When I was little, my mom was rarely ill. But the few times I remember her ever having a cold, I would go into her room and offer to “help” and she would just say how she wanted to be left alone. Oh, my poor little feelings were so hurt. But, now that I’m the mom of three, I think I understand where mom was coming from!

I blogged last week about my abnormal mammogram finding . Today, I had the follow-up biopsy. I’ve been preparing the kids for Mommy not feeling 100% over the last few days.... more

What is the third leading cause of death for teenagers and young adults those from 15 to 24 years old? If you said suicide then you are correct. What causes teenagers or young adults with an unlimited future ahead of them to choose suicide over life? The number one cause of suicide in the United States is depression. If you suspect your child is suffering from depression, don’t wait. Seek medical help and therapy right away. A federal government survey released on May 13, says that over two million teenagers... more

My six-year-old son is in the process of being evaluated for the extent to which his Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is affecting his ability to succeed in school. It is looking like we will need to medicate him in order for him to succeed. He is such a bright kid, but his inability to focus is impeding his ability to stay on task and complete assignments. Even his IQ testing (as part of this assessment) did not fully capture his intelligence because the... more

When our adopted child joined our home, we received a medical history for each birthparent. Even with all of the medical history we received, we still do not have a complete medical background for my son’s extended birth family. This can be a problem for many adoptive families, especially when the adopted child is exposed to allergens.

Last summer, my son experienced his first bee sting. He did not have an allergic reaction to the sting, which was to be expected because this was his first exposure to the potential allergen. In... more

I admit it; I seem to be one of those Mom’s constantly trucking my daughter to the Pediatrician for this or that. Most recently cough, diaper rash , diarrhea and fever… not all at the same time. Despite my common sense telling me otherwise and I may add that so far my Mother’s intuition has always been right on target. I leave shaking my head wondering why I even bothered. I caved to the pressure. The pressure of my husband saying I need to take her to the doctor. The pressure of what if. What if this cough turns into bronchitis and then pneumonia? I... more

A few days ago I wrote a post about a doctor's response to the fact that my daughter was adopted. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what she was thinking but I judged it to be an initial jolt of shock followed by a settling wave of pity. That bothered me.

In that post I wrote that it seemed the doctor's attitude, or perhaps her engagement with my daughter changed dramatically once that information was revealed. That made me sad. It wasn't that she became rude. It's just that before that bit of information was divulged the doctor and my daughter were yukking it... more

continued from previous post...

"Oh no." I thought. "Don't say it. Please, don't say it. Whatever it is that you're thinking right now, please. Just don't say it. Hark back to your bedside manner 101 class, if they even taught you such a thing and figure out how to handle this tactfully. You have no idea the kind of week I've had around all of this very kind of stuff."

Well, folks. She said it.

Her full faced smile turned to a stone faced stare. She let out something that was somewhere in between a gasp and a sigh. Then she... more

Okay, this is a short post. Not even a full post. I'm running around throwing stuff in a bag for my trip to NYC first thing in the morning (see previous post). In between doing what it is that mommies do before they leave to go out of town, even if it is just for overnight, I had to take my youngest daughter to a doctor's appointment. She failed a routine screening at the pediatrician's office just a bit ago, and there were some other subtle concerns that showed up so she was referred on for additional testing.

Cut to the chase for those of you who might be... more