Merry Christmas! Oct, Nov, Dec 2007 Updates

Merry Christmas! As you can see from our family photo, Denise continues to heal nicely. Compare this photo to these December 2005 photos (you'll have to scroll way down), or watch the slide show that's in the previous post below. With progress like that, who needs to make up a wish list? Jacob's face shines with pride, as he's only three, but can ride a two-wheeler playground bike (and lets everybody know it). Gracie has a big smile even though she's all done with horseback riding lessons until we can save up for a few more next spring or summer. And the photographer caught me in half-smile mode (we're migrating to Windows Vista at work). Before the nice medical news, here's a funny Christmas-related story. Gracie's kindergarten class talked about "making healthy choices" during Red Ribbon (drug awareness) week at school. So she thought that since Santa is overweight, we shouldn't leave him cookies on Christmas eve. Instead, we should leave "ants on a log" (celery with peanut butter & raisins). Then a few weeks later she told me that maybe "ants on a log" wasn't a good idea because Santa might be allergic to peanuts & peanut butter. So she concocted the idea of "ants on a snowy log" that would substitute cream cheese for the peanut butter. Nasty. But at least she didn't think of using tofu.

Some milestones from the past three months:

• Denise & I spoke at one of my school's Parent Teacher Fellowship meeting and presented her slide show on the big screen.
• We also shared our experience and the slide show at a friend's church (literally... it was Alhambra Friends Church... that's a code-word for Quaker). Denise still hasn't plowed through all of this blog. But when we're done with that task, we'll share at our church, too.
• During a checkup of Denise's trach scar, the plastic surgeon noted that not only did the appearance of the scar improve, but Denise's abdominal swelling had gone down. Then in checking that out, he found that she's got a hernia. After what she's been through, we're not too alarmed.
• The infectious disease doctor told us that the blood & liver labs were all within normal ranges, and titers for cocci antibodies came in at less than 1:2 (prior it was between 1:2 and 1:4), but once again the lab folks ignored the notes on the paperwork and the labs did not go to U.C. Davis, where the tests are more sensitive. So the doctor is going to go to bat for us next time in January to make sure the labs get sent to the right place for testing. If that titer also comes back favorable, he's considering changing from voriconazole (Vfend) back to fluconazole (Diflucan). When Denise was having some setbacks on March 11, 2006, there were questions about whether her problems were caused by withdrawal from Reglan or by not tolerating Diflucan. They switched her to Vfend and we never did find out what caused the problems. But now that she's doing so well, she might go back to Diflucan and the ID doctor will keep a VERY close eye on her cocci labs. Going back to Diflucan would save us a significant amount of money each month, and Denise wouldn't be so sensitive to sunlight (Vfend puts her at increased risk of getting a specific type of skin cancer).
• The retinologist hasn't gotten back to us yet, but didn't find anything new to report during the appointment. Denise copes with her vision problems well, though these short winter nights and increased nighttime driving have made her aware that her night vision isn't what it used to be. So driving at night isn't her favorite thing to do right now.
• The neurologist thought Denise was doing well and plans to take her off of her low dose of anti-seizure med Trileptal after the holidays. She continues to do well on the "almost negligable" dose of Abilify (to combat the manic phases that crept up as a result of the cocci going to the brain). It is possible that, if she continues without any problems, that she could discontinue that med as well. She's happy that it doesn't cause the weight gain, like her last med did. In fact, as mentioned above, she's been losing weight at a slow, stable, healthy rate over these past months. So both in mood and physical appearance, she's returning to her pre-illness self. Before her next appointment in June 2008, she should have another spinal tap (to check for presence of cocci antibodies in CSF) & brain scan (to check status of brain lesions, particularly calcification of the basal ganglia). Last, he recommended a hearing screening to determine what is causing the instances when Denise feels that she's misunderstood what people have said or people can't get her attention, which can be embarrassing & stressful to her. Is it hearing, or some processing or state of consciousness problem that's crept up since her illness?
  
