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Royal Caribbean vs. Carnival Cruise Line

23 Oct

Royal Caribbean Vs. Carnival Cruise Line

I am comparing 2 comparable ships:  RCCL’s Monarch of the Seas and CCL’s Fascination

Nights:  5 nights CCL Fascination (went in August 2010) vs. 4 nights RCCL Monarch of the Seas (went in October 2010)

Price:  Base price for both ships is about the same for the same time of year.  If you travel in October (the least expensive time to travel) you are looking at a base rate (before taxes) of about $45 per night per person for the first two people in the room for an inside cabin.  Obviously we paid more for our August cruise because of the time of the year but to make the comparison fair, you have to look at the cost per night at the same time of year and if you do, the cost is about the same.

Port:  CCL’s Fascination left out of Jacksonville, FL.  The port is yuk! It was slow, old, and very outdated although was a shorter drive from NC.  We didn’t get on ship after 1:00 pm and had to wait in very long lines for a long time.  However, we were told there was a security issue and that wasn’t the norm.  RCCL’s Monarch left out of Port Canaveral, FL.  The port is much nicer, new, and comfortable.  It is a  longer drive and parking is cheaper.  We got on ship at 11:15 am.

Frequent cruiser program: – Carnival’s loyalty program is not good at all. It takes 10 cruises to get worthwhile benefits.  After 1 cruise, you only get “past cruise discounts” that show up sometime when booking.   RCCL does a much better job of this.  After 1 cruise, you are gold.  This gives you a booklet with lots of good coupons for the ship plus “past cruise discounts” that show up for some ships (about as often as CCL).  However, after only 5 cruises, you become Platinum.  This gives you priority boarding, better coupons, and priority for tenders.  It is much easier to get to the 5 cruise mark than the 10 cruise mark for the average person.  RCCL also organizes your information about how many cruises you have been on and all the benefits of their past cruiser program (called Crown and Anchor) online much better than CCL does.  I had to really search to find CCL’s information and I can’t find a list of how many Carnival cruises I have been on through their website like I can with RCCL.

Buffet when get on board: Both are good although CCL has more choices available than RCCL.

Rooms:  Carnival has bigger rooms than RCCL.  Carnival had 3 room services – one in the morning, one during your dinner and one last one where they “turned down your bed” for the night and put a mint on your pillow.  RCCL used to do that and took away the third service and mints.  It is those little things that make the cruise special, especially to kids!  My kids were so disappointed not to have mints on their pillows anymore.  I even complained while onboard.

Activities: Variety: Carnival had a lot more variety and just more things to do than RCCL. RCCL overlapped things we wanted to do so we couldn’t do half the things we wanted.  There were dance classes everday on Carnival and only once on RC.  Also, the dance classes we took on the Fascination were far superior to any dance classes we have taken on any of the 5 cruises we have done on RCCL in the past.  RCCL had a lot of down time with no interesting activities and there were hours were we had nothing to choose from.  RCCL did have some activities, however, that I would have liked to have seen on CCL such as an Improv class, Towel folding, and Napkin folding.  On a previous cruise on RCCL, we took a really good watercolor class but there were no art type classes on the Monarch of the Seas.

Photography: Carnival had about 12+ stations set up each night with very talented photographers and were open more hours with 1 hour before dinner for photos.  RCCL had only 5 stations, the photographer wasn’t very good, and it was only open 15 minutes before dinner.  Carnival’s pictures were alittle more expensive $22.95 but had buy 4 get 1 free.  RCCL was $19.95 each although you got a buy 1 get 1 half off coupon if you were a Gold member.  Carnival’s quality of pictures was much better due to better photography and more background options.

Dinner: Carnival’s dinner started at 6:00 which I preferred while RC started at 5:45.  RC always screws up table assignments.  The maitre’d at Carnival was far superior than RC.  The dining room interaction was far superior on Carnival.  The wait staff was equally attentive and good on both ships.  I didn’t really care for the “begging” for good comments and tips that was mentioned too much by our RC server.  One subtle comment would have been more appropriate and made the point.

Dining Room Food:  Better choices and variety on Carnival although both tasted good.  Joe liked the Indian food option each night on RC but I felt they should rotate the ethnic fares and not just do Indian only for those of us who don’t care for Indian food but might like some other ethnic choices.  (I believe an Indian choice was offered each night on the Monarch because the chef was Indian).

Lido deck buffet food:   Much greater variety on Carnival including a mad- to-order stir-fry station.  There were 4 different food areas with different buffets plus 24-hour pizza and deli sandwiches.  RC had significantly less choices with the same cuisine offered in multiple places and only pizza 24-hours.  However, RC has an awesome cesear salad while Carnival decided it’s cesear dressing should be 100% anchovies – yuk!!!
Shows- RC had 2 nights that they only did 1 seating of their shows and it was so close to first dinner seating that after dinner all the seats were taken so we didn’t get to see the show.  I heard it wasn’t that good anyway.  We also missed another RC show because of an overlap with something else we were doing but again, didn’t hear great things about it anyway.  We did go to the Love and Marriage Show.  This is so something RC does WAY better than Carnival.  They have the wives leave while they ask the husbands the questions and vice versa.  Definitely one of the best shows on the ship.  Carnival used to do it right (maybe they still do on other ships?) and then they got lazy or maybe no one told the cruise director how to do the show but they didn’t have the spouses leave the stage, they just wrote down the answers so the cruise director didn’t get to question each person about the circumstances of their answers and so the show lost so much of the humor it normally would have.  We were so disappointed.

