A Day With The Boy

The Boy and I finally got the chance to eat breakfast together yesterday.  We had planned to do it ever since he's been home from college, but our schedules (mainly his backward sleep schedule) got in the way.  He's also very bored and wanted to get out of the house so bad that he actually wanted to go with me when I went to my doctor appointment.  Since it was only a follow up appointment with the pulmonary doctor that had switched some of my asthma meds, I knew wouldn't take long, so I let him go with me.

On the way back home, we had to cross over the Cahaba River.  The river was really full and flowing strong after all the rain and there was some fog over it that looked really creepy and kind of cool so we stopped to check it out and take some pictures.  It was very muddy, which didn't matter much to me because I had on heavy rain boots, but the Boy had to be a little more creative avoiding the muddy puddles when he walked down the steep path.  He wouldn't let me take any pictures of him though.

Cahaba River - Mountain Brook, AL

Cahaba River

Cahaba River -Mountain Brook 

Cahaba River - Mountain Brook

Dress:  Velvet,  Rain Boots:  Michael Kors,  Cardigan:  Juicy Couture,  Scarf:  Portolano

I left the Boy in the waiting room when I went back to see the doctor.  I wasn't gone long and there was only one lady waiting in the waiting room when I left.  She was all the way on the other side, far away from the Boy.  When I came back out, the waiting room was full with an eighty year old couple sitting right across from the Boy staring at him and smiling and some other elderly women on either side of him.

He was sitting with his head hung down so far it almost touched his lap.  He didn't even look up at me when I came out.  Everybody else in the waiting room looked at me as I attempted to get the Boy's attention.  He was in shut down mode with too many strangers too close to him.  I wonder if any of them had tried to talk to him.  After assessing the situation, I reached my hand toward the Boy and snapped a couple of time and he jerked his head up. 

Poor boy!  He was ready to get out of there.  All eyes were on us as we left.  I need to teach him to pick up a magazine and pretend he's reading it when strangers get too close in the waiting room.  He would talk to them if they mentioned anything regarding computers, but then they would be stuck because he would go on and on about it.  

I saw him do the same thing when we were leaving his doctor appointment last week.  As Dr. W and I were talking and I was paying the bill at the receptionist window,  I looked around and the Boy was all the way on the other end of the waiting room near the door because there was a couple waiting on the other side near the receptionist where I was.  The couple was looking at the Boy and smiling.  It looked like he just wanted to crawl in the wall and hide.   I'm thinking it's time to work on some social skills again.  I wish there was something available for students on the spectrum at his college.  A few years from now there probably will be, but now there's nothing.  

After taking pictures of the river, the Boy and I headed to one of our favorite places.  Starbucks!  Vanilla Bean Frappuccino for the Boy and Coffee Frappuccino for me.

Vanilla Bean Frappuccino

Today we take the Boy back to college.  I'm going to miss him!

He did his own laundry with a little (okay ALOT) of encouragement.  He's a great folder.  I need him to fold my laundry because he does much better than I do.

Toxic

Cilantro

                                                 My levels                High Levels

Lead Detected 1210 ug/kg   H 1000 ug/kg ICPMS

Mercury Detected                 1263 ug/kg   H 400 ug/kg  ICPMS

You might have read my post here last week about the chelating green smoothie I'm drinking to try to flush some of the high levels of mercury out of my body.  I have been consuming large amounts of cilantro and reading anything I can find on the internet on the process of heavy metal elimination and mercury poisoning.  For a health obsessed person like me, this hasn't been fun.

Seriously, see my levels of mercury above.  Not to mention lead!  Your body is suppose to natural flush these things out so apparently my body is not doing the job or either I'm doing something that is putting large amounts of mercury in my body.  I don't eat fish so that's not where it's coming from.  I have one silver filling left, but could that produce toxic levels of mercury?  I had a mouth full of silver amalgams when I was 12 years old.  The more I read about them and mercury, the angrier I get about it.

