Heidi Chronicles: More Life With Baby

I was thinking about what starlight said about getting worried when I don't post for days esp over the weekend; so I'm checking in to let you know that I'm ok.

The end of last week, in particular Thur and Fri, was a nightmare. After the severe side effects I experienced when taking the [now labeled] 'bad' med, I was afraid to try even the lower dose while at work. I was taking the ER opiate. It helped for a few days but the discomfort while sitting for 8hrs/day began to increase each day. It seems as if the act of sitting for so long not only causes pain but also causes noticeable inflamation in the area, inflamation I can feel on rising each morning and which seems to grow with each successive day.

I didn't write because the days were an awful blur, and by the time I got home I just wanted to lie down. By Thurs the pain was so unbearable that I had to take a 2nd 12hr dose after only 10hrs. Friday was just horrible. I wiggled and squirmed. I used the TENS. Normally, I use the TENS on a setting around 3-4 (of 10) when the batteries are fresh and turn it up as the batteries get weak. Friday, I put in fresh batteries and could not feel the TENS (over the pain) even when I turned it all the way up to max. I was thinking the battery was bad, but when I changed them for a 2nd fresh battery, I got the same effect. Then I realized I couldn't feel it on max because the pain was so over the top. By comparison, normally, if I make the mistake of putting in new batteries while the TENS is on max setting, I jump and scream - and then turn it down and swear I'll never do that again.

I froze my (bottled) diet coke and stuck it under my left leg right at the panty line in hopes of easing the pain going down my leg. I never drank the coke, just kept freezing it, putting it under my leg, and returning it to the freezer for repeat. I thought I would never get through that day. I took the 2nd 12hr dose after only 8hrs. That gave me only modest relief.

I rested yesterday. Today around noon I finally got up the courage to try the lower dose of the 'bad' medicine. Good news in that it didn't make me high or crazy; I didn't barf and don't feel like I'm going to die - all of which happened with the higher dose. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be killing the pain as completely either. Since taking it I have gotten up and done some things around the house. I have some pain after I'm up a while. Then I lie down again. Remains to be seen if this one works well enough to allow me to sit through a day a work, feel like I'm not being tortured, and actually get something done.

Have a few more things to do. Will try to find time later tonight to fill you in on the raccoons. I skipped feeding them for several days but managed to talk myself into going out Fri and Sat nights.

Bless your heart! I don't see how you stand it!

Hugs,
Susan
=^..^=

Thank you, Susan

If I can't find some kind of solution soon, something that drops the pain level while sitting for so many hours down to a more tolerable level, I may have to consider short term disability. By early afternoon on Thursday, I wasn't able to do any real work. Friday, I was out of it almost from the start. Hoping tomorrow will go better with the new medicine.

Thanks for your support.

Oh Cheryl, I am so very sorry that you are going thru this. I wish there was something that I could do or say that might help.
Please know that you are in my prayers for both pain relief and some definitive answers about effective treatment.

~Sheri

Ruth,

There are a lot of hassles involved in working where I work. It's a huge place with ton of people. Parking is a disaster. There is, by design, no parking up around the building. That area is landscaping, lawn, rows and rows of small trees, and lots of happy squirrels eating acorns. It's part of the post-Oklahoma City design.

Parking starts well away from the building, and then the 1st few rows and rows of parking is reserved for disabled parking. The next few lots fill up by 7:00AM. It's a [painful] 15-20min (or worse) walk to/from the parking lot. For this reason, I rarely ever go out for lunch as it takes 30min to an hour just to walk to and from the car. Then there is the issue of getting out of the complex. With thousands of people and only 1 way in/out and considering that the one exit is into busy traffic, you have to allow 1/2hr to get out of the gate. Sometimes you can get right out, but other times you have to wait in a long, slow line. As it is impossible to predict, you have to plan for the 30min wait. Often you have to wait again to get back in. Consequently, I try to arrange appointments either before work or late in the afternoon (so I don't have to come back) to minimize the impact, but there is always an impact. Add to that the fact that any good Dr will surely be in a different part of town. If they give me a 3:30 apt, for instance. I have to leave my office around 1:30-1:45, 2:00 at the very latest, to allow for the walk, the wait, and the drive in heavy traffic. Evening hours are good, but as I usually work until 6PM, even evening hours may not be late enough. But, I am going. I'm going to pick a Dr this week, so if your connections can recommend anyone, please let me know. I wish there were easier ways to find good Drs.

