In the Blink of an Eye- Chalazia Management

UGH! Constructing the first real sentence of this blog and I'm already anxious. Rehashing the time period when our eldest daughter endured a battle against chalazia is still uncomfortable for me, almost three years later. Needless to say, this particular story does not detail fond memories or frame-worthy photographs, but there is a happy ending. 

We know there are other families and individuals out there who are making every effort to fend off chalazia, so as much as I shudder with the recollection of our own fight, this one is for you. 

About 4 months after Kaira's first birthday, I started to notice redness developing in the corner of her left eye. Initially, it didn't seem serious. I figured she'd just gotten glitter (Somehow, with daughters, there is glitter EVERYWHERE!) in her eye or accidentally poked herself with one of her toys. But the redness didn't diminish over the next few days. Mommy-Radar sounded its alarm as that eye seemed to be getting worse. 

Here you can see the first indication of redness developing in the corner of Kaira's left eye.

After a few days with no improvement, I called the pediatrician and made an appointment for Kaira to be examined. We learned that she had developed a chalazion, a blockage in an oil gland of the eyelid. We were given a prescription for Tobramycin eye drops and instructed to give our daughter warm compresses twice a day to encourage drainage. And so it began...

Even with warm compresses, Kaira's eye showed little improvement.

Diligently, I tried to hold a warm washcloth on Kaira's eye as I attempted to read her stories for nap time and before bed. It became quite the balancing act as she'd throw my arm away so she could have use of BOTH eyes for the entertainment. Without a book to captivate her, there was no chance I'd be able to hold her still for these compresses. It was an arduous struggle twice a day, but I persevered through gritted teeth every time, barely managing 3 minutes of lukewarm compresses on the affected eye. And this scene wasn't getting any sunnier- not only was her left eye not improving, her right eye began to redden and swell as well!

After two weeks of compresses, Kaira's eyes continued to worsen.

So the next step was to visit with a pediatric ophthalmologist to determine a course of action. He confirmed that Kaira had two chalazia and that a THIRD was beginning to form on the lid of her left eye. Because of the size of these blockages and the persistence of the initial chalazion, he recommended surgery to drain them to prevent damage from the pressure on her eyes. 

As soon as this monstrous chalazion appeared on Kaira's upper lid, it was time to try a different approach.

I felt the room pulling away from me in tunnel vision. Surgery?!? I had to sign a piece of paper consenting to put my baby girl under anesthesia? Understand that the risk of anything happening was low, but in a rare event, death may result? Trying to disguise my complete panic, I took a few deep breaths, re-read the papers and forced myself to be a rational grown-up. With my breath held and eyes closed, I signed the forms and agreed to bring my sweet daughter in for the surgery in two days time. 

       

                Awful as it was, we knew surgery was the best option to eliminate the pressure on Kaira's eyes.

And for those two days, I was a complete wreck, losing control of rational thought entirely. What could I have done to prevent this from happening to my daughter? How can I undergo the surgery FOR her? What if she is traumatized for the rest of her life from this experience? What if there are complications during the surgery? What if...? 

Nasty chalazion under her right upper lid

What can I say? There are times when mamas get a lil' batty. For me, just the word "anesthesia" gives me a case of the willies. Add the name of a loved one into the sentence and I'm a nervous wreck until the work is done. We were talkin' about my BABY here! Man.

Ready to be DONE with these dang chalazia

On the night before the procedure, I don't know if I slept at all. Perhaps I drifted in and out between my worrying, praying, tossing and turning, but it was certainly one of the longest nights of my life to date.

Okay, I'm getting a little dramatic here. I'll spare you (and myself) the ultra-descriptive version of the tale and get on with it. 

The surgery went smoothly, took about 25 minutes and there were no complications. The outlook was good, and as soon as she calmed down upon awakening, we could take our darling home.

And so we did. But our sweet beauty wasn't looking quite like herself after surgery.

It was sad. Poor Kaira had to keep her right eye patched for 24 hours, and we'd need to administer more Tobramycin eye drops three times a day for a week. As prevention of future chalazion development, we were advised to incorporate ground flaxseed into Kaira's diet and give at least 3 warm compresses a day for 15 minutes each. Fifteen minutes of compresses for each eye?!? This was going to be tricky.

Kaira, as soon as we got home from surgery. She looks miserable, but bless her heart, she was in good spirits. 

