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We finally saw Food, Inc.
I already knew a lot of the facts in it, having read one chapter of The Omnivore’s Dilemma (I only read one chapter because it was recalled from the library before I could get through it), and having seen The Corporation. But it was very powerful, and makes me want to make even more changes. We already don’t eat much meat. We rarely cook anything other than chicken or turkey at home. I get the chicken and turkey from Trader Joe’s, and I think it doesn’t have antibiotics and hormones, but I’m sure it’s produced in large factory farms. And I’m not careful about the kind of meat I do eat, because my policy is not to be picky about what people serve me… but if I’m at a picnic, and eat a hamburger, I’m probably eating the kind of hamburger that has parts from hundreds of cows. So, maybe I should be more picky. I get cravings for meat when I don’t have it from time to time, so I don’t see myself become a vegetarian. Lilia used to love bacon, but at some point, I decided to tell her it was made out of pigs. She stopped eating it immediately, and hasn’t eaten it in a year or more. She says she will eat cows, but doesn’t often.
We joined a CSA this year, and had local vegetables for 26 weeks. We have signed up for it again next year. Joe already has a small garden out front– tomatoes, greens, garlic, peppers, and herbs.

But the scariest and saddest story in Food, Inc. was about the woman who became a food safety advocate after her two year old son died from e. coli in a hamburger. There have been a lot of stories about unsafe food– bagged spinach, peanut butter, hamburgers, tomatoes– and I was always thankful that we hadn’t bought anything involved in a recall. But one of those news stories did effect us, back in May 2007.

I was looking at my journal, and found these entries:
Thursday, May 24, 2007:
…Lilia ate chicken & noodles from my soup, some meatball, and some spring roll. And all of her Veggie Booty (her favorite snack). She was eating non-stop, it was adorable.
Sunday, May 27, 2007:
Lilia will be 15 months tomorrow! And she has her first tummy bug ever. It hit yesterday– she was super lethargic. And then she woke up in the middle of the night BURNING UP. Her fever (underarm) was only 101.7, so not too bad. I don’t have any pain relievers/fever reducers– they expired last year– so I just nursed her, gave her water, and crossed my fingers. Then she started with the Big D, which so far has not been TOO bad. She’s been mopey and clingy (to me), but is currently making her dad read ALL of her favorite books to her. So I’m hopeful this won’t last too long. Although Dr. Sears explains that intestines are slow-healing, so it could linger. Oh, this morning her temperature was 100.5. Much more reasonable.
Monday, May 28, 2007:
Saturday, it was hot, and we didn’t go out until late afternoon. We went for a little hike in Fairmount Park, and Lilia did not seem to be having any fun. I chalked it up to tiredness and the heat. We had to stop at 2 CVSes and the grocery store, and she was very tired looking– Joe said, She seems sick. Well, of course, she WAS sick.

Today, Lilia seemed better in the morning, and our pal M came over to hang out. Unfortunately, Lilia is not all better. I hope we don’t all catch it.
Aww, she just woke up with a cry, but is drifting back to sleep. Her eyes are purple from being tired and sick. I’m so glad we are still nursing, or she’d be starving!

Thursday, May 31, 2007:

Lilia is getting better. Still clingy and not quite eating a ton, but she’s definitely improving. She’s been waking up in the night crying though. That is not fun. Especially because nothing helps

June 28, 2007:
Robert’s Veggie Booty is recalled

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
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So… it dawned on me… Lilia’s favorite snack food was recalled for salmonella. Lilia ate it before she got sick (not just the one day I posted about– she ate it constantly). I had been worried that we all would catch it, but we never did. It was never confirmed that she had salmonella, but her symptoms, combined with the fact that we never got sick, seem to indicate that she did have it.

She had an allergy to dairy when she was little, so I couldn’t give her goldfish or anything with milk in it. I didn’t feel bad giving Veggie Booty to her. I know it was just a snack food, but it had green stuff in it– veggies- and a little bit of calcium. I personally didn’t really like it, so I didn’t eat it. I couldn’t buy it at Trader Joe’s– they sold Pirate’s Booty, but not Veggie Booty, and I didn’t realize why until later– the green veggie powder has stuff from China, and TJ’s has a policy not to sell items from China. And that green veggie powder from China was the source of the salmonella!

If Lilia had any sort of compromised immune system, she could have been much sicker. I don’t even see Veggie Booty listed on Robert’s Gourmet’s website anymore, so maybe they don’t make it? I wasn’t sure if I should contact anyone about Lilia’s case. In August, 2007, I did email Robert’s to let them know they might want to add another case to their list.
They emailed back and told me to fill out a claim form for medical costs reimbursement. We didn’t have any medical costs– just an increased cost of diapers for a few days, and a few days of a holiday weekend spent tending to our sick girl–so I did not fill out the form. I found an article, about a family suing– there little boy had to be hospitalized.
This is the kind of stuff that makes me feel helpless. I know that I can never ever buy something from Robert’s Gourmet again… but how can I make sure that it isn’t going to happen with another snack we get? With the peanut butter scare, we know that it just isn’t China’s fault, so avoiding all things from China won’t solve the problem.