I received the NAC from Life Extensions the other day and have started taking them.  This should also help my asthma and lung issues.  I wonder if my lung issues have any connection with the high mercury levels in my body?   I took one of these for the first time ever before bed the other night and I swear I could feel it working.  My entire body hurt.  I was afraid it was causing some kind of liver damage so I did some research and it actually saves the liver from toxins in your body.  Guess I had LOTs of toxins that night cause every time I've taken it since then it has had less of a noticeable effect.

I'm taking Chorella as well because it helps remove the mercury that the cilantro has pulled from wherever it is being stored (the brain among other places) and get it out of your body.  Apparently, if you don't flush it from your body, it will sit in the small intestines and will just get reabsorbed back into your body.

Mercury isn't the only heavy metal I have in my body.  Here's the report as well as the reccomendations on how to remove some of it.  As you can see, Cilantro was mentioned.  I'm not making this crap up.  Who knew!

Substance Lab Result Test Value High Value Test Method

Arsenic Detected 28.12 ug/kg 80 ug/kg ICPMS

Cadmium Detected 88.98 ug/kg 100 ug/kg ICPMS
Chromium Detected 376.6 ug/kg 500 ug/kg ICPMS

Lead Detected 1210 ug/kg   H 1000 ug/kg ICPMS

Mercury Detected 1263 ug/kg   H 400 ug/kg ICPMS

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments 

The Lead detection was slightly elevated. The Mercury detection presented at a level three (3) times higher than reference high values. Please review the Chelation Therapy comment below.

Chelation Therapy - The Reduction of Heavy Metal Levels

If one or more of your heavy metal detection levels reported above substantially exceed the stated reference ranges for the provided test sample you may wish to consider starting a chelation treatment. Chelation is designed to reduce heavy metal levels over a period of time. There are two (2) ways to approach the use of chelation. Present your test report to either an M.D. who specializes in chelation treatments or your local health food store who can offer you effective, non-prescription, products designed for this purpose. Consider a product identified as NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine- oral) or equivalent. Follow the suggestions of the store technician who should have adequate product knowledge. Follow the product dosage directions stated on the product and/ or packaging container. Of equal importance you need to examine your daily food and drink intake to try and establish a cause for your elevated heavy metals levels. Following chelation therapy of 90-120 days or so you should have another hair strand or urine toxicology test conducted to see if the heavy metals levels are being reduced.

For your information Cilantro, the leaves of the Coriander plant, also known as Chinese parsley, have been reported as being an effective natural herb remedy in the reduction of some excessive heavy metal levels.  HYPERLINK "http://www.google.com/" Learn more. Cilantro is a very popular herbal ingredient found in Mexican cuisine, particularly in the salsa.

I came across this while doing research on mercury toxicity and the health benefits of cilantro.   We are living in such a polluted environment that anyone with any kind of compromised immune system and low glutathione levels could be accumulating this stuff faster than they are able to get rid of it.  I don't know if the Boy has high mercury levels like I do, but he won't touch cilantro or green smoothies anyway.

This guy reminds me of the guys who use to white water kayak with us.  The guys with long hair pulled back in a pony tail that we called "Dude" who found all the best spots on the river to show off their advanced kayaking maneuvers.  The guys that could do a perfect ender and then go right into a pirouette in their kayaks and we would be on the sidelines all clapping and yelling, "DUDE!  YEAH!"

Read more on mercury poisoning here.

Chelating Green Smoothie

I recently got a heavy metal test on my hair and found that I have 3x the high level of mercury. That means there is a level that is considered high (most people apparently have traces of heavy metals) and I am 3x over that limit.   It was recommended that I chelate (remove) the mercury and they gave me some natural ways to do it.   My level of lead was also a tad bit high.  I was surprised when they suggested the herb Cilantro, which is used in salsa and other Mexican dishes.  I did some research and was surprised at all the benefits of this herb.  The benefits of cilantro can be found here.

