Update on Lidocaine for the Methotrexate Injection, and a rant

Well, we tried the 4% lidocaine for Munchkin #2's methotrexate injection.  It sort of helped. Munchkin #2 feels that I didn't use enough of the creme, however. The rheumatologist's office told us to use a pea sized amount which I tried to do.  My munchkin felt that it, "Wasn't a big enough pea." So...we'll see how it goes next week.  In the meantime, it did help a bit. It was better than nothing.

It is so very frustrating watching this disease's effect on my kid.  Yesterday, she went to her private lesson for her current sport of choice. She does some private lessons so she can work out at her own pace depending on how her joints are feeling that day. I spoke with her coach and he told me that he really would love to have my kid on his 'top' competitive team. Munchkin #2 wants that, bad. But, I had to share my concern that, "Ok. We put her on the team, the arthritis kicks in and then where will the team be? And...I'll be out the $2000 bucks it took to get the uniforms, pay the competition fees etc..."  He admitted to me that he did think I was making the right choice in saying that, no this year lets try a non-competitive approach to the sport and see how things go. If the joints can take it, than we can up the ante next year.  He also shared with me how Munchkin #2 does have problems with her wrists and knees but tries to 'ignore' it.  So frustrating that my very competitive sport loving kid is held back by something she has little control over. And, I never ever want to say 'no' to a sport she wants to work at. Feeling like a bad mom and a good mom at the same time.

Last night, after her 30 minute private lesson, her right knee was puffy and sore. We needed to make a run to Target, and she was limping a bit as we walked through the store and the parking lot. Frustrating.

When I checked on her this morning before she was up, I noticed her alarm clock's batteries were flat. So....being Mom, I woke her up.  I gave her my hand so she could grab hold and pull herself up to a sitting position in bed to help her 'wake up'. She didn't have enough strength in her hands to do it with one hand. She needed both, and she told me, "Mom, you have to pull. I'm not strong enough in the morning." Frustrating.

All this is certainly nothing to shed tears over. It just is very frustrating.

I have to remind myself sometimes that she is brilliant (she's a straight A student), she's got a kind heart, and that she is still a great kid. I have to work at keeping my perspective. We have a beautiful safe place to live (two in fact), we have a wonderful loving extended family, we have great friends, and I know that God is always with me and my munchkins.  AND my son also totally rocks. I love my kids.  I know I am blessed and my family is blessed. Too many blessings to count.

I can't wait for summer. Mornings drinking coffee on the back deck in the woods, hanging out with my kids at various lakes, roaming the woods, picking and snarfing blackberries and raspberries, and just plain old getting to spend quiet time with my family - husband included.

At least the methotrexate works the vast majority of the time.

Peace.

Painful Methotrexate Injections and 4% Lidocaine Creme

Well.....

This is NOT medical advice. This is just me talking about what we are experiencing. Only get medical advice from your doctor NOT from a random blog.

Munchkin #2 has decided that when I give her the weekly methotrexate injection for her rheumatoid arthritis that it hurts.  She gets 10mg per week which comes out (at least for us) to .4ml per injection. I have to inject it slowly or it just all ooshes back out the little hole made by the needle.

So...via the grapevine I heard about 4% lidocaine creme. If you have ever bought 'blue' colored aloe vera after sun (ie for when you are sunburned) gel, than you likely have used lidocaine. The sun burn gels typically will contain around 0.5% lidocaine. So....you can imagine the numbing effect 4% might have. We now have from the rheumatologist a prescription for 4% lidocaine creme.

The idea is we put a pea sized amount of the creme over the injection site prior to injection. We then cover the spot with this clear plastic bandage thing while the lidocaine soaks in/takes affect or whatever it does to numb up the spot.  I was a little more than surprised when the rheumatologist's office told us that we could just wrap the stop with clear plastic wrap (think covering a potato salad) if we couldn't find the little clear plastic special bandages. Say what?  So does that mean my kid is going to stay crisp and fresh like fruit salad? Weird...

At any rate...we have not tried it yet. I'll post about it once we do. I just hope it helps. What is extra cool about this for us is that if the lidocaine helps, Munchkin #2 can use it for when she has blood work done as well. Sweet......

And,  I just had to throw in this picture of Max Kitty napping on my bed. He looks so peaceful; I even think he is smiling.

Peace.




 

Feeling blue? Here are some happy warm fuzzies

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/efc_otter/otter_cam.aspx  Live cam of sea otters at Monterey Bay Aquarium

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/efc_opensea/open_sea_cam.aspx  Live cam of a big tank at the same aquarium. I personally love the 'swim bys' of the sharks

My kitty, Max, is currently snuggled in on my bed with about 4 layers of blankets. I think he's enjoying our overcast weather since he went back to bed!

Jesse Dog is currently sprawled across the floor of my family room watching morning junk TV.

Munchkin #2's hamster, Sunny, has been hard at work. She is a Roborovski hamster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roborovski_hamster  Very cute. So cute it hurts. She's so tiny and fast, she is almost impossible for me to photograph. She has a funny habit of after she is fed she stashes food from her food dish in her food storage tube (she has a system of clear plastic tubes to run around in). After making 3 stashes, she runs in her wheel. She stops running in the wheel, checks her food dish, "Nope, nothing new" and goes back to running. She'll repeat this several times.  We think that Sunny thinks she is 'searching' for more food!

Peace.

Garbage in my brain

There is a link at the bottom to an article I read in the Telegraph.  With all of the horror in Boston, this article was the first I had heard about this news out of China.  With all of the messy words coming out of NK these days, I wonder 'why' China has released this 'white paper'.  Are they saying that they will deal with NK? Are they saying that they will stand on the side of NK?  I find it all very curious.  This is the kind of garbage that knocks around my 'ol brain.

