Environmental Factors

I just walked into the bathroom and was bowled over the smell of chlorine. I had dropped a chlorine tablet into the tank last week to keep the bowl clean and I didn't realize how strong the smell was. Then it occurred to me that I had just started using these things back in May. We were going to be having company and I was tired of the trying to manually keep the bowl clean. Andy's symptoms started in early June. Also I had a flashback to when he was swimming in an enclosed pool up at the YMCA Rocky Mountain camp in Colorado. He got really ill from the chlorine. It irritated his skin and burned his eyes. His grandmother told me at the time that she had a terrible allergy to chlorine. I also just read on a message board about people whose IBS symptoms were triggered by the sorbitol in toothpaste or some ingredient in shampoo or phenol in cleaning products. Could it be that this was a trigger for him?!

I have been focused so heavily on the food intolerances that it did not occur to me that it could be something on the outside. It is worth a try. I am removing all chlorine from the bathrooms and I am changing my cleaning products from pinesol to something more natural.

His D was non existent today! I kept the calcium at 900 mg and changed his diet a little bit.

Walking the Fine Line

Things have not been going well for Andy. His D came back yesterday and today. I am getting a little concerned as he can't afford much more weight loss. He is deathly afraid of eating now as he feels everything is setting off his symptoms. I have upped his calcium to 900 mg and will probably have to go to 1200 today. His D was a little better this morning but still present. I am praying the calcium is going to do its job and keep everything in check. Everyday, I don't know what I am going to have to wake up to and it's getting stressful. I can't even imagine what Andy is having to deal with. I finally got a chance to listen to the audio ibs program by Michael Mahoney cds. I have been making Andy listen to them daily. I listened to one session and have to say it was very relaxing and I think I am going to have to do it too just so I can keep my anxieties under control.

This set back has been a real downer. I thought we had found the combination that worked. I still think it's there but I am going to have to fine tune it some more. I feel like I am walking this fine line to keep calories on him but not upset the IBS at the same time. Now with the migraine and school thrown at him, everything has been turned upside down. This has been one of the most challenging things I ever have had to face and I am not even the one who has the IBS. So I can't imagine how it has been for my son.

Not Another Problem!

Tomorrow is the first day of school and Andy was doing fine and getting ready for the big day. Then he started to develop terrible eye pain. He couldn't see and within a half an hour he was having massive head pain. I can't believe it! What else can go wrong! I do believe he is having a migraine. My older son started about this time and now my youngest son has it too.

I am thinking the 21 bananas a week that have been going into the high calorie smoothies may be suspect. It's the one thing I thought he could tolerate and now I am going to have to find something else that he can have. This is maddening. He really needs the calories and I don't think he can handle the other fruits but I am going to have to try them.

I have a ton of errands to do too. I just called my husband and he is coming home for a couple of hours to take care of Andy so that I can get these other things done. It's nice that my husband is the boss and can come and go as he needs.

I hope Andy comes out of it in a few hours. If it lasts until tomorrow, he will have to miss the first day of school. I may have to put him on cyproheptadine, an antihistamine that my older son took and it controlled his migraines really well.

I was just reading that there is a connection between the IBS and migraines. Guess I will have to do more research on that.

Nothing New in the Diagnosis Department

We're back from our hospital excursion and I have to say that I am tired. I didn't really feel stressed during the day but I am feeling the aftermath now. We are supposed to go to a party tonight and frankly I am not in the mood for it. My husband is getting on my case about it but what can I say, I just sent one son off to college and the other one is being tested for severe GI problems. I am emotionally exhausted!

The hospital did the CT scan and although I was pretty sure it would be normal, there were moments of doubt that may be there was a tumor or something that could explain why these symptoms were happening. I searched the nurse practitioner's face for answers when she walked in and she delivered the news immediately. Everything was normal, negative.

So that brings us back to square one. I am relieved but it explains nothing. She could not say that Andy has IBS for sure but all roads seem to be pointing that way. She gave us the option to wait on further testing. If it was Crohns or something else, it would rear it's ugly head eventually. Since Andy has been doing well under the circumstances, we decided to wait 3 months on the endoscopy and colonoscopy.

Interestingly, I just had a conversation with Andy's violin teacher. I was bringing her up on what was going on with us this summer and she told me about another student who was having severe problems exactly like Andy's. The student lost a tremendous amount of weight, all tests came back negative. They ended up taking out her gall bladder even though tests showed it was normal. She started to improve but now is having problems again. I told the teacher about the Calcium Caltrate as a great control for the D and especially for those who have had their gall bladder out. Also I was buying Digestive Advantage for IBS at Safeway and the checker wanted to know if that controlled the D too . She had no idea Safeway even carried products like this probiotic . Guess she has been an IBS sufferer too. I passed on the info about the calcium to her. I am amazed at how many people are being afflicted with this problem. The fact that very little research is being done on it , is an abomination.

