Weekly Review February 2 '18

We had a pretty eventful week. Here is the daily summary:

Saturday: Remember that last week I said I was going to the temple on Saturday? Well, I didn't. Friday evening (late, almost bedtime) Seth started complaining that he had a bad headache and then he threw up! I knew if he followed his usual pattern, he would be fine in the morning but I had no way of knowing for sure. I was supposed to be going to the temple quite early, with a group of women from my ward so I decided I'd better not go. Although I was right about Seth--he seemed fine in the morning and he has been fine since--it turned out to be a good thing I didn't go because Frank was up until 2:00 am taking care of a computer problem for a client and then he was also gone almost all day doing more work for clients. That would have left Seth alone all morning if I had gone. I planned to go to the temple on Tuesday instead. On Saturday I kept busy cleaning the kitchen floor, the stove, and the microwave, plus a few errands and I also finished crocheting my scarf. I am happy to have finished that project and pleased that it turned out looking really nice. I cancelled Seth's swimming lesson because I wasn't sure if he was totally well yet and I didn't want him throwing up in the pool or something like that. Frank came home Saturday after talking with a friend and said he thought he needed to go to the doctor first thing on Monday. Over the last several days he had been having a bunch of things happen like his vision was getting blurry (he actually called and set up an appointment with the eye doctor a few days earlier), losing weight, and getting up in the night several times to go to the bathroom. His friend said "that sounds like all the symptoms of diabetes to me." Up until then, neither of us had made the connection that those things might all be related to one problem.

Sunday: It was a typical restful Sunday. I did some indexing and went to choir practice. We thought to ask the missionaries if anyone was feeding them and they said no, so we had them over for dinner.

Monday: Seth didn't have school. Frank didn't sleep well again on Sunday night. I called the doctor that morning and got him an appointment. Since his vision was really blurry and he hadn't slept much, I took him to the doctor (didn't want him to drive). Sure enough, he has type 2 diabetes. His blood sugar level was 9.5ish and normal is 6.0. The doctor prescribed a medication to help get his blood sugar down and gave him the information for a dietician--we have to call and schedule an appointment with her so we can figure out what he needs to eat. Basically, though, he needs to cut back on his carbs. He said we should be more worried about carbs than about sugar, although of course eating a lot of sugar isn't a good idea either. The good news is that this type of diabetes is not insulin dependent and can be managed very well through diet, exercise, and weight loss. As a matter of fact, the doctor said this type of diabetes is "reversible". If Frank loses enough weight and learns to eat the right foods he can basically be "cured". (I'm sure he will always need to be careful about what he eats and he will need to exercise and maintain a healthy weight, though.) The rest of Monday was somewhat stressful because Frank was feeling pretty rotten and we had a lot of trouble getting the things the doctor had prescribed. After we got home from the doctor, Frank tried to eat something (he hadn't eaten yet that day) and after one bite he got very sick to his stomach. It took several calls to the pharmacy and calls back to the doctor's office before 2 of the things he needed were called in and I was able to pick them up. The other 2 things we were not able to get until Wednesday afternoon--those were the things he needed to test his blood sugar level, because he has to do that twice a day for a while. By Monday evening Frank was still feeling nauseated (although he was able to eat a little bit during the day) and he also had a really bad headache. It just wasn't a fun day. I did manage to get the normal chores done and I also helped Seth do some things for Cub Scouts and do some work on a school project. We decided to bump family night to Tuesday, though, since Frank was feeling so rotten.

Tuesday: Frank was doing better than Monday, thankfully. I had planned to go to the temple but we got a little tiny bit of snow in the night and I guess the roads were slippery because school got delayed 2 hours. That meant that I probably wouldn't have time to get to the temple and back while Seth was at school. I was nervous about leaving Frank alone anyway, although he was doing better than the day before. He worked from home and I got all the usual chores done. One of my Tuesday chores is to plan the meals for the following week. So there I was, Tuesday afternoon, confronted with planning meals for a diabetic and having no idea how to do that! The doctor did send home a few pamphlets with us so by consulting those I hope I managed to plan some meals that are not too high on carbs or sugar. We'll see. We haven't been able to get in touch with the dietician yet, but I am planning to go with him to that appointment. In the meantime, Frank has an app on his phone that is helping him track his carbs and he is doing really well at staying under his limit (and eating less, in general.). He also started exercising a few days ago although he has to start out with pretty low intensity. After school, I gave Seth his medicine because he has a school project we are working on right now. It did seem to help him focus a bit and he didn't have trouble sleeping, so that's good news. We didn't have Cub Scouts that evening because it was a 5th Tuesday (we only have 3 den meetings per month, plus 1 pack meeting.)

Wednesday: Pretty much a normal day. I went to the religion class. Frank had work to do for clients in the evening. I worked on the slide show for the Blue & Gold Banquet for a couple of hours. I also went online to look at cell phones because I am going to give up and buy a new one. (My current phone is very unreliable about receiving text messages. Sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't.) Don't get me started on what a rip off I think phones are these days! I think I know what phone I am going to get, but I haven't made it to the store to buy it yet.

Thursday: I FINALLY made it to the temple!! Fourth time's a charm. It was lovely to be there again. The temple was a lot busier than it usually is during the day--I guess it's really starting to sink in on everyone that the temple is going to be closed really soon so everyone is trying to get there before it closes. There weren't a lot of men in my session (typical; most men work during the day) but there were so many women that there wasn't room for all of them to sit on the women's side. Even though the temple trip took most of the school day, I still managed to get all the regular chores done, helped Seth with his project some more, and worked on the slide show for a couple more hours. It's funny how that works. The principle that works for tithing / money also works for time!

Friday: So far I have just updated the budget today.

Throughout the week I have been doing some reading. I finished the book for book chat (The Scarlet Letter) and I started reading a Newbury award winner called Moon Over Manifest. I also started reading a book called Disconnected Kids, which Rachelle told me about. It's about a new way of looking at problems like ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, etc. The author has come up with treatments for these issues that don't involve medication and that really work. (I mean, that's his claim anyway but he does have a lot of research and studies that back him up.) Basically, he says that these problems are all related to problems with connections in the brain, particularly between the two hemispheres of the brain. In most cases, one hemisphere has matured far more than the other which causes the connections to get off. His treatment involves things that will strengthen the weak side of the brain so that it can catch up with the stronger side and the connections will be reestablished. I'm excited to see if the methods he describes will help Seth. I haven't actually got to the methods yet, though. I'm only in chapter 1.

I have also been practicing the ukulele nearly every day, for at least a few minutes and I am happy to report that I am making progress. I can sort of play 3 different songs. :)

I've had quite a bit of communication with all three of the older boys this week, either on the phone or through texting (or both). Tanner got a job with BYU catering, which is good news. All the boys seem to be doing well and I am enjoying having more contact with them. I miss them when they are gone!

Sorry I don't have any pictures this week. We've had a lot going on, just not photo worthy stuff.