PANDAS Syndrome

It all started last summer when my 11 yo son got a fever. He woke up from a nap and started talking about the number 1000. I thought he was awake but shortly realized that he did not seem to realize what he was saying. Just when I started to freak out a little bit, he became lucid. Little did I realize this was just the beginning of things to come.
A couple weeks later he was diagnosed with strep. We had just returned to from the doctor when he ran to the bathroom to throw up. He told me he felt funny. He couldn't stop himself from putting his fingers in his throat. I realized I needed to take him to the ER. Something was clearly not right. However, the ER was not at all cooperative. The doctor told us he needed to start his antibiotics, then he would feel better. They did little more than give us Benadryl and Tylenol, then sent us home. A week later he was still not feeling well. He sunk into a deep depression. He had to wear a surgical mask and mittens to keep himself from putting his fingers down his throat. It got so bad we ended up calling 911. We weren't sure if he was having a seizure or not. He was rushed to the hospital. I was sure this would be the solution to all of our problems, but the ER was still not very helpful. After running bloodwork, they determined that he had a neurological tic and gave him clonazepam. At this point we were a week away from him having his tonsils out. I was pretty sure they just wanted to get rid of us. However, the ER doctor did provide another diagnosis. She said my son had PANDAS, a rapid onset of OCD/tics brought on by a strep infection. I had stumbled upon this disorder in my Internet research. This was something I thought could be causing my son to put his fingers down his throat. The problem is that many doctors do not considerate it to be a legitimate illness.
My son ended up getting his tonsils and adenoids removed. We were sure this would help him. It did not. Although I do believe it helped control the infections a bit. However, he was still not feeling well a month after the surgery. At this point we had seen the ENT, a neurologist and a psychiatrist. He was put on Prozac, but it really did not seem to help. He missed a good part of the first nine weeks of school. Although the urge to put his fingers in his thraot went away, he was plagued with new symptoms. It seemed every time he had a new infection, he would get new tics and obsessions. Finally we saw an immunologist. This was our first ray of hope. He determined that my son had pneumococcal antibody deficiency. Basically his body was not making antibodies to pneumococcal bacteria which is why he was getting a lot of sinus infections. They gave him a booster shot and, for probably 2 months, he was back to normal. It was so nice to see him playing outside again. Then winter came. And the infections started again. And he got viruses. And with every infection and every virus, the tics would resurface. He had pretty severe tics for about a month. They would come as often as 4-5 per minute. So I took hime back to the doctor. She prescribed him a new antibiotic. Then something weird happened. 2 days after starting the new medicine his tics totally stopped. This was great, only then came the fatigue. Other new weird symptoms appeared. His cheeks became bright red. I took him back to the doctor and she ran bloodwork. It showed he had a recent bout of mono. Perhaps this is why he has been so tired. Unfortunately there is no treatment for it. We accepted that he just had to push on. Then new symptoms appeared. His behavior changed. He got depressed. Then he got hyper. I took him back to the doctor. They are currently running more bloodwork. This time they are checking him for lyme and mycoplasma which, I guess, are quite common in PANDAS kids.
So what is the point of this entire blog post? I guess just to share our story. Although he is worlds away from the first bout of PANDAS, he is still not healed. If you are dealing with this here are some keys to getting him to where he is today:
1) I do believe getting his tonsils and adenoids out helped control his infections a bit.
2) Seeing the immunologist was a crucial turning point. He checked his immunoglobulin levels and his pneumococcal titers.
3) I think having his EBV titers checked is another piece of the puzzle and I am anxiously awaiting the return of the lyme and mycoplasma tests.
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING:
YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD. IF THEY ARE EXHIBITING WEIRD PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS, GET THEM TO THE DOCTOR AND HAVE THEM CHECKED FOR STREP. I THINK EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF PANDAS IS SO EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

Knitted Mini Stocking

I couldn't find a good mini stocking pattern, so I wrote my own. I didn't like how most were kind of stubby. I wanted mine to look like an old-fashioned stocking...more like a sock. I hope it works up well. I don't write a lot of patterns. I adapted it from a sock pattern.

