Summer

Whew, so this is summer. 103 degrees yesterday and in the 90s all week. I was walking with a friend yesterday and she was commenting that we Northwesterners might just need to get used to the fact that we have hot summers and cold winters. We keep thinking we live in the most temperate climate ever, and then bam! hot days with no air conditioning and freezing winter snowdrifts without proper snowploughs.

I was looking through some of my posts since April and realized that this has already been a great summer on the weekend adventure front. We've taken day trips to Bainbridge, Vashon, Deception Pass, Rattlesnake Ridge, and Whidbey, and camped or stayed on Camano Island, San Juan Island, and Deception Pass. It's fun to have a transportable, active toddler who delights in adventure.

This past weekend on San Juan Island was pretty exceptional. For one thing, we confirmed that our tent is truly waterproof. We were lying in our bed around 9 p.m., staring up at the window in our tent ceiling while lighting flashed and thunder crashed. Cora was fast asleep between us and our whispered conversation alternated between Hey, this is really cool, to Oh wow, I hope we don't get incinerated. We spent most of the night listening to the downpour snap against the sides of our tent. We awoke at about 6 to almost 90-degree weather and spent the day in and out of the lakes that surrounded our campsite. We traveled with friends and Cora enjoyed spending time with their cute daughters, a 3-year-old and a 16-month-old. Their favorite pastime was to tromp up a grass hill and slide or run down a dusty path until they were covered in dirt from head to toe. We played tag (including a pretty hilarious game of freeze tag; imagine two toddlers trying to get the concept of standing still while everyone else runs about). And we saw whales! We took a day trip to a nearby waterfront whale-watching park and after staring forever at the water with no luck, we were stunned on our way out to see a pod of Orcas breaking the surface of the water below. Cora got swept up in the excitement and shouted "Yay Orcas!" when they surfaced, and nodded knowingly at us when they went back, "Shy whale."

Have you ever traveled on a ferry to an island? If not, you must put it on your list of Things You Must Do. Salty wind in your face, sun high in the sky, gulls circling, mind-boggling views of rugged coastlines and the rise of evergreens against mountain ranges, and when the air hits you it's so cold no matter what the temperature of the day that all you can feel is this blissful awareness of what it is to be alive, right then, a tiny being in the middle of a life.

As I mentioned before, my wanderlust is in full swing. We're thinking about more upcoming weekend adventures, planning an early autumn vacation (we haven't been out of town for longer than a few days since winter of '07). In general, I spend a lot of my wakeful moments making lists about what needs to be done to get to The Next Big Stage. In the mornings, I have distracted walks chatting with Cora about our surroundings and thinking about the story arc and next chapter of this maybe-novel I'm writing, while imagining the trees I hope we'll have in the yard of our next home, while jotting down mental notes about the projects we need to tackle in our current house. Present Moment Zen Masters would disapprove of my mental state but I can't say it's not exciting.

Sometimes I still think about going back to work, other times I think about getting pregnant and buying a hypoallergenic puppy so that it can wander through our house, shake like a dog, and not make Brian sneeze. Often I look into Cora's eyes and I can't even believe how beautiful they are, so lovely and sweet that all I want to do is kiss her, other times I dance around the kitchen trying to make her a decent sandwich while she shrieks Snack! Snack! More Chips! Maaaaaammmmmaaaa! And I have to remind myself that her job is to get my attention as much as possible, and that she doesn't have the tiniest iota of an idea that I used to exist before she did. That makes me smile.

Long overdue

Just a quick note to say we're surviving a gorgeous heat wave in Seattle. Just returned from San Juan Island for a three-day camping excursion. Cora is fast asleep in her pack 'n play in our cool downstairs room while I try to get some writing done in our equally cool downstairs office. Feel behind on writing and ready for another adventure...Summer always makes me extra restless, which basically means wanderlust to the extreme. I've got vacation on the brain.

More soon.

Natural remedies (and some more IgA info)

The reason I'm posting this is because I've noticed a number of people stopping by this site using "IgA deficient" or "immune deficiency" as search terms. So, I wanted to share a couple of naturopathic, homeopathic, and regular ol' home remedies that helped Cora weather this cold (and get through an inner ear infection without antibiotics). It's the kind of information I was searching for when Cora was diagnosed. This is in NO WAY intended to be advice that you should follow over and above the recommendations of your caring pediatrician, but I have enjoyed Cora's new doctor so much because he's been a practicing MD for over 30 years and gets rave reviews from all his patients and he and his colleagues at this office are also knowledgeable about natural modalities.

(Note: If you're reading this post and you or your child has IgA deficiency, you might be interested in reading this entry as well.)

One thing worth noting is that Cora's former doctor explained that we should start treating an infection much more quickly and aggressively due to her IgA deficiency--using higher spectrum antibiotics quickly and for longer periods of time, if necessary. I do understand this point of view. However, Cora's new doctor pointed out that, while he absolutely prescribes antibiotics when necessary, antibiotics can lower IgA. Which makes sense, because IgA lives on mucosa sites. Antibiotics can lower healthy antibody levels (like IgA) along with other healthy flora that can help a body fight infection. This is one reason why people are more susceptible to infection in the week(s) directly following a course of antibiotics.

