Of flu and washing machines

We've been hit by the all nasty flu bug here.  As it has made its slow torturous way through the ranks, we've been "enjoying" it's visit for over a week now.  Thankfully Mamma (me) only had the really bad part for 4 days.  So hard to take care of the littles when Mamma is down and out.

sick kid pile up aka tic-tac-toe 3 sick kids in a row

It seems the boys just had a cough - which I've now dubbed "The Cough" because of how violent it is, at first.  Then I got The Cough with the flu followed by Tabby the next day.  Then the boys joined us in flu land.  (I think Frank has only had The Cough - which has lasted over a month for him.)

On a positive note, we've gotten lots of reading done.  In between coughing fits, I've read most of By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder to the boys.  Hunter has also immersed himself in wiring and plumbing books in between naps.  Solomon has wanted to mainly sit in my lap.

Tuesday the scene was still:

But yesterday we had progress!  We had a whole day with no fevers.  And ... Hunter felt well enough to convert an old toolbox into a pump.  Solomon actually had a terrible day but he is much better today. 

Still, we're moving more slowly than normal and having to take lots of breaks.  And I've got to get more food into Tabby - she's lost 10 lbs. and sure didn't need to.

It's a good think I didn't have a bunch of New Year's resolutions planned or I would have been crushed as it feels like the month is almost over and I have nothing productive to show for it.

I've taken over animal care while Tabby has been sick.  It's really quite nice being out in the early morning, in the quiet, breathing the fresh air and seeing the sun coming up.

Last week I was so surprised to see that the daffodils were coming up already!  This is pretty early but the weather has been bizarre this winter.  Really warm temps alternating with really cold temps.  Our camellias have hardly bloomed because of the warmer weather and now the daffodils think they are supposed to start.

Back to the flu, I've been treating us with mostly natural remedies.  Started out with Elderberry syrup.  (See my post last year on this wonderful syrup.)  And lots of vitamin C.  The syrup usually knocks anything right out.  But not this time ...

I remembered when we had swine flu 2 years ago, my friend that was staying with us had made a garlic salve - something she called "GOOT."  (Imagine 6 kids all lying sick across the living room and 2 mammas trying to take care of them while alternating being sick themselves.)  Garlic has been shown scientifically to kill influenza viruses.  It boosts the immune system and fights complications like bronchitis. 

I couldn't remember C's exact recipe so I got out one of my most useful books:  Be Your Own "Doctor" by Rachel Weaver.  The author says garlic salve can clear up coughs, colds, and even pneumonia and RSV!   Here is my summary of the author's garlic salve recipe (p. 94):

Blend at high speed in your blender:  1/3 cup coconut oil, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 8 cloves peeled garlic, and 5 drops of lavender essential oil.  Then strain through sieve.  Store in refrigerator.

Put on the bottoms of your feet at least 4 times a day.  (Pull socks on so that you don't slip and fall all over the place!)  It will work even faster if you put it on your chest and back.  Frank did this and it knocked the worst of his cough out in less than a day!

The children seem to be "cursed" with my ultra sensitive nose though, and we simply couldn't tolerate the garlic salve on anything but our feet.

Since we chickened out about using the garlic salve on our chests, we used Beeyoutiful's Winter Breeze Vapor Rub, which I think smells wonderful, on our chests and necks.

I have a cool mist diffuser that I have been running an essential oil blend called RC by Young Living along with lavender essential oil (for respiratory).  I alternate that with Young Living Thieves essential oil (for germ killing).

When Frank felt he was relapsing, I gave him a tincture by Mountain Meadow Herbs called Olive Leaf Extract.  This is a really good immune booster.  He thought it helped a lot.

The kids and I are also on heavy rounds of Sovereign Silver which is a natural antibiotic.  I even read that you can use a little in a nebulizer to treat breathing issues.  I almost had to use this with Tabby.  But she ended up being OK with a mix of almond oil with lavender essential oil rubbed on her neck/throat.

