Vitamin Levels Checked? Check!

Have you had your vitamin D levels checked recently? How about B12? Iron? Are you feeling tired and fuzzy headed? Well, of course I am, I'm a full time mother of five! Well, consider this your own personal wake up call... because vitamin deficiency really can be blamed for a lot if you suffer from it. Apparently it's not uncommon either.

I went to see a dermatologist for a completely unrelated issue and the very thorough doctor made a subtle observation and ordered the blood work. Good thing she did because my vitamin levels were scary-low. So now I'm taking massive doses of Vit D, Vit B12, and iron. It's too soon to feel any difference but it will be interesting to note any differences over time.

Get your vitamin levels checked - you'll be glad you did.

Thyroid FNA Bruise is Ugly

Day #3 after the FNA.
Yikes, it looks like a really weirdly shaped love bite... either that or someone tried to strangle me!

Last night I wore a scarf to parent teacher night for obvious reasons, I didn't want my daughters' teachers to think of either option. It might be a good idea to borrow a turtleneck or something for the next few days.

Poked Again

On Sunday I got poked again... FNA on my thyroid. The doctor didn't want to touch the whatever-is-is in my parotid because it's touching a major artery and the risk of bleeding is too high. Two weeks until the results. Tik. Tok.

The statistics about thyroid growths/nodules/tumors are pretty good. Most are "nothing" and even the cancerous lesions are highly treatable. I read something online about something like 50% of people dying of natural causes had some form of micro thyroid cancer. Makes you wonder if it's worth removing it if it's unlikely to ever cause harm? Living without a thyroid makes you dependent on medication for the rest of your life... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Almost Winter Catch Up

For the first time in years, it actually feels like winter in the Holyland and it's not even officially the season yet! That's good news for our sinking Lake Kinneret and possibly our water bills? We've had non-stop downpour for 48 hours. I love the rain. We don't get too much of it here so it's a blessing and a welcome change in scenery.

It's not yet Chanukkah holiday time and the kids are seemingly settled into their school routines. A is in 5th grade, M is in 3rd, Z is in kindergarten, and H is in pre-school. All looking good. We had a major glitch in Z's kindergarten with a new teacher. To cut a long story short... she was inexperienced and atrocious. She was fired and a new teacher has finally arrived. Here's to hoping..... Of course little E is still at home with me. She'll be 2 in January. Soooo not a baby anymore but that's a whole post in itself.

In the meantime, I'm wallowing a bit in my health worries. The lump behind my ear seems to be nothing more than an enlarged lymph node which prompted my surgeon and ENT to order further tests. During an ultrasound of my neck two suspicious growths were found. One in my thyroid and one in my parotid gland. The doctors were more concerned due to the fact that the growth has happened so quickly. My last ultrasound was about 9 months ago so we can see the growth pattern. I'm having FNAs done on both in about 3 weeks. We'll only know what the next step is when we know WHAT it is.....

It's baaaaaaaack... (hopefully not)

Nearly 9 months post-op removal of benign parotid tumor. During a conversation, with my mom, about how it's been almost 9 "whole" months since my whole ordeal with the parotid tumor, the surgery, and the  day hospital adventure I went to feel my scar from the incision and there it was. A hard round lump. It could be this, that, or whatever but I won't know anything until it's examined and tested.

Our local ENT ordered a FNA (fine needle aspiration) biopsy which is scheduled for next week. I'll also be consulting with my surgeon and getting an ultrasound.

In the photo, you can see the lump peeking out directly behind my tell tale partotidectomy and partial neck dissection surgery souvenir - it extends down from the front of my ear down my neck.

Summer Fun

It's hot hot hot summertime! What does a mama with 5 kids do in the oppressive Mid.Eastern heat?

Well... we go to the beach of course...

A, M & Z at the beach

 and do lots of art projects...

E coloring

Hot wax art

and eat junk food....

H eating

and visit the zoo....

Z and a penguin

Bringing New Meaning to Scary Parenting

I was blessed with a pretty cool gift. Usually I'm in Dream Land within minutes after my head hits the pillow. My DH can attest to the fact that I fall asleep most evenings while we try to watch an episode of this show or that on DVD. Sadly, I haven't slept well at all this week. I'm deeply troubled and traumatized by the situation in our 3 year old daughter's pre-school. This is our 3rd year with the pre-school as our son was there for 2 years and 3 year old daughter has been there until now. It has been a rough year dealing with a difficult population of parents. There have been many incidences of parents verbally attacking our teachers - the latest incident occurred on Sunday when a grandmother entered the school and called our teachers, "Nazis" and told our helper to "drop dead", then she attacked one of the children and screamed in her ear. The teachers were both left in shambles, sobbing, and even saying that they can't take it anymore. I'm horrified to admit that my daughter has seen and heard behavior that is very damaging to a young child. I've taken the time to come and observe both inside and outside of the pre-school. There are 4 children who exhibit consistent disturbed behavior and violent outbursts. Though I am worried,  I have been constantly assured that everything is under control and the violent children are receiving the help that they need.

While I respect the teachers, some of the parents are scary and possibly dangerous. I believe that a number of them must be physically and verbally abusing their children at home because their behavior reflects it and I'm scared of them! As I was preparing to leave the premises yesterday morning, one of the problematic mothers, who, in the past I have witnessed  screaming at our teachers, accosted me and began shouting at me and accusing me because she wrongly thought I was "against" the mother who has been abusing our teacher all year. Two other mothers joined in and began yelling at me. I was shocked by the language they used so freely next to young children and equally appalled by their lack of reason and respect. After mulling it over, it's obvious that I can't leave my daughter in a place where such abuse occurs daily. These feelings arose even before I found out that one of the parents has threatened a teacher with a gun, and a different father (who is in prison) threatened a teacher. We need an armed guard to protect the school from crazy parents. As long as the problematic parents have access to my child, I am worried for our safety.

I'm one of many parents. I'm the 4th in line to pull our child out... and I'm guessing more will follow. It's very sad. The teacher called me and told me that I'm wrong for letting the "bad parents" win. She said, "We need children from good homes to make the pre-school better." Why should I leave my child in a school that the teacher doesn't want to be? Sorry, I can't stick around to make your jungle a better place....