Good Things: Part 2

Two weeks ago we had some really good things happen and some really unexpected things.  You can read about the first good thing, related to my health, here.

David's Teeth
I haven't written about it on here, but at the end of January, David and I had our 6 month dentist visit...and got a whopper of a surprise.  For the first time, they did bitewing X-rays on David.  You see, he has a very small mouth (believe it or not, he got that from his momma), and the hygienist could never get the X-rays in his mouth before.  But this time, she held them in.  Why?

Because apparently David had 7 cavities - SEVEN!!!

Now, let me tell you, he brushes his teeth twice a day and we have taken him to the dentist, faithfully, every six months since he was three.  Last summer at our visit, there was no talk of cavities at all.  All this just came up in January.

So what happened?
Who knows?

Juice? Bad brushing?  Genetics?  One or all of the above happened.  Either way, we were looking at some major dental work.

Our dentist, Dr. T, didn't feel comfortable doing that much work on little teeth, so he referred us to Dr. K, a pediatric dentist in our city.

Oh my, what is it with doctors in my city?  First, we had to wait 5 weeks for an appointment.  Then, after being told by Dr. T and by Dr. K's office staff that they would be filling David's cavities on that visit, we show up and are told that we must be stupid to think they would fill all his cavities then (OK, the nurse didn't use the word "stupid" but she might as well have - she sure made us feel that way).  We were talked to condescendingly as if we were redneck, hillbilly parents who, obviously, had poor dental hygiene and just let our child's teeth rot out.

To top it off, the nurse came out and informed us that David had a tooth that was abscessed and needed to be pulled - a molar that would not be replaced until the adult tooth grows in several years from now.  Needless to say, we were not happy and left that doctor's office ready to look for a different one.

After our horrible visit with Dr. K, we went back to Dr. T and asked for another referral to somewhere different.  We got one...in the next town over (boy, other towns are looking much better than mine for doctors right now).  Unfortunately, our appointment with new doc, Dr. S, wasn't until April 12, another 5 week wait.

All that is the back story...

On to the Good Thing #2 - Dr. S had a cancellation and we got in a month early!  

AND...

We loved him and his office staff.  They were willing to work with us and do the treatment that we preferred, which is to sedate David and get all the dental work done at once.  They did find 2 more cavities at that visit.  Out of the 16 baby teeth David has (he has lost 4), 9 of them have cavities.  NINE!!!  From someone who only has one cavity - That's just crazy!

Not so Good Thing, David has one tooth that started hurting him really bad Friday night - always happens on a weekend, doesn't it?  And, our appointment to get everything fixed isn't until April 24.

But Good Thing - Dr. S was able to work him in today to fix that one tooth so it's no longer hurting him. 

We still have to wait a month to finish all the dental work, but it is a much easier wait when I trust the doctor and know that the office staff will treat me with respect.

How about you?  Have you ever been treated like a horrible parent by a doctor's office?

Good Things: Part 1

I just wanted to update you on some things in our lives.  Last week, we had some really good things happen and some really unexpected things.

My Health
I've written about how I've had unexplained abdominal pain for the last 4 months and how frustrated I've been with the pain specialists in my town.

Turns out, I just wasn't going to the right town.

One of my doctors, the one who really knows me and has been my doctor for years, got me an appointment with a pain specialist in the next town over.  She got me the appointment in two days!!!  Two days!!  After waiting 6 1/2 weeks for the doctor in my town and having them not show up on the day of my appointment, this doctor manages to get me in two days later and is actually there for my appointment.  Wonder upon wonders.

What's even better?

I finally have a diagnosis.
Yay!!

I have myofacial pain syndrome.  Basically, the way the doctor described it to me, I have two ab muscles (the iliocostalis and the rectus abdominis) that have been injured and they are constantly spasming.

Even better - it's treatable.  The treatment includes taking muscle relaxers and doing physical therapy.  I'm ready to get this thing better, so I have started physical therapy this week and have been faithfully taking my muscle relaxer.

I was told fixing this would not be a fast process but it is something that's fixable.  So I should not have to deal with the pain for the rest of my life.

Praise the Lord!

I am so glad to finally have a diagnosis and to finally have a doctor that knows what this is.