As for Freida's behavior, I've pretty much come to believe that even Heidi was probably 'made' as much as born. She probably is especially intelligent, but I suspect that much of what makes here "Heidi" is due to what she learned over the years. None of her daughters ever 'get it' right away, but perhaps they will in time. Freida is young still. It would have been interesting to have known Heidi as a yearling just to see what she was like back then. My guess is she's a much better mother now that she was back then.

Freida did show concern for her kits the other night, however. She also acted in a protective manner. (more on this later. I need to take a break 1st.) There may be hope for her in time. She has a lot to learn, but she seems to be starting out with, at least, a calm head. She's not the flaky type like Dennis.

Thank you, Sheri.

Sheri,

(Responding to your earlier post), there really is no raccoon out there who could begin to follow in Heidi's footsteps, nor has there been at any point during the 4 years I've been observing them. As I mentioned in my post to Ruth above, I think this may be due in part to the fact that none have been allowed to remain beyond their 2nd year, and most are forced out as yearlings.

I doubt that any raccoon could quite live up to or replace Heidi. I think we will just have to accept that eventuality. As Ruth so aptly put it, "Long live the Queen." That said, with time and a few years Freida may at least learn to be a decent Mom.

Hmmm, disability would allow for time to write the Heidi book... ;)

LOL, KyWoods,

I was thinking the very same thing. On the other hand, money would be very scarce since disability pays less. I think I get 80% of my salary for a period initially and then drop down to either 60 or 70%.

Then again, even typing the book would require sitting upright. One reason I haven't been writing a lot lately is that it even hurts when I sit upright on my bed to type on my laptop. On the other hand, at home I would be able to type for an hour or so and then rest for a while and try again. At work I have to sit upright for 8 hrs straight which is quite agonizing.

The thought of using the time to write the book makes it feel less scary, less of a negative. I don't want to be disabled, but if it comes to that having the time to write the book would be a silver lining.

Last night after everyone left, Heidi came right up to me to eat the kibble that had dropped near me. She walked along the side of me, her head maybe 6in from my seat, picking up kibble in the grass, her kits all around her - and me. Heidi and her kits and I were the only ones left out there. I remained as still as possible while she ate so close to me. The kits walked up to me, sat by my feet. Sometimes they looked me up and down as though I were some huge statue. Other times they stood inches from me but ignoring me entirely as they ate, played, and cuddled with their mom.

It was all very magical. The smallest one lay on her back playing with her feet. I stayed until they finally left even though my back had begun to hurt a bit by then, but I dared not leave at such a moment, dared not miss the moment, dared not chance scaring the kits.

They do have a soothing effect of a type dont they? I bet they know that something is wrong with you , too. Animals are so intuitive.

Wow, can't believe that after a few weeks of reading, I'm all caught up! scutler, you truely do have a magical way of pulling your readers into the story. I feel like I have made some special and very close racoon friends over the last weeks just by reading your stories. Please put me on your book list too. I work the night shift and it's been very hard to explain to my co-worker why I can hardly get my eyes away from my computer screen. Good thing I'm talented at reading and getting my work done at the same time.

My only close encounter with racoons happened a few years ago. I was sleeping and woke to what sounded like wild animals fighting in my back yard. I ran out to the kitchen and peered out into the darkness to see movement on my deck just a few feet from the sliding glass door I was looking out. Turning on the flood light to get a better view. I saw 3 or 4 tiny racoons run as fast as they could over to the gate. Meanwhile, Mama racoon was stand on her hind legs very near the glass door with her hands raised above her head and making very distressed sounds. I couldn't at first figure out why she didn't run with the flood light on, my dog jumping and barking at the window and me standing there, but she just stood in the same spot and kept up the noise. Then I noticed some movement a little to my left and understood. One of her tiny kits had decided to climb up the utility pole beside the window and had gotten up about 4 feet and then his head hit the bottom of the electric meter. He must have paniced and didn't know how to get turned around and get back down. He was just hanging there with his head flattened against the meter and making even louder noise than his mother. I ran to get my camera and when I came back they were both in the same positon. Mom had her arms raised above her head and was almost shaking her fists at him as if to say "Just let go, you idiot! You're only 4 foot off the ground." Finally he did just that and he and Mom joined the other who were waiting by the gate and ran back to the park across the street from me. I was impressed at how brave the Mom was even when faced with so many scarey things. After reading about your racoons, I put a dozen eggs that were getting old out on the deck and came back the next day to just shells and after the next night even the shells were gone, so someone is still eating out there. Could be a possum, but I like to think I made some racoon very happy with the egg feast.