I seem to have caught a cold. I blame coffee. The evidence: Last time I was really sick was when we had the flu (swine) in late June/early July. I gave up coffee at that time. I made it through the rest of July, August, September, and October without having a full-blown cold. (I have had terrible allergies and sinus things going on for months, but nothing contagious.) Lilia has had a couple of sniffly episodes that I would call full-blown colds– in September and October– but I managed to avoid them. She is having another sniffly episode that hasn’t been dragging her down too much (but is causing her to have croupy coughing fits at night). I started drinking coffee two weeks ago, and boom, I am having a sniffly episode too. It isn’t the world’s worst cold, but I’m dragging and feeling a lot of pressure in my head.

Today I am sticking to green tea.

Tomorrow we will be going to my dad’s house for Thanksgiving. We were planning to go today, but my head had other plans. I woke up this morning before 6 AM with a horrid horrid migraine. I won’t go into the details, but I wasn’t able to even drink anything till 2 PM. Ugh. I am feeling much better right now, and thankful that I do not get them frequently anymore. I can’t remember how frequently I got them as a kid– maybe one a month? I’m not even sure when I first got one, but I remember having one in Kindergarten, when I was 5, and it wasn’t my first one. The last incapacitating one I had was in April, and before that, it was last October, which isn’t that often, but before that it was like one per year for a few years, so I hope I’m not entering a more frequent migraine era. That would really stink.

Anyway, enough ramble about that. I forgot to mention that after this post last week, I DID have a Wawa Turkey Bowl. My first thought was that it was a little like dog food, but that didn’t stop me from having a second bite. The second bite was better (I think the first had too much gravy), and I actually enjoyed it very much. Tomorrow is our big Thanksgiving dinner at my dad’s house. I’m looking forward to it, but feeling guilty for not contributing anything… I asked a few times if I could bring anything, but never received a response, and planned on making the apple cupcakes today anyway… but the migraine interfered with those plans. Oh well… empty-handed. I’m sure there will be enough without us bringing something.

Just thought I’d give an update on my ears, in case any poor soul who googles “perforated tympanic membrane” or “i broke my eardrum- help!” comes across my page, looking for info on how long it takes before feeling better.*

After blowing my nose on Thursday, February 7, my left ear felt like someone had shoved a pillow in it. It felt more serious than any other ear pain I’ve had, but I did not expect to wake up around midnight with horrible excruciating pain. It was so bad, that I called the doctor’s office, but was told my only option was to either page the doctor, or drive to the emergency room. I suffered through the night– 2 ibuprofen only helped for about 20 minutes, and soon blood started running out my ear. Around 6:30 AM, I gave in and paged the doctor, who arranged to see me at 9 AM. She confirmed that I broke the eardrum, and I started anti-biotics and super high doses of ibuprofen (declined the narcotics), which helped keep the pain away. However, my right ear decided to join the party, and started dripping fluid too (but never blood).

By Saturday evening (about 48 hours since I damaged the eardrum), the pain was under control, but the severe hearing loss was quite shocking. I was convinced it would never get any better. I walked around for the next week in a fog– my head was so congested. The following Saturday, I was sure it was getting worse. And then, my right ear started popping. And popping. After a few days of this popping, my hearing in my right ear cleared up considerably.

Now it is two and a half weeks later, and my left ear is getting much better. The hole has healed, and the congestion is better, so I am just experiencing tinnitus and decreased hearing. Sometimes I feel some pain, but not too often.

Anyway, just thought I’d put this out there for anyone suffering through this. My fingers are crossed that in another week or two, as the lingering congestion clears up, my left ear will be close to normal.

Part 1 is here.

*When I googled it, most broken eardrums seem to happen from accidents– scuba diving, water-skiing, etc.  I think having the flu/ear infection is what kept me in such a fog for 2 weeks.

Well, It’s Valentine’s Day! I have never been big into celebrating this holiday, but I did purchase some Trader Joe’s Sea Salt Brownie Petites to get a chocolate fix. Yum.

I took Miss Lilia to the doctor today. She’s been very snotty and she has said her ears hurt. Yesterday was probably the worst day, but it was very bad weather, and I didn’t want to venture out to the doctor in it. Thankfully, the doctor thinks she is over the worst of it, and that she doesn’t need antibiotics. The doctor also looked in my ears, and proclaimed my left ear “a mess”. Joe has been under the weather too, and finally went to the doctor. Diagnosis: Bronchitis. Unless it’s pneumonia.

Ah, so, we are surviving. But Lilia actually seemed a lot more perky today– this gives me hope that we are at the end of this! And then I’ll just have to wait for my ear to heal.

How about some Valentine’s Day pictures of my February Sweetheart? (Only 2 weeks till Lil is 2!)
The Ham (who knows where she learned this smile!?!)

Can you believe this girl didn’t win Regis and Kelly’s most Beautiful Baby contest?