We did like Carnival’s Game Show and RC had nothing like that.  Carnival’s Production shows were  excellent but their 80′s show was off the charts amazing!!  The best cruise show we have seen of 8 cruises we have been on, a standing ovation for that one.  I don’t usually like to see things twice but I would see that one again!  As for comedy, neither ship had an amazing comedy act.  I would like to see them find better talent but they were good.  RC has a comedy magic show, I liked that because it was early and I could bring my kids to it.  I think all ships should have one magic or magic/comedy act.  Carnival could have used a magic act.  Carnival’s choice of comedians was lousy.  She had some funny things the first time she came out but a lot of her singing didn’t fit with her comedy and was annoying.  Her improv comedy was the best.  However, her Adult Comedy show that night was terrible and borderline offensive.  Carnival should not bring her back.  I do applaud them for having a late night adult comedy show though, something that RC did not.  RC had the magic comedy which was good except when the comedian didn’t use original material, even my kids knew the “$100 in the orange ” skit.  The next RC comedian was not listed as adult comedy and I saw kids in audience – I didn’t bring my kids because we were not sure.  It wasn’t hardcore X rated as you can see with the late  night comedy shows but be did use words like the F word, talked about sex, and “demonstrated” the motions one would use when having “relations.”  RC needs to clearly state the intended audience for the comedy shows.

Theater for shows: In Carnival’s theater, there were small tables for you to put your drinks on while watching a show.  RC, however, did not have a table, they had a small shelf behind the back cushion of the seat in front of you that was not wide enough to hold a drink and it could easily be knocked over and fall.  It had holes in it, like you were supposed to put your drink in the holes but I think it would only work for a wine glass and it did not work for our drink cups so we had no place to put our drinks during the show.

Room Announcements:  Another thing that Carnival did right and RCCL did wrong.  Carnival made in cabin announcements only when absolutely necessary – like for the muster station drills, they certainly didn’t wake us up on port day to say we docked – maybe we don’t want to go into port and want to sleep in – please don’t wake us up!  RCCL did just that – actually they had it all backwards, they made announcements in our cabins when they shouldn’t have and when we needed to hear them (on disembarkation day) they did NOT put the announcements into the cabin.  So, we were woken up early on port day when we wanted to sleep in and go into port late after we felt like getting up.  Yet, we never heard the announcement of when our tags were called to get off the ship.

Muster Drills:  RCCL gets the points here.  The drill for this required you line up at your station, get counted, and then leave – short and sweet.  For Carnival, you had to go to a station, wait, then everyone had to march upstairs to the lido deck and all musters had to listen to talking at the top deck and then everyone could go.  Our muster happened to be the lido deck so we just sat there the whole time but everyone else was trucking all over the ship which would have been annoying.

So let’s add up the points and see who wins – although I am pretty sure Carnival is going to come out on top:

Carnival earns 11 points

Royal Caribbean earns 3.5 points (only giving the port a 1/2 point because it really has nothing to do with RCCL)

Either way, the clear winner overall is Carnival!  Royal Caribbean could learn a few things from Carnival.  We will be going on the Oasis of the Seas next year and I expect it will be different since it is a totally different class of ships but I will still take note of all of the above and see how they stack up.  But, when it comes to the affordable close to home cruise, the Carnival Fascination wins over RCCL Monarch of the Seas!

 
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Spinal Chord Stimulator Trial for Back Pain – Personal Experience Story

17 Sep

Location of Pain:  Some mid-back at T-12 and L-1; much at low back – belt line region, right side worse than left, and hips

Doctor:  Said that trial could reach as high as mid-back if programmed right plus low back

Trial is scheduled

Prior to Trial – 10 mg of Valium given (didn’t do too much for me, valium doesn’t have much effect on me)

Procedure – IV with antibiotics, no other sedation, local only used (lidocaine)

Lidocaine, of course, burns going in – she begins to cut through – it feels like she is using a cookie cutter, cutting through the layers of skin, going deeper and deeper.  After a bit, she reaches spots that is no longer numb and I tell her it hurts and she puts in more lidocaine.  This continues for quite a while until she is finally done and ready to put in the lead.  She puts it in and it feels a little uncomfortable but nothing bad until she gets high into my epidural space.  Then, as she pushes, it hurts (a fair amount).  If she pushes it really slowly, I do better.  She gets to T7 and said that is about as high as she can probably get.

They hook me up to the stimulator and I feel tingling (stimulation or stim for short) in my legs.  Only on one side though, she says, she will need two leads.  They begin the process on the other side.

