Tuesday, June 29, 2010

On Lyme disease

I didn't share anything about this earlier because I figured there was no point in doing so until we knew something for sure. The short story is... Ari got pretty sick last week, we took her to the doctor, they suspected Lyme disease and sent her for bloodwork, and we got the results today which told us that she does indeed have Lyme disease.


So now that I know for sure that Ari has Lyme disease, I did some research. I figured I would go ahead and share it all here in case you ever find yourself in need of this info.


From the CDC's website, a very brief summary...


Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful in the later stages of disease. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics. Steps to prevent Lyme disease include using insect repellent, removing ticks promptly, landscaping, and integrated pest management. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease can occasionally transmit other tick-borne diseases as well.


From WebMD.com...


Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by a tick. . . .


In the early stages of Lyme disease, you may experience flu-like symptoms that can include a stiff neck, chills, fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain. You also may experience a large, expanding skin rash around the area of the tick bite. In more advanced disease, nerve problems and arthritis, especially in the knees, may occur.


Erythema migrans is the telltale rash which occurs in about 70% to 80% of cases and starts as a small red spot that expands over a period of days or weeks, forming a circular, triangular, or oval-shaped rash. Sometimes the rash resembles a bull's-eye because it appears as a red ring surrounding a central clear area. The rash, which can range in size from that of a dime to the entire width of a person's back, appears between three days and a few weeks of a tick bite, usually occurring at the site of a bite. As infection spreads, several rashes can appear at different sites on the body.


Erythema migrans is often accompanied by symptoms such as fever, headache, stiff neck, body aches, and fatigue. These flu-like symptoms may resemble those of common viral infections and usually resolve within days or a few weeks.


In its early stages, Lyme disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics. In general, the sooner such therapy is begun following infection, the quicker and more complete the recovery. Antibiotics, such as doxycycline or amoxicillin taken orally for two to four weeks, can speed the healing of the rash and can usually prevent subsequent symptoms such as arthritis or neurological problems.



That's a pretty spot-on description of what Ari had. She had been fighting off what seemed like a normal cold, so I'm not sure if that was a symptom of the Lyme disease, or something unrelated, but when she broke out with the fever, that's when we knew she was definitely sick. Tony was the one who spotted the rash, which formed around her left ear. All I noticed was a red spot just in front of her ear, which, like I said earlier, made me think maybe she'd bumped her head. But Tony was the one who pulled her hair back and realized it formed a ring around her ear. And she kept complaining about various body parts hurting--probably the joint pain described above.


Lyme disease is only transmitted by ticks, and it's not contagious from person to person. So at least we don't have to worry that she shared it with any of her little friends. As far as how she got it... well, obviously, she got it from a tick. But we have no idea when that happened--our only guess is that it was somewhat recent. But neither of us ever saw a tick on her.


We caught it in the early stages, which is a good thing. She'll be on amoxicillin for 2 more weeks, for a total of 3 weeks. And then I think that's it. The doctor just told us to keep on the lookout for the return of any symptoms, such as the rash, or joint pain/swelling. The general consensus, from what I've read, seems to be that the earlier it's caught, the better, and that a person can make a full recovery. There are some sites, though, that seem to think it's something that's always lurking in the background in a person's body and can recur at any time. So... I guess we'll see.


As far as Ari herself, she is definitely feeling better. Pretty much all her symptoms are gone. She does feel a little warm from time to time, but I'm not sure if that's a low-grade fever, or just me being extra alert to her temperature. But she is most definitely back to her usual sassy little self, which is great.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Diva-licious

I watched the Tony Awards last night. Man, I love that show. For the performances more than the actual awards and such, though, of course. It's like a lovely little preview of all the hot new shows on Broadway. It makes me miss New York City. If I had unlimited cash, or won the lottery or something, I would definitely blow a ton of money on seeing every single Broadway play I could.

While watching the Tony's, I completed Workout #2 of Week 1 of the "Couch to 5K" program. (Yeh, I started on Friday, so my "weeks" are going to be a little messed up, but oh well.) For the first week, the workouts consist of 5 minutes of brisk walking, then alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Totally doable so far... though I'm sweating like a pig by the time I'm done, and I HATE being sweaty. But, it's all for a good reason... to get myself in better shape, to be able to run a 5K, to push myself a little farther than my usual.

I've got a few Ari pictures to share. She picked this whole outfit out herself at the store the other day--the shirt, the hat, and the sunglasses. And then picked them all out again on Saturday when we were getting ready to go to the church's spaghetti dinner. She looked like such a little diva, I just had to get some pics.



