The Last Day

This was the final extravaganza, a family dinner with my parents, Aurelien's  mom and boyfriend, his sister and her husband, and their two boys, and Aurelien, William, and I.  We went to The Farm, a wonderful local restaurant that has fresh, locally grown ingredients.  Very healthy and very delicious.  It was bittersweet though, since they would all be leaving the next morning.  So it was goodbye.  Thank you for coming and blessing us and the baby!  We love you very much!!!

Baby's first Chiropractic Adjustment

I love how miraculous and beautifully formed William is in this picture, and how he and the chiropractor are just gazing at each other...it really makes me think of how God must have been gazing at each of us in heaven before we were sent down to earth...so beautiful!!!

Family

This was a lovely family dinner with my mother-in-law and her boyfriend, my parents, and Aurelien and the baby and I to my very favorite restaurant of all time, The Rheinlander.  I've been going there with my family since I was a very little girl, and it is just delicious, rich, German comfort food.  I love the cheese fondue, the Chicken Schnitzel and mashed potatoes, and then if I'm feeling really decadent, their sublime Chocolate Mousse...mmmmmmmm...of course I can only eat this meal a few times a year, since it is not exactly the lightest of meals!!!!!  But when I get to eat it, I definitely enjoy it!!!!!

Family Bonding Time

These are some sweet pictures of us bonding with William in those early newborn days.  Aurelien made the little mobile for William's bedroom...unfortunately, although very beautiful, it's not too baby friendly so we had to put it out of baby's reach!!!

Day Trip to Mt. Hood

This was a fun little day trip that William and I took with the in-laws to Mt. Hood.  It was such a beautiful day!!!

Daddy Love

These are pictures from when William was 5 days old, and he went on his first walk with his daddy in the woods!!!!  We love the woods so much, so we got him started nice and early in cultivating his love for the woods too!!!

Manly Birthday Card

A manly birthday card for my big brother.

Anti-Fluoride Interlude-Fight Against Fluoridation of the Community Water Supply in Portland, Oregon-Knowledge is Power! Show the water report to at least 10 of your fellow Portlanders!

Ok, here it is! The side by side comparison of EPA standards versus actual toxins found in Philomath's "Fluoridation Chemicals" last month. And lucky us, the same company will happily supply Portland's water with the same industrial sludge!!!! This is the amount of the toxins per liter of water in both the EPA limit and the comparable amount in Philomath.

ARSENIC (Skin damage or problems with circulatory systems, and may have increased risk of getting cancer)
 EPA Limit 0.010 mg/L
 Philomath 46.5 mg/L

ALUMINUM (No side effects)
 EPA Limit .05-.2 mg/L
 Philomath 6.93 mg/L

MERCURY (Kidney damage)
 EPA Limit .002 mg/L
 Philomath .004 mg/L

LEAD (Infants and children: Delays in physical or mental development; children could show slight deficits in attention span and learning abilities
 Adults: Kidney problems; high blood pressure)
 EPA Limit ZERO
 Philomath .002

CHROMIUM (Allergic dermatitis)
 EPA Limit .1 mg/L
 Philomath 1.55 mg/L

SELENIUM (Hair or fingernail loss; numbness in fingers or toes; circulatory problems)
 EPA Limit .05 mg/L
 Philomath .4 mg/L

CADMIUM (Kidney damage)
 EPA Limit .005 mg/L
 Philomath .008

And just for fun, these are the side effects of exceeding the EPA limit for Flouride, which is 4 mg/L: Bone disease (pain and tenderness of the bones); Children may get mottled teeth.

 

A True Story of Fluoride’s effect on one Portlander (Me)

In August of 2012, during my 6-week post-partum check-up, my midwife was feeling the front of my neck and she stated, “Wow, your thyroid is really swollen”. I asked, “Uh, where’s my thyroid?” She put my fingers on the front of my neck and had me feel where there was indeed, a large lump on the right side of my neck. She ordered a blood test to assess my thyroid levels, thinking that my thyroid was just swollen due to working overtime to make thyroid hormone, perhaps due to a previously undetected hypothyroidism. The blood test came back with reasonably healthy thyroid hormone levels, so hypothyroidism was ruled out as a cause for the lump. My primary care doctor ordered an ultrasound to take a closer look. Based on what they found during the ultrasound, a biopsy was then ordered. The biopsy revealed that the lump (now we knew it to be a tumor) was cancerous. I remember going into shock. I had just turned 35 a few days earlier. I had given birth in mid-July to my long-awaited first child, William, and now I had Thyroid Cancer.

