I did it...acupuncture

So I did something recently that I never thought I would ever do...I voluntarily let someone stick me like a pin cushion and I paid them to do it. Last Tuesday I visited an acupuncturist for headaches. Now I have dealt with headaches every day of my life for as long as I can remember, and NOTHING has been able to fully cure me of the pain. Most days its just a dull ache, but at least two days a week its so severe that I have trouble concentrating and paying attention to anything. I've taken medicines, had scans done of my head to see if doctors could tell what was wrong, lived with the headaches, and I wasn't expecting to experience any relief whatsoever from acupuncture (I did hope though).

Before I go further, I would like to say that I don't believe any of the zen, yin, yang whodoo-voodoo mess! I was concerned whether acupuncture would be against my Christian beliefs because I believe that all healing comes through Christ, not needles putting some energy in line or whatever it is the acupuncturists say. After much research on my part, I've found that there is no definitive "proof" that acupuncture works, but many doctors believe that the needles stimulate the nerves causing a rush of endorphins, your body's natural painkillers. Here is an article from Focus on the Family that I found.

So when I went for my appointment, I politely let the acupuncturist know that I wasn't really interested in his "theory" on what was wrong with me, I was just looking for relief from my headaches. We got started and the acupuncturist placed needles in my neck, and immediately I got chills down my back and the muscles in my neck loosened up. Then I laid down on the table and needles were placed in my forehead (3 needles), one in each forearm, and one in the top of each of my feet. I had the needles in me for about 20 minutes or so, and I enjoyed the peaceful time just lying there, praying and thinking about things. The needles didn't hurt at all, and I was prepared for some pain, even though my research said that I wouldn't experience any.

I had an awful headache the day of my appointment, and the headache had significantly subsided by the evening, but I'm not sure it was due to the acupuncture because I took Excedrin Migraine twice that day...Since that day though, I have been using acupressure dots (see below) when I go to bed, and I go back for my second acupuncture appointment later this week.

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, I feel so much better! I still have a dull ache, but I haven't had an excruciating headache since the appointment day. I don't really know how long the effects of acupuncture are supposed to last, but I'm enjoying it for now!! And for the record, I am thanking God every day for my headache pain relief.

Here are pictures of my hands showing the spots where I place the acupressure dots at night. You can see that I have several dots on my hands when I took the pictures. It's been five days since my appointment and the permanent marker has finally come off my hands.

Heading to bed to prepare for a busy week! I'll update on the adoption later this week, not that much is going on right now.

update on our lives

Is everyone else ready for the weekend? Its hard to believe that its Friday already, but since I haven't worked since Wednesday afternoon, it might not be that hard to believe. I've actually been in Cleveland since Wednesday evening because my mom had surgery at Cleveland Clinic. She's recovering well and will hopefully go home early next week. I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers for a speedy, full recovery and that she never has to have this again. I know that's what she's praying for.

Cleveland Clinic is a great hospital and they are quite serious about healthy eating. You cannot buy regular soda in the cafeteria, even though they have a McDonalds right outside the cafeteria doors where you can buy all the unhealthy food you want (and regular soda too). So I headed down to the cafeteria this morning to get a Diet Pepsi (not my Diet Coke, but it'll do in a pinch) and I took a quick look around for something to eat. They had the usual breakfast items like eggs, bagels, low-fat muffins, and doughnuts. Now the doughnuts were surprising enough to me in and of themselves, but what made my laugh is that they were only sold in packages of two full-size doughnuts!! I think the healthy eating would go right out the door on that one...or two. They also had cookies that were sold in individual packages, but the cookies were larger than the span from the tip of my pinkie to the tip of my thumb; so much for healthy. I opted for a Nutrigrain bar and a Diet Pepsi. Aren't I just the picture of health?

I drove up to Cleveland by myself, another shocking turn of events. I can usually only drive for two hours without becoming crazy sleepy, but I made it the whole four hours without even thinking about sleep! I opened the sun roof and cranked up my iPod with the 90's music and just drove. (Side note: if you have an iPod, you can get a car converter kit that plugs into your cigarette lighter and streams the music through your radio. Awesome! I use my iPod so much more now) I actually enjoyed the drive, which pretty much never happens.

me, Katie and Damon in the new hammock

(I tried to find a picture where my thigh looked smaller than Damon's)

now Damon and Wes spend a little time relaxing

Damon and I are now officially parents of a preschooler. Yup - Wesley started preschool this week and *LOVES* it! I was pretty sure he would because he's such a social interactive person, but I was concerned about the eating while at school. The first day he ate about two bites of macaroni and cheese, one bit of yogurt and a small amount of milk. He ate more the second day, so I'm praying he keeps improving. I hope that the other kids eating will inspire him, but if not, then we'll just make sure he gets enough to eat when he's at home. (I only got this one decent picture because Wesley was making weird smiles or putting his hands over his face and telling me how he didn't want his picture taken)

Speaking of Wesley's eating, something amazing happened recently...Damon and Wesley got home for the day before I did, and Wes asked for goldfish crackers. Damon just gave him the bag of them and Wes took them to the sofa, sat down and just started eating. Wesley was watching Sesame Street and chowing down on goldfish crackers - Damon and I just stood there watching in amazement! Who would have guessed that I'd ever be so glad to see my child snacking in front of the television having no idea how much he is eating?

everyone on the playset (Duke, the larger dog, actually climbed up the stairs by himself)

We had a great Independence Day with our friends. We went to a local man-made lake and beach for the afternoon, then went to someone's house for a cook-out and more water fun for the kids. Wesley got on a slip-n-slide for the first time, and guess what...he loved it! Sometimes I stand in wonder at how much this kid loves new experiences, and I hope he never loses that.

How could you not love swimming in that murky brown water? Instead of sand the ground was mostly small pebbles, not so much fun to walk on.

look at his form - I think that's form befitting a Ukrainian gymnast!

and right over the pool at the end

Have a great weekend! I'm heading home this afternoon, and I think it might be a nice weekend to spend at the neighborhood pool. Hope you're doing something exciting as well.

giving the cats at the mall a high five

already behind

I have been remiss in updating the blog, but I will post the other vacation days this week (probably not until Wednesday at least). It's been a great weekend with family and friends, so blogging has been far from my mind, but I did take some awesome pictures and videos. I'll share soon!

But until then I'll leave you with a few cute picture of Wesley...oh how I wish I could claim this kid's genetics as my own :)