Little things

 *affiliate links included

Everyone always says do your own research, be yours and your childs own advocate.  Well on this journey we have found that antihistamines and dyes are a problem. Like turn into the hulk type problem.   

If dyes are not a problem for you and your family - awesome, I agree they are not an issue for everyone. However if you are having issues that even medicines seem.to be helping and then they get worse - give it a try just two weeks cut out all dyes, read every label.  That's right out, even our son's medicine had dyes in it. No you cannot just look at it and say it's white so no dye, they use blue to make it whiter.   

We haven't found a real good alternative to the antihistamines yet, but I'll keep you updated.  What has helped us keep more even keeled is Chillax, two in the morning and two at night. Now this is not medical advice, but it is what is working for our family.   It doesn't work stand alone or if we are already in the middle of a melt down.  It isn't a miracle medicine,  but one more tool in our bag.  

Navigating AUDHD - new journey

 Wow, it has been a hot minute since I last posted!  To say life has been just a bit crazy is an under statement.  

My youngest along with ADHD impulsivity has just gotten diagnosed with ASD Level 2 .... simples terms the levels indicate what level of support is needed for the child, there are 3 levels.  I am not a doctor, psychologist, etc; just a mom new to this journey looking to and for support in this new level.  

If you are like us you are feeling lost! Because my son does not have any learning disabilities (he tests ahead), but he is behind socially there seems to be a lot less help.  When things get to be too much for him is outlit is physical.   So you can't just put him in a quite space and he will cool down - he quite literally has to bounce off he walls or hit things. Schools are not set up to handle this :( 

At this point we do not know what we will be doing for the school year that starts in a month and two weeks we are still exploring the different school options in our area that say they can handle this type of student.  Unfortunately that is a whole lot easier to say that to fully put into practice, because what calmed him down yesterday might not be what works today.   

What we have seen and have surmised right now is his ADHD and his Autism are in conflict with each other.    What would settle one condition down ramps the other up and vice versa.  So depending on which condition is "setting him off" is the tools you need to settle him down, but unfortunately there isn't a blinking sign above his head that says today is bought to you by my Autism please choose form A,B, or C things to help me.   And oh by the way if it is my ADHD and you pick A,B, or C expect it to get worse and take longer to pull me back.    

We know being in water, playing with water seems to help both - of course no traditional classroom/school happens in a pool!  

I know as he gets older this will even out because he will be able to tell us better what he is feeling, what is going on and if we try something he will be able to say it is making it worse not better.  Until that day we are living in grace and taking one day at a time. 

So as part of this process I have decided to also try some affiliate marketing to give input back on toys/tools we are trying. 

Today is sensory chews:

We love this random pack, because with the different options it meets different needs.  they cords have a break away so if it ever gets caught it just unclips and releases.  

Sensory chews

This we like, because it fills the push/pull sensory need - lots of tug of war, but also are safe to bite. Becareful if you step on them though, because they do roll a bit underfoot. 

Sensory chews3

This is a fun pack that I as mom like.  I will wear either the bracelet or necklace when we go out and then if I am out of one of the others or forgotten it I have this as a go to pull or chew.  I got this on a whim and it has turned out to be a great tool in my bag. 

Sensory chews2

Day 2, in the books

 We decided that of were all doing well we would push to make today the longest drive. Well, can I just say we have the best little traveler ever! He was a champ! With stops along the way it ended up being a 13 hour deive today.  This leaves us with less than 10 hours tomorrow.  

We are all looking foward to seeing family and friends. 

Of course the "tingle" (kindle) is always a winner on long trips.  He even worked on one of the reading apps with no prompting from us.  The other big hit was we gave him his own kids camera so he can take pictures along the way. When we got to the hotel we were looking through them. Seeing the trip through his eyes is amazing and funny. I will share his pictures  later. 

For now he is finally out and I will also call it a night. One more day in the car and the it is time to party with family and friends we haven't seen in over 3 years. 

Here we go ...

 

Day 1 road trip! Two more days in the car before we get to our vacation destination.   This is our normal length of car travel and it was great to see family for the first stop.  

Since it was our normal distance I didn't even need to break out any of the new travel goodies, which I think will help with the next two days.  

Hoping all the hopping on the trampoline will help a certain little one fall asleep and stay asleep! 

The adventure has begun and I am excited for the memories to be made.  Stay tuned as we test some of the best car hacks to keep kids entertained on long car trips.  

Home work

 

So some how my E ran away again, my little man says raptor blue took it. 