When William was 10 weeks old, on September 27, 2012, I had my entire thyroid removed. The cancer had spread beyond the thyroid sac onto the surrounding tissue, most concernedly the lymph nodes and a neighboring nerve that was adjacent to my right vocal cord. I couldn’t sing to my baby for about 6 weeks after that, because of damage that occurred during the surgery. This was really sad, as I was accustomed to singing to him constantly, and we didn’t know at that time that my voice would eventually come back. For all we knew, the voice loss would be permanent. Post-surgery it was decided by my surgeon that it was extremely advisable that I also undergo a radioactive iodine treatment to kill all the remaining cancer cells that were still around the area of my thyroid. This would mean that I would have to stop breastfeeding, because it would take 3 months for the radiation to work its way completely out of my breast milk. I was a passionate advocate of breastfeeding, and very proud of William and my success in that area. I made enormous quantities of milk, and he in turn ate with gusto and grew fat and healthy, in the 95^th percentile for height and weight. Weaning William broke my heart. But the doctors said that it was more important that I do the radiation as soon as possible so that William would have his mommy around to see him grow up.

On January 9, 2013, I had my radioactive iodine treatment and then went home to live in my basement for 2 weeks. William had to go to my parent’s house for 2 weeks for his own safety, since I was extremely radioactive. My husband had to stay upstairs too. After the first week, we took walks with my parents, but I had to stay across the street from the rest of them so I wouldn’t radiate them. I would cry on these walks because it was torture to see William but not be able to hold him and comfort him. He looked very confused and upset and wouldn’t smile at me at all. I felt he looked at me accusingly, like “Why are you doing this Mommy?”

Over the course of this experience I have been researching possible causes for my cancer, as it is so strange to get cancer at such a young age, and I admit it, I was extremely angry about the whole thing. I knew I was supposed to be thankful to be alive, and I was, but I still felt so much grief about what the cancer had cost me. It took my endocrinologist 5 months to get my artificial Thyroid supplementation correct, (I will have to take Thyroid supplements every day for the rest of my life) which caused me to be incredibly exhausted, irritable, spaced out, and depressed, all while taking care of my new baby! My naturopathic doctor mentioned in passing that the thyroid cancer rate had increased 400% in San Francisco following the fluoridation of the water there. I researched that statistic to its primary source, and found that it was true, that according to The New England Journal of Medicine’s article on “Occurrence of Thyroid Cancer in San Francisco” dated July 14, 1955, this had been the case. The link to this article can be found at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM195507142530201.

The very basic science behind fluoride’s effect on the Thyroid Gland would support this conclusion.  Fluoride was used extensively as a treatment for hyperthyroidism for many years, since it decreases Thyroid Hormone levels.  If  Thyroid Hormone levels decrease too much, then levels of TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) start to increase.  This causes the Thyroid Gland to start growing more tissue.  If this continues, Goiter and Thyroid Nodules can result.  Thyroid Nodules then in turn have the potential to become malignant.  That is what happened in my case.  That is also why Fluoride is very dangerous for anyone who is already Hypothyroid, and could cause normal individuals to become Hypothyroid as well.

A very academic study: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=R1

A very well-researched and well-cited paper detailing the undeniable connection between fluoride and Thyroid Cancer can be found at: http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/Lfluoride.htm

Another: http://thyroid.about.com/od/drsrichkarileeshames/a/fluoridechange.htm

Another: http://www.naturalthyroidchoices.com/Fluoride.html

A scientific paper written on behalf of the government of Ireland, the World Health Organization, and the European Commission examining the huge disparity in disease and mortality between fluroidated and unfluoridated regions of Ireland. The study shows much higher incidences of diseases such as SIDS, Alzheimers, Obesity, Diabetes, Down's Syndrome, Arthritis, and Endocrine Disruptive Disorders. (Thyroid Disorders fall under this classification): http://www.enviro.ie/Feb2013.pdf

And I could keep going. So you might wonder, when was I exposed to fluoride? Well, I lived in Beaverton for 3 years, and they fluoridate the water there. Additionally, I was on Prozac for 4 years, which is very high in fluoride content. As well as other exposures over the past 35 years-toothpaste, pesticide residue on my produce, bottled beverages, and any naturally occurring fluoride in the environment.