Netgalley: Firethorn

Netgalley: Firethorn by Ronie Kendig

Firethorn is the fourth and last book in the Discarded Heroes series.  I’ve reviewed books one, two and three in the past. 

Nightshade is in trouble.  A team of similarly experienced operatives have infiltrated their headquarters, the “Shack.”  Four members of their team have been taken, two have escaped to a hideout and one member, Griffin “Legend” Riddell is serving time in a maximum security prison for a crime he did not commit.

In walks Kazi Faron, a European agent who’s job is to reassemble the team and find out who put them in jeopardy in the first place.  Kazi is small, blond and feisty.  Will she be able to pull off her mission and save Nightshade?  Will Griffin let down his wall and learn to love again?

My Thoughts:

This book was somewhat different than the first three books in the series, in that there wasn’t one mission that the team went on or just one problem to solve.  In fact, the Nightshade team wasn’t even together for most of the book.  The main kick-butt character in this book is not even a Nightshade member, but an independent female spy hired to rescue the Nightshade members and bring them back together.

The book was pretty good.  I liked Kazi as a heroine.  Any female who can rescue a bunch of huge, military men who are in trouble gets my vote.  However, the love story between her and Griffin, wasn’t as believable as in the other three books.

I also felt like the series didn’t come to a satisfactory close for me.  There were more Nightshade members that didn’t get their own story, more lives we didn’t learn about.  So I was left feeling unfulfilled at the end in terms of the series.  I definitely think Kendig could have gotten a few more books out of it.

Because of the love story that just wasn’t quite up to par with the other three book, I’m going to give this book 4 stars out of 5.  But if you have read the other books in the series, you’ll still want to read this one.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I was provided with a complimentary Kindle version of this book for review by Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

Netgalley: Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane by Ronnie Kendig

Wolfsbane is book number three in the Discarded Heroes series.  I’ve reviewed books one, and two  in the past. 

After a less than honorable discharge from the army because of a mission gone wrong, Canyon “Midas” Metcalfe gets recruited as a medic with the elite Nightshade special ops team.  He has been going on missions for years and remains the most calm and grounded member of the team…until he meets Dani Roark. 

Dani has been held captive by a South American general and brutally treated for six months.  She has just escaped with her life.  But the authorities in the United States are calling her a traitor.

Can Nightshade help her prove her innocence?  Will Canyon’s feelings for Dani jeopardize the mission?

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book.  Kendig does a good job of explaining intricate details in a military mission without becoming boring.   The love story was believable and the right amount of things “went wrong” with the missions to make them believable as well.

My only complaint is that the book seemed to be a little too long. And by that I don’t mean just the number of pages, I mean it seemed like she was putting too many different storylines in there.   It was almost like she had this main story in her head and had to write a lot of preliminary parts to work up to the main story.  But those preliminary parts took up a third of the book.  In this case, it may have been better to split this into two stories – the main book and a prequel.

That being said, I still really liked the book.  I have enjoyed this whole series and would recommend it to others to read.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Other book reviews in the series:  Nightshade, Digitalis

I was provided a complimentary Kindle version of this book for review by Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

Blogging for Books: To Be Perfectly Honest

To Be Perfectly Honest by Phil Callaway

How would your life change if you were perfectly honest with everyone for an entire year?  Phil Callaway, a Christian humorist, was challenged by his editor to do just that – to always tell the truth for 365 days…and to write a book about it.  So he did.

My thoughts:

You have the combination of a Christian comedian (no off-color jokes here) who writes well and a vow to tell everyone the honest-to-God truth for a year.  What’s not to love?

Seriously, this was a great book.  Callaway writes it in journal style with the posts titles chronicling the days of his 365 day experience (i.e. Day 257).  He writes in a wry humor style that kept me laughing the whole way through.

Not all of the book is laugh-out-loud funny, though.  During that year, he experienced dealing with his mother’s dementia, a friend who had maligned him and a friend of his child who had an addiction.  Even a comedian has to deal with the bad stuff in life.

I really enjoyed reading this book and am excited to see what other things Phil Callaway has written.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I was provided a complimentary Kindle version of this book to review through the Blogging for Books program.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: Beyond Molasses Creek

Beyond Molasses Creek by Nicole Seitz

Ally Green, a former flight attendant, has returned to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina to bury her father.  She is haunted by events in her past including her love of Vesey Washington, the man who was forbidden to her 40 years before.