Finally, apple cider vinegar (with the mother - like Braggs brand) is great for fighting the germs/detoxing the system.  Tabby likes her's in tea form:  8 oz. hot water, 1-2 tbls. apple cider vinegar, and honey to taste.  I've been drinking the Trim Healthy Mama's "Good Girl Moonshine" which has it in it, along with ginger which is also helpful, so I just keep drinking that.  (I did have to cut the ginger in half though, because I felt it was making me cough more.)

We've done some other things too, but I think that's enough of that stuff for this post.

the goats waiting to be fed and milked

On another note, on December 20 our new-only-2-months-old washing machine stopped working!  Oh how disappointing!  And here it is ... January 14 and it STILL NOT WORKING.

Briefly - it is a Samsung front loading washing machine.  (When working, I love it.)  But because it's under warranty, we decided to follow up with customer service to get it fixed.  It has been about impossible to get anyone out here to fix it.  One repair company said they could come January 21.  (Which back in December that seemed really far away.)  The other repair company that Samsung referred us to insists that we are not in their service area.  Samsung insists that we are.  How about a duel to decide?

Finally Samsung decided to just get Lowes to bring out a replacement washing machine and take the broken one.  Well of course that takes processing and whatever else. (Papers must sit on people's desk for long periods of time I assume.)  Samsung should finish their part by the end of this week.  Then Lowes has 5 days next week to get the washing machine to us.

Painfully long agonizing lesson learned:  do not buy ANY brand of appliance unless you know for sure that it is pretty easy to get quick warranty service in that area!

Thankfully we've got a laundromat about 10 minutes away which we've gotten to know way too well.  Because we have a ton of laundry - especially with the flu.  Frank's been having to stop after work to do it.  (Just for the washing machine - our dryer still works so we can do that part at home.)

Right before I got sick, the boys and I enjoyed a field trip to the laundromat.  We were the only ones there so Hunter had plenty of time and space to thoroughly study all the machines.  (He's loved washing machines since he was only a few months old.)

Sure hope the broken washing machine - and all traces of illness - both leave this house asap!

Solomon's pathology results

I took Solomon to the doctor (his surgeon) this morning and he got all 7 stitches removed from his cheek.  I must say he was very brave!  It was obvious that some of the stitches were hurting as they came out, but he screwed his eyes up tight and kept silent.  The doctor marveled he had never had a young child handle that procedure without crying before.  Yay Solomon!  A stoic warrior in the making!

The pathology report came back and nothing malignant was found, thank God.  The cyst was a "ruptured cyst" which is explains the second cyst that was found.  The doctor hopes that he removed everything and there was nothing he couldn't see that had spread, so that Solomon doesn't have to go through this again.

Healing should take about 6 months and Solomon will have a very cool/tough looking little scar.  He can said it's from when he was a pirate doing all that sword fighting!  (He's actually quite vicious with a play sword.) 

The doctor told me to be sure to put sunscreen on the area, before Solomon goes outside.  Because the UV rays can slow healing and make the scar more pronounced. 

Solomon has a little bandage on his face now, but after it comes off, we don't need to put anything back on.  He has a follow up appointment in 6 weeks, but the doctor said that if the area looked really good, then I could just cancel the appointment.

So ... now back to our regularly scheduled program ...  (Hahahaha - and what would that be?!  Life is a roller coaster for sure ...)

The Eye of Tabby - Photography for the week of December 27

Happy new year!  Here are Tabby's photos for the week.  The fire one is my favorite - especially right now because it's so chilly!  I also really like #5 - the one with the tree and all the fog.  (She took that at my mother-in-laws house.)

 

Solomon's surgery

Solomon and I left home in the wee hours this morning and arrived at Rex Hospital at 5:30 a.m.  He was fascinated how long it stayed dark in the mornings!  (He usually doesn't wake up until after 7:00.)  Today was the day he was scheduled to have the cyst on his cheek removed.

