Saturday, August 1, 2009

In Which There Is Not A Lot On My Plate

We didn't do a whole lot today, which was nice. I'm happy to say that my back has subsided to a dull ache and I no longer feel like someone is following me around randomly jabbing me with an icepick (I figure it might have been Loki, carrying it in his teeth in an effort to finish me off). Hopefully it will stay that way (dull rather than ice-picky), though I might have overextended myself a little today when I assembled and moved those new bookcases into the office. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

It's cool enough outside now that Connor is able to wear his hearing aids again, which is very nice. They had to spend some quality time in the dehydrator because he was sweating so much it was affecting the sound quality. Also he refused to leave them in. Can't say I blame him-- I wouldn't think that having hearing aids in while you are really sweaty and hot would be terribly comfortable. Anyone have any solutions on that front so we don't end up with the same problem next summer?

With as hot as it's been, Connor hasn't really wanted to eat very much. Thank goodness for the g-tube. I've had to be careful as to how much I put in it though, as the heat seems to make his reflux really act up. I thought about it for a while and realized I'd forgotten something important: taking into account that the weather really does affect how we eat. I don't want to eat a huge meal when it's hot outside, either. Usually I end up having something cool in the morning for breakfast (like yogurt or fresh fruit), a really big salad for lunch, which is usually my largest meal of the day, and then some assortment of snack foods for dinner. There's my dinner tonight in the picture: cucumbers, cold smoked salmon, kalamata olives, a nectarine, champignon, and double Gloucester cheese. I washed it all down with a big glass of iced peppermint tea. Tasty.

Anyway, the point was not to give you a rundown of my meal (as good as it was) but to say that I think it's pretty natural, for me anyway, to want to eat smaller meals when it's so hot outside. I was disregarding the fact that Connor would probably feel the same way, and his poor tummy was letting me know it was upset with all the large meals he was getting in the only way it could. So hopefully spreading things out a little more will prevent that problem. Tomorrow I plan to feed him more often in smaller quantities. We'll see if it helps. It's hard to remember things like that sometimes; I mean, I'm given what's essentially a prescription for exactly how much food he's supposed to get a day, and it's pretty easy to just follow exactly along the guidelines without thinking about why that particular rule might not work for Connor today, while it will work for him tomorrow.

I'll try to pay better attention to what he's telling me from now on.


~Jess


5 comments:

leah said...

I wish I had some advice on the hot-weather hearing aid front. We still can't get Nolan to leave his in when the weather is cold, so you can imagine the luck we're having in hot weather. Superglue is the only thing I can think of off hand, but I think social services would frown on that plan. Pilot caps are too hot for the summer. We have tried "ear gear" to keep moisture out of the aids (they work OK) and we use the Dry and Store a lot.

Your dinner looks delicious! We had grilled salmon last night with rice and corn on the cob (from a local farm). I love local produce- tastes so much better than stuff stored and shipped for miles and miles!

Ellen Seidman said...

Yes, what a heavenly-looking dinner! I'm inspired by that, and your healthy diet. I am a carb fiend.

Max doesn't have a g-tube, but we spend a lot of time and effort figuring out Max's eating needs; he can't chew very well and we have to make sure he doesn't choke. Once in a while, I think about a g-tube. I know I said I'm not getting up my hopes too high about the stem cell therapy, but I do have a secret hope it'll improve his oral-motor issues.

Hope you had a nice Sunday!

Julia said...

You're going to hate me for this, but we finally had central AC put in our house (well, the upper two floors) this summer, and of course it's rained almost every day and rarely gotten above 75. (I think your weather got sent to us by mistake.) My point being that we thankfully have not had issues with sweaty ear molds, so I have nothing helpful to suggest. What was the point of leaving this comment, again? I've forgotten -- I think it was to rub the whole AC thing in, which is just cruel after the heat wave you've endured. I am a flawed human being.

Jess said...

leah: Well, dang it. I guess I'll just have to hope it never gets that hot again. Pretty sure that would solve the problem. Do something about that for me, will you?
I totally agree with you about the produce-- I'm trying to eat as locally as possible. Though I will admit my cheese was from England and Germany. Oh well. It's cheese, which justifies everything. I use the same argument for chocolate.

Ellen: Don't knock carbs; I do love me some garlic bread!
I spent a lot of time agonizing over whether or not Connor needed a g-tube too. I felt like him not eating was me failing as a mother. I'm so glad that in the end I made the decision to pursue a tube, though, as it takes so much of the pressure off and Connor is able to enjoy meals again. I hope that the stem-cell therapy improves things for Max; we'll keep our fingers crossed!

Julia: Yes, you flawed person you. You must now box up your AC and Fedex it to me as punishment. Include my missing weather in there as well-- I was wondering where I'd dropped it. I'll expect it by Thursday.

~Jess

Katy said...

I actually read somewhere that they think that AC has to do with why we're so fat in this country. Heat is a natural appetite suppressant, which is good because when it's hot we tend to move around less. Now, we move around less because it's hot, but we still eat the big meals because we have air conditioning.

 
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