Double-Pointed Needles - Size 9
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn

ssk (slip, slip, knit) Slip next 2 sts as if to knit, one at a time, to right needle; insert left needle into fronts of these 2 sts and knit them tog - 1 st decreased.

NOTES:
1. Socks are worked in rnds from top down on double-pointed needles.
2. Heel is turned (shaped) by working short rows.
3. Length of foot can be worked to any desired length.
SOCK With A, cast on 32 sts. Divide sts onto 4 needles. Place marker for beg of rnd. Join by working the first st on left hand needle with the working yarn from the right hand needle, being careful not to twist sts.
Rnd 1: Knit
Rnd 2: Purl Rep last 2 rnds 11 times, then change to B and Rep Rnd 1 once more. Work in stocking stitch for next 24 rnds. On last rnd, work only first 24 stitches. This will assure seam aligns with the middle of the heel when laid flat.

Heel Flap Note: Heel is worked back and forth in rows over 16 sts, on 2 needles only. The rem 16 sts, on the other 2 needles, are for the instep (top of foot), and will be worked again after the heel is complete. Remove beg of rnd marker. If desired, sl instep sts onto a holder for now.
Row 1: Sl 1 as if to purl, k15, turn.
Row 2: Sl 1 as if to purl, p15, turn.
Rows 3-10: Rep last 2 rows 4 times, then rep Row 1 once more.

Turn Heel Note: To turn (shape) the heel, short rows are worked over a portion of the sts in a row. To work short rows, the instructions will tell you to turn before you reach the end of the row, when you turn, leave the rem sts unworked.
Row 1: P8, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 2: Sl 1 as if to purl, k1, ssk, k1, turn.
Row 3: Sl 1 as if to purl, p to 1 st before the gap created by sl st on last rnd, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 4: Sl 1 as if to purl, k to 1 st before the gap created by sl st on last rnd, ssk, k1, turn.
Rep Rows 3 and 4 until all sts have been worked, end with RS row - there are now 8 sts for the heel. Note: On the last 2 rows there will be no heel stitch to work after the p2tog or ssk.
Next Rnd (RS): K across heel sts; with same needle, pick up and k7 sts along side of heel flap; with needles 2 and 3, work in St st as established across 16 top of foot (instep) sts; with needle 4, pick up and k7 sts along other side of heel flap and with same the needle k across 4 of the heel sts - 38 sts at the end of this rnd. Place marker for new beg of rnd.

Gusset
Rnd 1: Knit.
Rnd 2: K to last 3 sts on first needle, k2tog, k1; on 2nd and 3rd needles, work in St st as established; on 4th needle, k1, ssk, k to end - 36 sts at the end of this rnd. Rep last rnd until 28 sts rem. Rearrange needles so there are 7 stitches on each needle.

Foot
Work in St st until foot measures about 2 in. less than desired total foot length, about 10 rows. Change to A.

Shape Toe
Next Rnd: *K to last 2 sts on first needle, k2tog; rep from * on each needle around - 24 sts at the end of this rnd.
Next Rnd: Knit. Rep last 2 rnds until 2 sts rem on each needle. Cut yarn, leaving 6 in. (15 cm) tail. Thread tail through rem sts. Pull gently to close opening. Knot to secure. Fasten off.

FINISHING Weave in ends.

ABBREVIATIONS / REFERENCES beg = begin(s)(ning) k = knit k2tog = knit 2 together p = purl p2tog = purl 2 together rem = remain(s)(ing) rep = repeat(s)(ing) rnd(s) = round(s) RS = right side sl = slip St st = Stockinette stitch st(s) = stitch(es) tog = together

Almond Milk Ice Cream

I recently tried almond milk for the first time. It tastes good, but I'm just not a big "any kind of milk" drinker...cow, almond, coconut or soy. So I decided to try making it into ice cream. It actually freezes faster than cow's milk. Here's my recipe: 3/4 cup almond milk 1/2 cup sugar 2 cups(1 pint) heavy cream 3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract Mix milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved, then add remaining ingredients. Pour into ice cream maker and mix for 20 min. Transfer to freezer safe container and freeze until desired consistency. I plan on serving this over grilled pineapple with a drizzle of Nutella on top for a sweet Father's Day treat.