For the Love of Huskies

I just finished my latest original watercolor of a Siberian Husky. It was inspired by my dog, Chaise, who was lost last year. He was a sweet dog and I miss him.

For the Love of Huskies, in my etsy store

I have been a Siberian Husky lover for many years. It started way back when my husband and I were first married. We were at the University of Illinois in Champaign- Urbana. A friend of ours was working at the local humane society and told us about a dog that was just brought in. The dog had been chained up his whole life and had a severe case of worms. He was very sick and the vet didn't know if he was going to make it. We went down to see him and we just fell in love. How could anyone mistreat this beautiful Siberian Husky dog? We adopted him on the spot and so began our 10 year relationship with our dog, Wolfe.

I remember a few weeks later we took him to Allerton Park near the University and we let him off his leash to explore. He took off and we couldn't find him. We climbed the nearest hill and called his name over and over again. After about 10 or 15 minutes, we saw him through the trees and he followed our voices back to us.

When we moved to the West Coast, he came with us. We backpacked and camped with him everywhere. Wolfe would go jogging with my husband but as he grew older, his arthritis flared up and he could only go part way, sit and wait patiently while my husband did his loop. Then Wolfe would rejoin my husband on the jog back home . That dog was smart. Sadly he passed away when he was 12 years old. To others, he was just a dog but to us he was a friend, a great companion and we miss him to this day.

Recipes to Gain By

I wanted to post a couple of calorie building recipes that I have found for my son who is in the middle of an IBS like flare-up. He lost about 12 lbs and I have been working like crazy to put weight back on him. The first is my revision of a smoothie recipe given by his doctor's office. It was made with all dairy products, something my son can't tolerate very well.
The ingredients are:

1/2 cup rice ice cream
1/4 cup egg beaters
1 banana or some canned fruit
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz of rice milk

Blend all together. Calories approx. 410

I have been giving him 3 smoothies per day.

The second recipe I found was the

Low-Fat Oatmeal Cookies with Raisins by Nicole Weston


1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4 c plain apple sauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add cinnamon if using raisins.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars. Beat in the egg, followed by the applesauce and the vanilla extract. Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture and the oats until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Add raisins just before the batter comes together.
Drop tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 9-12 min at 375F. Cookies will be light brown at the edges, but will not get as dark and golden as regular cookies.
Let cool on sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.
Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Calories: 92 per cookie

The cookies were very good and didn't cause him any problems what-so-ever.

Trying to Wrap Up and UnWrap Loose Ends

Had a great start to my day. I was working on an Etsy order and had to use my printer. The paper got jammed and I was trying to fix it. Did not notice that the cord to the blinds had fallen down and was now being fed into my printer as I was trying to advance the sheet that was stuck. All of a sudden my printer went berserk, every light came on and it was making terrible noises. To my horror, I saw the cord had wrapped around one of the rods inside, several times. I shut it off , got out the instruction booklet and looked for the trouble shooting section. Needless to say, there wasn't anything on how to undo a cord that was wound around the insides of a printer. I don't think the authors had anticipated that ever being a problem. There was nothing on how to open the back of the printer up even.

I decided to take action into my own hands. Got a flashlight, tweezers, manicure scissors and a knife. I proceeded to surgically remove the cord off the rod. It took about 30 minutes. It was a lot of cord and very thick too. Piece by piece, I got it out of there. Then I held my breath as I proceeded to test the printer for damage. It worked with no problems! What a relief.

Yesterday, I baked 6 dozen peanut butter cookies. I put 1/2 in a care package to my college son and the other 1/2 is going to his friend (recovering from a car crash) that we will see tonight . I spent most of this morning trying to get the package ready and birthday cards in the mail.

We made some special low-fat cookies too that my younger son could eat and I will post the recipe the next time around. We have a wedding to go to tomorrow , out- of -town. My youngest had out grown all his dress clothes , even ones that I bought back in May. I had to get him new pants and then I had to hem them yesterday. He even out grew his dress shoes but luckily wears the same size as my older son, so Andy will just borrow his brother's shoes. Also have to prepare him special food to take with us as he can't have anything at the reception.

I have to say the one question that irritates me the most is, "Did you do anything today?" It's a question my husband asks me periodically and it gets me very mad. A typical day has me running about 4 to 5 errands in the morning, usually I have orders to ship ( which I am grateful for) , groceries to buy, finances to do, the house to clean , laundry, the usual. I try to take care of all the nitty gritty details and loose ends so that my husband does not have to deal with them when he gets home. I feel as most housewives feel that we work really hard at the same chores over and over again and no one notices the time and effort we put in. It is a thankless job!