First Real Update in a while! Might be long...

So much has happened in the last few months!  We have had a baby, lost a job, ramped up our business, moved and preparing to move again!  CRAZY!!!  So here we go :)

Shortly after having Xaylia I went and had my prolactin tested...575!  Holy crap!  No wonder the headaches were back.  I was also struggling big time with PPD and anxiety like never before. I hadn't been diligent with the oils during my pregnancy.  I attribute that to not having something to work towards!  I usually have blood tests regularly to see where I am, but it is pointless during pregnancy since my levels are elevated anyway and it is impossible to know what it is going on.  So, I slacked big time...I won't be slacking ever again though!  Anyway, I went and had an MRI later that week and sure enough my tumor had almost doubled since my MRI over two years ago after weening Tux!  Crap.  My obgyn suggested the neurosurgeon route....no thank you.  I know exactly what he would say....uh, the same thing he said 2.5 years ago....get surgery!  I had a frank conversation with my obgyn.  I asked him if it is really truly an emergency or urgent and he said as long as my headaches aren't non-stop and I'm not having weird vision problems I have a month or two to figure things out.  So, once again....hitting everything hard!

I started doing a lot of research again.  The medications that are typically prescribed for those with prolactinomas are bromocriptine and cabergoline which are dopamine-agonists.  They are also prescribed to those with Parkinson's.  I have spent days and days researching oils that have these properties.  I also talked to an essential oil expert about oils that may be considered dopamine-agonists.  Her name is Emily Wright and she told me that Rosemary and Basil are in that category.  I started looking into them and decided to give them a go.  Emily suggested I use them aromatically since that is the best way with dopamine-agonists. So, along with my regular Frankincense regimine, I put a drop of each on a terra-cotta pendant at night and place it on the pillow by my nose.  Every time I wake up to nurse I do it again :)  During the day I wear the pendant (when I remember).  Within a few days my headaches were completely gone!  A month after my initial blood results I got another test and my results came back at 474!!!  That is the fastest my prolactin has EVER gone down!  Even when I was taking frankincense with cabergoline!  I'm hoping it is NOT to good to be true.  I really think the rosemary and basil are doing amazing things and coupled with the frankincense it is hitting it from 2 sides!  The frankincense is shrinking my tumor and the rosemary and basil are boosting my dopamine levels, which in turn are blocking the prolactin!

In a nutshell, I feel amazing!  Better than I have felt in over a year!  My depression and anxiety are gone even though the last several months have been the most tiring, craziest and busiest of my life.  I plan on having another blood test soon and I am hoping the results are just as good as my last one.  I have no doubt they will be just based on how I feel.  If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.  Email me and if you would like to talk I will send you my number via email as well.  Bless you all and I hope to hear good things from many of you as well!

Here are some interesting links.  Make sure to check out the links/references at the bottom of the links as well!:

http://www.naturalnews.com/029359_rosemary_stress.html
http://www.smart-publications.com/articles/rosemary-extract-cancer-fighter-brain-protector-and-more/page-2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18695511

Also, for those of you that may be new.  check out the importance of choosing good oils here:

Purity, testing and potency of essential oils

Busy, busy, busy....and levels

Life has a way of really HAULING BUTT!  I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted and yet....June is here and so am I :)  Here is a snap shot of the last month or so.
-Watched nieces and nephew in Las Vegas
-Sided our House
-Editing my sisters wedding pictures and making a book
-Feel baby starting to move like CRAZY
-Taught 5 classes and attended a training meeting
-Start creating an office
-Lots and lots of laundry :)
-Chasing Tux non-stop
-Tux can now read, MOM, DAD, and TUX
-Did my first booth
-Planted a salsa garden

Well, that is it in a nutshell.  Super exciting I know, but it has felt non-stop!  I have also had a couple dr. appt. scattered in there.  I have been doing my prolactin level every month since I've been pregnant even though it is hard to tell anything by them since my prolactin is naturally elevated.  Here are the results.

March Levels (day I found out I was pregnant):  17
April Levels ( 2 months along):  114
Late May Levels (4 months along): 246

Me at 4.5 months!

Normal levels while Pregnant are between 9 and 201.  I am slightly more than I should be at this point, but I am hoping they will drop.  I don't have any "tumor symptoms" right now.  I have headaches, but they are not constant and have been tapering off now that I am in my 2nd trimester in intensity and regularity.  I'm pretty sure they are hormonal.  I'm hoping I can get them down again.  I am going to increase my frankincense intake and start yoga in all my spare time!  hahahaha!  Yeah, no yoga probably, but I am trying to get more exercise in now that I am not feeling so yucky :)  Thanks for your continued prayers in my behalf!

i hate MRI's

Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE MRI's???  They strapped me down after giving giving me two IV's....one unsuccessful the other semi-successful.  Then they had me hold my own torture device (the contrast syringe) and had me hold 100% still as they backed me into "the machine".  After much contemplation, I have decided that once you are in there and the noises have started it is like having someone sit on your chest while you are on your back and having them rhythmically tap you on the forehead while telling you to "name ten candy bars, name ten candy bars, name ten candy bars, name ten candy bars, name ten candy bars, name ten candy bars, name ten candy bars, "  You can barely think of your own name, much less ten candy bars!

When i was a kid, my uncle tried raising sheep.  I was around 9 or 10 at the time and was the perfect fit for the wool stomping position :)  The attached an 8 foot tall bag to the top of the shed and tossed wool into it.  Once it got about half way full I would hop in and jump and stomp the wool down.  If I was lucky I would pull myself out before they threw more wool in....if I was not, it would come down on top of me and I would feel like I was going to suffocate before wiggling my way above the wool.  Not to mention the ticks!!!  Let's just say that after that, I was extremely claustrophobic and the MRI machine reminds me a bit of the wool bag!

When the annoying, rhythmic buzzing noises are not being made, all I could hear was a noise that sounded like a sick squawking bird.  It was quite disturbing.  I tried so hard to fall asleep, but the IV was bugging me and the table kept shifting so it was nearly impossible for me to take deep enough belly breaths to help fall asleep. Anyway, the overall experience left me extremely anxious the entire day.  Luckily I had both of my boys were waiting for me at home and that helped greatly.....

.....results are forth coming.  I'm really hoping it has shrunk, but as long as it is not growing I will try to be happy!  Considering my rate of growth was quite rapid while pregnant I will try not to be disappointed if it hasn't shrunk a ton.  Plus, I am nursing (well, trying unsuccessfully to quit) and I know it would be very hard to shrink it while nursing.  I really want to get pregnant again in a bit and I don't want to get pregnant until the tumor has shrunk a bit.  My levels were at 110 last week, so they are going down again, but not as fast as I would like.  I guess patience is not my strong suit :)  Wish me luck!