Cats & Bats & Healthy Chats - October 2024 W.I.S.H. Thread

[PollyannaMom]

My motivation today has been that they were fixing the internet on my street, so I couldn't waste time on screens. I walked on the treadmill, cleaned the yucky filters on both the clothes washer and the dishwasher, and put together a homemade macaroni salad with much less salt than the store bought stuff.

 

[ShannyMcB]

Motivation this week is to not eat my weight in junk food. I have tomorrow off then Wednesday and Thursday is just meeting after meeting after meeting so I need to make an effort to bring a decent lunch and snacks so that I have something to munch that isn’t straight up junk.
Getting near that weight too where clothes are fitting different and back hurts a smidge…but I also feel like my feet aren’t hitting the ground evenly again so that might be part of the back problems. But it’s kind of a trade off because I have been able to take longish walks at work outdoors and on the treadmill without getting winded under I really speed up. It’s kind of an odd place to be visually appearing less in shape but being able to do more….will see how my blood work comes out. If my numbers are good I’ll be happy with the increased stamina and increased tummy but if the numbers aren’t good I’ll have to start really paying attention again.

 

[Oneanne]

I am not motivated as much either right now. I need to get moving as I do not want to gain this weight back that I lost being sick.

I finally heard from DD's doctor about all the blood work and testing they did for her antibodies. She has officially been diagnosed with Hypogammaglobulinemia. Basically she has low antibodies and this is why she gets sick so much. They are running more bloodwork this week and then she is getting the DTap and pheumovax vaccines. Then in 4 weeks they are going to do blood work to check to see if he is retaining the antibodies for them. Right now they are low and should not be. If the tests come back good then it is just Hypogammaglobulinemia and we will talk about her being on maintenance antibiotics. If they come back low again then she has CVID and will most likely need antibody replacement every month for the rest of her life. Having the low antibodies causes a lot of issues with your lungs and since she is still coughing she wants to do a CT scan of her lungs. She said infections can hide. She is also talking with her pulmonologist to see about doing other testing as well. One of the tests would be to take fluid from her lungs to test it for infections. Lots going on here with DD but we are both happy that we are finally getting answers. It has just taken us years and it was all by accident too. She doesn't tend to get a lot of infections but gets a lot of viruses. We were at the pediatrician when she was sick 2 weeks ago and she had a break down and crying because know one ever knows why she is sick or what she is sick with. This is a huge puzzle piece for her.

Wow, what a complex thing to unwind. You've done such a good job sticking with it.

 

[Oneanne]

TUESDAY TOPIC: Who are your people?



A couple things have come up lately that have gotten me to thinking about my family ancestry. One was a recent update sent from Ancestry on my genetic make-up from a blood test I did about five years ago - it changed things quite a bit. Another was a documentary done by a lady exploring her Irish heritage, having been the third generation of her family to live in Minnesota.

How much do you know about your family ancestry?
Have you ever done family tree research or done one of the blood tests?
Is there anything you've learned that was surprising?
Or anything that has influenced your quest for more healthy living?

 

[PollyannaMom]

I've never done the testing, but I know quite a bit about my dad's side. - My aunt had a pretty extensive paper tree that she copied for me when she realized I might be interested in keeping it up. Then the websites came along, and another uncle got into that when he retired and has done some work online which he's shared as well.

 

[piglet1979]

How much do you know about your family ancestry?
Have you ever done family tree research or done one of the blood tests?
Is there anything you've learned that was surprising?
Or anything that has influenced your quest for more healthy living?

Both sides of my family has looked into our family tree. If you ever go to West Virginia, they have a historical sign about my family. There are tons of articles about it. Here is one of them. https://clayfamilysociety.net/shawnee-indians-clay-family-massacre/. This is on my dad's side. Heritage wise on my dad's is really a mixture of western Europe. English, German, Irish and I know there are more.

On my mom's side it is a bit easier. My grandfather is Italian and my grandmother is Hungarian. My mom always said she was a hungry Italian. My great grandparents (the ones from Italy) both immigrated to the US as kids. My great grandparents were both about my size. I think my great grandfather was only about 5 foot and my great grandmother was about 4'10". When we would see them one would hug you so tight and the other pinched your cheeks. It was great. My mom's cousin has done a lot of research on this side. She was even able to find when the signed the book at Ellis Island. There is not as much on my grandma's side though. She did tell me that once that her great grandparents (I think maybe one more generation back) were royalty in Hungry before having to escape in the middle of the night to the US. No one knows how true this is as she had Alzheimer's at the time and liked to tell stories. The family does think that some of it was true just not the royalty part but had something to do with the royal family.