• Testing started in September on the drug Nikkomycin Z against Valley Fever. Other anti-cocci drugs only suppress the fungus. Nikkomycin Z has been shown to kill the fungus in mice, curing them of of the disease. Testing will start on humans out in the Tucson, AZ area. Here's an article: http://uanews.org/node/15940

Until next time, thanks for the the comments & emails, and thanks for caring!

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Merry Christmas to All, and to All a . . . Happy New Year!

The close of 2007 is almost upon us, but as well the new beginnings of 2008 are around the corner. A new year to make new strides of improvement with our cattle and with ourselves. For me it has been one of the longest years I've lived in perhaps the last decade of my life. That may seem an odd thing to say, but it seems to me that the events of a given year in our lives sometimes have a sort of rush about them, or sometimes an agonizing delay.

I lost my Mom in early October, and I want to thank every one for the kind words of sympathy, and I pray and believe she is in God's Loving Care now and the stresses of the world are behind her. I also lost a cousin this summer and now this past week it seems I've lost my dog, Gabbie, who was a joy to be around, always a happy girl. She looks somewhat like a coyote, and I found out yesterday that many are being found around deer stands shot dead in their tracks. While I understand the need to control the population, I'm not so sure I agree anymore with this tactic.

I had the opportunity to see a humanely captured coyote napping in a trap in the back of a pickup yesterday. It will be taken to a hunting dog operation for use in training. I hope my Gabbie somehow has shared that same fate and someone will realize that she is a good dog, not a killing coyote. At the same time, I wonder, and perhaps hope just a bit, maybe hope really a whole lot, that the loss of Gabbie is my number '3' for this string of deaths in my family, and all will be well with those I love for many years to come.

That's an old saying I grew up with -- that death comes in threes. But I hope Gabbie is alive and well, and her disappearance is enough to count as my family's number '3'.

We had a really great annual meeting at Halliburton Farms in Bells this past month. Amazingly, a large number of people travelled great distances to attend. I don't think they were at all disappointed, and the level of enthusiasm and interest in the breed was contagious and heartening.

The speakers were both excellent and the attendees listened raptly and with great interest in their discussion. Perhaps best of all, everyone there got a bursting full large bag of what look to be perfect pecans from Morris and Jean Halliburton's very old and very prolific pecan trees. Lucky for me, Mike won the bidding as well on two bags of shelled ones which we are quite enjoying.

Not to be left out is the excellent catfish prepared by Morris' family. I could have eaten plate after plate if I'd just shut up long enough -- but the conversation was good and those who know me, know I get started talking and sort of lose all track of time and awareness of what's around -- though I did get a last piece from Dan Herrell sitting next to me -- sharing good catfish is something I consider tops on my list of good people traits.

Fortunately, Dan also let me have a warm cap he had extra with him, and on Sunday morning it was firmly on my head keeping me warm and dry as the sky fell out with a pounding rain and the air cooled down to high 30's, if not lower. Brrr. . . it was surely cold. Thanks Dan, and thanks to everyone who made the meeting a memorable one for all.

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O'Naihanchi Kata Sho (Iron Horse Missing Enemy Form)

The origin of the three Naihanchi katas is unknown. We do know for a fact that they were practiced as one single kata by Okinawan Shuri-ryu Master Sokon Matsumura around 1825. Naihanchi was, however, handed down to Matsumura from earlier times. We can assume that Naihanchi is well over one hundred and seventy years old, possibly dating back to the era of Tode Sakugawa, Suekata Chogun and Ito Gusukuma. Naihanchi was also a favorite form of Yusutsune Itosu (1830-1915).

Around 1895, Master Choki Motobu popularized Naihanchi by performing the three forms as “one kata” on a daily basis at least five hundred times. The three Naihanchi katas, performed as one became known as “Motobu’s Kata”, and he is said to have stated many times, “ There is only one kata necessary to develop and excel in Karate, and that is Naihanchi as one. Motobu’s favorite hand form when performing Naihanchi was the forefinger punch (keiko ken zuki).”

