This is Takeru Kobayashi, a competitive eater known for downing hotdogs.



This is 13 month old Monkey. Notice the similarities?



Twenty years from now, I predict Monkey will win the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest. You heard it here first!

A Story Made From Spelling Words

by Smartie Runner, 1st grade

a man had a run a Bad run he had IT BeFor Luch
he ran In the sun Hot Hot sun So He Ha
D too sit on a bus I see a Cub He seys
CooL He seys the cub is WitH A Net tHe
EnD

13.1 Done!

I finished my half-marathon today! My time was 3:18. The course time limit was 3:05, so I'm not sure if my time will count as an official finish, but I did still get a medal. And I wasn't last, there were three people behind me.

It was a tough race (what genius planned a race in August in Illinois?) but it was a fun race. My Team In Training coach and two teammates also ran it. Coach Terry placed second in his division, and Sherry won hers. Both of them came out to run the last mile with me, which helped tremendously.

I started out really strong. In fact, it was a little too strong. In training, I've averaged 15-16min/mile. My first six today I averaged almost 14min/mile. Part of me knew this was a dumb idea, and part of me really hoped I'd finish under the time limit. I hit "the wall" at mile 10 and couldn't run anymore. I walked most of the last 3 until I hit a downhill stretch and finally got a little strength to run again. Then I got to the last quarter-mile around the high school track to the finish line and was able to run and finish strong with Coach Terry beside me.

This was my third half, and the first real exercise I've done since before I was pregnant with the twins. Time-wise, it was my 2nd best of the three. I'm going to take a week or two off, but not too long. I want to maintain and build on my current level for my next half. That's right, I'm already registered for the Disney's Princess Half Marathon in February. I've already started making my costume! I'm hoping with more training and cooler temps, I can set a PR and break the 3:00 mark.

I am not convinced...

The more I learn about Type I Diabetes, the less sense it makes as a diagnosis for Sweetie. Other than the weight loss, she has none of the common symptoms of extreme thirst, frequent urination, or fatigue. Looking over her three lab reports, her blood glucose is within normal range in all three of them. In fact, it's on the LOW end of normal. Her first two urine tests were fine; it's only the third test that showed +1 glucose (out of 3). It seems very strange to me that she could have diabetes with no symptoms and low-normal blood glucose. We've either caught it literally as it happens in the earliest stages, or the one urine test was a fluke.

We did an A1C test yesterday (yet another blood draw, poor thing) along with another CBC and urinalysis. The A1C is a fairly new test that can tell you what your average blood sugar has been like for the last 3 months. Hopefully, it'll be pretty definitive one way or the other.

I've also looked over Smartie's three lab reports. (My mom, aunt, and sisters rightly pointed out that we shouldn't be so concerned with Sweetie that we forget about Smartie.) The biggest concern for her is that her liver enzymes and kidney function are persistently, though mildly, high. Dr. C noted on her report that he wants to see the results of her ultrasound before taking further steps with her. We haven't yet heard the official results on the ultrasound, which was done on Tuesday.

Another turn on the roller coaster...

Well, this roller coaster has taken another sharp turn. We met with the doctor today (we actually had an appointment in another office in the same building, and he came and found us.) Smartie's test results are improving, so he's not as concerned with her. But he now thinks Sweetie has Type I Diabetes. This is NOT a diagnosis yet, just a theory. He's cancelled the consult with the hematologist and is working to get us in with an endocrinologist ASAP, hopefully by the end of the week.

If it is JD, we've caught it very early. He said usually when he sees JD, he's sending very sick children straight to the hospital, but Sweetie is still relatively well.

If it is JD, she'll be on a very strict diet and will need insulin injections. The diet doesn't intimidate me (much), I'd actually welcome the excuse to get the whole family on a healthier diet. But I'm not looking forward to giving my poor sweet baby an injection every day. She's already terrified of needles from all the bloodwork we've done in recent weeks.

The girls' update as best as I understand it...

As you probably know, my older girls have always been very small. When I realized they hadn't gained anything in over six months, I made an appointment with Dr. C. He wanted to run some tests, and we've been waiting for the results. I finally got the call from Dr. C's office. (I've called six times in the last two weeks, and what they failed to tell me was that he was spending all this time researching and consulting with colleagues and specialists.) I should be getting a copy of the reports tomorrow, so I'll hopefully better understand the specifics then. This is what we can share as best as I know now.

The first round of bloodwork from July 19 came back with some really unusual readings on the Complete Blood Count (CBC). There are I think a dozen or so readings taken in a CBC, and for both girls, more than half came back abnormal. Some were very high and some were low; I don't really understand the specifics yet beyond that. Apparently, these results were pretty unusual, which is what lead Dr. C to repeat the test on July 27.

Smartie's second test came back a little better--still abnormal but closer to normal than it had been. Sweetie's came back the same or worse. It now appears likely that Sweetie, and probably Smartie as well, have some type of rare blood disorder. Dr. C is sending all of Sweetie's files to a pediatric hematologist (blood specialist) for review. In preparation for this, we have to do a third CBC and another new test we haven't run before. This new test (I don't know the name of it) is pretty rare. There are no labs in the Midwest that run it, so the blood needs to be shipped to California for analysis. Even though he hasn't sent Smartie's files to the hematologist, he wants her to have the new test run as well. They also are getting chest X-rays and abdominal ultrasounds because their liver enzymes were really high and he wants to see if their livers are enlarged.

I thought the last two weeks of waiting were hard, but this is going to be even worse. We know something is wrong, but we don't know what it is, how bad it is, what the prognosis is, or what the treatment plan will be. It'll take at least a week before we hear from California, and then we'll likely have to meet with the hematologist for one or both girls.

Please pray that their condition will be manageable and that we can find the best way to treat them.

Body Image

I feel absolutely sick. Smartie was running around doing jumping jacks and such. She said to me, "I'm exercising because I need to get skinny." What did she say?!? I said no, you don't need to get skinny. You actually need to get fatter. She got very upset. "I don't want to be fat!"

I explained to her that we don't exercise to get skinny, we exercise to be healthy. It's important to be at a healthy weight, not too fat OR too skinny.

I am horrified that my sweet, young, UNDERWEIGHT six year old is already dealing with the pressure to be thin. I've made a conscious effort to frame my own weight-loss/exercise goals in terms of getting healthy. I want my girls (and my boy, too) to have a realistic picture of what healthy looks like, not the media ideal. I want them to know that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. I want them to avoid all the garbage of warped body image and self esteem.

And to add insult to injury, I opened the comics section to see today's Family Circus. Talk about an impossible standard--there's no freaking way that woman has had four children! (And yes, I already sent an e-mail to the artists.) I know, it's just a cartoon. But it's still a glorification of an impossible ideal.

In other related news, we're still waiting for news on the girls' test results. I've called three times, and been told three times they'll check with the doctor right away and call me back. Grr.