Sullivan just had his first illness last week. It was pretty horrific — he woke up in the middle of the night crying and then just started vomiting. He vomited on more or less regular intervals for about a day and a half. It was a little scary, but he didn’t have a fever or anything, so we both kind of figured he picked up a stomach bug from the Newark International Airport. (Our Ped. confirmed that it was just a little stomach thing)

So we did the (faux-)Pedialyte thing, but he mostly worked it out on his own after a couple days. Melissa did take him into our Ped’s office out in Dayton, just to make sure there wasn’t a greater problem. This brings me to my next issue:

We’ve been trying to find a local doctor for several months now. We’d like a family practice, someone that I can go in and see with my bizarre “does this look normal?” questions, someone that Sullivan can see for regular Doctor visits, the works. Our current Doctor(s), Seiler and Shah, are wonderful. The only reservations we have is (a) they don’t accept plastic payment, which means we can’t use the pre-tax medical-fund I enrolled in, and (b) they’re about 45 minutes away (just North of Dayton). Melissa applied with a local practice, Dr. Reichley, but was turned down when the Dr. found out we are refusing / delaying vaccinations for Sullivan.

Apparently the vaccinations issue is a deal-breaker for some Doctors. Melissa has done more reading about this than I have, but there’s a legitimate concern here. Most of us (myself included) know vaccinations as “those icky shots we have to get when we’re kids, to keep us from getting nasty contagious illnesses.” This is partly true. Vaccinations do indeed serve a purpose for some illnesses, but not all. Polio, for example, has not had a confirmed case in the U.S. for decades.

The real issue here stems from the method of delivery. Many Doctors do the “cocktail” method. They take a young kid, right around 1-2 years old, and inject them with the “MMR” (Measels, Mumps & Rubella) shot, sometimes throwing in a few others (Polio? Bubonic Plague?) for good measure. And here’s the rub: there have been quite a few documented cases of child development being stunted, skewed, or otherwise interrupted directly after being administered this shot! I know, I know, post hoc ergo propter hoc — just because the complications show up AFTER the shot doesn’t mean it was caused by the shot. But when you start getting enough cases that are similar with similar outcomes, it starts to look convincing.

Jenny McCarthy, whom you will either remember from Playboy, MTV’s Singled Out, or a number of television & movie cameos, has a son from her former marriage with Director John Asher. Her son was developing normally until about 15 months, when he was given his vaccinations - shortly after that he began to develop Autism. She has since taken a very active role in Autism Awareness.

Apparently, this issue is quite controversial. Some people believe there IS a link between MMR Vaccines and Autism, others think that it’s bunk. Honestly, when it comes to my son, I would rather err on the side of the curable-disease. Measels, Mumps, and Rubella all suck, but they’re curable. Autism isn’t. So even if it’s a 1% chance of acquiring it because of the vaccine; it’s not worth it to me.

UPDATE: We found doctors for all of us, and my appointment is in an hour.

Categories: Friends, Family & Pets, Health, Ziggy aka Sullivan
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The diet is still going well. I say this first because it’s still really challenging. Last night my wife decided she wanted to melt Barking Chocolate (like for covering pretzels or buckeyes) on some Vanilla Bean ice cream. I had a bite, just because I was curious, but no more. Today I was offered chocolate by my Organic Chemistry Prof during our Final Exam, and I successfully declined. Ditto for the chocolate donuts in the break room yesterday (ate NONE), and the various donuts and goodies they had at Exam Jam on Tuesday. Go me.

I haven’t been able to walk in the morning lately; Partly because it’s FREAKING COLD OUTSIDE and the snow and ice make jogging somewhat treacherous, but also because I’ve been up late studying and catching up with things.

Today was my Organic Chemistry Final Exam, where I was asked questions like:

“A newly isolated natural product was found to have the molecular formula C₁₅H₂₈O₂. By hydrogenating a sample of the compound, it was determined to possess one pi bond. How many rings are present in the compound?”

(the answer is 1, I think, due to degree of desaturation). I think I did ok. With the bonus points I’ll be getting in the course (around 20) and my grade as of the last exam (88.5%), as long as I get at least a B on the Final I should have a high-B / low-A over all. Fingers crossed!

