The Mom Crowd

Over the last year, I have had two precious little girls in my life receive a diagnosis of leukemia. Both girls are doing well and are both in remission. One will still be receiving chemotherapy over the next couple of years though to make sure she stays in remission. I haven’t been able to help my friend who is local with babysitting her other children during hospital stays and chemotherapy treatments because of the demands (and constant viruses) of my two children which has left me feeling inadequate and wishing I could do more. These little girls are amazingly brave and my heroes. Their mothers have been such an inspiration to me and I consider it a privilege to have them in my life!

Even though I haven’t been able to physically help in ways I wish I could, I decided that I had almost a foot of hair that I could share with the ever-so-fabulous organization, Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that helps disadvantaged children suffering from medical hair loss. Most of these children have cancer or alopecia, a medical condition which causes hair loss. As moms, we all know the important role our hair plays in our confidence level. Through hair donations, Locks of Love creates hairpieces for children (both girls and boys) whose families are not financially able to purchase these expensive hairpieces. I am so excited to have participated in this mission by donating 11 inches of my hair to Locks of Love.

I will be honest, parting with my hair was not easy! I scheduled my appointment several times and chickened out because I really loved my long hair. I finally sucked it up and went in to cut my hair and share it with someone who would enjoy it even more than I did. I am so glad I did. It feels amazing to help a child in such a special way. Taking a risk and trying a new hairstyle is a very small sacrifice compared to what these children have had to sacrifice against their will. Besides, new styles are always fun to try! Katie Holmes, Jenny McCartney, and Victoria Beckham have made the bob super trendy and it’s so much easier to fix than my long, layered hair!

Ways to support Locks of Love:

• The most obvious way to get involved is to donate at least 10 inches of your hair. If your hair donation is shorter than 10 inches, bleached (highlights usually use bleach) or is naturally gray, they cannot use it for the hairpieces for children, however you can still donate it to offset the manufacturing costs. For more detailed information, please visit: www.locksoflove.org.
• You can also support Locks of Love by sending monetary donations, which are tax-deductible.
• Albertson’s Grocery donates 4% of all purchases to Locks of Love when shoppers use a special key tag. To receive your keytag, send your name and address to: volunteer@locksoflove.org
• Purchase this super cute charity bear. Ten percent of the gross proceeds are donated to Locks of Love.
• If you live in the Palm Beach County, Florida area, volunteer your time at their office.
• If you know of a child who has a chronic medical condition causing hair loss and financially disadvantaged, you can send their information to Locks of Love. Forms and more information is on their website.

This list is not all inclusive. For more ways to help Locks of Love, please visit their website. I want to end this post with a beautiful statistic I found on Locks of Love’s website. It is estimated that 80% of hair donations to Locks of Love come from children who want to help other children. I hope that my daughter will join that statistic when her hair is long enough to donate!

When my oldest, Ewan, was a baby he would eat ANYTHING! Asparagus, kale, broccoli, peas, spinach, carrots, you name it. Well, he is 4 years old now and vegetables don’t have the same appeal they once had. What can I say, he’s acting his age. Surprisingly, the things he LOVED as a baby are not as fun to eat now. He actually prefers raw vegetables these days to cooked ones. Isaac, my 3 year old, eats a bigger variety of food than Ewan, including vegetables. I have been worried about whether or not Ewan gets enough veges in his diet. He would eat bread, pasta, and rice until he turned into a giant carbohydrate if we let him! I personally have a hard time getting the recommended amount of vegetables in my own diet. It is always easy to include vegetables at dinner time but I have a harder time for lunch.

It is because of this that I was interested in the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I had heard about it several months ago and put it in my mental catalogue of cookbooks to try. Then some friends were telling me about it and some of the recipes and I decided to bite the bullet and buy it. When my friend, Kim (who has 4 kids), shared that her kids were gobbling up the food she was cooking I got excited!

The way it works and the reason it is called “Deceptively Delicious” is because you add pureed vegetables to the recipes. It doesn’t affect the flavor in an obvious way but you get some of the extra veggies you need. The book has some great information in it on how the different vegetables are helpful to our bodies. She has a thorough list of foods to keep on hand in your pantry in order to make the recipes from the book. After reading over the list I noticed the things she recommends are items that I usually have on hand anyway. For example, whole wheat flour, whole wheat tortillas, parmesan cheese, brown rice, whole grain pastas, wheat germ, cottage cheese, chicken broth, canned beans. The list is much longer but that gives you an idea of what is required of the recipes. The only thing that I don’t normally keep on hand and needed to get was Flax Seed meal. Flax seeds provide omega-3 fatty acids to your diet which is a great alternative if you aren’t a fish eater. They are good for your bones and your heart.

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Finding foods for my kids to eat can sometimes be difficult. My son is an incredibly picky eater (the WORST!), and my daughter is not much of an explorer in the food department either. I thought it’d be fun to share with you the staples of my kids’ diets and ask you what foods your kids can’t live without.

Here are the foods that we can’t run out of:

• cheerios
• applesauce
• bananas
• eggs (scrambled)
• yogurt
• refried beans
• rice
• hot dogs
• sweet potatoes & white potatoes (mashed)
• chicken nuggets
• frozen waffles
• sandwich fixings (PB &J, or turkey & cheese)
• canned carrots
• canned chicken
• vegetable juice (Darah only…Connor will only drink milk and water)
• and of course…lots and lots of milk!

