or oldest son was just a few days old. I cried like a grieving woman that night. Now I will say my husband deploying was not the worst thing that has ever happened to me, but I think that night was when I was the most sad.
Wow, now to bring it back to the good stuff!! I would like to pass this award on to 5 of my favorite up and coming blogs. This Liebster’s for you!
1.The Pursuit of Normal
2. The Sapling Stories
3. Mothers Guide to Sanity
4. Dysfunctions Junction
5. So You Wanna be a Blogger

Questions I ask of you:

1. Favorite Book?

2. Favorite Quote?

3. Why did you start your Blog?

4. How do you find time to Blog?

5. What did you (do you) want to be when you grown up?

 

Winter Just Mildly Medicated Gal

January 26th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

 

Friday’s Letters; Compression Wear, Wine and or Book Club, Lego’s of Death

January 25th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

Friday’s Letters

Dear Medical Grade Compression Wear,

I saw the photo for the brand and my insurance covered the cost, I was a happy girl… until I saw you. I am sorry but you leave a lot to be desired. The photo gives images of sexy and put together, what I received is a bit more along the lines of incredibly thick and unnaturally colored. I am cutting us both some slack, this was our first official meeting, hopefully things will improve.

A tad too sucked in (not to mention tan and shiny),
Me

NOT WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE

Dear Book Club… or Drinking Club,

You are my sanity… my saving grace… my real life social connection. I am am kind of confused though, are we a Book Club that drinks or a Drinking Club that reads? I doesn’t really matter because I am in either way!

Literarily,
Me

Dear Sweet Children,

I am on to your master plan. I know that you are trying to get rid of me. It seems the decided method is death by Lego’s. This time you even added in purple staking cups for good measure. I am not too sure if you wanted to spice things up or see if you could throw me off my game. I am still here, you have not bested me yet. Well, there was that one time I almost went down. The Lego incident of 2011

Still standing,
Me

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A little too together … HA! I think not!

January 23rd, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

My mom accused me today of having it a little too together. She also has a chronic illness, a different variation of Dysautonomia, and thinks I can be a lot to live up to. Just for the record I wouldn’t usually want to prove some one wrong on this.

For years before my life changed with Dysautonomia I worked FT at being super mom and having everything in place. Reality now is a a little messier but much more “real”. Here is my attempt at ‘Wordless Wednesday’ and yes I realize I already kind of blew the whole “wordless” concept… I am not known to be the quiet type.

yes, this room is clean
this room is not… laundry multiplies!!

 

I did get it together enough to make cookies

 

not really feeling the clean up though

 

Not a terrible pile of laundry… except that it was 3 times as big and is only smallerbecause I keep re-wearing the same close instead of putting them away ;)

* Hmm Wordless Wednesday might become “My house is a mess come look at this Wednesday”

Friday’s Letters, toilet acid with Bill Nye, knowledge acquired by age 7, Micheal J Fox showing life with Parkinson’s and I am on twitter (like a boss)

January 18th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

Dear Home-ownership,
You’ve reduced my life to a series of repair and domestics that I am slightly uncomfortable with. The fact that I was put into the uncomfortable position of dropping acid last weekend because of you is something I will never forget. Mostly because it was in a toilet and it actually caused smoke. It was like watching Bill Nye the Science Guy only with lots of F bombs.

Sincerely,
Me

Dear 7 Year Old Son,
Thanks for keeping your dad and I in stitches. At the doctors office when he was asked to do things like draw a square, write his name and draw a stick figure. After completing the tasks he asks the doctor “Why did you want me to do that?” the doctor explained that some kids have a hard time doing those things. Dear 7 year old says “You do know I have been alive seven years right?”