Mother's Day Pebbled Pot

It is so hard to buy presents for my mom. She doesn't like perfume, makeup, manicures, or most girly things. You can't buy her clothes. She does like chocolate, but one can only buy her chocolate for so many years. She likes to get gift cards, but I feel so generic giving her them. She also likes when I make her things because, of course, she recognizes my artistic talents. ;) However, I don't always have time to make her anything. This year I decided I better make her something or I may end up at the bottom of her Christmas list. lol After searching online, I decided on a pebbled pot. I went to Lowe's and bought a bag of mortar and some river pebbles. I started by taking one of those black pots that your plants come in when you buy them from the store. I covered the inside with a coat of mortar and used a dowel rod to make drainage holes.





Here is what the outside looked like:

Next, I applied Power Grab to the outside of the pot and covered it with the river pebbles.

This is where I am now. I have to wait 24 hours for the adhesive to dry before I can fill the spaces with mortar. I plan on planting a couple plants from my garden inside it. I recently mastered dividing my perennials. I want it to have a very organic look so I think I am going to use ajuga and coreopsis and maybe steal some moss from under our tree. I think the yellow of the coreopsis will look nice with the purple of the ajuga. Here are pictures of the plants if you are not a gardener.



Bean Soup

I bought a package of Goya beans and it had this recipe on the bag (or something like it):

6 cups of water
1 package Goya ham flavor
1 package (1 lb.) of Goya 16 Bean Soup Mix
1 medium onion
2 stalks of chopped celery
1 chopped carrot
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

My husband is a vegetarian, so I substituted the ham flavor for 2 vegetable buillion cubes and threw it in the crockpot for a few hours. When I went to check on it, it had soaked up a lot of water and needed some flavor, so I added:

1 cup of water
1 more buillion cube
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Tabasco

It was better, but still lacked something, so I added some crumbled spicy vegetarian sausage. Much better, but I think next time I will add some chopped kale just before serving it.

Powder Room Makeover

I wish I had a picture of our powder room when we moved into our house. It had a weird wallpaper border that had these, like, these scroll-type thingies on it a la 1988. I promptly took it down, only to discover the previous owner had painted over wallpaper. :-/ So I bought a steamer and took off the wallpaper. It was a long and tedious process. Afterwards I painted the walls a light grayish-green. Here is the result.
It was nice, but the dark cabinet always bothered me because the room is so small and it still made it look dark. So, after remodeling the basement, I had the home improvement bug and decided to paint the cabinet white. I don't know if you can tell, but I even added a couple of little rosettes and some moulding to dress it up a bit.

I have mixed emotions. It does make the room look brighter, but now it looks a little naked. Maybe I'm just not used to it.
Oh well, hopefully we can replace the whole cabinet in the future.

Ranch Potato Chips

I've been making homemade potato chips for a few years now. There are a few things I have discovered in that time:

1) You must use fresh potatoes. They slice much nicer and make better chips.
2) Slice the potatoes on a mandolin (the slicer, not the instrument). It slices them evenly and thin enough to be crunchy.
3) Soak the potatoes in vinegar water for at least 15 minutes. It takes out some of the starchiness. Also, rinse the potatoes several times before throwing them in the fryer.
4) Once the potatoes start to crisp up, stir them continuously. It will help them to brown evenly.

So...last week I got a super good batch of chips and a thought occurred to me...
WHAT if I sprinkled the chips with the contents of a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Salad and Seasoning Mix?

Brilliant! Yay, me!
Try it.