Hiding from my family today, literally!

I am hiding in my bedroom.  Sounds extreme, I know, but keep reading to find out why.  My dental revision is scheduled for tomorrow morning which is stressful in and of itself, but it seems like every possible thing that could go wrong before the big day, has.  It's been one exciting stressor after another.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I have been trying to have my amalgams replaced since before Christmas!  First, I put it off because I wanted to do more research into the Huggins protocol, then I found a Huggins dentist and scheduled my initial exam appointment to start the process.  I was thrilled, but hesitant about the cost.  It took some time for me to come to grips with the cost difference of using a Huggins alliance dentist.  My husband assured me that we cannot put a price on health, and that we would figure it out, regardless of what we had to do to make this happen.  The day before my exam with Dr. Grube, she called at 9:30pm to cancel, because of a conflict with her schedule, so the appointment was again  pushed off to a later date.

At that appointment which was in the middle of February, they gave me the biocompatibility blood test to have done between then and my dental revision date, which we scheduled for March 7th.  There was barely enough time to get the test done by their "emergency" turn around time of five days.  It normally takes two weeks!  So I knew I had to rush out to get my blood work done on that Monday (one week, five business days from my dental revision date).  The doctor told me that Quest won't do test kit blood work, LabCorp was their best recommendation, but ultimately, it was on me to find a lab that would cooperate with the detailed, lengthy instructions on the test kit paperwork.  After fasting through Sunday night into Monday, I promptly called the closest LabCorp number (a thirty minute drive away) and couldn't find any way to get through their telephone system to a live person.  Everything was automated about their location, hours, test info, etc.  I pressed every button trying to reach a live person, hahaha, with no success.  So I called the headquarters number from their website and spoke with someone there.  I told them that I had a test kit from my doctor who recommended LabCorp and that I had to confirm they could draw and centrifuge a blood serum sample.  She told me that they could, the charge for the blood draw would be $23 and she asked for the name of the Lab it was being done for (BioComp Lab) and she went to check to see, if they could do the shipment of the sample for me too since it was a 30 minute drive for me.  When she came back, she said they could do it and that they would be able to pull up the lab in their computer to find out what the FedEx charge would be, I would just pay them there.  Perfect!  I was on my way in no time.  Dave even took the morning off so I could leave Gavin with him.  And boy was I starving....go figure, the one day I needed to fast, I WOULD be hungry, wouldn't I?  Hunger pains and all, lol.

As my luck would have it, when I arrived at the lab, the lady had no idea what to do with the test kit.  I sat beside her as she read through the pages of paperwork and then called the headquarters and her direct supervisor who both told her she could not do the test.  WHAT?!  Are you freakin kidding me?  I was furious, hungry, 30 minutes away from home and had no backup plan, because I CALLED FIRST to make sure they could do it!  Luckily, just that weekend I had gotten the name of a generic lab in the area for Grayson's blood work from Dr. Schmidt and I called home for that info.  The lady there told me they could do it, I was so relieved.  So back towards home I went, starving by now since it was nearly lunch time.  The place I went to was called Any Lab Tests Now!....a little ghetto?  Yeah, it was.  They had two dogs walking around with no separation from the blood draw seating and when the girl (I said lady before, but she was a girl) was preparing to draw my blood, she was very unsure of herself.  She aimed at my vein three times, diving in like she was going to prick me, then backing up, diving in, backing up....she was clearly nervous.  But I was just glad to have it done.  There was still more though, the blood had to sit and clot for 15 minutes, then be spun (centrifuged) for 20 and frozen for 2-3 hours.  Dave went back to pick it up, he verified that it was frozen and was yellow (proper separation) and then he priority overnighted it to BioComp....$50, geez!

