Acid Reflux, anyone?

       Late July of this year, I suffered from a stomach flu. I wasn't feeling right at that time, and I kept on having watery bowels for three straight days. So I self-medicated and had some loperamide. It offered some relief from my frequent visit to the bathroom. But it just did not stop there. 

         After that week, I experienced a lot of discomfort. I felt like there was a ball of air in the lower part of my neck. I'm not feeling any pain, but it was uncomfortable.  My stomach seems to be full of air too. I  kept on belching to take the air out, but nothing  seem to work. Then there also the experienced of water brash or having this excessive saliva in my mouth which made me spit all the time.

          Since I didn't have the time (or the budget) to visit a doctor, I consulted Mr. Google. And he did have the answer to my symptoms. I was actually having an acid-reflux or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). The more I researched about it, the more scared I got and apparently it was stress-related.  I have always been a stressed-out mom, a junk-food lover, and a soda-lover...really a bad eater. I have never been a vegetable-loving person but I do love fruits. 

           With GERD,  one have to continuously avoid some foods though. You must avoid caffeine, soda, milk, citrus, and spicy foods.  Pastries and sweets must be taken into moderation as well as some dairies. 

            My symptoms were mild, the heartburn I felt was never that painful, only some heaviness in my chest area. I never took those medicine that were supposed to inhibit the acid in our stomach because those medicine also kills the good-bacteria in our gut and makes other bad bacteria thrive. Again, after researching, I found this probiotic that can help our  stomach with its good bacteria. So I tried it first and lo and behold, it worked! For me it did. I took one pill in the morning with at least a hour before my breakfast. And then another pill at night, two hours after dinner. A week of this regimen, and you will have some relief from GERD symptoms. The probiotic that I tried was called OM-X probiotic. It is a potent probiotic made in Japan. It was introduced to me through my daughter's pedia when she started having this tummy aches again this year. In their website, OM-X is said to contain at least 92 plant-based ingredients that has been naturally fermented for three to five years. Though it is a little bit pricey and hard to find in some drugstores here in the Philippines (always out of stock), I believe its still worth a try for GERD sufferers.

          

            GERD is a battle. Specially if you love eating like me. When I was younger and things got a little stressful, I would just grab a bottle of Coke and a pack of chocolates, and there's "happiness" back again and "stress" would just flew out of the window. But not now, I cannot do that anymore. I also miss my morning cup of coffee. The good thing with all of this is that I lost some weight. And I gain the determination and the discipline to avoid junk food and to eat healthier. 

              It's been two months now. Half of this time was being miserable and just crying, and half of it was  acceptance and the will to control my life back.

Blank Space

      Words aren't coming out. As much as I want them to flow into my brains, they're seem to be stuck somewhere in my cells. Hidden away in my views. That is what's been happening to me. I'm stuck. With everything. No direction, no where to go.

        Is this mid-life crisis? Siguro naman hindi pa. I'm not that old. I'm not that young either, but I feel like I am sometimes. I am a hands-on-mom/feeling-entrepreneur/all-around-maid rolled into one. I got a very stressful life right now, and to me, writing is something I'd sometimes do to de-stress myself. I'm not saying I'm good at writing, I just wanted to write. Period.

         So, last night, I was helping my daughter to write a poem about our family picture. As I held on to her pencil, acting as if I have this great idea for the picture, I froze. No words. Not  single one. I am just staring at the blank paper. I felt my daughter poke my face. "Mama, nakatunganga ka na naman.", she said. 

          How can this be? When I was in college (17 yrs ago, excuse me...), I was the princess of poem. I even helped one of my classmate who was a band member in composing his songs. Bakit ganun?! How can I have lost the words, and my brain was just rusting away with just house chores? Rhyming words was just "sisiw" sa akin dati. But now, I' struggling to compose a simple poem. So eto ang nagawa ko, too simple but good enough for my daughter's project (sabi ni ikay :) )

Happy Family

This is my family,

my Papa, my Mama, and me. 

There's only the three of us,

but we're contended and happy.

There is always a time  to smile,

a time for us to joke around.

To goof and play like a clown for awhile,

with our laughter as the only sound.

     It's not that good, I know. The good thing in it is that, it looks like it was made by Ikay.  I know I got to practice again, but hey, at least I got something to do on my free time. Kung magkaka-free time ako. Lol.

Scarlet Fever! Yikes!

My first blog for 2015 started with not-so-good tummy ache for my Ikay. A month after, my mother-in-law passed away and we made our way to Nueva Ecija to attend her funeral and burial. It was there that I suspect Ikay picked up something. We went back to Laguna right after the burial and I immediately notice Ikay's silence. She doesn't show her usual "kakulitan" sa byahe namin. She just said that her tummy is hurting again. I thought she was just hungry, so I bought her some cookies and some water. Back home, she still complain of tummy ache so I let her stay for the day instead of attending her class. 

Weekend passes, she's back to normal and I sigh a sound of relief. She was able to attend her classes on Monday up to Wednesday (2/23 - 2/25). It was "exam week". She even helped me put up her loot bags after review. 