She loves having her picture taken lately... can you tell?



This pose was completely her idea... she's recently learned how to do thumbs-up...



The peace signs were my idea...



She packed her own bag to take with her too. She's so self-sufficient lately...



And a nice picture with Daddy...



And a not-so-nice one with me. Guess she didn't want to share the spotlight with another diva?

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I'll be saving a lot on shampoo for a while...

I've been growing my hair out for a loooooong time now, with the intention of donating it, and I finally got up the nerve to chop it all off last night. Initially, I planned to donate it to Locks of Love, mostly because that was the only hair donation program I'd ever heard of. But I went with the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program instead. I forget how I first heard of the Pantene program, but I liked it initially because they only require 8" instead of 10". Then I researched it and learned that they donate all their wigs for free to cancer patients. What's not to love about that?


You can find out more about the Pantene program here.


So, you want to see pictures, right?


Of course, I had to take a couple "before" pictures. I only wanted one of the back of my head, but Tony insisted on a front shot too, so that's why you get me making this "Do I HAVE to?" face.




This one of the back of my head really made me go "Whoa." I don't often get a straight-on view of the back of my head like that. My hair was really long!




When I got to the salon, I told the lady that I wanted to donate my hair, and pulled a hair elastic and Ziploc bag out of my purse. She was a little weird about it at first... seemed kind of nervous or something. And she kept asking me if I was sure I had enough, which annoyed me a little. Like I'm really going to hack off that much hair without checking to make sure it's long enough first.


Anyway, once we got past that, she was great. I was a little surprised how long it took for her just to cut off the ponytail. I figured it would be a quick snip-snip and she'd be done, but she actually had to spend a couple minutes sawing away at it, coming at it from both sides, before she finally got it off. I know my hair is thick (and she commented on that too), but I didn't expect it to be quite that troublesome. It was amusing.


So this is what I ended up with, to donate. I put an extra elastic on it, just to make sure it all stayed together, because if it's not in an elastic, they can't use it. I printed out the donation instructions online, and saw that they put a little "ruler" along the right edge of the page (which you can't really see in this pic, but oh well). All in all, I actually ended up with 10" to donate. So even if the ends are a little too scraggly for them to be able to use, there's definitely still a solid 8" there.




And, now, the moment you've been waiting for... the "after" pics. I waited until today to take these, after my hair had been washed, dried, and straightened. First, the back view...




And the front...




And a closer-up view. (Ari gave me that flower and insisted that I put it in my hair.)




And of course, the big question is... do I like the new 'do? It's OK. I don't hate it... I think it's just that it's SO different, so I'm not quite sure what I think of it. I mean, I knew it was going to be really short, but seeing it in reality was a bit jarring. It will grow. And, more importantly, I donated all that excess hair to a good cause... so I can't really be too sad about it, can I?


I went to the post office this morning, and mailed my hair. Because I knew if I didn't do it right away, I'd likely forget, which would defeat the entire purpose.


No going back now... :)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Weekend pictures and stuff

Surprisingly, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures this weekend. So I stole most of these pics from other people (ahh, Facebook is a wonderful thing).

We had a ton of people over on Sunday afternoon/evening for a big cookout. Highlight of the afternoon for the kidlets was running through the sprinkler. That's Ari in the purple. (And yeh, ignore the crazy date.)



Toward the end of the evening, we remembered that we needed to change the outdoor signs our church uses (which are stored in our basement) so that they could be put back on display with our next coming event. When we were done, I struck my best Vanna White pose...



We went to my aunt and uncle's house for a picnic on Monday. Before we left our house, I wanted to get a picture of Ari in her oh-so-cute outfit. I let her pack a bag of toys to keep her occupied in the car, and she thought she was hot stuff, trotting around with that backpack and her hands full of extra toys that didn't quite fit. And of course, seeing her with that backpack made me imagine her going off to her first day of school... which is only a little over a year away. Craziness. (And in case you're wondering, wearing socks with her sandals was HER idea, not mine. I managed to talk her out of the socks later.)



And Tony jumped in on a picture...



I stole the rest of these pics from my mom's FB page. Here's a 4-generation picture... my Grampa, me, my mom, and Ari...



And Ari and her Grampa (my dad)...



My cousin's daughter Emma (who is just shy of 2 years old) and Ari... I think this picture is so cute. They both adored each other.



Hope you all had a lovely Memorial Day weekend!