Vipoma Diagnosis

I am numb. I guess that is probably the best way to describe my feelings right now towards my recent medical diagnosis. After months of diarrhea, weakness, weight loss, back and stomach pain, etc. I have finally been given a definite diagnosis for what is wrong with me. I have been diagnosed as having Vipoma. Never heard of it? Join the many doctors and other medical professionals who have been in practice for decades who also have never heard of it. This disease is very rare and affects 1 in 10 million people. Yes, you heard right…one in ten million people. My Endocrinologist, who happens to be one of the top fifty in his field here has only encountered this a few times in his entire thirty plus years of practice. One of his nurses told me that she has been working in his office for nine years and that this is the very first time that office has encountered anyone with this disease. There is no mistake, they have run test after test after test and even repeated some of the tests just to be sure…it is definitely Vipoma.

From what I understand, this is a very rare cancer that usually originates in the pancreatic area. Chances of survival are greatly increased if they can find the tumors and remove them. The problem is, although they know for sure they are in my body, they do not know exactly where they are. Scat scans, radiation scanning, etc. have not been able to show where they are, but what it did show was another problem that I apparently have….Gallstones..one of which has calcified. I don’t really know what a calcified Gallstone is, but I do know that the doctors are wanting to remove those gallstones as well, but their priority right now is to find the Vipoma tumors and remove them. At this point I am told the next step is surgery, however the surgeons are in discussions as to how to proceed with that. Did I mention how rare this is? I am told to be patient and that they are aware of the urgency of the situation but that is very hard to do when I do not know what to expect next. Doing nothing is not an option as of course if you do not remove these tumors it is fatal. However, for what I have read, even if you do remove the tumors, there are no guarantees. I read somewhere that your chances are greatly improved if they can remove it, but that by the time symptoms present themselves it has normally already spread making your chances not so good. The survival rate for this does not seem to be really good, but I have a LOT of people praying for me so I am hopeful.

I just wish I could speak with someone who has this and is living with it. Someone who can tell me that there is a LOT of hope and that though most people do not make it, there are a LOT of people who do. But I cannot find anything like that out there on the internet, not in the forums, anywhere. So I wait, and pray, and enjoy as much time with my kids as possible. I am scared if you can’t tell by this posting…I am very scared. I have hid this diagnosis from my three youngest children (ages 4, 8, and 10) because I do not want to scare them. It just doesn’t seem fair to put something like this on them when they are working so hard in school. I don’t want them worried and I don’t want them to cry. If there is anybody out there who has this, or know of someone who has or had this, please let me know. I could really use to hear from someone out there who knows something about this. Thanks for listening.

My Tween wants a Cellphone

I didn't have a cellphone until I was well into my twenties, had a job, and a couple of kids. However, times have changed and with the change has come the need for us to consider allowing our Ten year old to keep a cellphone in her purse for emergencies. Yes, I know that although "emergency" is the intended reason for the cellphone, she will probably use it to call her dad, her grandmother, etc. The good news about that is, there is a cellphone made especially for kids that you can program yourself to only be useable by the child during certain hours which means the phone will not be ringing during class time. Also, you can set a limit on how many minutes per month the child can use it, and get this....it comes with a GPS so, if heaven forbid you do not know where your child is, or cannot reach them, the GPS will allow you to find them....what parent can't use that? Another good part about these phones is that they are NOT toy phones, and are not cheapos..For example, the phone I just bought my daughter is pink, pretty, and a Sprint phone. The plan I purchased meets my budget and includes unlimited texting. Trust me, there are plans available for ANY budget. I prefer the piece of mind that allowing my daughter to carry a cellphone brings. Plus, when she is at a friend's house she texts me constantly so I know exactly what she is doing. :)

To find out more about these great cellphones for kids, visit the webpage below...

http://www.kajeet.com/antoinette

children with Autism

I gave birth to six beautiful children and none of them had autism, however I always count my blessings because I know that odds are any one of my six children could have been born with autism. What is autism? I don't know very much about it but from what I hear it actually makes children who are exceptionally gifted and bright appear to be children with learning disabilities. This puzzles me because looking at these children they appear they same as any other, however the only difference I see is in regards to how they interact with others. What is being done to identify autistic children earlier on so that they can receive the proper care they need? What are some of the signs we should look for in autistic children...how can I be sure my child is not autistic? Is there a special program out there that will come into your home and test your child for autism? What happens if the tests prove that he is indeed autistic? What happens next.? As you can see, I have tons of questions. If anyone out there knows anything about autism and how to test your child for autism and how to get help if needed, please let me know. All comments welcome.