The next day, was Ikay's 8th birthday. We were planning to give a small party the next day (Friday), and Ikay was also excited to distribute her loot bags  that day. As I prepare her for her school, I kay told me that her poop that morning was watery. I inspected her poop and it was indeed, with no sign of any hard or formed poop. But she told me that she was feeling fine and that her tummy was not even hurting. So off she goes to school only to be called by the school nurse later that Ikay was rushed to the clinic because of her stomach ache and she even vomited. So I fetched the birthday girl and went straight to the hospital for check-up.

Her tonsils were swollen. Ikay complained of even having a hard time swallowing her saliva. It was also that time that fever is starting to show up, signalling an infection. She was given two bottles of antibiotic (good for 10 days)  and a dozen of  questions for me about her tummy history. She was somewhat diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

Arriving home, while Ikay was resting, I made my way to Mr. Google, and all of Ikay's previous symptoms whenever her tummy hurts is due either excitement or anxiety, common for children with IBS. 

But this time, Mr. Google also proved to me that Ikay's recent tummy aches and loose bowel and vomiting was due to her strep. Yes, her strep which turned to a Scarlet Fever, because that evening, fine, sunburned-like rashes started to spread all over Ikay's body. 

I thought she was just allergic to the antibiotic she took. But her pedia told me that antibiotic allergies would not look or feel like that. Alsado daw at parang mapa. Antihistamine was added to  her list of medicine to take. 

A week after, Ikay was all better. She lost a lot of weight and she feels ugly because her rashes started to peel. From her face, her hands, her feet, even her little buns were covered with peeling skin. The only thing that I can do is to slather her with loads of moisturizer. All over her body, even in her pelvic area and her buns.

And give her loads and loads of love.

Tummy-ache

     2015. My first post for the year.

     Pope-fever is on here in the Philippines (that's another story).

     Ikay's tummy-ache is also back. 

     You see, when my daughter was barely a year old, she suffered from Rota-virus. Every mom by now has heard it, or sadly, one of their sons or daughters must have also contacted it.  My daughter was hospitalized because of it, and not just once but twice (the second one was when she was 15 months).  It was a heart-breaking and exhausting experience. It was hard seeing her with the tube in her arm and losing all that weight because of the constant diarrhea and vomiting. 

     

     When she was around two-years old, she suffered  yet another attack of this virus. No watery poop this time, only vomiting. It was a milder form of the virus, and she was back to her old self by day 3. 

      Then came the years after that, same stories. She would usually have these episodes of tummy aches on the month of January and May (don't know why). Her doctor think it wasn't the rota-virus. She was tested of course, every year. Test for dengue (because she would have fever and diarrhea at same time), test for parasites, urine test (symptoms can be for UTI), blood test, etc.

    Since all her test shows negative, two culprits are there. She's either having dyspepsia (indigestion) and stomach-flu.  Sometimes my daughter has the tendency to eat "a lot". If she's bored, she would eat. And I always try to control these "eating habits". Sabi nga sa amin dito sa Pilipinas, masarap daw kumain ang anak ko. Pero mahina ang tiyan. 

     So Ikay's tummy-ache is back. She's been on a soft diet for 4 days now. No sugar, no oily foods. Her vomiting has subsided (thanks to Motilium). She's taking some probiotics for her tummy. and a lot of TLC from me and her Papa. She still pass a lot of gas, and her tummy has been aching on and off. She also missed some days on her class. 

      I hope tomorrow when my daughter wakes up, her tummy-ache will be gone and she will back to her sweet self again. I miss my little miss "matara".

Battle

My husband and I are currently in a battle right now. Well, he shoulder mostly of the battle. It's about his SMOKING. He's been into it for half of his life. Literally. He would tell me that he started smoking when he's about 14 or 15. That's a lot of wasted years to nicotine. :(

I too, smoked, but I wasn't that addicted. I started when I was still in college and continue the habit for at least 5 years. I remember that whenever my friends and I would go to some bar to unwind after work, I could finish a whole pack. I smoke as fast I could finish my drink. Which is usually a hard drink because I never drank beer (another bad vice). So, when my husband and I met, I swore to him that I would quit smoking, and I did that. I did quit and haven't had a stick for nearly nine years now.

So we sort had a fight after his bout with flu last week and lost a lot of weight. I told him to kick out the habit. He would always say, "Yes, I'll start tomorrow. Definitely. I'll just have 3 sticks a day.". And I would believe him...but sadly, it's been 6 years of telling him and he's still smoking. Its not that he's not trying. He even tried nicotine patch. But the patch is too expensive here that he did not continue with the patch program. He also tried substituting candies for cigars. But no luck.

Then I just snapped with our fight. I told him that if he's not going to do anything with the habit, that if he's not going to be more disciplined, then I might as well join him again too. And that got him worried. So today, he only had a single stick. I know that it'll be long before he could be totally free of this "addiction", but I am more than willing to help him, and encourage him to do the right thing, not just for our daughter but mostly for himself. I'm just blackmailing him right now (why would I go back to smoking?)... and it is working. So I'm happy, and so is his health.