I have not done any of the tests but my sister has. Nothing really new on it but got a better idea of all of the nationalities we are.

 

[piglet1979]

Wow, what a complex thing to unwind. You've done such a good job sticking with it.

Thank you. For DD when I told her yesterday, you can see the weight lift from her shoulders. The last time we were at the doctors (about 2 weeks ago) she started crying because she was sick again and all they said was it was a virus. It was hard for because know knew why she was sick so often and a lot of the time they don't know what it is. This was a huge boast for her mentally that there are now some answers. She still has to deal with sometimes it is just a virus but she at least knows the why. This was a huge piece of the puzzle for her.

 

[Oneanne]

My Ancestry results changed from 25% British, 25% Swedish and the rest a Northern European mix to 23% German, 21% Central European, 17% Danish and blessed be 11% Scottish, plus a mix of European bits and bobs. Quite a change but at the same time nothing really new as from family I've always understood my mom's side to be Danish and German and my dad's side to be English and Norwegian, with a bit of French mixed in from his mom.

One of my brothers did genealogy research quite a while ago on the Fisk side but I've always felt he got to a point where he tapped in to work a Lewellen Fisk had done but didn't necessarily track our lineage in it. There were several Fisk's in Salem at the time of the witch trials, Charles was a doctor and Thomas was a lawyer who sat on the jury of the last trial and then wrote a dissertation on why the verdict was wrong.

As for tracing health, nothing stands out, except that both grandmothers had forms of dementia but they both lived until their late 80's.

I haven't had an interest in visiting Germany but would go if the opportunity arose. I do want to go to Scandinavia and am thinking it would be great to do so thru a cruise.

 

[newski_mom]

I've never done research, but I've been thinking about it recently. I have a lot of general information in my head mainly from my mom, but I'd like to work with her a bit to try to get some of it organized on paper or saved somewhere on my computer. She has much more knowledge of it than I do for sure and I'd like to learn more before it's too late. Same with me passing it on to my kids - they don't know nearly as much as I do, so I'd like to get it down somewhere for their benefit too.

I was recently as a work event with a distant relative from my dad's side we got talking about it. We definitely have different thoughts about how everyone was related. I talked to my mom about it later and I think we were both right about some things and both wrong about some things! That's kind of what made me start wanting to research it better to get it clear in my head and to be able to pass it along if anyone would be interested.

 

[Oneanne]

What are you woohoo-ing today?

 

[PollyannaMom]

The fog burned off and it looks like it's going to be a lovely sunny day here. WooHoo-ing that I've already walked and made a list of things to accomplish today.

 

[newski_mom]

I'm woohoo-ing that I'm feeling pretty ready to leave for our fall trip on Friday! Things at work have been kind of crazy, but mainly because I'm trying to over prepare for when I get back. That's when my busy time really ramps up, so I'm trying to think of anything that could help when I get back.

First thing this morning, I made 4 lists - work and personal for before we leave and after we get back. I feel so much better when it's all laid out in front of me. I can now work through the lists of home and work things before we leave and hopefully get all of them checked off!

I'm also woohoo-ing because DD2 finally texted me back. She's my challenging one as far as communicating goes. We get back on the 3rd of November and DH's 60th birthday is that week. I'm trying to get tickets booked to a show for all of us and I was having problems finding out if she and her boyfriend were going to be able to go. She finally confirmed this morning that they can both go, so I'm super excited - I hope to be able to keep this as a surprise to DH, but we'll see how that part goes. Either way, it should be a fun evening!!

 

[Oneanne]

Woohoo... I'm taking my Neice and Nephew-in-law to a thank-you-for-watching-the-cats dinner tonight at my favorite fancy restaurant. Really looking forward to it.

Woohoo... I changed up my design for the afghan again, and think I've got something I really like. Yes, ha ha... the key word in there is "again". My problem is trying to work with a lot of colors and make it look random but also make sense. I've reduced the size of the squares by one round, bringing the color in each down to four, and I'm doing groupings with the same color on the outside, even if there are different colors inside. Hopefully this will work, but it is still likely this afghan will never be complete.