So, without a lot of further ado, here are a few of the things that Cora's new doctor and his colleagues recommended. Again, I want to make it clear that I'm not saying these products will necessarily help you or your children--but if they do, wonderful!

The first two items are daily doses for Cora. Honestly, I don't think there's any reason why any healthy kid couldn't benefit from these, simply to help augment their general nutrition intake, or to help round out any deficiencies in their diet:

*Liquid kid's multivitamin (I use Schiff because it contains iron, but Cora likes ChildLife better--no iron, no yucky metal taste). I found this at Whole Foods.

*Kid's acidophilous. We use Primadophilus Children by Nature's Way, which we found at Whole Foods. Cora's doctor gave me a list of acidophilous products that have been proven to contain the levels of bifidobacteria and lacobacilli that can populate the system with healthy flora, particularly those lost during infection or during antibiotic treatment. A lot of products lose their potency once they hit the shelves; supposedly this product doesn't.

These items may have helped clear Cora's ear infection:

*Honey Gardens Apitherapy Honey Organic Elderberry Syrup, with Propolis (www.honeygardens.com). I also found this at Whole Foods. Elderberry and Propolis are considered powerful anti-viral supplements. The honey in this mixture is locally sourced and organic. We gave her a teaspoon of this every hour the first day of her infection, and a teaspoon every 1-3 hours the second and third days of her infection.

*Saline drops. We used generic stuff from Safeway, but there's probably better stuff out there. 2-3 drops in each side of the nose as many times a day as necessary to help clear out the sinuses. (We use a kid's safety syringe to suck out the junk.) This is Cora's least favorite therapy, but the saline solution helps clear sinus infections--which, in turn, drain into kids' immature eustachian tubes, causing a build-up of bacteria that leads to an ear infection. I remember going to my doctor when I had a sinus infection and instead of giving me antibiotics, he told me to snort salt water three times a day for three days. It sucked, but it worked.

*Ear Oil from The Herbalist (www.theherbalist.com). CAUTION: Seek the advice of a pediatrician prior to putting anything in your child's ear. Don't put anything in your child's ear if liquid or pus is draining out of her ear. If using ear oil, test the temperature on your wrist before administering it; it can get warm quite quickly, and can become way too hot to put in someone's ear. This tincture contains mullein flower, St. John's Wort flower, and organically grown calendula flower with garlic essential oil in a base of olive oil. Sound stinky? It is. But as completely crazy at it sounds, the combination of garlic (a powerful antiseptic) and warm oil can sometimes help clear (and prevent) an ear infection. I just set the bottle in a cup of warm water before putting a few drops of the oil in her ears, then place a portion of a clean cotton ball in each ear to help absorb excess oil and protect her ears from drafts. For nap and bedtime, I put her in bed with her bad ear facing up, allowing the oil to drain more effectively into her ear.

*Cora also had a mild viral form of pink eye. We treated it with Similasan Pink Eye Relief (www.similasanUSA.com), a homeopathic remedy that helps alleviate the symptoms of pink eye and deliver relief. I also found this at Whole Foods. It totally worked for her. I think I gave it to her about 4 times a day for the first two days, then three times a day the 3rd and 4th days, and now just at night.

These techniques helped ease her pain without Tylenol or Motrin:

*Warm, dry ear compresses. I used one of Brian's clean athletic socks and filled it with rice, then zapped it in the microwave for about 45-60 seconds. I placed this on her ear after adding the ear oil, then read her a book or nursed her. I also put it on her ear while she was sleeping.

*Ear massage. This is one of the most simple things to do, and aside from compresses, is perhaps the one therapy that makes the most sense physically. I massaged gently around her ear, pressing in and down along her outer cheek, and in and down behind her ear. (For a cheesy how-to video, check this out.)

Lastly, we kept Cora off sugar and fed her mainly warm foods and liquids, like chicken soup and chamomile tea.

For more detailed information on ear infections, here's a link to Dr. Sears's perspectives.

Hopefully some of this information is useful. If you have any other ideas you'd like to share, please do so.

Cora's ears

We managed to clear Cora's ear infection last week and didn't need to put her on antibiotics. Yay! She's still struggling with a lot of congestion and has now been sick for nearly three weeks, but she's stayed in happy spirits nearly the whole time. We're not sure if she got two colds in a row, or just has had a tough time fighting this one.

More soon.

The life of a child

So, Cora has an ear infection. She's miserable and I feel horrible for her. We're going to wait 48 hrs to see if it clears on its own. Right now she's asleep with ear oil in her ears and a warm compress on her bad ear. I feel discouraged and anxious about the future, but I have decided that she will be one of the strongest, most resilient little people because of her IgA deficiency. She'll develop a strong immune system and a great sense of humor. And she'll weather everything, even this nasty little thing going around called a pandemic.

I was in the doctor's office and this quote, tucked in a corner on a handmade plaque, caught my eye. I guess I'm feeling a bit emotional because it brought a few tears to my eyes:

"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child."

If I could tell you how much I think about Cora's life, I would. But I can't. Being her mom is the most humbling experience I've ever encountered.