Vesey lives across Molasses Creek from Ally in the home he's always lived in, the one his mother raised him in and the one he raised his four children in.

Sunila Kunari has been a sculptor for a mine in Katmandu, Nepal for as long as she can remember.  Yet suspicious circumstances surround her life as a baby.

How will these three lives intersect?  Can healing occur?

My Thoughts:

This book had potential and, for the most part, it was good.  I thought parts of the story were very unrealistic.

I thought Ally's infatuation with Vesey was very selfish of her.  She destroyed his access to education because she was determined to pursue him without finding out how he felt about her.  I spent most of the book upset with her over that.

My other gripe is that only a few chapters are written from Vesey's point of view. Half the book has chapters written from the point of view Ally.  The other half is written from Sunita's point of view.  Then you have (I think) 2 chapters written from Vesey's point of view.  To me it just doesn't fit.  Either have more written by Vesey or none at all.

The overall story was unique and I do like that in a book.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.


I was provided a complimentary Kindle version of this book for review by Booksneeze.  All opinions are my own.

February Reading List

This is a busy, busy week in our household, so I've scheduled some book review posts for you.  I realize that's not as fun and exciting as hearing about our fabulous lives, but that's all I can manage this week.  Enjoy!

My "to-read" February books were While We're Far Apart by Lynn Austin and Simplify Your Time by Marcia Ramsland.

I loved this book!  The story is set in the 1940's during America's involvement in World War II.  Eddie Shaffer is a young widower with two children.  Unable to cope with his wife's death, he enlists in the army without much thought as to who will care for his children while he is away.

Penny Goodrich has been in love with Eddie since she was a little girl.  Unable to win his heart any other way, she volunteers to watch his children, Esther and Peter, while he is away, hoping that will make him notice her.

The story is part history, part coming of age and part love story.  It starts off slow, but, let me tell you, about a third of the way into it, I couldn't put it down.  Not only are you following the stories of those left at home during the war, but you are also following the story of Mr. Mendel, the Hungarian Jewish landlord, and his son who is trapped in Hungary with no way to communicate to his father.  Neither of those storylines are ones I had heard before.

The writing is fantastic and the storyline riveting.  I highly recommend this book.

Marcia Ramsland is a professional organizer and has written many books.  Her goal in writing this book is to give you short, specific ways to simplify your life in 30 days.

This is the second time I've attempted to read through this book.  Notice I said "attempted."  I didn't finish it.  Don't get me wrong, this book is very practical.  But if I don't do a section, I feel like I can't go on in reading, then I get stuck.

However, if you have the time and motivation to actually do the suggestions in this book, it would really improve your organization in life.  In that sense, I recommend the book.  But for just informational reading, when not applying it to your life, I would pass it up.

Find out what other books I'm reading this year and get all the reviews here.

Note:  I'm changing my yearly reading list a little bit.  There were such horrible reviews of my March fiction selection that I'm just going to throw it away and not read it (I got it for insanely cheap during an online book sale - now I know why).  Instead I'm going to read Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl.

The on-ramp

The best line ever used on me was said by my husband back when we were dating.

We had gone to a city 20 minutes away from us to play indoor putt-putt, and he was taking me back home.  To get there we had to go from one interstate to another one, on a very straight on-ramp.

Tim looks over at me, with a cheesy smile on his face, and says...

"I love this on-ramp because it doesn't have any curves.  I love you because you do."

Arghhhhhh!

OH.

MY.

GOODNESS!!

I am gonna scream!

So remember the whole saga of the inefficient doctor's offices?

You remember how I've waiting SIX WEEKS for an appointment with a pain doctor.
Well that appointment was supposed to be today.
But could they really keep it and LET ME ACTUALLY SEE A DOCTOR!!!!????

Apparently the answer is NO.

Tim and I get there for my 8:30 appointment (and yes, he did take off from work to go with me which makes this story even more scream-worthy), only to find out the FNP we were supposed to see called in sick today.

OK, I'm not heartless.  I understand people get sick.
But I also understand that is why there is more than one doctor in a practice.