This side is even more painful.  As they push the lead up, she says that it keeps going to the side – “doing what it wants” rather than what she wants.  She decides that is the best they will get and hooks up the stimulator again.

Now I can feel the stimulation in both legs.  They tape me up and send me next door to work with the reps from St. Jude.

We begin to work with the programming.  The sensation is very similar to a TENS unit.  They turn it on and ask me – where do I feel it?  How strong is it?  We do this for hundreds of settings.

Each time, the answer is usually the same.  In my right leg or in my left leg… mild or medium or strong or TURN THAT DOWN!  Sometimes from my knee down to my foot, sometimes from the top of my leg to my knee, sometimes from the top of my leg to my foot.  Sometimes more on the insides of my legs.  About 5X we got in my stomach.  Another 5X we got in my sides.  Of course each time it was in my stomach or sides, my legs were also stimulated and my leg stim was always twice as strong as any other area stimulated!

We never got any stim in my back, ever!!!  We only once got a small amount of stim in my hips and it was only a small amount and my leg stim was so uncomfortable in order to get the small amount of stim in my hips that I would never use the hip stim.

The reps thought maybe it was all the lidocaine the doctor used.  So they sent me home to try the one program they got with the hips in it and said we could try more the next day.  I went home.  I tried 4X that night but all were the same, the hip stim was very very light and the leg stim was overwhelming.  I was also quite sore from the procedural pain.

I went back the next day and we tried another hour + of programming.  It was the same,  all leg stim and no back stim.  Then they start explaining away why this happens – because all the leg nerves go straight up and to get the back nerves you would need to be farther out …. well, if you knew my legs had no pain and my pain was in my back – why didn’t my leads get placed further out to begin with?  They suggest a second trial with the leads further apart… or maybe further up… or maybe a surgical trial with this new Penta lead that is supposed to better isolate the back.  They tell about a woman who had the same situation as me (couldn’t get back stim and was going in for the surgical trial the next day).  They promise to keep me informed on how she does with her second trial.  They were nice but I felt that none of this was really thought out or discussed/explained BEFORE my trial.

We decided the trial was a failure but my doctor was behind and couldn’t remove the leads for 2 more days.  So, I went home without the stimulator device but wires still hanging out of my back and appointment for 2 days later to remove them.

That night, the pain started, right inside my back where the leads were.  Searing pain ripped through me whenever I moved, especially if I put any weight on my right foot.  I took extra pain pills and hoped to make it until Thursday as my doctor doesn’t come in on Wednesdays.  I woke up Wednesday morning and the pain was worse.  Walking was very difficult.  The pain, if I moved the wrong way, was a 9.  My legs were occasionally feeling numb.  I knew something was not right with the leads.  I called the office and tried to communicate that I really needed to be seen even though my doctor doesn’t come in on Wednesdays.  She was nice enough to come in and see me, thankfully, as I don’t know what I would have been like if I had to wait another 24 hours.

The leads are supposed to just slide right out.  She said, mine did not and she had to tug on it some.  I am not surprised.  It also hurt as she did that because obviously something was NOT RIGHT in there.  I don’t know what or why but my nerves were very irritated from these leads, especially (of course) my right side!  I was still very sore after they were removed but could put weight on my right foot again so I knew that once they recovered from the irritation, all should be well again.

I am 2 days out from that, still taking extra pain pills, still tender and sore and but better than I was.  The woman who did the second surgical lead trial did not have success getting stim in her back.  I told my doctor that was NOT doing another trial, no spinal chord stimulator for me!

So – if you are considering – unless you need it for LEG pain – don’t bother – it is only really good for those who want their legs under constant stimulation.  It is not for back pain and should not be considered for back pain!  Even if you get lucky enough to get some back relief, it won’t be without having your legs stimulated as well – which to me was very annoying.

This was not what I had hoped it would be :-(  And in the end caused me more pain and trauma than good!

 
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Topamax, Wellbutrin, and Weight Loss

12 Sep

Those following my attempt at weight loss and migraine control … it has been a while since I wrote. Mostly because I had nothing to report. I reached my maximum dosage of Topamax with no impact on weight. I had lost maybe 3 pounds and was holding steady. Side effects included – word retrieval issues, tingling in feet and hands, and a very mild change in appetite and cravings. Soda tasted different but still not bad enough where I couldn’t drink it.

My migraines were better, however.  I was having fewer migraines as I only had 1 in the first 7 weeks on it and 1 since then.

Still anxious to move forward with weight loss – I joined a gym and committed to try and do 5 out of 7 days of either cardio or weight training – even if it is only 30 minutes!  At least it is something.  I talked to my doctor and she was going to help with the back pain end of it (a whole different story that I won’t go into here).

I also asked about changing some of my meds.  I had been on a low dose of Celexa to help manage my very busy life and wanted to get off of it.  I cut down to half of my low dose but was afraid I wouldn’t be able to tolerate going farther.  I asked about transitioning to Wellbutrin as it is supposed to actually help with weight loss as well.  So that is what I did – I went off the meds that cause weight GAIN and changed to meds that cause weight LOSS.  It has been only about 4 days but that has made the difference where Topamax hasn’t for me!

