I've been feeling a bit down...

In 22 years I have been diagnosed with: UC (of course), Diverticular disease, IBS, psoriasis, eczema, Rosacea, Raynauds, dry eye syndrome, sacroiilitis, acid reflux, gastritis, trigger finger, Petellofemerol syndrome, Peripheral Arthritis, megaloblastic anemia, chronic UTI's, blood in my urine, pityariasis rosacea, finger tendinitis, cysts in the finger joints, allergies, Plantar Fasciitis, Fibromyalgia, bulging discs in my neck, thyroid cyst and I just found out that my ovarian cyst that I had drained 10 years ago came back. And yes, I still deal with everything above on a daily basis...except the trigger finger, had surgery to correct that.

I dunno...I guess after hearing about the ovarian cyst coming back I feel the need for a pity party. I'm tired of fighting. Yeah I know I say that now because I will get back up tomorrow swinging away, that's just my nature.

So does anyone care to join my pity party? I will bring the cake.

Ugh, that's a lot to deal with. I'll happy come attend the pity party (I'll bring the gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free cake ... )

Yuck that is an awful lot to have to deal with!, no wonder you sometimes feel down, who wouldn't? Have you got a holiday planned..or something to look forward to..I always find that helps?

I'll come too! Sorry you have to deal with all of that...that is quite a list.

Pity party pity party!

I tried going to a craft store today and barely made it in the door before I turned around RUNNING. crapting my pants all the way to the car. Dont think anyone saw me. But I had poop IN MY SHOE. It went just down my left leg... front and back. And was ectoplasm green!

Currently laying in bed with kitty. Shoes undies and pants are in the tub until I feel like leaving thr pity party to take care of them.

You see, Embers and I were polite pity party guests. You can't come without a gift (your own tale of woes) otherwise it's not a pity party, it's just sad if we all get together to look at reds self pity! Am I wrong?

Hee hee hee. I hope you don't have to sacrifice the shoes. I love shoes. Maybe we should all start wearing those scrub booties surgeons wear... You know, to protect our precious shooooes

I want to come too! I can bring cake and ice cream and whine because I can't have any ice cream with my cake, I can bring an empty bottle and we can play spin the bottle and whoever it points at gets to whine...I could bring a full bottle, we could empty it do some whining/wine-ing only I can't drink the wine, I don't think I have ever had poop in my shoe...
EDIT: as I read your list I thought, good grief I have a bunch of those too!

Hee hee hee I assume those colitis support groups are much like you described coffencake just a bunch of bathroom stalls lined up in a circle, and we'd just shout out our woes over the FLUSHing sounds!!!

I hope those colitis support groups have microphones with headsets so that everyone can still talk to each other while we are all in our seperate stalls.

Oh Sherry whine it out. You deserve it. We all do once in a while. We were dealt a crappy hand and its even crappier (no pun intended) with all of the extra-intestinal stuff that comes along with it

Thanks all and thanks for the chuckles :) That was much needed!

But ummm please no ice cream...I'm a sucker for ice cream butI can't have it...not because it bothers my gut but because I'm getting a root canal and cold kills me...Oh yeah, I have the root canal to look forward too! Yay me....

I'm getting my pelvic ultrasound on Friday but I know my cyst is back. It's the same ole pain as before which totally sucked. I found out that the one I had drained was 6cm's...no wonder I was in pain. The GYN was actually geeked to show me pictures at my post appt.

Oh and btw, for the pity party; I'm going to bring a Pinata made out of toilet paper, the inside will be filled with rectal meds or pills (your choice) and the hitting stick will be a toilet brush or plunger - tho the plunger would make it more difficult to break open ;)

Red, I only read your initial post here and haven't read the replies as I'm short on time. I just want to chime in that I think every one of us needs our vulnerable moments where life seems hard and we feel overwhelmed. You have a right to feel that way.

I've found that if I choose to think about my health challenges as a whole it can have a disastrous effect on my mental well-being. Having a chronic illness is a marathon, not a sprint. I notice issues here and there, and give myself months to work things out. If I reacted to every little issue as if it needed fixed tomorrow I think I'd go insane, lol.

My grandpa (mom's dad) is one of the most optimistic people I have ever met in my life. Really probably the most optimistic. Last fall there were three different occasions when there was a good chance he was going to die due to heart problems and multiple heart attacks within a week. He made it through all of those, and then a month ago found out he has lymphoma. So, last week he started chemo and the day after his second treatment he came down with a mix of heart failure and pneumonia. Last week at this time I was in the hospital with just my mom, speaking with doctors and hearing that my grandpa was in grave danger of dying. He was hooked up to breathing machines, sedated, and looked ghost white and very frail.

My point with the above paragraph...
On Sunday I went to visit grandpa in the hospital. He had been moved out of intensive care into a regular room, and was able to talk with my fiancee and I. He said the following: "Life is really tough. I've had a lot of hard times... but you know what? The good outweigh the bad, and life is good." He said it so humbly and just as a matter of fact. He grew up poor, and worked 48 years in a manual labor job, taking any overtime he could get, as well as working second jobs at gas stations when his family needed money. His life hasn't been glamorous, but he smiles everywhere he goes and points out the simplest of things that he is so grateful for. He tells me he loves to mow his lawn (of his humble home), then sit with a beer and look out over his "kingdom" and just feel proud of what he does have.

I just wanted to share that because it comes from someone who has almost died four times in the last half year, who has lost his wife of fifty plus years in 2012, who only has eyesight in one eye and has a body that is just not robust.

Take your days to feel down (I obviously have had many of my own this last year), but get back up tomorrow and start swinging again... and try to focus on the good, as small and simple as it may be.

Thinking about ya, and hoping you're feeling better. :)