Last weekend, Melissa, Sullivan and I all flew out to NJ for my Grammy Westerdale’s Funeral services. My Grandpa Westerdale died earlier this year (March) and shortly after that, Grammy found out she had cancer already in metastasis. It only took about 8 months to do her in, and she passed on Thanksgiving of this year. The funeral services were very good - we interred her’s and grandpa’s ashes into the memorial garden of their church (St. Paul’s Episcopalian) and I got to say my final goodbyes then. There was no viewing like with Grandpa (her request), but this was just as good, I suppose. None of us were very surprised by it.

We all drove out to see her earlier this month, because my mom said it was “going to be any day now”, and I wanted Sullivan to see her one more time before she went.  It was a good visit.

I think in some ways, I still haven’t had a chance to fully deal with this all. Sure, I cried at the funeral, like the rest of my family; And yeah, it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone. But I think the back corners of my mind haven’t quite come to terms with her being gone.

The best part of the trip (for me, but probably not for Melissa) was the family gathering after the Funeral. All of the branches of our family, the Westerdales, the Watkins, and the Magnussons (along with some neighbors and friends of my uncles) all came over and everyone drank Whiskey Sours (the official drink of the Westerdale Family), Gin, Wine, and Beer. It was a grand old time. Sullivan got to hang out with my siblings and other family members. He’s getting more comfortable with them.  We’re going back in a couple weeks for Xmas. Non-stop this time. (Missed our connecting flight on the return this time..had to spend the night in Cleveland! Ick!)

For those of you who are wondering, yes the blog theme is different. My wife decided that she couldn’t be married to someone with an ugly blog theme, so she logged in and changed it. I think it looks nice.

that’s it for now, I have more finals to study for!

Categories: Friends, Family & Pets, Health
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• Succulent lemon bars, lightly powdered with confectioner’s sugar
• Rich Magic Cookie Bars, a mixture of that delicious trio of butter, sugar, and egg combined with chocolate chunks and other goodies.
• Bronze-colored Donut holes, rolled in granulated sugar
• Pert little brownie bits, a rich dark brown chocolate fudge color
• Strawberries (only because they were on the same dessert tray as the rest of the things above, and I thought that if I reached for a Strawberry I’d accidentally grab a Lemon Bar)

Day 2 of the diet. I registered for my classes today, including a Weight Training and Conditioning course in the spring time. I was up late studying last night so I didn’t wake up early enough to take Bowie for a jog. My diet has been a lot more balanced. I eat just enough food that I’m not hungry until the next time I eat food. If I get some  hunger pangs in the meantime, I just drink water, and that seems to help.

I DID eat today:

Breakfast: 2 egg-whites fried in 1oz of Olive oil, 1-1/2 cups Kashi cereal with 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup cranberry juice.

Mid-morning snack: A large orange and some celery with natural peanut butter.

Lunch: Left over Tofu / vegetable stirfry and couscous.

Dinner: 5 Turkey meatballs in tomato sauce, a baked potato with cheddar cheese, and some romaine  lettuce with a glass of water.

In retrospect, I realized that the tomato sauce were enough starchy carbs that I didn’t need the baked potato. I should have just made it sans-potato. Maybe added some more romaine lettuce or something, for extra fiber.

Categories: Health, Humor
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1. Delicious, moist, leftover Anniversary cake*
2. Some deliciously round and powdery donut holes in the break room
3. Hot, rich, Pizza or Garlicky Seasoned Breadsticks
4. Decadent and chewy looking Chocolate Chip Cookies during a meeting with the Library administrators
5. Delicious, moist, leftover Anniversary cake*
6. Cookies, candy, or ice cream while food shopping for healthier food

Yes, I am indeed determined to be healthier. There seems to be constant temptation to eat shitty foods, and I notice it all the more now that I am abstaining from such yummeries. I literally deliberated for 10 minutes this afternoon about eating ONE of those cookies, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it.

I’ve been taking Bowie for a walk / jog almost every morning. Last week was kind of an exception because I was sick (and then Melissa/Sullivan were sick and I was on vacation) but the past two mornings I’ve done it. Up at 7′ish a.m., find clothes, put shoes on, grab leash, and go. It’s about a mile around our usual route; Up the hill, around the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Back down past the high-school-formerly-known-as-Hibberd. It’s getting a little easier. I just started with situps / pushups last night too.

Once I get going with this and get to the point where I can jog at least halfway through my route, I’m going to start doing weight training again. I’m determined to get back in shape and return the spare tire to the trunk of my VW.

* “Anniversary cake” is actually the topper from our Wedding cake a year ago. It’s been in the Freezer for a full year. Believe it or not, it was still totally moist and delicious, in spite of its age. Just like me!

Categories: Health, Humor
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