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Not Good News for Turkey Day

H5N1 confirmed at second U.K. site

By Alicia Karapetian on 11/20/2007 for Meatingplace.com

British officials on Monday announced that testing confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in turkeys at a second site in the United Kingdom.

The outbreak occurred at a farm deemed a "dangerous contact" premise, which was placed under restriction following the first outbreak last week. (See British AI outbreak highly pathogenic strain: official on Meatingplace.com, Nov. 14, 2007.)

Officials on Saturday completed the culling of birds on the first infected farm and those placed under restriction.

An almost 2-mile protection zone has been established around the second site, and the existing surveillance zone has been extended.




British AI outbreak highly pathogenic strain: official
By Alicia Karapetian on 11/14/2007 for Meatingplace.com


British government officials on Tuesday announced that confirmatory tests showed an avian influenza outbreak on a turkey farm in eastern England was the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain.

In response, the some 5,000 turkeys, 1,000 ducks and 400 geese on the farm will be culled, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn told British Parliament in prepared remarks Tuesday.

"The health and safety of those involved in the operations are the priority, and a strict approach is being taken," she said. "All workers on the premises already potentially exposed to infection have been given Tamiflu."

The government also has restricted poultry movement, instituting an almost 2-mile protection zone and an approximately 6-mile-wide surveillance area.

Benn's department was informed of a large number of turkey deaths at the farm Sunday. Preliminary tests conducted Monday showed the presence of the H5 strain, and further testing, which revealed the strain was H5N1, was completed Tuesday.

The United Kingdom last faced an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in February when 159,000 turkeys were culled at a Bernard Matthews farm.

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Check out this Day-After-Thanksgiving Stew Recipe

This sounds like an really tasty recipe for a Mexican style beef stew provided this week to National Cattlemen's Beef Association members. Check out those ingredients and add them to your grocery list, sounds like a winning combination of seasonings. For the less adventurous, a good old-fashioned soup bowl should work just fine. . . .

Easy Day-After-Thanksgiving Stew

Wondering what to serve the day after Thanksgiving to a houseful of hungry family looking for an encore? Whip up hearty Mexican Beef Stew to satisfy those day-after stomach grumblings!

Mexican Beef Soup in Tortilla Bowls

Prep time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large onion, cut lengthwise in half and cut crosswise into thin slices
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cans (10-1/2 ounces each) beef consomm�
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 cup water
6 medium (8 inches) flour tortillas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

Heat Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add ground beef and onion; brown 4 to 5 minutes, breaking beef up into 3/4-inch crumbles. Pour off drippings. Season beef with cumin and pepper.
Stir consomm�, corn, tomatoes and water into beef. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.
Meanwhile gently press tortillas into 6 individual microwave-safe (2-cup) soup bowls. Microwave, 3 bowls at a time, on HIGH 5 to 6 minutes or until tortillas are slightly crisp, rotating and rearranging cups halfway.
Stir cilantro into soup; spoon soup into tortilla bowls. Garnish as desired; serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 478 calories; 19 g fat (6 g saturated fat; 8 g monounsaturated fat); 76 mg cholesterol; 1102 mg sodium; 40 g carbohydrate; 2.6 g fiber; 34 g protein; 5.6 mg niacin; 0.4 mg vitamin B6; 2.4 mcg vitamin B12; 4.6 mg iron; 20.8 mcg selenium; 5.8 mg zinc

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Yoi - To Be Prepared Is To Be Motivated

Often when you watch a karate tournament you will notice in the sparring segments that the competitors with the superior techniques are not always the ones who win the matches. A competitor who receives a minor injury during a match, for example, will suddenly become hesitant to attack, and, in spite of possessing superior skills, may lose even if the physical effects of the injury were negligible. Similarly, an exceptionally aggressive competitor can win more than his or her fair share of matches just relying on this trait alone.