I had heard about the green smoothie fad that's been going around with Kale being one of the main ingredients. Read more about the benefits of kale here.   The Murph and I had talked about buying kale and creating our own smoothie concoction with it.  The Murph drinks his smoothie concoction every day and I have my standard one when I'm training long and need additional calories and protein.  However, none of these smoothies had anything green in it.  When I found out about my high mercury levels I immediately decided to do something about it.

Yesterday I created my own personalized green smoothie using Kale, 1/2 Banana, Cilantro, small slice of Avocado, Apple slices, Pear slice, Cranberry juice, 1/2 scoop Protein powder.

I have to say it wasn't that tasty.  I used way to much Cilantro and threw the stems and all in the smoothie.  Not good.  Today I put less cilantro and made sure I only included the leaves not the stem and I added a small amount of Turmeric and Cinnamon.  I added a full scoop of protein powder and some cranberry juice with 1/2 banana and pear slices and a slice of avocado.

You can also put spinach and different seeds (flaxseed, chia seed) in the smoothie. The Murph always puts flax seeds in his smoothie, as well as chili powder and ginger root.

Then Dr. Oz had his green smoothie recipe in last months People magazine.  There was an entire article on his 2 day detox program which included two different kinds of smoothies, green and berry, as well as a recipe for detox vegetable soup.  He used pineapple in his green smoothie.

Here's my final product and it was delicious.  Well, delicious for a green smoothie with a strong herb such as cilantro.  I am going to keep doing this at least 5 days a week minimum in hopes that it will chelate the mercury in my body.  I am also thinking about removing the silver filling in my tooth and replacing it with the white ones.  I only have one silver one left because all the others I got as a child have been replaced with white ones.  I am not really sure how I got such high levels of mercury in my body or how long it's been that high.  That's something I will probably never know.  Three times over the high limit is way too high not to take action though.

We just ordered some Chlorella, a green algae super food, that aids the cilantro in heavy metal removal and  NAC- N acetyl cysteine,  which also helps remove toxins from the body.  Using NAC was suggested in my hair report.  Chlorella I came across on my own.  I am also taking a garlic supplement because I read an article that says it is suppose to aid the cilantro and the chlorella in the removal of the  heavy metals.

Now I just have to get the Boy to drink one of these things.  He doesn't eat enough green vegetables and has trouble swallowing multi-vitamins.  This is a great way for him to get his daily servings of fruits and vegetables and I can customize it for him any way he likes or whatever I think he needs.  I've done this before when he was really stressed out in high school.  I added some botanical stress relief drops from GNC, a powder multi-vitamin from GNC to make sure he was getting enough B vitamins and vitamin C, some fruit- banana and strawberries,  protein powder and yogurt.  He really liked it.  I hope he will drink a smoothie that has leafy greens in it.

I feel better already after only two green smoothies. It's a great way to get nutrients.  My skin looks better and I have more energy.  I hope I am removing some of the high levels of mercury in my body as well and that the NAC will help my asthma and lung health as it is chelating!

Either way, eating more green, leafy vegetables is probably not a bad thing.

Disclaimer - I am not a doctor or nutritionist or even close, but I self diagnose all the time.   I don't even like doctors very much right now after what happened to me last week.   This post is just my ideas and opinions on what I like and use.  You're on your own if should decide to try any of these smoothie/supplement ideas. Please don't hold me responsible in any way.   Good luck!

May cause gas or green skin.  Does not taste as good as cookies or donuts.

No More Sinus X-Rays!

This morning after working out I headed over to the local jack in the box doctor's office to get some relief for my coughing.  My head was about to explode, my neck was stiff and I had this really unpleasant dry, hacking cough.  My usual products weren't clearing it up one bit.

I am totally a baby and didn't want to go by myself so I convinced the Murph to stop over with me directly from working out instead of going home first.  I told him we would just see how crowded it was.  The lobby was almost empty when we walked in so the Murph was trapped.

I stayed and filled out all the paper work and waited to be called back.  I had already told the Murph that the last time I went there with the same symptoms,  the doctor made me get a sinus x-ray even though there was nothing wrong with my sinuses and I had told the doctor that.  I was coughing.  It was my lungs!