Hypothyroidism runs in my family, however, I am the first person to ever develop thyroid cancer.
My suspicion is that my Thyroid Cancer was caused by fluoride exposure. At the very least, it is very simple, scientifically speaking, to demonstrate that fluoride exposure could definitely lead to the conditions that enable thyroid cancer to occur. Hypothyroidism runs in my family, however, I am the first person to ever develop thyroid cancer.
My suspicion is that my Thyroid Cancer was caused by fluoride exposure. At the very least, it is very simple, scientifically speaking, to demonstrate that fluoride exposure could definitely lead to the conditions that enable thyroid cancer to occur. Hypothyroidism runs in my family, however, I am the first person to ever develop thyroid cancer.
My suspicion is that my Thyroid Cancer was caused by fluoride exposure. At the very least, it is very simple, scientifically speaking, to demonstrate that fluoride exposure could definitely lead to the conditions that enable thyroid cancer to occur.Hypothyroidism runs in my family.  However, I am the first person to ever develop Thyroid Cancer.  My suspicion is that my Thyroid Cancer was caused by fluoride exposure. At the very least, it is very easy to demonstratate, scientifically speaking, that fluoride exposure could definitely lead to the conditions that enable Thyroid Cancer to occur.  Therefore if Portland fluoridates its water, then my cancer could return. I would really prefer not to have that happen.

Basic research reveals the following:

1) All Portland schoolchildren between the ages of 3 and 5th grade can receive FREE fluoride tablets at school.
Districts served include:
■Portland Public School District
■Centennial School District
■David Douglas School District
■Gresham-Barlow School District
■Parkrose School District
■Reynolds School District
■Corbett School District
https://web.multco.us/health/school-fluori…
2) All uninsured Oregon children under the age of 18 are eligible for free/low-cost dental care coverage through the Oregon Health Plan.
http://www.oregonhealthykids.gov/families/…
3) There are quite a few dental clinics in our community that offer free/low-cost dental care to those who need it.
http://www.coalitionclinics.org/dental-res…

I myself grew up on free dental care from the Russell Street Dental Clinic in Portland. I did not grow up on fluoridated water. I have excellent teeth. My mother was just very diligent about taking me twice a year for cleanings and check-ups. We were very poor but she made it a priority.

One more very important link for the public to be informed about is that recently the State of Utah did independent chemical testing of the "fluoridation chemicals" that were being used in their water supply, and they discovered extremely toxic levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and aluminum. In light of this they have put a halt on fluoridation. http://www.dmlawfirm.com/utah-halts-fluoridation

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident.  I have a copy of the recent analysis of Philomath’s water, which shows an alarming 46.5 mg of arsenic per liter of water.  This is the very same concentration that will be put into Portland’s water.  I will mail or email a copy to anyone who requests it.  My name is Christina Rachelle Carnoy. I have a master of Arts in Teaching from George Fox University, a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Portland State University, a High School Diploma from Madison High School, and I have lived most of my life in the Madison South Neighborhood. I have never been political before. In fact, I prefer to have my head in the clouds, reading novels and scrapbooking and creating art in between taking care of my precious baby. I have always had a very impressive knack for research though, as many of my family and friends have told me! I am willing to go on record for all of this, it is all very provable, and I will do it all absolutely for free. I won't stop fighting because it is the Truth.

Thank you, and I really hope you will do your own research and not just take Big Business’s word for it before you vote on this issue that will affect so many of us Portlanders.

Sincerely,

Christina Carnoy

And just because I really want to live, I researched the hell out of the issue.  When you have cancer right after you have a baby, you learn what passion and tenacity are.  Here's all my links.

-A very comprehensive site, the encyclopedia of anti-fluoride evidence

www.flouridealert.org

-FLUORIDE IN DRINKING WATER: A SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF EPA’S STANDARDS

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=R1

-AWESOME website about the illegality of community fluoridation (tells history and government agency structure concerning fluoridation, etc.)

http://www.fluoride-class-action.com/

-1955 Article in The New England Journal of Medicine Thyroid Cancer increased 400% after fluoridation of community water supply in San Francisco

http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM195507142530201

-10 facts about fluoride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX0s-4AyWfI&feature=youtu.be

CDC Fact Sheet on Chemicals used in Community Fluoridation

http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/fact_sheets/engineering/wfadditives.htm

Fluoride and Radiation Linked to Thyroid Cancer

http://intellihub.com/2011/05/12/fluoride-and-radiation-linked-to-thyroid-cancer/

Fluoride and Thyroid Cancer

http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/Lfluoride.htm

2 doctors share why they changed their mind about fluoride
http://thyroid.about.com/od/drsrichkarileeshames/a/fluoridechange.htm

Neurotoxicity of Fluoride on Children's Developing Brains

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491930/pdf/ehp.1104912.pdf

Fluoride 101 (Dr. Levy rebuts Dr. Wu-I discovered Dr. Wu is on the board of directors of the biggest donor to the pro-fluoride campaign, by the way)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=30umO7s4Zj0#!