If only we live in a country where healthcare is a priority. But sadly, our country really lags behind in this department. You got sick, you need to have tons of money to pay to get well. Palagi kong sinasabi.. "di bale nang kakaunti ang pera, basta walang magkakasakit." Because in the Phillipines, "health is truly a poor man's wealth".

Play-dough time!

Found an extra time to play with my daughter last night. Since she's been asking me forever to make her more play-dough, I thought of making her some. My husband said that he'll just gonna buy my daughter some clay in the morning but buying the commercial ones is a little bit expensive while buying the cheaper one is a little bit too hard to handle with my daughter's little hands.

So I searched online and hoping to find some recipe which does not include ingredients that I do not have at  home. Tadah! I did find one and it came from a mom and blogger Sanz.

I followed her recipe instructions but did not bother with the measurement since we will be making it one color at a time.
 

 

We put in water, next is oil, then the food color and a drop of banana extract for the smell.

 

Next is dumping in the salt and flour mixture. Mix it. 

 

 

My daughter does all the kneading, and at the same time, having fun doing it.

Since the colors that can be bought in the market near us are limited, I only have the colors yellow, purple and orange.

We made a bunch of different shapes with my daughter's toy molds.

We got some fries, a pineapple, a t-bone and a citrus

And what's this thing doing here? Eeewww   :)

Sarap Pinoy

Marami-rami na rin akong kakilala, kaibigan at mga kamag-anak na OFW, mga immigrant sa ibang bansa. Nami-miss daw nila ang pinas. Pero mas pinili nila na sa ibang bansa magtrabaho o manirahan kasi mahirap daw ang buhay sa bansa natin. They need to sacrifice their own happiness by working/living  abroad so that the younger ones (their children) can get a better life than them. Gaano nga ba kahirap ang buhay sa Pilipinas at napakdami ng naalis? Ang tatay ko, naniniwala na kaya mong mabuhay ng matiwasay sa bansa natin basta matyaga ka. Kasi sabi nya, siya rin daw galing sa wala. Pinag-aral din nya yung sarili nya at hindi umasa sa magulang nya, pero kahit papaano may naipundar sya bukod sa napaaral nya kaming magka-kapatid. 

I personally can see my father's reason. It all depends on one's wants and needs. One needed only the basics, but wants so much more. Basics - food, shelter, education, konting savings for health. Others are "wants", not basically needs.  But nobody can blame anybody for wanting more. For having a little of something, for working so hard all your life. Pero sabi nga ng tatay ko, kung basic lang..kayang-kaya. 

So, ano nga bang  meron sa Pinas na wala sa ibang bansa? Para ma-miss mo ng sobra ang Pinas? Na kahit anong sarap ng buhay sa ibang bansa ay mas gugustuhin mo na bumalik.

1. Family - Sino bang gusto na malayo sa pamilya niya? Wala. Kasi sa kultura ng mga Pilipino, mahalaga ang pamilya. Mawala na lahat, wag lang pamilya mo. Dahil may maga oras na kahit meron ka ng lahat ng bagay at pera sa mundo, kung hindi mo naman ito maise-sahre sa pamilya mo, bale wala.

2. Init -  Sobra ang init dito, dati kaya mong tiisin ang summer heat. Ngayon, wish ko na pwede. Kahit tag-ulan na, rainy season na o kaya e, -ber months na, grabe pa rin ang init. Kaya bago lumabas ng bahay, you need to protect your skin, kasehoda na payong o hat, pero sunblock, pinaka importante. Pero syempre, yung init ng pagmamahal ng isang Pinoy!

3. Extra rice / Unli-rice -  Sobrang hilig sa kanin ng mga Pinoy, kahit nakakataba. (Waiter, isa pa ngang rice dyan!)

4. Palengke -  Walang palengke na kasingbaho at kasing dumi ng tulad sa Pinas (feeling ko lang). Kahit pa yatang sabihin na 1st class municipality o 3rd class municipality e kasama na yung ganyang klase ng palengke sa atin.Pero masarap mamili at makipagtawaran kay suki.

5. Pagkain - Oo, masarap din ang pagkain sa ibang bansa. pero mas masarap pa rin ang lutong Pinoy (para sa akin!). Sa karinderya man yan, o sa isang restaurant o kahit simpleng luto ng nanay mo, masarap talaga kumain ang Pinoy. Kahit nga kamatis at bagoong lang ang ulam e, swak na!

6. Beaches - Need I say more? Beaches are the best here in the Philippines. Kahit worst ang airport natin (hayzzz), ayos lang.

7. Maynila, Cebu, Davao, etc. - Sino bang ayaw umuwi sa bayan na kinalakihan mo?

So, sa inyong mga OFW, uwi-uwi rin pag may time. Ipon-ipon din nga pamasahe pag may time. Kasi miss na kayo ng mga kababayan nyo. ('Wag nyo na lang pansinin pulitika dito, para hindi masayang ang happiness nyo. Hehehe.)