We followed doctor's orders, and although I wasn't crazy about using the television as a tool here, I managed to get Kaira to sit still on my lap to watch Sesame Street. Yes. Elmo is THAT captivating. After a few hours, the swelling began to subside and our Bean Pod's eyes looked substantially better by dinnertime that evening.

8 hours after chalazia removal, the swelling greatly diminished

When Kai woke up the next morning, I was able to remove the patch and was pleasantly shocked to see that she looked almost like herself again! The swelling was almost completely gone, and aside from some mild bruising and redness, my baby was back! Her spirits were soaring from all the extra attention from visiting family and she was just right as rain.

On the day after the surgery, Kai looked almost completely normal.

We continued to give Kaira warm compresses for several weeks after the surgery to ensure that the chalazia would not return. Having gotten used to the connection between sitting for a compress and watching Sesame Street, we developed a smooth routine that worked well for everyone. Kai would get these compresses right before naps and bedtime, and she began to associate the process with winding down. She benefited from the warmth and calm relaxation and WE benefited from the ability to actually get some snuggle time with our toddler who was otherwise on the GO GO GO! Who doesn't crave a little cuddling now and then, right?

We followed up with compresses 3x a day for several weeks to prevent recurrences. 

If any readers have stumbled upon this post in search of help battling chalazia, for us, the most effective method was absolutely using compresses as soon as we saw any signs of watery eye developing. We could actually see Kaira's eyes producing what looked like a glaze for some time after the surgery. To help the eye dissolve any thick oil production, we'd wet a washcloth, place it in a bowl and microwave it for 30 seconds. After the washcloth was removed from the bowl, we'd make sure it wasn't too hot and then would hold it against the eye for 15 minutes. After trying several methods for preparing compresses, this was the best strategy to maintain heat for the longest interval.

The pediatric ophthalmologist told us that it is a mystery why some children are afflicted with this problem but the situation often just clears itself up suddenly. The mysterious programming inside our bodies can just shift- like that- can simply adjust and stop making the thick oil that had been causing blockages, chalazia, to develop.

Three days after chalazia surgery, Kaira's eyes looked perfectly normal again!

Kaira's beautiful eyes now

And to our delighted relief, that's exactly what happened. It seemed that, after the surgery and our persistent follow-up compresses, Kaira's eyes adjusted properly and found their groove. We have had no repeat occurrences of chalazia since the surgery, for almost three years now. Our daughter's eyes are beautifully clear and bright, there was no scarring and her vision was completely unaffected by the procedure. She certainly has no trouble batting those lashes nowadays when she wants something. Girls.
-sigh-


And that's all there was to it. As parents, we learned many a lesson from our daughter's battle with chalazia. There will be times when tricky situations are bound to sneak up on us. There will be days when we will be filled with apprehension and concern. There will be moments when decisions will have to be made. But, if we're lucky, the ickies will be gone in the blink of an eye. We're left with the confidence that we can band together to get through any obstacle- as a family and as a team.

Now it's all eyes ahead for a bright future...

If you have any other questions, concerns or feedback in regards to chalazia, please feel free to contact me or leave comments here. Grappling with these stinkers is definitely a drag, but we'd be happy to help lend support till the ducts are clear. Wink. Wink.

Rottweiler Sleep Over?

Because we leave our 3-year-old a love note every night to help her learn to read, and (mostly) because we're sentimental saps, my husband and I pop into our daughters' rooms each evening before we go to bed. 

Lately, when I read Kaira her bedtime story, she has been asking if our 90 lb. Rottweiler/Black Lab mutt, Kaine, can "sleep over" in her room. 

I can't help but flashback to my own youth, when Imagination cast her spell over everything, when every adventure was best shared with a companion or partner in crime. As a kid, I too, hoped our family dog would somehow sense that I loved and needed him more than the grown-ups, that I was undoubtedly the most fun to play with and that my room was clearly the coolest for sleepovers. 

So I tell Kaira that she may leave her door open at night so that Kaine can come and go as he pleases. She obviously can't hold the poor beast prisoner in there, so if he stays- great! But if he wishes to leave, she'll have to get over it and go to bed. 

Well, a few nights ago, Kaine wasn't feeling the magic in Kaira's room. He wandered out into our bedroom and decided to kick back in the luxury of his own fluffy bed. Kaira felt snubbed.

And the games began...

Out popped Kaira, whining that Kaine had left her room, that she couldn't sleep without him, that he just HAD to come back. My husband and I exchanged a knowing glance (here we go again...), explained that Kaine has free will of his own and that she would just have to go to bed on her own tonight. "But...but...but...!" 

