Good News and Bad News

This last week has been full of bad news and sickness. Our whole family came down with some kind of a virus that hit my kids with asthma pretty hard. And now it looks as if the hubby may have some kind of secondary throat infection. Just as everything seemed to be coming together with our Ecology field project, bad news kept coming and coming.

First, I found out that today's class was cancelled because my professor's husband had passed away from cancer. Then, my sister called to let me know my great-nephew had been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsey, and that he had suffered a stroke in-uetero. I can't imagine what my niece and her husband are going through, but I have been to the ER multiple times with all 3 of our kids that each suffer from a chronic illness, and I know all the tests and results can be exhausting.

Then I went to a urologist today to find out why I have recurring bilateral kidney stones, and found out that it is probably some kind of metabolic disease. So they gave me a list of foods that I'm supposed to avoid which really conflicts with my low-cholesterol diet. I am proof that small people who exercise can inheirit high cholesterol, so it really is important to get that yearly physical. I had to make another appointment with my regular doctor just to figure out what to eat. For now, I'm drinking lots of water, but I have to avoid all black tea, chocolate, nuts, berries and ground pepper. Those are in my top 10 favorite foods!

There was some great news this week, as I mentioned above, my Ecology group is getting a big help from the DNR! One of my neighbors is a Forester for the agency, and has set me up with GIS maps of our study areas, and official DNR guides. She is also planning on coming with us on Saturday, and bringing her GPS for detailed mapping. One of the sites she helped me select has a beaver dam in a lake, that has created a dry path dividing the lake, and the water level on each side is higher than the trail. I can't wait to get pictures of that!