I hoped I would not get that same doctor.  It was the only time I had ever seen him and I have been to this place several times over the years.  Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky today.

They called me back and it was HIM!  Ugh!!  Before he came in the room, the Murph and I decided I was NOT getting any x-rays.   They were unnecessary, especially the sinus one.

Of course, the doctor didn't agree.  I explained to him my symptoms and the first thing he asks me was, "What about your sinuses?  Do you have any drainage?"  I knew where THAT was going!

Me, "No, my sinuses are fine.  No drainage.  It's my chest."

He listened to my lungs and they sounded clear.  This whole asthma thing is weird, but all I know is I usually need a steroid shot when I have these episodes.  That always clears it up and maybe some antibiotics to top things off.

The doctor decided I needed a chest x-ray and a sinus x-ray.  After a small debate, I gave in and went to get the x-rays.  The x-ray girl did 2 x-rays of my chest and was about to do the sinus one when she noticed I had hair pins in my hair, ear rings on, sunglasses on top of my head...  She told me I needed to take them all off.  I said "Look, I really don't need this sinus x-ray.  Can't the doctor just look at the chest ones and if there's nothing there then I will do a sinus one?"

She said, "I will call him.  We can't make you do an x-ray if you don't want one."

Heck no, I didn't want a totally unnecessary x-ray to my face.  And I was feeling like major crap by this time too.

The x-ray girl told me that the doctor said everything was ok and to go back to the room.  I went back to the room and the doctor refused to treat me or even look at my chest x-ray since I was refusing to do a sinus x-ray.  Once more I told him, "THERE"S NOTHING WRONG WITH MY SINUSES!"

I could go in with a bladder infection or some sort of other female issue and I can just imagine him saying, "Well that's all good, but first we are going to have to do a sinus x-ray."

Or I could go in with a foot fungus and he would still insist, "We are going to get an x-ray of those sinuses before I look at that fungus."

Or I could be giving birth and he would still say, "Hold that thing in until I get this sinus x-ray!"

What a doofus!  I have ZERO tolerance for doofus these days.

I was so sick and upset at that point and basically he was refusing to treat me and I was refusing to submit to a sinus x-ray so The Murph and I just left.  My chest was totally radiated for absolutely no freaking reason and I got no treatment at all.

I have already decided to file a complaint against this moron doctor.  I wonder how many sinus x-rays he subjects patients to in a day?  For no reason whatsoever!

The last time I went along with his sinus x-ray fetish, my sinuses were fine, of course (like I told him) and he gave me a steroid shot and some antibiotics and sent my on my way (which he could've done without the stupid x-ray).  Last time he didn't even x-ray my lungs and the entire reason I was there was for a cough and chest tightness.   And he x-rays my sinuses!!

In a weird backward sort of way, this kind of helps me understand what the Boy must be going through when he goes to the doctor and doesn't understand why the heck he has to be subjected to some of the things we consider "routine".

I don't know, but x-rays should NEVER be routine.  I understand the need for a chest x-ray for me with the symptoms I had, but not a sinus one.  I've been going to doctors with this same issue off and on for over 10 years and this was a first.  (well, second if you count the last time I saw this lame doctor).

I may or may not have called him a jerk off as I was going out the door.

And now my mom keeps emailing me asking how it went at the doctor's office.  I told her she doesn't want to know.

Thursdays Are For Bricks

Not this kind of brick

I woke up this morning feeling very anxious.  I couldn't breathe very well.  I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest, squeezing all the air out.  Anxiety always triggers my asthma and this time of the year my lungs are struggling for air anyway.

I went to bed feeling like this and I woke up feeling like this.  It started yesterday with The Boy and the hair cut incident.  Things are quiet down in The Boy's room right now, but at any moment, one phone call from his dad and things could explode.  Usually in my face.

The Boy woke me up this morning with a run down of what his dad plans to do tomorrow (in preparation for the wedding) with him at the last minute.  The Boy was already planning ways out of it and wants to go with his friend and do something else.  His dad wants to pick him up around 1:00 and go pick up the tux.  Then he expects The Boy to hang out at his office with him while he works the rest of the day.

