(no subject)

[freyakitten]

Made chilli paste over the weekend. Note to self: next time, do not breathe in the air near the blender until blender has been washed. Chilli fumes are Not Fun when there's that much. But there is a decent sized container of chilli paste residing in the fridge, next to the coffee jar of pesto I made several weeks ago. Next to the frozen water bottle that sits in the coldest part of the fridge to remind us never to put anything else there.

Also went up to spend a little time with a pair of new parents. Be proud of me! I didn't make a single snarky, angry, or frustrated comment in response to the 'when this happens to you' and similar comments. Yeah 'when' that happens to me, I will have a rather sick child on my hands. The chances of a child of mine not being:

1. congenitally lactose intolerant: 50%
2. mitochondrially disordered, whether at 30% mutation like me, worse, or less worse: probably 20-30% chance of having no mutated mitchondria at all, but really I have no idea. And the effects of the mutation vary so much - a person with a lesser degree of mutation can have worse symptoms than someone with a greater degree of mutation, particularly when the mutated mitochondria are, for example, concentrated in the heart muscle. And then, if the chances of not inheriting the mutations are so high, why do all my maternal relatives (except my deceased grandfather) manifest minor symptoms?
3. overly mobile joints: 50%
4. Reflux at various valves: Depends. Possibly entirely due to mitochondrial disorder.
5. Chronic infections of various kinds: Entirely due to the way parts of me are constructed. 50%
6. Sugar problems: Controllable with diet if it manifests and we catch it early, but the genetic tendency towards diabetes and other sugar problems appears on both sides of my family tree. 50%
7. Asthma: 75%
8. Functionally infertile (without drugs of any kind) if female: 70-80%
9. Allergy to perfume and other artificial fragrances: 50% (there's perfume in baby wipes, and baby powder, and most clothes detergent, and some band-aid glue, and... My pediatrician had to make up a special cream for my nappy rash because I was allergic to all the commercial ones)
10. Idiosyncratic reaction to some drugs, especially painkillers and antibiotics: 50%

So, the chances of a child of mine, naturally conceived, sharing no health issues with me or my immediate family that would affect them in the first year of life (everything going well) is 50%*30%*50%*75%*50% = 2.8% (this does not include difficulties #3, 4, 6, 8, & 10 as these difficulties are either unlikely to become apparent during the first year of said childs' life or are reliant upon another difficulty).

Comments

Re: Chilli Paste

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Ooooh chilli oil! Must make chilli vodka first, though. And many dried chilli strings.

I planted a yellow-fruited chilli I found at Bunnings in the chilli part of my herb patch some time last year. It is currently fruiting merrily in the warm weather, and one chilli, without seeds, is enough to heat up a dinner for my SO and myself, two very large eaters. They're stashing away in the freezer until I have enough to play with. I was pleasantly surprised that the label matched the fruit, since chillis that you buy in stores are usually ornamental rather than hot.

Re: Chilli Paste

[harliquinn.livejournal.com]

jazzmasterson and I made a batch of Famous Chili for the alt.dbs folks one year. Except I wasn't paying attention to how oil had gotten and threw the chilies and onions in ... and couldn't see for an hour. Windows and doors were opened in quite a hurry.

My father once planed chilies next to his green-pepper plants. Which was a mistake after few years of replanting in a row. The second year of replanting the same plants (by harvesting seeds) he wound up with mild chilies and hot green peppers. I told he we could easily trace back to which plants were suspect and figure out which ones were the mutants, but he didn't want the trouble of genetic charts to plant his chilies.

As for the "I'll never have a normal child" syndrome, I'm right there with you. Granted I don't have mitochondrial issues that I know of, but I can empathize and nod along with the rest of the list.

Re: Chilli Paste

[freyaw.livejournal.com]

Chillis are great. Fortunately, here we're warm enough that chilli plants don't die over winter - in amongst all the other plants they don't get frosted on - so I won't need to replant.

As for the "I'll never have a normal child" syndrome
This is only a problem, for me, when people turn around and do everything but say straight out "You're next". I keep thinking about having a child (like me) who can't digest what she's fed and works her way back up to her birth weight several months later. And it seems that the people around me keep getting married (*grin*) and having kids and just want to share the happiness...

Re: Chilli Paste

[harliquinn.livejournal.com]

This is only a problem, for me, when people turn around and do everything but say straight out "You're next

There are some people I don't bother trying to explain "why not" to, ... it just doesn't fit into their view of the world. "You'll change your mind," they say. "No, no I really won't." I think I'll go to my friends' baby shower with a tee-shirt that says "No, I'm not going to have children."

I keep thinking about having a child (like me) who can't digest what she's fed and works her way back up to her birth weight several months later.

Yeah. ... exactly.

Re: Chilli Paste

[maelorin]

not an unreasonable concern.

you don't have to have children yourself to share in the childness goodness.

chilli's are great. just don't confuse them with jelly beans at 3am. doesn't help you get back to sleep.