First of all, I have chronic fatigue.  I am tired all day long.  I looked up Wellbutrin and it treats chronic fatigue – Wow, it really does!  I take it early (if I don’t set an alarm to take it early, I will be up all night!) and then I am awake all day – NO NAPS!!!  I have never made it through a day without naps!  Really, I can’t do it!  I was always soooo tired all time.  This is my miracle drug.  I have energy, I can get things done, my head is clear and I am now losing weight!  It makes me less hungry so I eat less, I am more active and I sleep less.  I hope this continues but I am thrilled so far with this medication!  I am now down 7 pounds – my goal is to lose 50.  I will keep you all posted.

 
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Topamax Diary – what is it like to take Topamax?

28 Jul

I have decided to take this “heavy duty” drug. I have done a lot of reading on it and all the side effects. I admit I am a little nervous but I am hoping the benefits can outweigh the side effects. I got my prescription yesterday. I am starting with 25 mg. each night for 7 days and then I am supposed to increase to 25 mg in the morning and 25 mg in the evening. I have read, however, of some people who do 50 mg. at night for the next step rather than 25 /25. I am thinking about that depending on the side effects. I don’t want to be fuzzy during the day so if taking it more at night will help, I might try that. If, I am adjusted to the 25 at night at the end of 7 days then it might be fine to try the 25 in the morning – we will have to see how I feel. I am also going away with my husband on our 20th wedding anniversary cruise and I don’t want to be making adjustments to my meds when I am on the trip, so I am thinking I might just stay at 25 mg until we return. I will have to see how I feel. The goal of this post is to provide a diary of my experiences for those considering the drug. However, from what I have read, this drug varies dramatically from person to person. Although it is nice to see how one person progressed, this by no means will be a sample of how someone else will progress.

