Seconding fairytalemama's ideas. Love the pajamagram in particular.

Glad you are taking her in. You'll feel better knowing. I hear you on being sick of sick. Since New Year's Eve, we've had Flu A, strep and general misery here with two of us hospitalized. Kids are finally better but I can't seem to kick it. It's awful.

Yes, I'd go in, too. I first thought of cough variant asthma, too, but especially since you've had the flu at your house (aka plague, LOL), I'd want someone to listen to her lungs and do a pulse ox. (Unless you have a pulse ox at home?) The flu that's going around is nasty for kids, and it caused quite a flare up of DS's cough variant asthma. We needed to use the nebulizer a lot. You want to be sure your little one is getting enough oxygen. I don't have med recommendations - we don't do cough meds, due to asthma. Other than the nebulizer, of course. I hope she feels better soon!

We don't furniture shop much either. Our first sofa was with us for 12 years, and we replaced it only when the allergist and pulmonologist suggested/strongly recommended that we move to leather furniture for allergy/asthma reasons for DS. It is still in use, in another home, and looks great. Sadly, I have been less than thrilled with our (I felt) pricey leather furniture. We've had it 6 years, but I feel it should be holding up better - the bones are great, the cushions are fine, but the leather on the seats was wearing badly. We are actually having the cushions re-covered this week, which is a lot less than replacing the furniture itself - hopefully the new leather on the cushions will hold up better.

Wow! That's not a purse - that's a carry along condo!

It is striking. Each time I've seen it, it's made me pause, enlarge it, and just ... look. And it's even better with the story behind it. It is where it belongs, in your home. So, yes, if you can take it as one of your three items - do it. :) My three items would all be practical - meds, papers, that sort of thing - though everything could be replaced, and I'd walk out with nothing if necessary. If I had to choose three impractical things, it's harder to narrow down.

I have admired that painting, when it was visible in a pic you posted for some other reason. It is beautiful.

Hard boiled eggs.

I love ironed sheets, love the feel. I don't do it though. Not enough time or energy. My stepmom does it routinely. :)

Dh's amazing dinner. Adoption. From lots of angles - our family is huge now. :) Clean sheets.

Like you've already said, I'd avoid nuts for now, and go see the pediatrician on Monday. You'll probably need to see a board certified allergist, and that appt may take longer. You could ask the pedi for an epipen, just in case, on Monday, till you get that appt with the allergist. A heads up, if she's going to have allergy testing done, she'll need to be off of anti-histamines for some time (2 weeks, if I remember right) for the test to be effective. So if you give anti-histamines as needed for some other reason, be mindful of that if you have upcoming allergy testing (skin prick testing is what I'm thinking of here, I don't think it will have an effect on blood tests, but you'll probably want SPT). I hope it's *not* an allergy surfacing for you. Life with multiple food allergies is challenging.

A clean house. Star Wars. :) Bedtime.

Oops. Double post. Double the positive vibes!

Sending good energy and best wishes.

Thank you!

For a doctor who knows how to help, for the meds that will help. For a son who walked in the kitchen and made dinner for the whole family - first time ever. Completely unprompted.

Yes, hire someone to help. Hiring help isn't an admission of defeat. It's using your resources to do what needs to be done in the most efficient way possible. Not sure if you were worried that it would feel that way, but in case you were - don't. If you can afford to hire help - do it! As for who to hire - I'd go with both. The babysitter to do miscellaneous helper-type things (meal prep, errands, anything that will assist you), and an excellent cleaning crew to whip it all into shape. Do you need to consider professional painters, to finish up any painting, as well?

Absolutely heartbroken for your sister, and for all of you. :(

My doc recommends Thorne products. DS, DH and I take their Basic Detox Nutrients.

Flu here, and I was in the hospital for it along with 90 other patients a few weeks ago. Yes, 90 patients admitted. That's a lot for our small hospital. Hospital staff was all talking about the ineffective vaccine this year, due to the mutations. If he's just coming down with it - Tamiflu?

I will be listening in, as my info is scant - though I'll share the small bit I have. :) My doc Rx's a scrip for folate - I take that daily. If you want the name, I'll find it for you (I take a lot of meds, so I don't remember the exact names/doses of everything). Ostensibly, it is to help prevent cardio issues. I also have a problem detoxing certain meds, and I believe it's related to the MTHFR issue, though it could be that I'm remembering it that way only because we found out about both at the same time. Essentially, I cannot take certain meds that need to detox through a particular pathway in the liver - I lack the genes. Twice, I've almost died from meds. :( You might research that a bit, or I'll try to come back and post with more info on it. At the moment, I am still (slowly) recovering from flu, and it's been a slow slog (I have adrenal insufficiency complicating things), so I know this isn't as helpful as it could be. My brain is not quite firing on all cylinders. If you have specific questions, let me know and I'll try to answer more.

Today I am grateful for blue skies and bright sunshine. It has been so dreary lately, the contrast is invigorating. Good coffee. Mmmmm. And I'm grateful for good friends. :) Binip, I loved your whole post, but had to quote the above. I could have written the same. :) I hope that my kids will have a similar experience in their 20s.

I have three extended family members who have done this, and it has been hugely successful for each of them on different levels. One was about 15 years ago, the other two were about 8 years ago. All three have seen positive changes in energy level and quality of life, to varying degrees. They each have their own issues which impact the success - 2 have substance abuse issues, one has ongoing chronic health issues - and it's hard to say how their individual issues have impacted their current situations. I think a lot (of the potential success) might be dependent on genetics and one's constitution (for example, I don't recover from surgeries well, and suspect it would be a tough road for me, though I could be wrong). The most successful of the three did have some addiction issues following the surgery, and needed a lot of support in terms of treatment for that. But she had those issues (actively) prior to the surgery. It's a tough decision. :grouphug:

Louise L Hay? She re-released a book along with a workbook around that time.

oops :)