Splenda shows up in some of the strangest places

Three and a half years ago my in-laws got us a trip to Branson, Silver Dollar City, the whole works for Christmas. I went over to my husbands grandmothers to eat the night before and was sick, sick sick the next day. So sick that I was debating on whether to go with the in-laws or not. I ended up going, with a pail in my lap the whole way there.

I started noticing a pattern, every time I was eating at his grandma's house I was getting sick. I jokingly asked him if his grandparents really liked me or if they were trying to get rid of me and we laughed about, figuring that maybe I just had a really weak stomach.

I was discussing it with one of the girls that I work with and she told me that Splenda would do that to her stomach so I started doing some research about it and found that there was a large number of people who had the very same symptoms that I was having. I asked his grandmother if she was putting it in the tea and found out that in fact, she was so I switched to drinking unsweetened tea and told her about my problems. So now she doesn't use Splenda or if she does, she tells me what it is in so I will stay away from those foods.

I made a point to tell everyone and I ask at family functions if there is anything made with Splenda. It is fine if they use it, I just know that I can't eat anything that is made with it. I have been really good at watching what it might be in, because the gut-wrenching pain that I feel with it is so horrible. I was at a weekend class and went to El Chico for dinner on Friday night. I asked what there was to drink besides pop and was told "unsweetened tea, sweetened tea, sweetened raspberry tea and sweetened peach tea." My ASSUMPTION was that the "sweetened" teas were sweetened with sugar so I ordered the raspberry tea to drink and chicken fajita enchiladas with cheese dip. I was super pumped and munched on my chips and salsa before my food came. a few minutes after the food came, my stomach started cramping. I thought that maybe it was the lack of food and pushed it aside. I didn't finish my tea and didn't have time to ask for a to-go tea since I needed to get back to school.

The stomach cramping just continued to get worse and worse until I drove home that night and I tossed and turned with the sharp pains that I was feeling. Mister asked me what I had eaten, "chicken fajita enchiladas with cheese dip and OH MY GOSH....." I left him looking at me and then it hit me, I had raspberry tea, sweetened raspberry tea.... I gained the knowledge that I don't know if I would have realized or not if I hadn't have said it out loud, the tea had Splenda in it.... I felt better realizing that it was the Splenda so I wouldn't have a bug the rest of the weekend but I felt ignorant. Why would I not hesitate to question family, but wouldn't at a restaurant? I have now learned that I will ask what everything is sweetened with. I urge you to do the same, don't assume!

Below are some of the characteristics of the Splenda issue:

Splenda Reaction Symptoms
Skin welts, blisters or other irritation
Rash
Allergic response
Itching
Swelling
Bloating
Diarrhea
Headache
Tremors
Nausea
Abdominal pain
Depression
Forgetfulness
Mood swings/Anxiety
Inability to concentrate
Lightheadedness

Look at what I am babysitting!!!

Meet Halle! She is 8 weeks old and doesn't even weigh 1 pound yet! She is soooo teeny tiny!

I think that she loves being photographed, it was just hard trying to get her to stay still!

Here is a picture to let you see how small she is next to me and the girls!

I know I have big feet but......

I get to have her for a week and am loving every minute of it! She has personality tonight! She is talking to us like crazy, which is typical for a schnauzer!!! I am going to go and check the kennel tonight. Having her around almost makes me want to get another puppy but then she grabbed hold of my shoes and bit me and I remembered how much those puppy teeth hurt and how glad I am that the girls have grown up! But one day I will want another little one!

Matt's great grandmother fell and we put her in the hospital and she is now in a nursing home. Hopefully she will stay there where people can take care of her. She is 93 and has lived a good life but it is so hard to see her go downhill like she has. That is why I haven't been on here much... Can't wait to get caught back up on everything!!!

Info on my health... Please pray for a friend....

I said that I would get back with you guys on my health so here it is…. My MRI came back fine and mammogram came back fine. I have done some soul searching and have decided to do the genetic testing. I am now going to have to save up and have enough for it. It costs $3200 and although I have double insurance I won’t be able to find out what they will cover until the test is done. I will go in and talk to the doctor in a regular room ( not an exam room ) and talk about everything and if we still decide to do the test I will go to the lab upstairs and have blood drawn. It will then be sent to the lab where they will deal with the insurance and if it is above $375 they will call and look at payment arrangements and if it is below that they will just run it. It should take between 3 and 4 weeks to find out results. If they come back positive we are going to look at having a prophylactic mastectomy and reconstructive surgery later. I just wanted to let ya’ll know and if anyone has any info I would love to know more. I keep researching and finding out new info.
I have a friend that needs your prayers right now. She beat breast cancer 5 years ago and was diagnosed with lung cancer on Friday. I will tell you more in a few days once we know more. We just need prayers to go up right now….

Bows, ears, meds, and life in general

So first off, I was suffering with the ear pressure and the itching. Monday night I started taking Benedryl and Sudafed and it did something. My ears weren't hurting anymore, My whole face was now. I knew then that it was something with my sinuses. So I decided I would give it a couple of days to work its way up and if it hadn't towards the end of the week I was going to the doctor. I was feeling like my head was going to explode and my teeth were killing me. So Thursday I gave in and went to the Express Care that opened up this last week. The PA that I was talking about in the last post is there so it wasn't like I was going somewhere that no one knew me. I walked in at the Express Care and left at 3:30. I was figuring that I knew what it was and I was right. I got the whole thing of "you should have came in sooner", "I know that you must have been hurting" and all that normal stuff. The next thing that came out of her mouth was " you have a severe sinus infection so instead of 10 days of antibiotics I am putting you on 15 days worth. Instead of taking them twice a day you need to take them every 8 hours. You are going to take Flonase twice a day as well as Mucinex twice a day." I guess when I do it I do it good!!! So I am feeling better, still sleeping sitting up because of the drainage but my face doesn't feel like it is going to explode!!!

So in other good news Matt got the "boatport" done. This is an area to park the boat. That was its total purpose. Something that you park a car under is called..... a carport. So something that we park our boat under is.......a boatport! I am working on making him a sign to hang up, he just doesn't know it yet! I have the wood so I need some paint, hooks and some chain!

And to keep the good new coming, we got our bows last weekend!!!! Matt got a Hoyt AlphaMax 32 and I got a Diamond Razor Edge by Bowtek. We are both extremely happy and excited to get them. The only down side of this is that the dealer has been waiting on a shipment of arrows and hasn't got them yet. Matt will be shooting 400s and I will be shooting 500s. His will be wrapped with the American flag and has two red feathers and one white feather. Mine will be wrapped with pink flames and have two pink zebra print vanes and one white zebra print vane. I didn't realize that Ted Nugent and I have so much in common and like to accessorize the same!!!

Matt and Phil have their first tournament in a couple weeks so I will officially have Saturdays to myself and Sundays will be my day on the lake! Yeah!!! I am excited. Most people don't understand how I am so excited about having him gone on Saturdays but that is my time. I will get to stitch and finish some projects, get some reading done and also get some homework done. Also I am trying to get some large tests that I have to take for school done so I will be taking those. I have to pass one of these in order to be admitted into the teaching program and the other two have to be passed in order to graduate. So I figure that I can get started!

And lastly, I have lost about 10 pounds so far. It is coming off slowly and in good increments so I am happy right now with it!

I hope that this weekend is nice and we can shoot our arrows, as long as they come in!!! That would make this weekend PERFECT!!!!