We miss you, Yorkieville!

[Momzilla]

Hi, Sheila~

I know you've been having a rough time, and I've just been giving you space.  But I can't take it anymore!  Where ARE you?

Is Dr. K. helping at all?  Are you in that much pain?  I'm worried about you.  You're not seeing other forums behind our backs, are you?  I know you got your diagnosis, and you really should be with the CIPDs, but we need you here, to know you're OK.

Come back!

Love and hugs,

Zilla*

[yorkieville]

Hi, Zilla.

    Oh, Zilla, thank you so much!

     Oh, don't feel bad to tell me that you are feeling better than me, 'cause actually, it does make me feel good to hear it! I worry about you and everyone here. I don't want anyone to feel this bad.

    I feel bad for the newbies adjusting to their new status. I understand how they feel. I remember, very recently, coming to the realization that this is my life...there is no 'magic bullet', and that I need to adjust my life around it.

   All of you DO make me feel better. Do you know, I haven't had a crying jag since I found all of you?
I was never one for giving in and crying, but there was a period there, over the summer, that I just had a few real meltdowns.

   Dr. K said she will call me as soon as she gets the results of the labs I had done this week. I'm hoping she'll have them before Thanksgiving. I can deal with anything, as long as I know what it is.

   For the holiday, for the 1st time, in 34 years of marriage, I am not cooking. (and let me tell you, it feels very strange.) I have always hosted the family gatherings, but the past two years, I have been unable to do it, so DH & I have been home alone. This Thanksgiving, Rich is taking me to my sisters in Illinois, about an hour and a half away. We are going to spend a night in a hotel, because I can't manage the round trip and a visit in one day. My sister and her DH have 4 children, ranging from 11 through 21, and I am so looking forward to seeing them. I know it is going to be hard, and when my sister first broached the subject, I hesitated, but after thinking about it, I realized, life is short, and I don't know what next year will bring.

   Rich said he is hosting the family gathering for Christmas, and I am allowed to supervise from my recliner.

   What are your Thanksgiving plans?

   Thank you for the prayers. You are in mine, as well.

   Gentle hugs,
   Sheila

[yorkieville]

Hi, T.

   Thank you for the prayers and soft hugs. Sending some right back to you. :)

    Oh, my, the Prednizone made me so mean!!!! I was awful!!! I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas! LOL
Seriously, when I was on 30 mg. for 17 days...I would have left me, if I could have, so I don't know how Rich managed to put up with me. I wasn't much better on 20 mg. for 7 days. Little better the past 3 days on 10...but the headache is not nice.

  Something I observed on Prednizone, that I'm not sure how to put into words...I felt more in touch with my feelings, if that makes any sense. I realized there were things that bothered me, deep down inside, and I was able to express it. I felt more 'clear-headed'.  Did you notice anything like that?

   I agree with you wholeheartedly, Dr. K is good. I like the way she talks to me, like I've been her patient for awhile. She makes me feel like she really cares. I realized after talking with her last week, that I believe she is going to figure this out.

  Thanks for wishing you could take my pain away...I wish I could take yours and everyones away.

   'Just' prayers & hugs? :) Oh, I'll take prayers & hugs over answers any day of the week, because often times, answers are wrong.  I know, cause I was mis-dx'd for soooo long.

  Hugs,
  Sheila

[yorkieville]

Hi, Quix.

   Oh, my, I don't know how I missed your post. Please attribute it to lack of sleep and pain, and weaning down on Prednizone. :(

   Please don't worry. I'm just having a few weeks of really high pain levels. I know I've been over-doing it, and am paying for it.

   I am not sure if I have CIPD...after re-reading Dr. Ks report. I realized her words were 'could be' Cauda Equina syndrome as a result of a demyelinating disease such as CIPD. No matter what I have, I want to stay here in this group. I love all of you so much, I feel 'safe' here,

   When I spoke to her last week, and she deemed the trial of Solu-medrol infusions and oral Pred, a failure, I didn't think to aks her if we were still looking at Cauda Equina & CIPD. She ordered the Copper, Zinc, Anti-Hv, and Monoclonal Protein with Immunofixation. My mind was so muddled due to pain that I didn't even ask her what she was looking for with these tests. I have a notebook ready for my next conversation with her, when she calls with the results.

  I'm anxious for results and to find out the next step in my treatment.

  I miss you, too.

  Thank you for the prayers. Hope you know, that I keep you in mine, as well.

   Hugs,
   Sheila

  

[Momzilla]

WOW!