Love ya,
Me

Dear Sony Pictures Television,
You are bad ass! I am so happy to hear about the new sitcom where the one and only Micheal J. Fox will play a news anchor dealing with family, career and Parkinson Disease. For those that are not familiar Parkinson Disease, along with Multiple System Atrophy and (my own personal chronic illness of choice) Pure Autonomic Failure are all forms of Primary Autonomic Failure.
Michael J. Fox: ‘As Long As I Play A Guy With Parkinson’s, I Can Do Anything’  <~ link with a video

Excited,
Me

image from screen rant

Dear Twitter,
You have been my social media nemesis, I didn’t understand the hashtag and kept calling my tweets a twit. Oh but the tables have turned… I am tweeting like a boss! Okay maybe not like a boss per se, but I am getting it. You should follow me, like right now. If you do you’ll see fun stuff I’ve tweeted and retweeted (see I know I didn’t retwit). Stuff like “Wanna see white people get excited? Play the intro to “Brass Monkey”.” <~ TRUTH! “Who knew #homeowning would have so much toilet #plunging … I miss on Post maintenance #militarylife” <~~ TRUTH “This cool chick is supposed to be #writingabook and gets distracted… Sorry not a joke, it’s me” <~TRUTH… Twitter is the secret to all truth, okay maybe that is a stretch.

Twittin like a boss,
Me

Holy Mildly Medicated Twitter Batman!  <~ twit link

highs and lows of working out, getting back on the horse, stationary recumbent bike and motivation.. I hope

January 16th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

I think everyone (well except Jillian Micheals and maybe some marathon runners) have highs and lows when it comes to exercising. You do well for a while, see results and maybe even get a little cocky then slack off. I mean with a reason of course. Work becomes overwhelming, kids schedules make it hard to find the time or you get sick and the motivation doesn’t really come back when the virus leaves. Most you get back on the horse eventually.

I am getting back on the horse, well technically it’s a stationary recumbent bike.

Finding that ‘new normal’ with Dysautonomia is a work in progress.

Dysautonomia (or autonomic dysfunction) is a broad term that describes any disease or malfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

The chronic illness (much like life in general) is always changing. Once you get a handle on one thing and it becomes doable something else goes haywire. September and October were awesome. I still struggled with a few things;paresthesia (pins and needles) was a daily companion and had pretty regular episodes of tachycardia and bradycardia but I was eating well and working out every day.

Those who know me in ‘real life’ saw what I was getting done. I rode 116.9 miles after my pledge of 100 miles for National Invisible Illness Week in September and in October I did a 100 push ups challenge. I even took up Pilates twice a week.

Then November and December came, I was in the hospital with bradycardia, my heart rate stayed in the 30 and 40’s for over 24 hours, a few days after I came home it went back to normal. Then the flu hit. Even after the flu was kind enough to leave me Chronic Fatigue came to visit and nestled in for far too long. I dare to admit CF is still hanging around and the fog is unbearable, unflattering and undeniably hard to shake. Then I was hit with vision issues, out of nowhere one day everything went double. Apparently the muscle in each of your eyes, the ciliary muscle, which allows for you to transition from near to far is part of the Autonomic Nervous System. (Thanks ANS!)

So now we are half way into January, time to pull it together. I hauled myself onto the stationary recumbent bike and told myself to pedal, slow and steady but by god body please pedal. So for 30 minutes I did just that, 3.3 glorious miles towards getting it back together.

Like everyone I have the highs and lows of working out. Dealing with chronic illness can exaggerate the lows and we may take longer get back up, but we will.

My Designer Dog; Labradoodle and Goldendoodle discrimination

January 11th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

My dog faces discrimination

God I wish I were joking here but seriously for every 10 “oh my gosh your dog is so cute” I am bound to hear one dissertation on how ‘poodle mixes still cause allergens’ or ‘how in the world could you pay for  an overpriced mutt when there are so many in shelters?’

Crazy thing is it comes from both ends of the dog world spectrum, people with AKC purebreds and people who rescue. So in place of my usual Friday’s Letters, which normally consist of a few quickie lines to inanimate objects or people who cannot or are not interested in defending themselves on my Blog  (like my kids and celebrities) I’ve decided to tackle a few ‘designer dog’ issues.