I Hate being Unemployed

I have been unemployed now for five months, and I absolutely hate it. The hardest part is actually wanting to work but not being able to find a job. I came down off of my high horse several months ago and stopped expecting potential employers to pay me what I was making at my last job (which was $53K annually). I even took a notch lower and stopped asking what I felt I was even worth, yet to this day I still have had only one prospect and after two interviews I received no further phone calls. So, here I sit day after day after day applying for jobs and hopefully something will pan out soon. As I write this I feel both silly and calmer because at the start of this blog I was slightly enraged and depressed. I have two daughters in Girl Scouts and a son in Soccer and with school just started back a month ago, I am having to come up with $20 here and $30 there to pay for school activities and extracurricular activities. Before I would just write the checks and not even give it an after thought, but now that I am unemployed it is extremely difficult to come up with these funds. I try to hide the fact that I am struggling from my kids, so I borrow the money and pray that either a job comes through or I will be approved for unemployment so that things will get a little bit better. I know that there are worse off people out there in the world, but I never dreamed that I would be in this bad of a position…ever. It is very humbling.

On the flip side of this, I have made some changes that will benefit us even once I find a job such as shopping at thrift stores, using coupons, budgeting funds, cooking meals more at home, paying closer attention to nutrition, etc. Even after I find a job I know that I will continue these new habits just because they are good habits to have. No longer able to afford to order delivery pizza as much, my kids look forward to and even have a song they sing when they smell pizza cooking in the oven. (Tonight it is Digiorno's Pepperoni Pizza). Awwww….the pizza is almost done now and here comes my kids singing the song down the stairs…”Mommies, cooking pizza…Mommies cooking pizza….Mommies cooking pizza..” Hearing them so happy has already lifted my spirits and makes my problems seem minute…if even just for tonight.

H1N1 Decisions

H1N1
I am at a loss as to how to combat this H1N1 Flu virus that is going around. I heard on the news last week that here in Georgia we have the highest number of reported cases right now. That terrifies me. What is worse is that school has barely been in a month and we already have a lot of schools with large numbers of confirmed cases of H1N1. Now, the schools and the school system are not even telling us anymore when there are new cases so now we are being kept in the dark. So how do you keep your child safe from the H1N1 ? All of the reports and news stories say that you need to have your children and yourself given the flu shot as soon as it is available, which is now. Additionally, you will need to have your children and yourself given the H1N1 flu shot as soon as it becomes available which looks to be mid October. For those of us who have never had a flu shot, that will mean two shots for the regular flu shot and two more shots for the H1N1. If you are counting along with me, that is four shots per person. It takes four nurses to hold my eight year old down to give her a shot so I am not looking forward to this. But my question is, do we know for sure that this will work? If we only received the regular flu shot and not the H1N1, will we be okay through this flu season?

The H1N1 flu vaccine is still being tested, so once it becomes available how do we know if it is truly work and if it will truly keep you from catching the flu. I am a good parent but do not want to subject my children to four sets of shots unnecessarily. I really wish a doctor, a pediatrician would stand up and give the pros and cons on both sides of the fence. I want to do what is best for my kids, but do not want to subject them to anything that is unnecessary. So for now we are washing and washing and washing our hands and carrying around antibacterial handwash with us but I fear that may not be enough. I would like to know what you guys think. Are you having your kids inoculated against the both the regular and the H1N1 flu or neither. Let me know your thoughts.