So you would think this would be the end of it....I was relieved to be on my way to the dental revision which was only 6 days away at this point.  Tuesday passes by, then first thing Wednesday morning when I am on my way out the door with the kids to play outside, a package gets delivered to my front door from Dr. Grube.  It's another biocompatibility test kit.  And why?  I hoped it had been an error.  I called the office and they told me the lab was supposed to call me the night before (which they did and I just never got the message, totally my fault).  I needed to do the test over!!  And since I never got the message from the night before, I never fasted for this test and couldn't do it today!  And it's now the Wednesday before my Monday appointment!  I called the lab (which is two hours behind in time, of course, just my luck) which is when I found out that the "problem" with my blood sample was actually that my blood reacted to just about EVERYTHING on the test.  I was even moderately reacting to gold, which is very rare. So he said two things were possible, one is that the sample was heat damaged in transit, although it looked fine when it arrived, and the other possibility is that I am truly reacting to everything, in which case, I would really need to get myself to a doctor, fast!  Great, like I needed more worries!  So the new plan was to redo the test first thing Thursday morning and overnight it to them for Friday morning delivery.  They would test it as soon as possible and e-mail the results to us (me and Dr. Grube) by mid-day....THEIR mid-day, which is two hours behind our mid-day, lol.  Talk about cutting it close, we had NO room for error this time.  And I still had to find a lab that would do my blood draw and properly.  I had a bad feeling about the lab I chose.  This also meant an additional blood draw fee and another overnight delivery.  But whose counting pennies now, right?  It's like buying a house and worrying about the inspection fees, just do it and shut up!  The cost of doing business.

Thursday morning, I happily did my thing, got the blood draw (at a WONDERFUL lab right around the corner from my house, I'm such an idiot), went back to pick it up from the lab, sent it out Fed Ex by 1pm (my best friend got me a 75% discount on Fed Ex!!), things were looking up.  I felt good about it all.  Sure enough, Friday I received a "normal" test by e-mail.  I was still highly reactive to some things, any dental materials that included: aluminum (so glad I make my own deodorant and stopped using make-up with aluminum!), copper, zinc acetate, beryllium, gallium, zirconium, bismuth, lithium (hmmm, I take this as a supplement), cadmium and molybdenum (something else I take as a supplement).  I was also moderately reactive to: lead, mercury (go figure) and nickel.  The majority of findings, luckily, were still in the least reactive category, which is how it should be, whew!

So back to why I am hiding in my room.  Thursday night the kids came down with an illness.  Grayson came home from school with a raw upper lip from a burning runny nose and Gavin couldn't seem to sleep a wink.  Now, Grayson is coughing all over the place and Gavin has diarrhea.  Being sick would NOT be good considering the stress I will be putting my body under for this procedure.  And to make matters worse, I was late with my period so I feared pregnancy, which thankfully has been proven wrong, although now...yes, I am going to be going through surgery on my second heaviest flow day!  So today I sit here in my bed, complete with stomach pains and a headache which are par for the course, but they also have me worried about possibly getting sick.  I have done everything under the sun to try to remain healthy amongst sick kids: 80,000IU of vit D3 a day, zinc, high doses of CLO for the increased vit A, vit C (although I can't use it 36 hours before the surgery), homeopathy, hydrogen peroxide in my ears, and washing my hands every time I go near the kids....the skin is practically raw.  I have been drinking wheat grass regularly, and using a super antioxidant called Protandim daily, so I hope they have boosted my health power!!  The stress can't be good, I have been so highly stressed since the shenanigans with the blood testing, I just hope the baths with epsom salts and deep breathing help fight this off.  I am trying to stay as calm as possible!! Writing is therapeutic for me! Just one more day, I keep telling myself, just one more day!!  By tomorrow this time, I will be in the chair and on my way to a healthier future!

PS - I want to also thank my wonderful husband who has been extremely supportive of this whole process along the way.  Right now, he is downstairs taking care of our sick kids and making a triple batch of pancakes to have ready for our long drive early tomorrow morning and then again for our return drive Tuesday morning (we will need to spend the night there after the surgery).  Without him, this would never have been possible.  He has assured me that we will do whatever is necessary, we want to grow old together!  This healthy husband of mine has no fillings, not one.  No one can tell me that mercury doesn't harm us when placed in our mouths, I am living with the proof in so many ways.