Health Corner

   I want to introduce an idea that we, the sisters, have discussed doing for a little bit.  We are going to call it "The Health Corner".  I am a nurse and have been now for almost 10 years!  I work in a NICU and have been a NICU nurse for 6 of those years, working post-pardum and nursery 3 before that and about 8 months in a Surgical Unit just after graduation.  I did take a year off to be with my boys after we moved to Alabama. just in case you are wondering why the numbers don't add up!  I have also been the sickest of the sisters and have had many weird aliments the others haven't experienced, some they have, and some I hope the others and other people can avoid or get help for if they knew where to look for it.  So, this is where this idea has sprung up from!

  I guess I will start by saying some of the ideas I have to share and then any feedback or questions from you all would be awesome.  Now please remember, I am no doctor and this is not your personal professional advice.  This is just things I have learned through my experiences and if you do have any of these problems/symptoms, you DO need to talk to your own physician.

  1.  That being said, here are my thoughts on where to start.  For the past 12, almost 13 years I have been developing more and more allergies and not just to things like ragweed and pollen.  Yes, I do have those too, but it is things like all fruits (minus berries), nuts, and vegetables.  This all started in college with Ibuprofen.  I had taken it many times and never had a problem and then one night at work I took it for a headache and all the sudden, my face was so swollen, I looked like Quasimodo.  Next, it was any time I ate Mexican food, my bottom lip would swell and my tongue would itch.  This went on for months before I finally figured it was because of the avocados in the guacamole dips.  Next was fresh bell peppers; then bananas; then tomatoes and just kept getting worse and worse until I could not longer eat any veggies unless they were cooked or processed somehow.  I guess that changed the proteins in them enough that my body didn't recognize them as foreign.

   This has been VERY frustrating because I love fresh fruits and vegetables.  I also love nuts.  This makes for a very limited diet and variety!  The last food I had to give up was lettuces.  Good bye salads!

    2.  I also started having migraines like crazy a few months after my first child was born.  I was having 4-5 a week.  I went to a doctor and they put me on Allegra and an antidepressant.  This helped for a few months and then they started coming back.  They have come on and off like this for 6 or so years now. 

    3.  I have also had periods where I am so tired I either take a nap every single day or I wake up so tired I just want to go right back to bed.

    4.  I have had a c-section, as well as one of my sisters.

    5.  I have had thyroid problems even though my thyroid tests have all been normal.  (Dry skin, black eyes, hair falling out, high cholesterol, fatigue)

Now I know you do not just want to know about me.  I will start with these 5 areas and share the things I have learned or learned how to deal with them and then either answer questions or move on to things that plague my SISTERS!  I also want to throw a disclaimer in there that this may be only as much as once a month.  I am not faithful as Rachel and Michelle with posting but I will try to be!

~Stacy~