Day 1: Took 25 mg at 7 pm. Felt very spaced out. Had some vision distortion. Had some taste distortion (very minor).
Day 2: Woke up, had a slight headache (probably not from the topamax), no longer feel spaced out, some taste distortion, maybe some mild appetite decrease (or just wishful thinking). At 8:00 pm took 25 mg. Felt a little spaced out, much less than last night. Significantly less side effects tonight which surprised me. Still have a tad of a headache but again I don’t necessarily think it is from the drug.
Day 3: Felt fine all day. I had no change in appetite. Soda still tasted fine. I decided to consider taking 50 mg tonight since I haven’t had much in the way of side effects. I have decided for sure yet. I took 25 mg at 5:00 pm and may take another 25 mg later tonight – I will wait and see. I am a little spaced out right now but not too bad. I decided to go ahead and take another 25 mg at 7:30 pm. I feel just as spaced out as I felt the first night. Nothing too bad, so I think I will continue to take the 50 mg each day until I get back from vacation and then increase to 75 mg. I hope to see some impact on my appetite and migraines at 50 mg.
Day 4: I woke up feeling fine this morning. I stepped on the scale, hoping to see something going in the right direction but I had GAINED a small amount of weight, WHAT!!! I am hoping it is just a fluke. I am going to try and be really careful about what I eat today and really monitor what my appetite is saying now that I am taking the 50 mg. I have been trying to read what people say about WHEN they started seeing the weight loss. Most people don’t directly tell you but it some say, “I lost 5 pounds or 11 pounds in the first 2 weeks” so I have to assume that means they started losing weight right away and that they didn’t start out on 100 mg per day so they must have lost weight on lower doses like 25 or 50 mg. I drank soda this morning and it still tasted only mildly flat. Not bad enough that I couldn’t drink it and since it is my “coffee” for the day, I want to drink it as long as I can tolerate the taste. I am able to tolerate large doses of meds that affect others at smaller amounts – like I need large amounts of valium to do anything and I can take 2 doses of muscle relaxers 2X per day and not feel tired, so this may be part of the reason why I am not being hit with side effects from the Topamax. But… I really want it to work on my weight as well as my migraines. No migraines yet but it isn’t like I get them all the time so it hasn’t been long enough to tell if it is working on those yet. I plan to take another 25 mg. after I get back from my chiropractic appointment today since I don’t have to go anywhere and then 25 mg. this evening around dinner time. I did take another 25 mg. Continued to feel spacey. I was still hungry and ate a normal dinner – no change in appetite at all :-( So far don’t see any impact on weight loss at all, really hoping that is going to change. I will be taking another 50 mg. tomorrow. I will take 25 mg in the morning since I don’t have anything to do tomorrow but clean the house.
Day 5: I took 25 mg this morning (well, it was more like noon by the time I got up). It made me feel feel sleepy. It definitely didn’t decrease my appetite at all. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a bowl of pasta for lunch, and 3 slices of pizza for dinner! I checked my weight and I did “lose” the pound I had put on at the beginning of this, so that is good but still no weight loss or loss of appetite. I also haven’t had to “do number 2.” That may be part of the weight – I am going to have to take something to get things moving, had no idea that this could cause constipation but things seemed to have just stopped – so I guess so. I will be taking another 25 mg later tonight. Took it before I went to bed, got tired and went to bed early.
Day 6: I can’t believe it has been 6 days already that I have been on these meds. It is disappointing that the weight is not falling off like I hear from many of the other posts that I read :-( So far my biggest side effects are constipation, fuzzy head, and tiredness. Not what I was hoping for. So far no migraines but I will need to go 1 month without migraines to feel that it is working for that since my migraines can be sporadic. I took 25 mg. in the late morning today and will take another 25 mg in the evening sometime tonight. I will stay on 50 mg throughout my vacation and then move to 75 mg when I return. Soda still tastes okay. There is a small change and it takes a little flat but tolerable. I am still hungry although my cravings for sweets seems to be a little bit less – we’ll see if this continues. I certainly won’t be boasting 5-11 pounds of weightloss in 2 weeks like others though :-( I read some studies last night that definitely showed weightloss was correlated to dosage meaning the higher the dosage the more likely you were to experience weightloss. So maybe if I go up in dosage, I still have a chance, however, I don’t see myself going above 100 mg per day with all the side effects and of course, I hear terrible stories about going off the meds, basically if you ever go off – all the weight will come back no matter what you do… I would like to see someone who says that isn’t true for them!
Day 7: The day has finally arrived. In addition to finally getting my constipation a little bit under control, the scale registered a 2-3 pound weight loss this morning. Maybe this is the beginning? I will wait to see more… I am also having pins and needles in my hands, feet, and legs!!! It isn’t too bad (yet)! I took 25 mg this am and will take my second 25 mg tonight.
Day 8: Well, today was not as promising. :( I haven’t done my official weigh in but it looks like I am not showing any more loss and my loss is closer to the 2 pounds rather than the 2-3 pounds from yesterday. On the other hand, my weight seems directly related to my constipation – so when food goes in but nothing is coming out, I am going to weigh more – so maybe if that was normalized I would have seen more, who knows. Also, it may not be a daily thing. The good news is that I am still down 2 pounds from the start in 1 week which is healthier than losing more than that in such a short time. So, we will continue to see what happens. I did find a slight bit of an increase in appetite reduction. I did not want to eat anything at all last night and I usually get hungry for a snack while watching TV in the evening. This morning, I feel hungry but don’t want to eat, it is strange. I am due to take my morning pill, so I am off to do that and then I will keep you posted. Not too much to report today. My side effects are much less now after 8 days on 50 mg per day. I would normally increase my dose right now if I were not leaving on vacation but I don’t want to mess with things as it is I am concerned about how my constipation will impact (no pun intended) my trip. I took 2 more laxatives and am waiting but am thinking I may have to take an enema as I am getting uncomfortable. No more tingling, fatigue is better, no more vision issues, head feels clear, no headaches, and weight loss remains at 2 pounds. Although soda doesn’t taste bad, I don’t seem to want to drink it, I am thirsty a lot and my main drink is koolaide made with sweet n low. I drank one glass of tea today and that was the only caffeine I had all day. Will continue to report – although I am sorry to say that there will be no reports or weight updates on the 6 days that I am gone on my trip, you’ll be left in suspense to see what happened! I will be increasing to 25 mg in the morning and 50 mg at night when I return, however.
Day 9: No change in weight. Holding steading at -2 pounds.
Day 10: I will report my weigh in soon but today is going to be my last post before my trip. Summary: some mild side effects but nothing too bad still bothering me at 50 mg, constipation is still a HUGE problem and not sure what to do about that, weight loss is still minimal – hoping that my increase in dosage upon return from my trip will jump start the weight loss.
Day 19: Well, I am back from my cruise. The trip was great, TONS of food. I did not have the side effect of “aversion to food,” I ate quite well – still hoping that maybe I lost weight…. wishful thinking. I stepped on the scale when I got home and had GAINED weight – like 5 pounds or so! Yikes! But, this morning, I was back down to just 1 pound more than when I left. I had no side effects on the ship EXCEPT that my eyesight became really blurry when I read. I read about the vision problems that can be associated with topamax. I have an appointment scheduled with an ophthalmologist to check and make sure I don’t have high optical pressure in my eyes.
Read an updated blog on 9/12/2010

 
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Make Money Playing Video Games

09 Jul

My son is getting ready to launch his new GAMING PORTAL: Portal Strike. It is not ready just yet – I will post an update when it goes live. Hopefully in August 2010. Portal Strike will allow gaming enthusiasts to MAKE MONEY for playing video games. Wouldn’t that be awesome? When your parents say that you are on the computer for too long, you can say “I’m working, Mom!” Each month, selected game(s) will be available for a contest. The players with the highest scores win CASH. It is that simple – so keep playing it over and over and become the best and we will send you a check with your name on it! This is a great way for those who can’t (or don’t have) a job. You may also be able to get bonus money for referring your friends. Portal Strike is going to be the HOTTEST new portal out there!