-10 facts about fluoride

http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/10-facts-about-fluoride-you-need-to-know/

-Fairbanks, Alaska Study about safety of adding fluoride to community water supply (they decided NOT to!!!)

http://www.fairbanksalaska.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/20110425finalreport.pdf

-Neurotoxicity of fluoride and other chemicals.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17420053

-This is the organization behind the push for community water fluoridation in the USA

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13484&page=49

-News Story comparing fluoridated vs. nonfluoridated statistics in the Portland area

http://www.katu.com/news/problemsolver/Fluoride-debate-Study-looked-at-fluoride-vs-non-fluoride-in-Portland-area-205879721.html?abc=mqLIs5yu

-Poison is Treatment: The Campaign to Fluoridate America-Awesome Article!

http://www.globalresearch.ca/poison-is-treatment-the-campaign-to-fluoridate-america/31568

-Israel to Stop Mandatory Water Fluoridation Within One Year

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-to-stop-mandatory-fluoridation-of-water-within-one-year.premium-1.515035

-Irish Report Contrasting Fluoridate and Unfluoridated Regions of Ireland

http://www.enviro.ie/Feb2013.pdf

-More on Edward Bernays (The mastermind behind community water fluoridation)

http://www.g-tigerclaw.com/bernays.htm

-Fluoridation a "Clumsy Form of Medicine"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bRUjjyD21OY

-EPA Unions and Fluoride

http://www.nteu280.org/Issues/Fluoride/flouride.unions.epa.a.2005.htm

-Huge Victory Against Fluoride in Australia

http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/04/huge-victory-against-fluoride-in-australia.html#sthash.ejR4hYji.5kRk7hNi.dpbs

-Delay in Release of Current State Statistics on Oral Health

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2013/04/30/fluoride-opponents-suggest-knavery-in-delayed-release-of-cavity-figures

-Wichita Voters Reject Fluoridation Bid

http://www.drbicuspid.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=rst&pag=dis&ItemID=311957

-Fluoridation Started by Nazis?

http://www.fluoridationfacts.com/education/propaganda/870000_perkins.htm

-Before you vote: Fluoride and Kid's Teeth-What does the data show?

http://www.katu.com/news/problemsolver/Before-you-vote-Fluoride-and-kids-teeth---what-does-the-data-show-204717991.html

-Fluoride Horror Stories Factual

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2008/011508_fluoride_horror.htm

-Communities that have rejected fluoridation since 2010

http://www.fluoridealert.org/content/communities_2010/

-More communities speak up against fluoridation

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/18/more-communities-vote-against-fluoridation.aspx?e_cid=20121218_DNL_art_2

-Fluoride is Found in Your Drinking Water

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/20/fluoride-denialism.aspx?e_cid=20130120_SNL_Art_1&utm_source=snl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20130120

-A Pediatrician Speaks Out on Fluoride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iu9HzaVbWQ&list=PL7YKya_R1ROuq_KUuZO3rZ5W3qpomqZXl&feature=player_embedded

-Harvard Study Confirms Fluoride Reduces Children's IQ

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/fluoride_b_2479833.html

-Evidence of Fluoridation Danger Mounts

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/19-evidence-of-fluoridation-danger-mounts-with-little-benefit-to-your-teeth/

-Video of Jeff Green, fluoride activist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y8Jc0nZJJI&feature=player_embedded

-2 communities fight fluoridation

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/feb/05/city-commissioner-unexpectedly-raises-issue-whethe/

http://www.kwch.com/news/kwch-news-sba-salina-group-wants-fluoride-out-water-20130205,0,3780377.story?fb_comment_id=fbc_338585622912280_1617907_338610189576490#f20b1bd3e4a519

-Chemical Brain Drain

http://braindrain.dk/2013/02/fluoridated-water-and-brains/

-Dental Confessions of Fluoride's Pervasiveness

http://www.dentalconfessions.com/downloads/Fluoride_Fraud.pdf

-Fluoridegate-VERY GOOD MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://truththeory.com/2013/01/31/fluoridegate-the-film-that-will-absolutely-obliterate-any-remaining-credibility-of-chemical-fluoride-pushers/

-Why Dentists don't know the truth about Fluoride

http://www.tellinitlikeitis.net/2013/04/why-dentists-dont-know-the-truth-about-fluoride.html#.UVomskhldiY.facebook

Utah Halts Fluoridation after Horrifying water sample results

http://www.dmlawfirm.com/utah-halts-fluoridation

Fluoride's effect on the environment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PYej_OgZHE

 

I apologize from veering off course from my usual lighthearted art-i-ness, but this really is life or death for me.

 

 

 

New mom and dad

These pictures are of the first time we took William out in public together!!!  He was 4 days old and we had to go to his first pediatrician appointment!!!

Girly Birthday Cards

These are some girly cards I made for the plethora of April birthdays I had coming up!  Next I have to make some manly cards!