So I ask, as nicely as I can muster at this time, "I've waited 6 weeks for this appointment.  Isn't there someone else I can see?"

The receptionist looks at one other person's schedule - ONE!!!!! - There are 13 people on the letterhead.  4 MD's, 5 FNP's, a PhD, a PT and 2 other people with random letters I don't recognize.  And she looks at one schedule and says "Nope, all booked.  You'll have to reschedule."

EXCUSE ME!!!!

Are you saying that after waiting 2 weeks for you to receive my referral paperwork, then 2.5 week to get me in your computer system, then another 2 weeks for my appointment, that you want to reschedule me????

Are you saying that even though I would have had to pay $25 if I didn't show up to this appointment, you can wait for me to take time out of my schedule and my husbands' schedule, and show up at your office just to tell me I need to reschedule???

Are you saying that you couldn't even call this morning to tell us the FNP couldn't see us?

Hello!!!!

So what did I do?

I grabbed my paperwork back and turned around and walked out.

I am NOT rescheduling with those people.  You couldn't pay me to go there.

DigiScrap: January 2010

Random Thoughts

So, technically, I broke my New Year's goal by going all of last week without a post, but I did think of lots of posts in my head...and it's the thought that counts, right?

To make up for it, I will post lots this week...maybe.

I have about 4 book review posts to write and a few more digiScrap pages to post (I didn't shirk on that goal last week), but for now I'm just going to give you some of the random things in my head.

1)  Have you ever thought about how the things you wait forever for become old hat soon and before you know it, you've been doing them forever?

For example, getting your license....I was youngest one of my friends and the very last to turn 16.  It seemed like I would never get my license.  Now, I look back and realize that I've been driving for over half of my life!

Contacts.  I wore glasses from 4th grade to 8th grade.  At that time, all my friends were getting contacts and I wanted some too.  Finally I got them!  Now I've been wearing contacts for 20 years - old hat.  (Oh, and I really want Lasik now, but, alas, I don't always get what I want.)

2)  When kids get sick, they don't want to slow down.  When Mommy gets sick, all she wants to do is slow down.

Case in point, David has had a little touch of a stomach bug this weekend.  He'll say his tummy hurts and lay down for 15 minutes, then go to the bathroom, and be good to run around and play for an hour or so.  Despite me trying to make him stay in bed and rest, he won't do it.

Me?  I got a sinus infection a couple of weeks ago and it lasted for several weeks.  All I wanted to do was stay in my bed all week but instead I had to drive my kids to school, fix the meals, keep the house clean enough to walk through and be available to be the homework guru and the piano consultant.

If I was still a kid, I would take advantage of the whole staying in bed while sick thing.  Build up a sleep bank for use later on in life, when you need it.  If only I knew then what I know now...

3)  You ever notice how you might hear 50 compliments from people about something you did, then you hear one negative remark.  Which do you think stays with you?  Yup, the negative one.

Several months ago, I was in charge of a "thank-you" breakfast for a group of people, people who I really appreciate and think highly of.  I was NOT in charge of bringing the food, picking the location, or choosing the times for the breakfast - just coordinating it all.  50 people came in and thanked me, thanked those who brought the food and seemed genuinely grateful.  2 people didn't.  They came late and complained that I was putting away the food too soon, then they complained that there wasn't much left.

Guess how I felt for the rest of day?  Guilty.  Maybe I put the food away too soon.  Maybe I should have asked more people to bring in food.

Same thing happened yesterday.  Our troop was selling Girl Scout cookies in front of Walmart (very lucrative spot to sell, by the way).  Hundreds of people were nice and friendly and said "Yes" or "No" politely.  Then one guy gets all huffy and upset.  What do I think about when I go home?  That one guy.  And I feel guilty that maybe I said something wrong or asked him if he wanted to buy cookies in the wrong way.

Really???  I feel guilty over some stranger at Walmart?  I feel guilty over 2 people who complain about something nice I am doing for them, when 50 people thanked me?  Why do I do that?  Why do I torture myself that way?  Can't I just concentrate on the good things?

Philippians 4:8 says


"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."


If Paul, who was beaten, imprisoned, spit upon and left for dead, could think on these things, then so can I.  That's what I'm going to think about this week.

What random thoughts go through your head?