What’s in your pantry?

Last week, Darah had her tonsils removed and her third set of tubes placed in her ears. Darah has had 12 surgeries in her 3 1/2 years of life and Connor’s had a same day procedure already as well (tubes placed in his ears). The picture to the left is of Darah before her open heart surgery at three months old. I am aware that not everyone is as “experienced” as we are when it comes to surgery for their child and want to share what surgery days are like for those of you who may be approaching your first surgery with your child. Every procedure, hospital, doctor, nurse, and child are so different. It’s hard to write up a one-size-fits-all post on what you can expect, but some things are pretty standard regardless of what your child is having done, and the emotional impact is pretty strong no matter how major or minor your child’s surgery is going to be!

Pre-Op (Before the surgery)

Before some procedures, doctors will want to get bloodwork done on your child. Ask for numbing cream if it’s available. This is a cream that acts as a local anesthetic and will help decrease some of the pain of the actual needle stick.

Tour the hospital with your child. Knowing where everything is prior to surgery day can help to alleviate some of the anxiety of the day. Most hospitals (if not all) are very prepared to show families where everything is prior to the surgery. It can also help with your child’s nerves if they see the hospital before the day of the surgery.

Visit the hospital’s website. If your child’s surgery is being performed in a children’s hospital, a lot of times their websites have great resources, virtual tours, and coloring sheets for your child. Take advantage of their website!

Surgery Day: Before the surgery

You will probably be asked to arrive 2-3 hours before the actual procedure. This is to register your child in the computer system, talk to the surgeon, nurse, and anesthesiologist about last minute questions. They will also check your child’s basic vitals during this time. Be prepared, surgeries often start later than usual.

Leave earrings, all jewelry, and valuables at home. If your child’s ears were recently pierced, discuss this with your doctor prior to surgery day.

If your child is anxious or irritable before the procedure, ask the anesthesiologist for a “cocktail.” Some doctors will call is “silly juice.” Basically, it’s a light sedative that will very much calm your child.

If your child needs an i.v. for the surgery, ask if that can be done after your child is already asleep. Sometimes the doctors will put the child to sleep in the operating room using a mask and then start the i.v.

While you’re waiting in the holding room before the surgery, ask your nurse if they have a playroom or any toys or books your child can play with while you are waiting. We ALWAYS bring our portable DVD player with us for Darah to watch movies on during the wait.

Do not be afraid to ask your doctors and nurses any questions you have. I also usually tell the staff something personal about Darah or our family so they go into the operating room remembering that this is somebody’s most treasured possession, and not “just another surgery.” This last surgery, I told the anesthesiologist a quick story about Darah’s beaten up Lovey she had with her. After the surgery, the recovery nurse said she heard the story about poor loved Lovey. This made me feel more comfortable in trusting them with my daughter.

When it is time to say goodbye, remain positive and reassuring. Remember, no matter how young or old your child is, they are sure to have some anxiety about being in a new place with new people and it is important to help them to feel ok with everything that is happening.

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On October 12th makers of cough and cold medicines pulled their drugs targeted for babies and toddlers from store shelves. Then the following Friday an advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration voted to ban over-the-counter cold products targeted for children under six years old. The votes to ban the over-the-counter products for 2 years of age and younger was 21-1, while the vote to ban over-the-counter products for ages 2-5 years of age was 13-9. So we most likely won’t see a ban for drugs for children over the age of 2, because the agency is likely to ignore such a close vote according the New York Times.

The ban is suggested, because all 11 studies reviewed by the panel report that the medicines don’t work and in some rare cases cause serious harm. Also, the drugs were only tested on adults and assumed to be safe in children. Researchers have since found that some medicines react differently in children than adults.

A ban might not even take place at all. Dr. John Jenkins, director of the FDA’s office of new drugs, in an Associated Press article says, “If the agency chose to restrict use in children 6 and under, that won’t necessarily lead to a ban on the products. It might lead to labeling that says ‘do not use.’”

Also a ban may not happen for a while, because of the red tape of the FDA and the manufacturers will fight the ban according to the New York Times.

The panel’s patient and family representative, Amy Celento of Nutley, N.J. in an AP article said that she fears that parents will administer adult products to their children because they work for them or feel they work for them.

In the same AP article, “the panel also recommended drug makers provide standardized droppers with their liquid cough and cold medicines. Experts had told the panel the sometimes hard-to-use dosing devices contribute to parents unwittingly overdosing their children.” I agree! It takes me about five tries to get the medicine in the dropper right at .4 or .8. Better droppers would be nice!

There is a lot of talk in the media about these medicines and the FDA is taking no action right now. The advisory panel has only made suggestions to the FDA.

If the reports claim that the medicines don’t work, then a ban is not a loss to parents. Although, I know one parent who claims the medicines work for her four children. My daughter is only five months old, so I wouldn’t consider cough and cold medicine right now. She had her first cold last week and I have given her some children’s Tylenol when she had a fever and on the nights she was extremely uncomfortable. I have also made sure to feed her often, so she gets lots of liquids to break up the mucus. If needed, we also use a warm humidifier during the night.

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