As for work....a bit of bad news is I have had to take time off - 3 weeks for now and possibly much longer. It is for a good cause though....and that is the really good news....there appears to be an actual reason and cure for my lifelong eczema. I don't have the typical eczema some people get on their elbows and hands and maybe knees. No, I get it head to toe and in various stages. Well there is a reason for that. A dermatologist from California (Dr. Rapaport) has determined that the skin becomes addicted to steroid creams and this causes rebound atopic dermatitis (aka eczema). Meaning I had eczema as a child, but when it got bad in middle school and I was put on steroid creams it kept coming back, only worse and in more places. Eczema itself was always known as a childhood condition. All children grew out of it. According to Dr. Rapaport that changed in the 1950's when steroid creams were first prescribed. The children who were placed on it and used for longer than 2 weeks often developed this life long eczema. When in fact it was an addiction to the steroid cream itself. And when one stopped using it, their bodies would go into withdrawal causing a flare up which in turn caused the person to return to the dermatologist for something stronger. This has been the story of my life. The good news is once a person goes through the withdrawal phase, they no longer suffer from any eczema (he so far has a 100% cure rate). However the bad news is the withdrawal phase is worse than the person has suffered up to thus far and can last for 1-2 years on average! Yikes! Now I can deal with this for 1-2 more years knowing I will never have to go through this again, BUT I am not sure I will be able to work through this. So far 5 weeks into withdrawal and I am a mess! I did not sleep the first 4 weeks - averaging 3 hours per night and still working full time. So I had to take time off - I was a zombie. Now I have figured out a good cocktail of meds that actually have helped me sleep the last 5 nights for at least 7 hours! And they are all over the counter! Just Benadryl, Tylenol, and Motrin. I tried reducing the Tylenol last night but woke up at 5 am. But right now my skin feels like it is on fire. The pain is sometimes more than I want to be able to handle! My skin is sloughing off in areas and crusty in others (sorry to be so gross). I can barely get up to go to the bathroom - moving hurts my skin all over. Hubby wants me to take the Tylenol and Motrin during the day as well, but if this is to go on for a year, then I refuse to take those meds multiple times a day for that long - would like to see my kidneys and liver come out of this OK.
So if I have to take even more time off, that puts off KY so much longer! I am praying for things to change for the better. I am going to try to get a grip on taking really good care of myself here. That includes taking an assortment of minerals, vitamins, and homeopathy remedies to support my immune system and skin, and of course returning to the 100% all natural diet. This is a challenge because even though I have finally been able to sleep, I still have no energy whatsoever. Right now my big adventure on a daily basis is going out to get the mail. Today we got our neighbor's mail mixed in with ours - had to walk down the road a bit to put it in their box and that wore me out! This is very discouraging, but according to the support group I have joined for my steroid withdrawal, this fatigue is completely normal as the body is literally trying to build new skin from the bottom to the top.
During this week off I have gotten on top of the kids with their schoolwork finally. We are playing catch up for slacking this past year. I am doubling their workload daily - and they actually enjoyed it today. I am sure that will change in the future. But for the next 6 months we need to do extra work. On top of their schooling, we have developed a chore list for them and an allowance. This was in preparation for my year of misery knowing I would not be feeling up to much housework. So all cleaning got divided 3 ways and let me tell you - for the past 3 weeks they do all their chores and the house has never been cleaner! They earn a set amount each week - however if they do not do their daily chores, they get a $1 taken out - and if they fight with each other either verbally or physically, then it is another dollar for each incidence. Surprisingly I have only had to take away $1 from each of the girls once out of the past 3 weeks. It is amazing when you find something that really works when it comes to discipline! :) They have been so good!!
As for other things....the kids were in gymnastics for 3 months and loved it! Took them out when we thought we were going to be going to KY this spring....now that we are not, will have to look at our much smaller budget and determine if we can afford to put them back in. They are really hoping to go back. We are budgeting and praying! Otherwise, looking at staying in Albany for a bit longer. That means planning for a garden this summer. Too tired to think about it right now, but will have to consider it soon!
I will leave off with some pictures!
Walking up our future driveway
This is a wider part of our road in KY
Thunder running around the pond - having the time of his life off leash
The HUGE snowman hubby built with the kids!!
The kids building forts in the living room
G all snug in her fort - with a lantern and all!