First of all, this last minute running around stuff usually doesn't work very well with The Boy.  He has Asperger's.  He likes things planned out and given plenty of time to prepare himself for things he doesn't really like to do.   Hopefully, his dad telling him ahead of time will help prepare him a little.

The biggest problem is that his dad doesn't except the fact he has Asperger's.  He doesn't like what he calls "labels".  He would rather hang onto the fact The Boy behaves this way because of bad parenting.  Not his, but mine since I "won" custody and just haven't taught him proper manners.

I don't really like labels either but sometimes they are necessary to help classify special needs children. What can be bad are the false or incorrect stereotypes that can go with a label of Asperger's or ADD.  I recently came across a really good article on the subject.  I feel the same way about labels as this author does here.

Second, in this last minute whirlwind of getting things for the wedding and finishing up work related things, it might get a little bit stress full for the dad and from past experience, The Boy shuts down during these times.  Instead of speeding it up and getting things done, there could be an opposite reaction.

In the end, The Boy suffers.  And when The Boy suffers because of his dad's lack of patience and understanding, I get major league stressed out.

It's all bad.

And there's still that hair cut thing.  Something that The Boy really dislikes but has found someone who he can tolerate and actually likes now.  She was very surprised a couple of months ago when he actually started talking to her while she was cutting his hair.  She probably asked him something about computers.

I'm still waiting on what's going to go down on that little issue.  That's a really "hairy" issue!

Not being able to breath very well and having this sense of doom floating around over my head, I didn't feel very motivated to go to the gym.  I had to force myself to go with The Murph today.

When I got there I thought I would just get on the exercise bike for a few minutes for an easy spin, then I remembered today is Thursday.  Crap!  Thursday for me are brick days.  And bricks are a tough workout no matter how short.

This kind of brick

In the triathlon world, a brick workout is where you bike first and then run to help train your muscles and cardio system to adapt quickly to this transition during a triathlon. Swim, bike, run thing.  It can also mean swim first then bike to get you use to getting on the bike after coming out of the water.  The reason it's called a brick workout is because that's usually the way your legs feel when you start to run off the bike.

Bricks help teach your body to move the flow of blood from the muscles you use while biking to the muscles you use while running more efficiently.  The faster your body can do this off the bike, the better your run will be.

Me, one of my bikes and my training buddy

I rarely do swim/bike bricks since I rarely swim anymore unless I'm training for at least a 1/2 Ironman.  My new gym doesn't even have a pool.

For the past 12 years I have always done a brick workout on Thursday.  It's mandatory for me.  I can do it on my real bike out on the road or with my bike on a trainer or on an exercise or spin bike.  I can run either on the roads or the treadmill with any combo of the above bike rides.  It can be any length from 20 minutes bike/10 minute run on up to 2 hour bike/1 hour run.

It's Thursday so I just have to do it.

My first bike.  Probably an antique now.

I sucked it up and did a really short bike and then a really short run.  Then I did weights.  I really felt a little better after I worked out and my breathing is better.  Much better.

I'm still waiting for that bomb to drop though.  It could get ugly.

My little training buddy.  We've made up since yesterday.

Spring Is Here - Everything Is Covered In Yellow Dust

 Ken and I went for a walk in the neighborhood today.  Everything is blooming now and the yellow pollen is everywhere.  I used my asthma inhaler before I even left the house and was glad I did.  This neighborhood is really lovely this time of year even with all the pollen.  I was suppose to run with the Running Nazi this morning, but I had to cancel because I was up all night with a sinus headache and sore throat probably from sucking all that pollen into my lungs.  A little Advil,  puff of Ibuterol and Claritin and I'm all better now.  I will drug up again tomorrow and run before I take The Boy to get his hair cut.

Tonight Ken was all about the documentary on George Harrison.  He did the whole meditation thing back when he was a teen.  Right now we are listening at high volume to George Harrison's CD "All Things Must Pass".   I think I'll go meditate now.