Olive oil progress/other updates

I have been putting olive oil on Riddick's legs and feet everyday for about 5 days now, and his feet and the spot on the back of his leg are looking much better. We will not be going back to that dermatologist for his follow-up appointment.

Other news in my life:

1. Trinity slept through the night three days last week. This was nice and completely spoiled me, for she has not repeated this since Thursday night. She has two teeth on the bottom and has that scrunched-up nose smile going on and it is totally cute.

2. Upon suggestion from Wayne's Aunt Olivia, we started having Riddick drop pennies in a glass jar every time he goes pee in the potty. We started this over the weekend. The first day he had several accidents, but we kept letting him put the pennies in the jar. He really loves doing it. The second day he had a couple accidents, but not nearly as many. Yesterday he had no accidents. All hail Aunt Olivia for the great idea!!

3. I am really tired of working on the current project. I am really tired of only being able to work part-time. I am ready for this project to be done, and it is really close, but now I have problems with one particular process that would go really quick if I didn't have to troubleshoot it. As in I could be done in one or two days with the damn project if I didn't have to figure out what is going wrong with the last process. Additionally, I really need to figure out how to get more time in the lab, because I simply cannot read at home, and reading is a huge part of my career.

4. Wayne and I are slowly doing P90X. We have to get in better shape to do the whole thing the way you are supposed to do it, but we are getting there. Wayne has already noticed a difference in his stamina. Yay for exercise!

5. We got new phones. We love them. As soon as I figure out how to get to all the websites I need to get to, we are getting rid of Mediacom. Yay for saving money!

6. I am still working on cloth diapers. I am actually trying to get some made for a friend who just had her baby. They are in a tough spot right now financially, and I thought I would get theirs done first since I can actually afford to buy disposables still. I have the material all cut out for three diapers, I have one mostly done, but I really need to get on this.

7. I think from now on my posting will be in this format. It is just easier.

Yes, I am finally posting/Frustration with the dermatologist

I know. I know, I know, I know. It has been FOREVER since I posted.

It is kind of hard to remember to write stuff when you have two little ones on the go. Trinity is crawling and pulling herself up on everything and getting into everything. Research is crazy right now. Plus I am tutoring and playing softball, so the blog kind of gets left out of the picture. But I am posting now, and I am at least TRYING to keep up.

Here’s what happened today.

Riddick’s skin isn’t getting any better. He has red, itchy, scaly patches on the back of his leg and on top of his foot that just won’t heal. So I finally broke down and took him to the dermatologist.

I told her what his problem was, and that although he has never officially been diagnosed, I thought he has eczema. She agreed.

She asked me what I had been putting on it to try and relieve the problem. I told her we had used over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream, which didn’t work. Lotions didn’t work, they just made his skin red. Olive oil may have worked if I had applied it on a regular basis. I then told her I was a graduate student in an endocrinology lab and I have been following Environmental Working Group’s studies on chemicals in personal care products, and that I was concerned about a lot of the chemicals used in those products, like parabens and phthalates. She then asked me if I had tried mineral oil, and I told her I have not tried it because mineral oil was listed on EWG’s website as potentially harmful in animal studies. Then she put me on the spot and asked me what specifically were the concerns, and I couldn’t remember off the top of my head. This then apparently made her think I was just another looney toon mom, because her body language and facial expression totally changed.

This is why doctors frustrate me. Instead of THINKING for themselves, they just toe that MD line, and treat diseases the way everyone else says to treat them, and alternative treatments that aren’t pharmaceutically based are the devil, and Ph.D.’s (or soon-to-be) don’t know anything about medicine.

She gave me Cetaphil and Vanicream to try, in addition to a prescription hydrocortisone cream. Sorry, but those things have lots of chemicals in them, and steroid treatment is no good. They may not have immediate side effects, but I am not going to add to my son’s chemical body burden and cause effects that won’t be seen until he is an adult (yes, people, this happens).

So what am I going to do? We are going to make a regular thing out of the olive oil. I have heard that shea butter works well for moisturizing and healing, so I may get some of that. I have also heard that honey, baking soda, and Epsom salts help with eczema. So I am going to try the olive oil first, maybe some honey. We may try baking soda in the bath.