** If you feel the need to argue these please feel free to comment, you can share this post with others who would like to argue too. The more the merrier J

**If you, like me, think who gives a whahoo about what kind of dog someone has you are pardoned from reading and may just glance at pics of my awesome dog and comment on her cuteness.

Goldendoodle cuteness

Poodle Mixes are not hypoallergenic —

It is true; dogs are animals and cannot be truthfully called hypoallergenic by definition. However many are allergy friendly.  If you find a reputable breeder (yes, I will tackle that next but there ARE reputable doodle breeders) you can work with them on your specific needs. Many people are allergic to a dog’s saliva and or dander. The first generation cross of poodle and lab or golden usually has a wide range of looks as well as shedding. Once you get to what is called an F1B in goldendoodle world, a low to non-shedding goldendoodle with a poodle the results are more consistent.

We did some standard allergy tests on 3 different pups from 2 different litters. My son reacted to one.  Temperament tests were done with the remaining two and we made our choice and signed Maggie up for live in puppy training before we were to pick her up.
Maggie does not shed and we’ve had no allergic reaction to her.
More information can be found at

Goldendoodles make great napping buddies

No reputable Breeder would breed mixes —

By current short definition a reputable breeder breeds to advance their breeding program and for their love and devotion to purebred dogs.  Considering ALL dogs are a product of selective breeding the term purebred is kind of silly. Look for a breeder who screens their dogs for genetic problems, will tell you the good points as well as the bad points of the breed (doodles require lots of grooming), will usually insist puppies sold as pets be spayed/neutered, will usually take back any dog of their breeding at any age. Visit the location, use your judgment.

Goldendoodles are well read

Designer Dog cost hype —

In short, yes. I do believe the price of certain designer dogs is too high. There is a lot of hype over certain breeds like labradoodles and goldendoodles, supply and demand is what determines price. This isn’t necessarily a breeder taking advantage this is an example of a free market. If someone is breeding a quality popular dog the asking price will be higher. Just be sure you are looking at a quality dog, many back yard mom and pop breeders are charging the same or slightly less than some quality breeding facilities with a full staff.

more Goldendoodle cuteness

Why not rescue —

For me personally the allergy testing made rescue seem like not as viable an option, however, don’t assume the couple down the street with three doodle dogs isn’t rescuing! Wonderful agencies deal specifically with doodles. If you are in love with the doodle and want to rescue check out the following sites.

Symptoms of Dysautonomia, Side Effects of Medications and a What that [email protected] to Pharmacology

January 8th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

Now unless you are really interested in Dysautonomia you can just gloss over the list of symptoms and the side effects of the meds. The point really isn’t to show that the symptoms suck, that is pretty obvious, same for the side effects of the meds I take for it. So get your speed reading skills ready… on your mark… get set…Go!

Symptoms of Dysautonomia (you can find more information at Dinet.org)

Dizziness, Tachycardia, Bradycardia, Exercise intolerance, Clamminess, Anxiety, Flushing, Postprandial hypotension, Blood pooling in limbs, Intolerance to heat, Feeling cold all over, Low blood pressure upon standing, Cognitive impairment (may include difficulties with concentration, brain fog, memory and/or word recall), Narrowing of upright pulse pressure, Hypovolemia, High blood pressure, Hyperventilation, Numbness or tingling sensations, Reduced pulse pressure upon standing, Low back pain, Aching neck and shoulders , Noise sensitivity, Light Sensitivity, Disequalibrium, Disabling Fatigue, Sleep disorders, Headache/migraine, Myofascial pain, Neuropathic pain, Bloating after meals, Nausea, Vomiting,  Abdominal pain, Diarrhea, Constipation, Bladder dysfunction, Pupillary dysfunction , Blurred Vision, Tunnel vision, Arrhythmias, Chemical sensitivities, Easily over-stimulated, Food allergies/sensitivities, Hyperreflexia, Irregular menstrual cycles, Loss of appetite, Loss of sex drive, Muscle aches and/or joint pains, and Swollen nodules/lymph nodes, Polydipsia (excessive thirst)