No cooking?  What a sweet family!  Do they comprehend what's going on?  Or are you just lucking out?  Or is Rich just insisting on letting you 'sit this one out?'  Any way...good for you.  THis year, my mom has it worse than I.  She has just been fitted for a brace for her foot for DROP FOOT. of all things, just like me!  But for other reasons.  She has osteoarthritis.  All the disks in her lumbar spine are herniated.  She and I both have bad osteoarthritis, for some reason.  We've both had the cervica; fusion surgery, and now she's having the lumbar surgery, when she's able.  She just had a heart stent, so she has to wait to be off Plavix, a blood thinner.  My ortho surgeon says I will need lumbar surgery at some point,too, but who knows when?  

So, I am happy to have "Steaksgiving"  for my mom!  One year, she forgot to turn on the oven, and the turkey didn't get done, so we had steak instead!  She and my dad got up early to stuff the bird and put it in the oven, but never turned the oven ON!  It's been a tradition ever since, the day after Thanksgiving.  My brothers and I all go to our "out-laws" for Thanksgiving" and then get togther for "Steaksgiving" with each other.  Who needs more turkey, anyway?  (I think I'll make a turkey and steak this year, for anyone who wants it.)   Our neighbors think it's crazy, we're BBQ-ing on Thanksgiving Friday!  We have so much fun with each other, who cares WHAT we eat?  My brother got out of a veery miserable marriage last year.  We're happy for him and the 4 children.  SO much to be thankful for.  We pray that she is happy.  We do.  We love her.  But Everyone is happier apart.  And the two teenaged children just worte a letter to the judge to ask that all four kids be allowed to stay with my brother.  Without his knowing.  So hard.  Poor kids.  THe ex-wife's boyfriend demands that they say "Hello" to him when they come home from school, or they are punished.  Awful.  So we've got that fun!  The kids haven't told their mother!

That's TMI -- Too Much Information, I know.  But we'll sort through it all over Steaksgiving.  That's the kind of family we are.  A TMI family.  Poor kids.  Anyway, you had aquestion in there, what was it?  Oh, yes!  That's what I'm doing for Steaksgiving!

Here's a big prayer and gentle hug for you.  Keep it with you.  I know you'll be needing it.  I'm thinking of you often.  Hang tight, Sweetie!

Zilla*

[yorkieville]

Hi, Zilla.

   Yes, imagine that, no cooking! All I have to do is show up and curl up on my sisters couch. Yes, they know what is going on with me, I believe it is why she decided to host it this year. She's never hosted one, so she is very excited. However, I fear when my sister actually sees me, it is going to be a bit of a shock. I was bad when she saw me in the hospital last Oct. I was too thin, down to 86#s, but now, to add to that, my gait is slow and I am stumbling.

  The last two years, Rich insisted on 'my sitting it out', and he was rather aggravated that when I didn't do it, nobody did. I'm not kidding, nobody got together for Christmas because I didn't host it.

   Oh my goodness, your Mom does have it worse! I am so sorry. How is she holding up, emotionally? You've both been through so much, and still there is so much ahead. Osteoarthritis is so painful. I wonder, did you both have the same risk factors? Rich has it in his knees. He began taking glucosamine chondroitin years ago, and it helped him immensely. I can no longer hear his knees 'squishing' when he climbs stairs.

  I think 'Thanksgiving Friday' sounds like a wonderful traditon! I agree with you, when you're with family, and having a good time, what difference does it make what you eat?! Anything tastes delicious when you eat it with family & friends you love!

   I'm happy for your brother, too.  Sometimes, two people just don't belong together, no bad guys, nobodys fault, just better off, apart. I hope the judge honors the teenagers request. They have a right to choose where they want to live. I think, the ex-wife needs to keep her boyfriend away from her children, or she will alienate them from her. The kids need to tell her. She needs to know what kind of guy he really is. They need to tell her to protect her from maybe making a mistake.

  No, Zilla, that's not TMI. In our way, we are a family here, we share the hardest part of our lives with each other, the part that the rest of the world doesn't understand, and I'd like to think in the safety of our family we can share all the things that are happening in our lives.

  I will indeed keep your prayer and gentle hug with me. And you do the same, as I am always thinking of you.

  Hugs,
  Sheila

[T-lynn]

I told ya that the steroids can make one meaner than a junk yard dog and they can bring out hidden feelings.Once your off of them,it will get easier.

Dr.K will find the answers,she's a gem of a DR.

I'm not cooking this thanksgiving either ,going to my sisters with a vegie tray.I hosted it last year and it was to hard.

T