 
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Stomach Viruses – No Fever Needed

26 Apr

I will admit that I have a phobia of vomiting. So – I am very very careful to limit contact with viruses that cause the stomach flu. One of my pet peeves, however, is the number of people who don’t understand the stomach flu. If I were to count the number of people who say, “well, he didn’t have a fever – therefore, it must just have been something he ate that made him vomit like that,” I would be very wealthy. There have been some that give TYLENOL to their children to PREVENT them from getting sick and those that think ANTIBIOTICS fix all – like colds, flu, and stomach viruses! NO PEOPLE, NO, NO, NO!!!!

So let’s get the facts straight… first of all antibiotics only helps with bacterial infections. Most illnesses are viral and not bacterial. Ear infections – YES, bacterial, Strep Throat – yes, bacterial, Pneumonia – only SOME are – some are bacterial but some are VIRAL. Colds, the regular FLU (as in influenza – not vomiting flu), stomach flu – these my friends are VIRAL. Antibiotics will not help you and will only make you resistant to when you do need to use them.

Tylenol brings fever down – it does not help PREVENT you from getting sick. Even if you have a fever and use Tylenol to bring down the fever – you are still SICK!!! It treats symptoms, not the illness. On top of that – unless the fever makes you very uncomfortable – LEAVE IT ALONE – a fever is your body’s natural way of fighting the virus or infection. Your body raises the temperature to help kill the bad stuff. By taking Tylenol, you are slowing down the help your body is trying to do for you. A fever is your friend … yes, if you are MISERABLE with really high fever, get some help … but if it is that bad, the Tylenol won’t even make your temp go to normal. However, if you can deal with the fever or your child isn’t miserable (by the way, sleeping is not miserable – it is good and will help your child get better sooner) – let the fever help fight the illness.

The “Flu” – the regular flu (the virus that we get offered vaccines for each fall/winter) is almost always accompanied by a fever. If you think you have the flu and you don’t have a fever, you probably don’t have the flu (but with that said, you can still have the flu without fever – it just isn’t that common). Flu is fever with cold like symptoms and lots of fatigue. The flu happens most often between October – March – with the highest chances around January and February most years. Flu usually lasts for a week and then kind of lingers. But note that the STOMACH FLU (see below) is NOT the “THE FLU.” We call it the stomach flu but it is not the influenza virus!

The STOMACH FLU - this is not really a flu. It is a virus that causes vomiting, diarrhea, and usually lasts under 12 hours. This is when you start feeling sick – are throwing up every hour or so – and after a few hours (sometimes just a couple to up to 12 – longer if it is a nasty case of Rotavirus) start to feel better. You have to eat slowly to get your stomach used to food again. This virus does not cause a fever in most people. So – if you or your child throws up multiple times in a few hour span but doesn’t have a fever – they are still SICK!! Don’t think that if they don’t have a fever – it must just be “something they ate.” Most of the time, it is not something they ate (in all my life, I have had the stomach bug multiple times and only ONCE was it from “something I ate.”). If they vomit only once and they can eat fine – then YES, they probably are not sick. But … multiple times (and yes with no fever) – guess what – they have a stomach virus. Do they need to go see the doctor? NO! Well, in most cases. We were in the ER once and a family brought in their 2 year old to the ER because their child threw up in church – SERIOUSLY??!! Take him home, let him rest, give him sips of water and wait a couple hours to see what happens. Now, if you or your child is dehydrated or seems REALLY ill – yes, go to the doctors or hospital – but not just because they threw up in church or school! And don’t take your child out with you! They are still contagious – remember the misery they just went through? Don’t inflict that on others! Don’t send them to school – don’t take them into Walmart – don’t use the bathroom at McDonalds when you are out. If your child is sick – if you are sick – please STAY HOME! These viruses are VERY contagious. Did you know that they can live on surfaces in your house for 2 weeks or more? So, if your child is sick and a week later when your child has been well for 6 days – they have a friend come over – if you missed a spot when cleaning – or maybe you didn’t go nuts with bleach like I do after someone in my house is sick – well, that friend could catch it! Yes, a week later – at your house – long after your child has been well! Finally, after throwing up, your child may become thirsty. They will want to down a large glass of a drink – and guess what? it will probably come back up!!! You need to offer small sips, spread apart – after each vomiting episode, let the stomach rest for at least 1 hour before starting anything to drink. Give a small ice chip if your child is “dying of thirst.” Yes, we want them hydrated but don’t overdo it when the tummy is not happy!

So – to summarize…

Antibiotics only work on bacterial infections – colds, stomach bugs, and the flu are NOT bacterial!

The FLU is the regular winter flu – it generally does not cause vomiting – and usually does have a fever but is different from the Stomach Flu!

The STOMACH FLU – or STOMACH BUG – usually does not a fever – that is the norm – do you hear me??? NO FEVER!!! And yes your child is sick – and NO – it is probably not the candy they ate if they have thrown up multiple times – the candy – that would be a single event!

