Hello Everyone

Hello everyone!

I have missed all of you a great deal. I hope that this little note finds you all well and not melting under the heat we are all dealing with in California. How are you all feeling? What have you all been up to? Have you done anything exciting since summer has started?

My father has been moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center. He has sever ulcerated bed sores and an upper respiratory infection but is holding his own. After a few harsh words from me regarding living and dying he is now on a path of determination. He is diving into his workouts and eating all of his meals (even the food he hates lol). He is down to 96 pounds and needs all the nutrition he can get. Things are looking up! Thank you for all of your thought, comments and prayers since April 7th. Each of you have been key in keeping me sane during this crazy time.

I finally went to my second PM doctor today. I was told he wont take me and is referring me to another doctor (this will be the third one). He was kind and very informative. Listened carefully even after saying he was not a good fit for me and only deals with spinal issues. I walked out of there with Lyrica, Cymbalta and a stronger prescription of Oxycodone without tylenol. He informed me that this is how my life will be from now on.

The doctor said he feels that there is nothing that he will be able to do for me and workman's comp is looking to rate me out. Very scary experience for me as a novice. I just received all this information in the last two days and it is a bit overwhelming. I have asked WC for a second opinion.

A very good family friend has set me up for an acupuncture appointment tomorrow and they are paying for it. Although it is very hard to accept this help. I am humbled by this and hopeful.

I am optimistic and grateful. My father is doing better. My friend has been gracious in their love and caring to help me. I have a good relationship with my WC worker. I have received medication to help me. I am blessed to have a beautiful supportive loving family. I am able to come here, share my ups and downs with caring, understanding, lovely people. There isn't much more anyone can ask for.

I couldn't have said it better than HT!!! You sound so upbeat and positive and from a old timer to a novice I have to say your on the right road to learning to live and yes enjoy life as a CPer. There will always be unexpected bumps in the road and our attitude spells the difference in how well we manage them. Although our days are now filled with changes we have to hold out the hope that those changes bring about new beginnings and experiences and scary or not different or not so different they allow us to create a new norm and that constant and consistency of our lives bring peace. That's what you have persuaded your Dad to do by your own example. I know so many of us hold offon opiate treatment for reasons that are justified but although we preach here restraint we also know that having even just a modicum of relief is uplifting and encouraging to our state of mind. Some people have good results from acupuncture others not and there's a whole big bag of tricks out there like acupuncture that we pick and choose out of based on which ones contribute in any way to bring those pain numbers down a notch or two and then we reach the maximum relief for ourselves with our meds. Keep in mind always that CP is a disease compared to diabetes or crohns in that there is NO CURE only control and you will have discovered the secret to "living " with chronic pain.

Many wishes for your Dad's continued progress and healing healthy thoughts for you both.

It was so lovely to come back from my acupuncture appointment with relief and read the responses from HT, Vickie and Melagain.

HT hit on some really good points with acceptance and being humble. Learning how to receive during our times of pain and not feeling guilty. Giving and receiving should be the way for us all but we are not taught to do that in our daily lives. So much is put on independence in ones self and self sufferance that we forget how to give and receive.

Vickie, going an alternative route can be hard as you said and it isn't always look upon well by the medical establishment. But, you did state that CP is a disease and with other diseases people look for relief in all forms of medical availability, why not in ours?

Melagain, it is difficult not to get wrapped up in the negative aspects of CP and let it over run your thought process. Acceptance is sooooo very very difficult for us all. Especially when you are a creature of habit. We are in the same boat right now learning how to deal with our circumstances on a day to day basis and keep our head up at the same time.

What I have learned here from each of you is to not let a situation over run your happiness. Each of you have contributed glimmers of hope, understanding, advice and happiness in small moments. These things have resonated with me over the last few months. When I am having a particularly hard day, I think back to the advice and understanding which this site has provided and think, "One day at a time, One moment at a time." What do you see that was good in this day and focus on that rather than the pain, negativity or setbacks. These lessons are extraordinary important and hard to learn. You have all repeated these lessons each time you post. For that I am grateful! Slowly you are teaching me and others how to cope, understand and move forward in our situations.

I appreciate the support and prayers!

Thank you!

Pitmom! That is so good to hear! We are in a drought here and cant do anything with gardening. My font lawn of course looks worse than the back lol The roses are doing good so far, they are a bit spindly. Believe it or not the cactus next to the front gate is dying lol of all things.

I was going to talk to you about strawberries. about two years ago the birds planted some strawberries for me in the planter box in the front yard. I left them they were cute. They are small and thriving. They are about the size of a marble. The girls tried to eat them them the other day and thought they were disgusting....I was not so eager lol I can't figure out what they are.......

I have another pincushion appointment on Tuesday. I'll let you know how it goes. I did have one negative thing, she put these herbal patches on my back and they made nauseous about four hours after application. I couldn't figure out why I felt so bad because I forgot that they were there. I removed them and poot! all better. I got about 4 hours of no pain... We'll keep thinking positive.

Have a beautiful day!

Hello again Leila. So sorry you are experiencing drought. Here's a thought...since roses like dishwater and laundry water especially, is there any way you can 'recapture' some of that water for the roses? If you fill the sink to wash dishes, you can bail out some of that water and supplement the roses. As for the cactus, it might not be dying, but rather using up stored water. Once it gets some water it may bounce back. 'Wilting' cactus can look really bad but, that is nature. I 'recapture' water from the sink, the stuff that runs while I'm waiting for the hot water to make it to the kitchen. You can also save water from cooking rice, pasta or vegetables (except potatoes) and use that too once it cools. As you can tell, we've had our share of droughts here. I have even planted veggies in the flower beds, they don't restrict water use for veggies here so the flowers get some too.

As for the 'marble' strawberries, here, we call them rabbit strawberries. They grow wild and are pretty much only good for rabbits, groundhogs and birds to eat. So, if you like the look, keep them for decorative purposes and for the birds. They aren't harmful to humans, just not palatable to us.

Sorry those patches made you nauseous. Perhaps something could be added so that you don't have that side effect. Especially if they helped with your pain!

More changes coming to my garden. I'm removing a scarlet trumpet vine, giving it to a neighbor with a wooden arbor (they 'sucker' to wood and I have none) and also removing a clump of hostas. In their place I will be planting a spring blooming rose bush (didn't know there was such a thing!) and a 'Blue Mist' Rose of Sharon. The eye reads blue and purple and the brain sends the 'cool' message back. Red and yellow signal 'warm', so by planting blue and purple plants, my garden 'feels' cooler. It really works! I also found our local garden center is carrying Mallow plants this year. Another native plant that will require little additional watering!

The mimosa tree is in full bloom. Very tropical with it's fern like leaves and covered with 'cotton candy' that smells like pink lemonade! Heavenly! Late afternoon I can be found lounging on the chaise under the shade from that tree!

Off to do more laundry and get it hung on the line..............