On a lighter note.....

I had a very nice visit today with a friend who is originally from India. I really enjoyed a nice cup of chai at her kitchen table along with a cuddle from her one year old daughter. I was deeply honored to be awarded the official title of 'Auntie' by her four year old. It was a lovely afternoon. 

Peace.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9998111/China-lays-bare-its-military-might-with-an-attack-on-US-ambition.html

Smell the Wildflowers

Did a bit of traveling this weekend to an area loaded with wildflowers. For the first time in six years, I got to sit amongst my favorite wildflowers for the first time in six years.  It was a very happy moment for me.

Like so many other people on the planet, I use 'social media'. Most of the time we were overseas doing the ex-pat thing, I would look at friends'/family's photos via social media taken in the middle of all those wildflowers.  My last year living overseas, those colorful pics would send me into deep homesickness complete with tears.  It was kind of a wake-up call that it was time to head for home.

So now.....I'm finding myself on the flip side.  I recently posted some of my own family pics with us drowning in wildflowers via social media.  And...I have a good friend back in the Middle East who is really homesick for those fragrant little flowers. She has seen my photos on the social media.  Because of my friend, part of me didn't want to post those pictures because I didn't want her to think I was going, "Nah, nah, nah! Look where I am!"  But, I spoke with her via Skype so it was all ok. But still....I really stopped and thought about it.

Now, I'm sitting here listening to the news via my iPad.  I am more than horrified by the news I'm hearing out of Boston. I have family who live in that area. Horrid, horrid, horrid.  All my family are ok, a close friend/best friend of my cousin's who lives there, is ok.  My social media is alive with notes of  'We're home. We're ok.'  I just can't fathom the depth of depravity that would cause somebody to do something as horrific as to hurt other human beings.


My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Boston and to all those affected by this. 

For those of you who wonder where my 'peace' comes from...for me it has always been a way to wish peace for all I have contact with. But yes, it does have roots in my faith.  This has its roots in the Book of Numbers which is shared by both people who are Jewish and Christian. My dear girlfriends who are Muslim and I both believe we all pray to the same God.

"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."

Peace.

On-line Kid (Munchkin) Safety - NO KIDS ALLOWED!!!!!

Oh, wow. 

Where do I even begin? Let's begin with this....if you are a kid stop reading this. NOW!

If you do want to read this and are a kid, go get a parent/guardian and have them read it with you.

I have been listening to buzz from some moms about 'on-line' dangers.  "Don't let your kids view this or that site", "You need to use internet blockers",  blah, blah, blah.  I think it's not what they are viewing, it's what are they posting?  Do I worry about everything out here on the internet and my kids' access to it?  Of course I do.  But, I think kids are putting themselves in potentially boiling hot water.

I've seen some of what other kids (not mine, but I do monitor my kids) out there post on-line via social networking.  They use a lot of nasty language thinking that it is oh so funny.  What they don't realize is that so very many people, the wrong people, could end up seeing/reading that stuff.  They are posting videos of themselves with their friends. Again, what they may not realize is one click/copy and repost, and the thing is totally out of their control.  Kids posting this stuff probably don't realize that family/friends/parents of their friends are also seeing the stuff they are posting.

So far, my munchkins have never posted something inappropriate on-line. But, I will be having a conversation with both of them again about the dangers involved with stuff like this.

The other thing that I find disturbing about what I'm seeing other kids posting is their very detailed knowledge about things I consider 'adult content.'  I knew my munchkins were being exposed to some serious stuff at school etc....  I am very thankful that I have been talking with them for a long time now about all kinds of different things that folks a generation older than me would have been horrified to talk with their kids about.  There are middle school aged kids out there talking about rape, intercourse and the kind of activity that got a former president into trouble (involved a blue dress? Remember?) in ways that would make a sailor blush. They are chatting about these things like, "Ha, ha! Funny!"  Well, this isn't funny stuff.  It's serious. What gets posted on-line is potentially out there forever. (Gee, why on earth do I blog? Must need my head examined.)  I see kids carrying their smart phones to school. As an adult, how many times have you been shown pictures, video or whatever on a friend's phone? Guess what....even if your kid doesn't have a smart phone, they are looking at stuff on their friends'.

I've been reading through on-line advice to parents about how to deal with having your kids using the internet and social media. Most of what I'm seeing is pretty sanitized and simplified. "Don't be mean." "If you see on-line bullying, tell a parent."  Etc......  Yes, that is good advice, BUT, as a parent, I can tell you 'don't be mean' is a start, but it's only the very tiny tip of the iceberg. I use stories the kids and I read in the newspaper and news magazines to open up discussions. When I listen with the kids to NPR, we talk about the news we are hearing.   When we see TV show characters making poor choices we talk about it - why are those poor choices? What could go wrong for that character? What could that character do differently? Anything and everything can become an opportunity for learning. When my kids do tell me about bad stuff they are seeing and hearing at school, friends' houses etc, I don't berate my kids or jump to conclusions that my kids are making poor choices. I do my best to listen and then ask, "How did/do you feel about that?"  I do my best to let them lead the discussion.  My kids don't listen to me unless I've first listened to them.  And, I know that what my kids do tell me about is only a tiny little fraction of what they are being exposed to.

So....even if you are the kind of parent that monitors the junk your kids watch on TV and the movies, you are careful about the magazines that come into your home, and you block inappropriate websites in your home, guess what?  They are still being exposed to bad stuff simply by being a kid. I can't shut my kids out of the world, but I can at least do my best to prepare them for it. I only hope my best is good enough.

Peace.