DON’T rush to the ER and doctors as soon as your child throws up in most cases – the doctor will tell you “your child has a stomach virus – gradually increase liquids, don’t let them dehydrate and put them on a bland diet (BRAT diet) until they feel better. Think before you act! Although if something isn’t right – then go to ER!

DON’T take your child out in public when they are sick! Think of others!!! And remember that the virus can live in your house for weeks!!!

One last thing? How can I stop the Stomach Flu? The obvious answer is hand washing (lots of it!) especially before eating!! But, I also have researched and have had excellent personal experience with 2 supplements: Echinachea (take as soon as you are exposed or start feeling sick) and Vitamin D3 (about 5000 IU’s per day) – not just the amount in your calcium supplement (that is only about 400 IU’s per day). If you don’t believe me – look at the research! Both of these have helped me from getting sick and I swear by them!

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and this advice is based on medical fact about viruses and bacterial illnesses as well as personal experiences of a mother of four.

 
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Posted in Medical, Parenting

 

2009 VW Routan Minivan Review

10 Nov

Review of VW Routan

We purchased our VW Rountan as a used 2009 minvan with 14,000 miles on it. We bought the extended warranty of 6 years and 100,000 miles. Here is what I like about the van and what I don’t like:

Like:
1. Remote start: This is a great feature to start your car ahead of time without having to go outside – it allows you to cool down or warm up your car – and it is just a really cool feature.
2. Automatic with shifting – I didn’t think I would care about this feature but I really love it. When I need to downshift to pass another vehicle or if I am on a hilly road, it is very nice to be able to handle your own shifting (yet clutch free) and use regular automatic when in more normal driving conditions.
3. Seat heat warmers get VERY hot, which I imagine will be really nice on a cold day.
4. The wireless headphones so that I don’t have to listen to the TV when the kids are watching it, I can listen to my stereo!
5. The Bluetooth connection is great.
6. Having a hard drive and an Aux connection is great
7. I really like having the rear camera for backing out especially with how big the van is.
8. Having 3 power doors.

Dislike:
1. The force and location on the air vents. It gets really hot in NC in the summer and I wonder if the AC will make me feel cool enough, I am used to the high speed, freezing cold air blowing in my face in my Sienna – the Routan doesn’t angle up enough to hit my face and the amount of cold air does not seem like it will be enough.
2. The dual TV’s block my rear view out the window.
3. The controls to use both DVD players are not very user friendly – especially the DISC one, the VES works easier.
4. The fact that you can’t store the front seats in the floor.
5. The van is very long and bigger than the other minivans although it has less head room for really tall people.
6. Watch out that you don’t hit someone in the head with the power lift-gate.
7. I wish the engine had a little more power – it is not bad for a minivan but a little more spunk would be nice.

I will add to this list as I come up with more likes and dislikes.

 
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Scope & Sequence in American Mathematics

18 Sep

We do it all wrong!

Why?

1. To give students a wide breadth of mathematical knowledge
2. Because our teachers don’t know how to teach math very well
3. Because we don’t have our act together and repeat, repeat, and repeat
4. Because we feel the need to give TONS of the same type of problem
5. Because our students don’t GET MATH and we think that means we need more problems and more repetition

If we learn how to teach math better and don’t waste time with so many worksheets of the same problem and don’t confuse students with so many different mathematical topics, we could progress at a faster rate with knowledge retained by students.

The NCSCOS (North Carolina Standard Course of Study) has goals in 1) Arithmetic, 2) Geometry, 3) Statistics and Probability, and 4) Algebra and 5) Measurement. One day our teachers will be teaching factor trees, then the next they are switching to Geometry vocabulary (what are acute angles? What does it mean to be perpendicular?), the next day they are having the students do “pretend” Algebra, where we don’t actually do what would be done in Algebra, we hide it, with a missing addend instead of a variable, and then students are doing graphing and finding out how many combinations exist if I line up 4 books on a shelf, then they are working with the metric system and measure items using how many “book lengths.”

This breadth of knowledge is good but I fear that we lose so much by constantly shifting gears on our kids. They forget what they learned in the Geometry unit in grade 4 when they get to Grade 5 and we start all over again. The “Algebra” skills are not really helpful yet until the kids can grasp more advanced ideas and the uses of Algebra. Measurement, to some extent, is necessary – certainly telling time, using a basic ruler, and money. Probability and Statistics are very useful, but again, let’s finish one thing before we address a new thing.

Here is what I see as a draft of scope and sequence for elementary and middle school mathematics:

Grade K:
1. Skip counting – by 2′s, 3′s, 5′s, 10′s. Expanded skip counting by 5′s and 10′s. What if I start with 25 and now want to skip count by 10? Apply to learning to count money.
2. Tally counting and apply to telling time.
3. Adding – group by ability – some can add all 1 digit numbers here, some will need to just add low numbers +0, +1, +2.
4. Exchanging – Using base 10 blocks, teach the idea that for every 10 units you can trade in for a 10 block.
5. Modeling place value with 10′s blocks for units, 10′s, and 100′s.
6. Reading numbers to the 100′s.
7. Learning doubles: work on memorizing (using song is helpful) all the doubles.
8. Adding to 10 (10 + 3 = 13) Build the concept of place value.