There was lots of checking in and waiting in different locations in the hospital:

Solomon and Lammy (confiscated from Tabby) in the 2nd waiting area

After about an hour it was time to go to pre-op.  The nurse asked lots of questions and then gave Solomon a most fashionable hospital outfit to wear:

super sporty socks

double ID bracelets - I got to wear one too

The nurse brought him a blanket that had been warmed - he loved it!:

Solomon and I had a lot of fun talking each other while we waited.  It occurred to me that that was something that we rarely had - extended and uninterrupted talk time!  He asked some questions about Lilly at the hospital.

 The anaesthesiologist was concerned about how Solomon would react when they took him away from me so she gave him some sort of relaxing medicine to drink.  He got a bit silly from it.  Another nurse then pushed Solomon on his hospital bed with wheels to the surgery area.  He thought a bed with wheels was pretty interesting!  I got to walk with them and then stay until time for surgery.  They were very punctual and took him at 7:15 - right when they said they would.

Surgery took about an hour or so, and then the surgeon came to talk to me.  He said that when he cut in to remove Solomon's cyst, he found that there was a second one starting to grow, below the first.  So he removed that too.  (Pathology is testing them to be sure there was nothing malignant.)  Because he had to make a bigger incision than planned, he used regular stitches to sew up Solomon's cheek.  He will have the stitches removed on Monday.

Apparently when Solomon woke up, he started asking for me.  A nurse came to get me as soon as they thought it was OK to bring me back to him.  Another nurse was standing and holding him and he was so groggy but his expression was "Who in the world are you and why are you holding me?"  They had me climb right up on his bed and then handed him to me.  Awwww ... he was extra snuggly. 

Then an older nurse pushed us to another department.  She was super fast!  I felt like we were flying down the hallways on that bed with wheels.  Solomon's cuteness brought all sorts of smiles and waves to him from people walking by.

Then he got a little time to recover:

A couple nurses complimented him on being so good during the whole process.  One said he was the best behaved 3 year old they had ever had in there.  (Score!  That was a "mommy moment" for sure!)  Another said if all little kids acted like Solomon, then she would be happy to work in pediatrics.  (I guess most kids are probably really scared while there.  Solomon was some - but he is like me - and holds in his emotions pretty well.)

Then it was time to have a small snack, get dressed, and then leave the hospital!  We got rolled out in a wheel chair.  That was a bit weird to me but they insisted I sit in it and hold him.  We drove out of the hospital parking lot at 10:00!

The inflated glove was a turkey - Solomon thought it was so neat

He fell asleep on the drive home and then napped for a couple hours.  His face was a bit sore when he ate and he was slower and wanted to be held more than usual.  But I think his recovery is going nicely.

Thank you so much, all of you, that prayed for him!

Wonderful toy trains in Belhaven, NC

We finally made it to Lilly's grave earlier this week and gave her her Lilly-colored Christmas tree. It will need a fresh coat of white spray paint for next year:

On the way we saw Tow Mater (Cars movie) parked by some huge chickens!

The next day, after a most satisfying meal at Gingerbread Bakery (in Belhaven, NC) we saw that a storefront across the road that had a sign "Toy Trains of Belhaven" and decided to check it out:

Then we walked in to 300 square feet of wonderful trains!  Wow!!!!!

the man in the plaid shirt was running the train display - he knew so much about trains

 

Tabby doing the "required" hand signs required of today's teenagers posing for pictures

I really liked the wind-up trains from the 1930s

After we watched the trains a long time, Solomon was ready to go outside, so we left Frank and Hunter inside.  Tabby borrowed my camera and took a bunch of pictures.  Here are a few:

"I gotta secret, Mama!"

"This is MY mirror!" (this dog reminded us of our dog Dixie that died almost a year ago)

I told Tabby she needs to get back to doing portraits of people:

Hunter with his mind full of fascinating toy train studying

"Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections." - Daniel Boone