This illustrates how matches can often be won or lost even before the competitors enter the ring. We are all aware of the importance of training hard and practicing our techniques before competition, but we sometimes forget a crucial aspect of our preparation: motivation, or the will to win.

The importance of motivation in preparing for any activity is illustrated by the Japanese word yoi, which means “ready.” The first ideogram, yo, means “use” or “utilize,” while the second, i, means “will” or “motivation.” To be prepared is to be motivated.

There is a well-known aspect of karate training in which the proper preparation of your will and motivation are crucial for success. Success does, however, require firm belief that your chosen goal is attainable. A shred of doubt will keep you from success, but if you firmly grasp an unshakable belief that you can do it, then you will reach your goals.

- Adapted from "The Empty Hand: A Karate Workbook" by Rui Umezawa

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August & September 2007: Video, Cocci vaccine, Neuro appt.

We've put together a photo slide show to document Denise's hospital stay & recovery. Just a warning, a couple of the pictures are hard to look at. I tried to only post uplifting pictures of Denise during her struggle. But Denise wanted you to see just how bad things were for her: in a medically-induced coma, holding baby Daniel's lifeless body, hoses, wires, vents, machines, feeding tubes, catheters, fevers, trach, hair loss, weight loss, scars, exhaustion & everything else. That way it would underscore just how blessed we are that she not only survived, but is getting better with time.

Denise visited the neurologist in late August. He was pleased to see that she's continued without seizures, lapses in consciousness, manic episodes, tremors, or anything else. I'd hoped that he would lower her anti seizure or other meds, but he's keeping her at the same level. Denise will have labs done up and visit the infectious disease doctor in late October. The last labs showed her titers for cocci going another notch toward normal, and her liver labs came back normal. So I am hopeful that we'll hear more good news.

A couple weeks ago I flew to Phoenix (cocci central) & back in one day to hear a talk by Dr. Garry T. Cole of the University of Texas, San Antonio. He's working on a vaccine for Valley Fever. I felt kind of bad for him because the talk was not very well-attended. But that worked in my favor, as he took a great deal of time to talk to me about his work (and nice guy that he is, he used little words as much as he could so that I'd understand). Anyway, I thought he'd be talking about Nikkomycin Z, the anti fungal that might be the magic bullet in killing cocci, not just suppressing it. But his work is completely different. Leave it to a guy like me to mix up a cure project with a vaccine project. In a nutshell, it seems that a vaccine is workable. They've nailed down which phase of cocci development from which to start (killed spherule, not arthroconidia), the specific component of the spherule from which to derive the vaccine (actually, a protein on the spherule wall, if I understood correctly), and they've got some very encouraging results from testing on mice. All they need is money. He brought up the tremendous rate of infection among military personnel that train in cocci-endemic regions. He also brought up the costs associated with their treatment, downtime, disability payments, and in the worst cases, benefit payments to their survivors. It's possible that the Army and/or Marines might back the cocci vaccine out of pocketbook concerns if nothing else.
Here's a short (though technical) intro to Dr. Cole's work: http://bio.utsa.edu/faculty/cole.html

And for non-medical stuff, Denise continues to bite off a little more as time goes by. She's been able to stay awake longer during the days as her endurance comes back. Gracie started kindergarten. Jacob goes to preschool and stays home with Denise one day a week. She'd like to increase it to two days a week as she's able to catch up on the time she missed with him while she was in the hospital (she went in when he was 15 months old, came out when he was about 24 months old... about a third of his life later). She's also been getting more involved at the school as she's able, started connecting with other moms through a M.O.P.S. (Mothers of Preschoolers) at church, and doing a little bit with Door of Hope, a Pasadena ministry to help homeless families. And for my birthday, we went to Disneyland and ate at Goofy's Kitchen. Yes, I am the biggest kid in my family.

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