Grade 1:
1. Mastery of counting money
2. Mastery of telling time
3. Adding numbers without regrouping
4. Using what was taught about regrouping in Kindergarten, expand to modeling addition with regrouping
5. Add place value to the 1000.
6. Teach addition strategies.
7. Introduce the concept of multiplication and how it applies to addition and begin study of multiplication
8. Begin unit on subtraction and teach subtraction strategies
9. Teach basic measurement

Grade 2
1. Review units on telling time, counting money, addition of numbers with and without regrouping, subtraction
2. Teach multiplication strategies
3. Teach concept of factors
4. Link multiplication to division
5. Begin the process of modeling with division
6. Do mixed word problems, teach wording of problems involving +, – , X
7. Expand place value
8. Introduce concept of fractions & decimals
9. Order decimal numbers
10. Do 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication

Grade 3
1. Solidify multiplication
2. Build to long division
3. Equivalent fractions
4. Adding fractions with like denominators
5. Using equivalent fractions, add with unlike denominators
6. Multiply fractions
7. Divide fractions
8. Introduce decimals and how they relate to fractions
8. Introduce concept of percent and how it relates to fractions and decimals
9. Convert between percents and decimals
10. Add and subtract with decimals
11. Discuss degrees (90, 180, 270, 360) – do turns with your body

Grade 4:
1. Introduce mixed numbers
2. Add & subtract with mixed numbers – use models
3. Convert mixed numbers to improper fractions
4. Multiply and divide with mixed numbers
5. Apply real world uses of percents (interest)
6. Discuss concept of variable
7. Use variable to represent unknown in math problems
8. Introduce Perimeter and Area and practice arithmetic by applying these two problems

Grade 5:
1. Discuss multiples and factors
2. Build factor trees
3. Find GCF and LCM (relate LCM to equivalent fractions)
4. Probabability and Statistics UNIT
5. Begin Pre-Algebra

Grade 6:
1. Algebra 1 with modifications (1/2 year)
2. Geometry Unit (1/2 year)

Grade 7:
1. Finish Algebra 1 curriculum (1/2 year)
2. Probability and Statistics UNIT (1/2 year)

Grade 8:
1. Advanced Algebra 1 (for students who are struggling – this is a full Algebra 1 class with topics from Algebra 2 introduced at a basic level) OR
2. GEOMETRY

Grade 9 – all students will be ready for Algebra 2 or Geometry

 
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Posted in Education

 

Youtube Video – Spinal Fusion Video Diary

30 Jun

 
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Posted in Personal

 

1 week Post Op from Minimally Invasive Spinal Fusion L5/S1

30 Jun

Hello all – I thought I would post an update to my surgery. First a refresher…

Went in Monday 6/22/09 to Duke Univ. Hospital for a L5/S1 fusion. The n-surg did two 2.5 inch cuts in my back and did a minimally invasive fusion. He cut off 1 facet and ground it up to use as an autograft. It was put in a cage and put in where the L5/S1 disc had been. He then secured it with rods and screws. They used glue, no stitches.

The first few days were HELL! It would have been a lot better if I had some nurses to help in the hospital but I got no help and no pain relief (see other posts for details on how that got screwed up).

I spent just 1 night in the hospital and welcomed coming home so that I could get my pain under control and get some help.
Once home, I went to see my primary care doctor to get a good routine for pain meds. I am on Oxycontin 30 mg, twice per day for long term pain control. I have Percocet (10 mg) for breakthrough pain and Tramadol as well. Yesterday, I made it through with just the Oxycontin and tramodal without needing any extra Percocets.
I also had arm pain (near my bicep) – a big red splotch, very sore when I moved my arm, and kind of hard. I went to the doctor who sent me to the hospital for a sonogram. They found superficial blood clot and inflamed vein. I was given antibiotics for infection, told to take 600 mg. of Motrin 3X per day (even though normally I would not be allowed to because of the fusion), and told to put heat on it. It is somewhat better today.
The one week mark came with a definite improvement in overall pain. My incisions look great and I am moving more easily. My back is sore but overall – I feel so much improved. I still can’t tell if the surgery was successful at reducing my pre-surgery pain for severe Degenerative Disc Disease or not.
I am walking every day. Yesterday was my first walk of any significant length, I went about 1/2 + mile. Today, I am going to the gym and trying the treadmill so that I can see how much I can tolerate. My legs are sore but I have a massage chair at home that will massage my legs and that has been very helpful to get the blood flowing better through my legs.

It did take me 7 days before I had my first BM post surgery and it was very difficult. I feel like I didn’t have any muscle strength in that area. I am still a far way away from being back to normal in that area but I am happy that at least I started feeling the need to go again!
If you have any comments or questions, I would love to hear them!

 
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