And also woohoo... we are having clear skies this morning.

 

[Oneanne]

What are three things you are thankful for today?

 

[PAsFab5]

Hello Everyone!!! Happy Thursday!!

For topic Tuesday I know absolutely nothing about my heritage. My family has a lot of…questionable life decisions and to be honest I am terrified to start digging. My sister and I ALMOST got the courage to do a DNA ancestry test a few years back but in the end decided against it.

Whooohoooo Wednesday is that this has been a great week for me with both eating and exercise. The scale is moving and I am so thankful. I prayed during church Sunday for God to give me the strength to say no to food, I felt so silly at the time but he listened and it’s going great this week!

Thankful for my family and the fact that I get to spend time with so many of them this weekend doing fun fall/Halloween activities.

Thankful for this beautiful fall weather we are having.

Thankful for the ability physically, mentally and financially that I am able to travel next weekend for our girls trip to Disney

 

[newski_mom]

Thankful for my upcoming trip!
Thankful for the beautiful weather we've been having - although it's hard to believe I'll be driving to work in the day soon!
Thankful for my community that plans lots of activities to keep people who want to be involved fun things to do!

 

[Oneanne]

Hello Everyone!!! Happy Thursday!!

For topic Tuesday I know absolutely nothing about my heritage. My family has a lot of…questionable life decisions and to be honest I am terrified to start digging. My sister and I ALMOST got the courage to do a DNA ancestry test a few years back but in the end decided against it.

Whooohoooo Wednesday is that this has been a great week for me with both eating and exercise. The scale is moving and I am so thankful. I prayed during church Sunday for God to give me the strength to say no to food, I felt so silly at the time but he listened and it’s going great this week!

Thankful for my family and the fact that I get to spend time with so many of them this weekend doing fun fall/Halloween activities.

Thankful for this beautiful fall weather we are having.

Thankful for the ability physically, mentally and financially that I am able to travel next weekend for our girls trip to Disney

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Oneanne]

Thankful for my upcoming trip!
Thankful for the beautiful weather we've been having - although it's hard to believe I'll be driving to work in the day soon!
Thankful for my community that plans lots of activities to keep people who want to be involved fun things to do!

Hope you have a wonderful trip as well!

 

[Oneanne]

I am thankful I have a massage today and a chiro appointment tomorrow, because boy do I need both.

I am thankful to have had my Neice and NIL so close the past (almost) two years, it is the thing I am going to miss the most when I move in the Spring.

I am thankful to not have any have-to-dos this weekend, both days are totally open without even any want-to-do plans.

 

[piglet1979]

I am woohooing have the day off yesterday. I had to get an oil change and then I had to take DD to one doctor for a vaccine and bloodwork that was all the way on the other side of town. Then home for DD to go to class and the head out to another doctors appointment to get the other vaccine. So instead of stressing about work I just took the day off.

After the appointments I took DD to her riding lesson. I was so happy that I was able to see her ride. She usually drives herself now but we didn't have time to drop me off between the appointment and her lesson. After that I took her to her college class because again no time to go home between. This worked out great because this class was at the campus that is on the high school of the school the or school was playing first round of the boys soccer playoffs and I wanted to go and support the kids that DS had played with for 3 years and a good friends son was playing in. So it all worked out great.

I am thankful that friends son is ok. He got hit in the face from a player on the other team. He came out shortly and went back in and finished the game. Unfortunately, we lost and the season is over. After the coaches talked to the boys, my friends son came over and was very dizzy, his face felt numb, hads were getting tingley, he could barely open his eyes and they he started to shake uncontrollably. It was pretty scary. The head coach called the athletic trainer to come back to the field and thankfully the assistant coach is a paramedic. They got my fiends son to settle his breathing to be able to assess the situation. After about 30 minutes he was back to normal and they headed home. She is a single mom, so I stayed with her to make sure she didn't need me. He is still doing great today but has some pain in his nose which is to be expected from the hit he got. It sounds like the pain, emotions of being his last game and stuff got to him a bit and I think he had a panic attack. He told his mom that he just realized high school is almost over and he is having a lot of lasts right now. He is also in marching band. She said he feels like he took high school for granted. I think this is what happened with DS last May. It just hits them hard when they realize that things will change soon. But thankfully he is ok.