But it actually works, "Body Image" - when you look at others you see their hardwork and the small changes showing through, but when you look at yourself all you manage to see is the mkstakes, failure, or one part you wish would shrink or tone. This is not ok.
I ask you to work on that this week.  Find some older pictures, take some new pictures of yourself all week and everyday this week find something good to say about yourself.  I'd love if you'd share it, but this is for you and doesn't need to be shared with anyone else if you don't wish.
Happy Monday!
#irun4jocelyn
#nevermissamonday

Questions answered

 I know it's been way go long! There is a lot to my story since the last post, but here is a recap. Spoiler alert I survived the two week liquid stage without too much difficulty. 

What was your life like prior to deciding to have surgery?

   Life in general was good, but I was beyond frustrated with following all the diet and exercise rules and it never being enough. 

How long ago was your surgery?

   October 8th, 2021 will be my 2 year anniversary 

Which surgery did you have?

    I had the gastric sleeve

What made you consider surgery?

    My regular doctor, whom I had been working with for over 5 years, spoke to me quite frankly. She told me that we had tried everything she had to offer and that I needed to look into weight loss surgery. 

How did you find out about this?

    My doctor recommended Dr. Allison and the Newfield program specifically. 

What was your heaviest recorded weight? 

   360

Denial about your weight?

   I wasn't in denial about my weight, but I was in denial about all the programs I tried not working. I was sure the next thing would be the right formula. I was even able to talk to other people about the right things to do and watch it work for them and not me.   

Anything specific that pushed you to finally decide to have surgery? 

    My husband and I did a lot of research and after what my doctor said I just felt like I had no other choice. Up until then I had no other "bad" health numbers besides the number on the scale.  However after my son was born my blood pressure wouldn't go back to normal.  

When your doctor recommended it, what were your thoughts?

    I was really hesitant.  Though I knew it wouldn't be easy, I didn't want to been seen as taking the easy way out.  

Dieting and losing the required 20lbs - thoughts? 

    I think this was the part I was most afraid of. I was already trying to loose weight and had very small successes,  but 20lbs seemed almost unattainable.  I felt this so much I started moving myself to the liquid very shortly after making the decision.  I started slow, just making breakfast a protein drink. I did that for a week, then went to breakfast and lunch as protein drinks. By the time it was time for the two week liquid stage I was down to only one snack and dinner that need to go to liquid.

How was the 2 week liquliquid.

    Because of how I eased into it I didn't find it very difficult.  Also I decided that if I was really in this for the long haul my eating habits would always be different and I would need to be ok being around others no matter what they were eating and not change my eating habits. So during the liquid phase I still made dinner for my family and I sat down at the dinner table with them to eat ( drink). 

Personality traits prior to/after surgery 

   I struggle with being a little more quickly irritated than before, but the farther out I get the more I seem to be pulling that back. 

Did your taste change?

   I got lucky on this on. My only taste change is that regular water taste almost chalky to me. If I just add a little flavor to it it's all good. 

Stage 2 of 5, tough but doable

So I wasn't sure how much I was going or not going to share. But I know there are more out there like me so I am sharing.
Back in November my doctor told me that we had tried everything and that I needed to consider weight loss surgery.
Metally I wasn't ready to hear that. It took months for me to find the right head space to absorb this, then I had my husband do some research of his own to see of he would be on board.  We came to the conclusion that this was the right path forward and made the first doctors appointment in June.  So began Stage 1 - 3 months of nutritionist visits, check ins with the  doctor, and a psycological evaluation.  Then to wait for insurance to approve to obtain a surgery  date.
Knowing I would have to be on only liquids for two full weeks  before surgery I followed the recommendation of the nutritionist on started two meals a day replaced with the protein shakes and zero calorie drinks.   I lost weight, and started to wonder do I really need surgery? So I had a few days with lunch  and dinner .... I started  gaining again - for me that was the final confirmation I needed.
I got my date - October 8th I will have the Gastric Sleeve.
So this past Tuesday 9/24 I started the 2 week liquid stage 2.   It is not easy, but I couldn't imagine going from eating normal to 100 liquid, glad I tapered dow.
I do not avoid others eating,  I sit down to dinner with my family every night.  Os it easy,  no, but what and how I eat is drastically changing and is a life time change so better to adapt now.

I have been still doing some workouts, mostly walking, but I have been talking to trainer and nutritionist and do to the decrease in calories (by a significant amount) I have to be really careful.

I will post more as these next stages progress,  I have included pictures of what first 3 days of liquid looks like