"End of discussion, Kaira. Go to bed."

It was silent upstairs for a few minutes, and then we heard the familiar pitter patter of Kaira's feet running into our bedroom followed by a "Pssssssttt" sound. Suddenly, we heard the scampering of many feet, and then... blissful quiet upstairs. 

A few hours later, I made my way up to Kai's room to drop off her note for the morning. When I pushed her partially ajar door open, I was startled to find her in the strangest pose on her bedroom floor.  Initially, I was totally creeped out by the position of her body, but upon further investigation, I realized I was looking at the sweetest scene EVER!

Here's what I saw when I opened Kai's bedroom door.

It appeared that Kaira had baited Kaine into her bedroom by telling him she was going to read him a story about Clifford, the big red dog. She had taken out all four of her Clifford books and made a pathway with them so that Kaine would want to stay in her room while she read him the stories. Sweetest of all? Kaira and Kaine had BOTH fallen asleep while she read her dog his bedtime story.

Kai & Kaine, having a slumber party

I couldn't get over the cuteness. In the photo below, our Kaine-dog had fallen asleep in the same position Clifford was on the page of the story Kai had fallen asleep reading. Too much!

I think Kaine-dog likes it in here.

After we'd had our fill of this adorable scene, I carefully moved Kaira into her bed and left these party animals to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.

Best pals

As much as we rag on our dog for all his BIGNESS and barking, he really is a loyal and loving best friend to our girls. He now spends almost every night standing guard over the children, and with Kaira as his own private story-teller and comfort guru, who can blame him?

So to all our little lady friends who are planning to hang out here for future sleepovers, I hope you're okay with cooties. I think you'll have one stinky BOY sleeping over with you.

Here's to SWEET dreams, my friends. xoxo

Share Fresh Mint Sun Tea with Friends

Glorious summer is definitely a time for hangin' on the deck with friends with a cool drink in hand while the birds chirp and dogs and kiddos romp.

Here's a super simple way to have Mama Nature do the work to brew your own DELICIOUS sun tea for those lovely afternoons. 

Because, as a family, we are making an effort to steer clear of plastic in the kitchen, we use a large glass jar with a latch top.

 Simply fill the jar with your drinking water.

Next, choose whichever type of tea you enjoy. I often use six standard Lipton teabags. Sometimes I blend 3 regular Lipton teabags with 3 decaffeinated bags, if I plan to drink iced tea in the evening hours. Of course, you can use any type of tea that tickles your fancy!

 Gently dunk your teabags into the water in your jar.

For convenience, I loop the strings from the bags onto the metal of the jar lid. This way, I don't have to dip my hand into the water to extract them when the tea is ready.

 We have yummy mint growing in our yard, so I always run out to grab some to infuse with my sun tea.

Fresh mint growing in the yard. Mmmmm!

Pull off the top portions of about 4-5 stalks of healthy mint.

I use the tops sections of mint to infuse with the tea.

Rinse the mint with water to remove any dirt, and then dunk it into the top of your jar. You can also add a bit of sugar, if you are so inclined. 

Rinse mint with clean water.

Add to jar.

 Close and latch the lid to your jar and bring it outside to brew.

Sun tea ready for SUN!

I leave the jar on my deck to brew for about 4-6 hours, depending on how strong I would like it to be. Within moments, you can see the tea starting to seep into the water. My 3-year-old loves to watch the color flow through the water in the beginning stages.

Leave in direct sunlight for 4-6 hours.

After about an hour, you will see a warm golden color spreading through your jar. 

This tea will be ready in a few more hours.

When the color of your tea is a consistent, deep amber, it's ready! Remove your teabags and mint, refrigerate and enjoy!

When tea is ready, remove teabags from the water.

And then extract the mint as well.

Ready to be refrigerated. 

 Store your sun tea in the refrigerator. Call your buddies over for refreshments and relaxation.

Store in your refrigerator. 

 Serve with ice and perhaps a decorative little mint garnish! Ba-ZANG!

Mint garnish, anyone?

Or if you like a lil' tang in your life, a lemon slice adds just the right amount of ZING! You know you're thirsty already, aren't you?

Lemon pizazz!

Quench your thirst with this simple do-it-yourself summertime beverage and enjoy a little relaxation with some good company. Here's to ya! Cheers!