 

Normal Side effects from the medications I take (not the worst case allergic reactions)

(you can look up information on medications at Drugs.com) (*yes that is a website)
drowsiness or dizziness; problems with memory or concentration; excitement, irritability, aggression, or confusion; loss of balance or coordination; nausea, constipation; headache, chills or goosebumps; itching or tingling of the skin; increased need to urinate or difficulty with urination; feeling of pressure or fullness in the head; dryness of the mouth; nervousness or anxiety cold symptoms such as runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, cough, sore throat; mood changes; sleep problems (insomnia), nightmares; headache, ear pain; mild fever; feeling hot; diarrhea, pain in your upper stomach; dry mouth, increased thirst; loss of interest in sex, impotence, difficulty having an orgasm, muscle weakness, loss of balance or coordination; slurred speech, drooling or dry mouth, sore gums; runny or stuffy nose; loss of appetite, blurred vision; headache; sleep problems (insomnia); skin rash; or weight gain.

Again, this isn’t intended to be a woe is me, it is intended to be a ‘What that [email protected] pharmacology community’??!! You mean to tell me you just cannot come up with a medication that actually treats a medical condition that causes a few things like maybe maintain ideal weight for height, clear radiating skin or maybe restful sleep. I really think any medication that can possibly cause loss of interest in sex, impotence and/or difficulty having an orgasm should immediately be scrapped and started over. I mean really??

 

While we are on the topic of scrapping a medication and starting over; any pill that is the size of half a normal sized woman’s finger AND causes weight gain is just WRONG.

Disclaimers
* This post is written in good humor. Take your damn meds!!

Friday’s Letters; stick people, dysautonomia and Christmas IS OVER

January 4th, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

Friday’s Letters

Dear people with stick families on the back of your vehicle,
After a long (okay short but meaningful) conversation (okay tweet exchange) with awesome blogger Leanne from IronicMom.com we came up with a new family bonding activity. As we are out and about our kids will be casing the parking lots to add to your very thoughtful artistic family display. We have decided cats, extra spouses and or babies, zombies and maybe a dragon will soon be added.
Lighten up, you started it…
Me

Dear Dysautonomia,
I have called about the referral to the Mayo Clinic, mailed off the updated paper work for the service dog, printed off the disabled parking permit papers, looked at the Military EFMP packet and taken all my meds on time… Do you think you could get off my case for a few weeks…
Sick and tired of being sick and tired,
Me

Dear Christmas décor,
It’s not you, it’s me. I know I got you out and was all excited, I know we played music and reminisced. It seemed very poetic and heartfelt; it really was at the time. I really think it’s over now and I’d like you to go back where you came from. I mean not too far away, I’d like to do this all again next year.
Annually yours,
Me

My 13 of 2013

January 2nd, 2013 by Carrie, the Just Mildly Medicated gal

My 13 of 2013


* continue to bring awareness to often unknown and/or misunderstood invisible chronic illnesses like Dysautonomia and Fibromyalgia

* finish my novella to the point of a query letter to my top hopeful agencies

* narrow focus on the next writing project and write it

* find time to continue to read

* continue to build Just Mildly Medicated and include a product line

* work on the balance of accepting my illness and pushing my limits

* reconnect with family I haven’t seen in many years and stay connected to the ones I see daily

* improve organization and time management

* go out when I can and stay in when I need to; try and know the difference

* focus on the pride and let go of the fear that my big girl is graduating and moving out

* listen to my boys and all the ideas they have for books

* wear my glasses every day all day and do my MFBF therapy

* stop procrastinating and make arrangements for the Mayo Clinic