The Grind on Flaxseed

Gone are the days when I could, in good conscience, roll up to a fast food restaurant and order a double cheeseburger and fries. Just can't do it. Don't want to do it. Feeling a little queasy right now just THINKING about doing it. 

Now I don't consider myself a health nut by any means, but I am absolutely making more of an effort to be aware of the food I put into my body and the effect it has on my overall health. I want to be educated to make wiser dietary choices for myself and for my family.

When our pediatrician recommended flaxseed for my eldest daughter, as a dietary supplement to help with both constipation and a chalazion (clogged oil gland in her eye), I began researching. Nutrition expert, Elaine Magee's article for WebMD details how Omega-3 acids, lignans, and fiber in flaxseed can lower risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. But the list of benefits from flaxseed goes on and on- from helping to lower cholesterol to boosting mood and the immune system. 

For years now, we have been grinding our own flaxseed for daily use in our diet. It's positively yummy and so simple to use. 

We stock up on Bob's Red Mill Natural Raw Whole Flaxseed at our local grocery store. Before you determine which kind of flax to purchase, know that the best way to benefit from this "wonder food" is to grind it before consumption. 

These tiny lil' seeds are PACKED full of goodness, but you'll need to crush them up to get the most benefit.

 
An article for Mayo Clinic reports that the body cannot digest whole seeds as easily as ground flax. You'll get the greatest health benefit out of flaxseed by grinding it at home, but you can purchase it already ground from many markets and health food stores.

We use a Cuisinart Grind Central grinder for our flaxseed because it is compact and easy to store. Pssssssttttttt...also if you need a cute gift for friends or family, small grinders are reasonably priced and would go perfectly in a little basket with a bag of fresh coffee beans or, of course, flaxseed! Food for thought.

Cuisinart Grind Central grinder

Because the flaxseed puffs up when it is ground, I only fill the cup about 3/4 of the way to the top. 

Flaxseed ready to be ground

Using a spoon, I transfer the ground flaxseed into a mason jar for storage. Once the bag of seeds has been opened, I also transfer the remaining whole seeds into a separate mason jar to maintain freshness.

                                            

                                                            Ground flaxseed ready to be moved for storage.

It's always wise to add a label to anything you've placed in an otherwise unmarked container, so I use masking tape and a Sharpie marker to make my own. Seeing the label also acts as a visual reminder to use my flaxseed more often. Without it, I feel like the jar would blend into the background in my visual field when I open my refrigerator, so I recommend creating a bold label of your own.

                                                          

Ideally, the freshness of ground flaxseed is best preserved with freezer storage, but because I don't open my freezer as often as my refrigerator, I store mine where I see it most- on the top shelf of my fridge at eye-level. Again, when I see it right in front of me, I am more likely to remember to use it in my diet.

                   

                              I keep my flaxseed at eye-level in my refrigerator so that I remember to use it frequently.

Flaxseed is, in my humble opinion, completely delicious! In our home, we use it most in pancake batter and on top of cereal, but it can be used in countless dishes. Click here to download some free, mouth-watering recipes that utilize flaxseed for any course, from appetizers to desserts!

Typical breakfast cereal becomes much more of a treat with flaxseed sprinkled on top!

Of course, always use common sense and do a little homework before making any significant dietary changes. I recommend reading this article from the Mayo Clinic to make sure flaxseed is right for you. During my pregnancies and while breastfeeding, I found conflicting information about flaxseed consumption, so I chose to refrain. Talk to your doctor about foods to avoid if you are nursing or expecting a wee one.

So does flaxseed really work?

High cholesterol runs in my family, so in order to be proactive, I get mine tested twice a year. My cholesterol tested in the normal range before I got pregnant, when I was using flaxseed daily. As soon as I learned that I was pregnant, I stopped consuming flaxseed for 21 months, until I finished breastfeeding. My cholesterol test results were higher during this period than ever. Interesting! Now that I have been using flaxseed again, my levels are back down. Perhaps the changes of pregnancy and nursing alone were the cause of the higher cholesterol levels, but maybe...just maybe that flaxseed does contribute to keeping my LDL levels down. This article from National Library of Medicine makes me believe the flaxseed may have played a significant role in lowering my "bad" cholesterol.

I LOVE learning about healthy new foods and how they can positively affect daily life. Flaxseed has been great for my family and is doctor recommended. Evidently, I really enjoy the entire process of grinding, storing and using flaxseed in my home. It makes me happy! Must be those mood elevators.

If you use flaxseed in your diet and have any savory recipes to share, please send them my way! Bon appetite!

Cally vs. The Ice Machine

It is most definitely summer out here in Pennsylvania, and it has been brutally hot this month. Until yesterday, the only break we have had amidst this scorching heatwave was one quick but vicious thunderstorm that knocked the sweet little robin chicks right out of our maple tree and the power right out of our house for about 12 long, hot, sticky hours. 

No big deal, right? We made it through the night without the air-conditioning and although we were a bit, um...ripe upon awakening, the power had returned so we had no problem showering away our (cough) rustic coating. In other words, we were funky. And, of course, the heat resumed as soon as the clouds passed and we were in store for ANOTHER miserably hot day. 

Now that the Red Sea had parted and the coffee machine was working again, we brewed a big pot. Naturally, it wasn't the kind of morning for hot coffee, so we let it cool down before we planned to add ice ice ice to make a refreshing treat. 

I grabbed my big glass, headed over the ice dispenser on my freezer door and pressed down. It gurgled. It groaned. It coughed...but nothing came out. I tried again. Still no luck. Ugh. It was too hot for these antics. I opened the freezer, reached in, grabbed a handful of ice and dumped it into my glass, forgetting that blasted machine. Just another thing to add to the list, right? Pfffft. 

Come ON, ice machine! Why weren't you working?!?

                                                 

Well you know how it goes. This ice machine wasn't fixing itself. The heatwave blazed on and every time I tried to add some cubes to a glass I was met with the same agonizing moaning from the freezer door. My husband has enough on his plate when it comes to house projects, and I am in a pro-active phase of do-it-yourself-dom, so I hit my threshold and decided I was going to fix this thing if it killed me.

I shoved my hand up inside the pour spout and couldn't feel any small ice blockage like I'm used to clearing out when the machine jams. What was WRONG with this thing? I sat down and assumed my "Thinker" pose, and then, imagining a cartoon lightbulb going on above my head, it hit me. Electricity! The power outage!

To start, I had to remove the entire ice drawer to investigate.

Channeling my Rosie the Riveter again, I grabbed my camera, threw open the freezer door and pulled out the entire ice drawer. Everything looked normal on top, but just as I suspected, once I started digging toward the bottom of the drawer, I hit the iceberg. Aha!

To start, the entire ice drawer had to be removed in order to investigate. 

I grabbed a bowl and tossed in all the loose ice cubes. Now, I was left with a solid lump of ice that had melted together while the power had been out.

I separated the normal cubes from the blocks of ice.

Removing massive ice blocks so that the motor inside could turn.

Next, I started hammering away at the blocks of ice stuck underneath the normal cubes that were made after the power returned. After a few minutes of grunt work, I busted the large pieces of solid ice apart and was able to remove them. 

I am woman! Hear me roar!

After tossing the largest ice blocks into the sink, I could actually begin to see how the machine works and why it was making such terrible sounds. The fan-like turning wheel inside the machine couldn't rotate at all with such massive ice blocks in its way, so it was groaning in a failed attempt to move. I'm pleasantly surprised that the inner mechanisms didn't break from my efforts to use the machine while it was in such a state prior to removing the blockage. 

Serious ice blocks

The blades of the motorized churning device in the bottom of the ice drawer need to be unblocked to spin.

And there you have it! Once those chunks of solid ice were removed, I dumped the normal ice cubes back into the drawer, replaced it in the freezer and grabbed my glass. The machine happily began spitting out cube after cube, working perfectly!

Here you can see how the machine works. This mechanism needs to be able to turn through loose ice. It was seriously STUCK with those chunks blocking the blades.

After completing such a menial task, I was surprised to be filled with quite the gamut of emotions- relief that I didn't have to annoy my husband about fixing the dang ice machine, joy that the inner workings of the device had not broken and wouldn't need to replaced, and pride that I had logically solved the problem on my own.

Back in business

Always inspired by my own Mr. Fix-It, I have learned how satisfying it feels to foster the ability to take care of problems on my own. How silly would it be to call someone in to fix such a trivial problem, and how crazy would it make me to have to pay someone to do it? It might take a bit more time and effort to figure things out on my own, but it's well worth it in the end when that "YEEHAW" gratification waves its lasso in the air.

Three FROSTY cheers for victory, and to the end of the heatwave! I'll drink to that!

Now THERE'S a workin' ice machine!

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