Thanks so much for sharing this wonderous saga with us. I will be following closely to hear all the latest. Sure hope you get your pain problems under control.

susan

You know how they have therapy animals? Wouldn't it be fun to have a therapy raccoon to take on visits to nursing homes and hospitals?

"Mom had her arms raised above her head and was almost shaking her fists at him as if to say "Just let go, you idiot! You're only 4 foot off the ground." " ROFLOL

It took me a few days, but I am now all caught up after being computerless while in transit this last month. I do so appreciate being able to read the Heidi Cronicles and I'll be sending you warm thoughts and prayers and wishes for your recovery/healing of your back. I'm still praying for your Sisters hand too. May we all recover as well as Bast has...

Welcome, lincolnitess; great to have you caught up and with us. That was a great vignette about the family outside your door; I'm sure mama gave that kit a good talking-to when she got him home! She must have been terrified to stay there facing you and the dog; that's a good mama to stay until baby can leave with her. And I suspect the raccoons did enjoy that egg feast; opossums would've eaten the shells, too, as they did the second night. The possum clean-up crew is very efficient, lol.

Great way to phrase a recovery wish, JuneyBug, and I share your sentiments!

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that I'm feeling a little better. Sunday I took the new 24hr lower dose med. Today at work was much, much better than last week. It really wasn't bad. Will have to see how the rest of the week goes. The only problem I'm seeing with this medicine is that I can't sleep. I swear it is a pain med not speed, but I did some reading online and saw that about 1/3 to 1/2 of actual users report difficulty sleeping. LOL. If it's not one thing it's another. You just have to see the humor in this. I can either be in pain or sleep deprived. Anyhow, even though I didn't get to sleep until 5AM last night/morning and didn't get to work until 11:30AM, Monday was still a breath of fresh air compared to last week.

Susan (lincolnitess), welcome. It's very good to have you with us. I, too, enjoyed the story of your meeting with Momma raccoon and her kits. By standing guard until the kit got down, she reminded me very much of Heidi who stood beneath the bird feeder until her kits got down and headed for safety that 1st season when I walked out and caught her teaching the kits their feeder raiding lesson. Love the '"it's only 4 ft..." line. LOL.

Have to get to bed now to try to sleep. Will be back soon. A few interesting things have happened at the buffet in the past few days. I'll try to write them soon.

Quick tidbit. I've been eating a lot of chicken lately, mostly roasted/baked/rotisserie. I take it in spells. While the adults have rarely shown much interest in chicken (it's gone by morning, but while I'm out there they tend to ignore it), I'm very pleased to see that the kits seem to love it. Sometimes I get fried chicken from Publix. As I've mentioned before, although I only want the white meat, it's cheaper to get the whole chicken (special) than to get the breasts and wings, so I eat the white meat and give the 'free' dark meat to the raccoons. It's a win-win.

The kits come rushing over to me. I pull the breading off and hand a thigh or leg to each one, and those little cuties will sit down and gnaw on that thing for the rest of the night. Conversely, I can offer a nice, juicy thigh to Bast and she will poke her nose up in the air as will Heidi and most of the other adults.

The other night I went out there with the carcass from rotisserie chicken. It still had a fair amount of meat on the back, wings, legs, along with small amounts still clinging to the breast area. I don't know what I was thinking. I momentarily forgot how much those kits love chicken. I just put the whole thing down thinking it would just sit there - the way it used to before the kits came along. One of the kits - picture size of small kitten - grabbed one end of the carcass, a whole chicken carcass, and started chowing down. When the others came running to me looking for theirs, I realized my mistake. The kit had one end, so I reached down to try to break off the other end. (You know how easily those roasted chickens break apart.) But the little fella didn't want to share. He took his carcass, which was a couple times his size, and started dragging it away. I managed to grab one end so that it broke apart. The kit ran off with his 1/2 and sat over by the tractor scoot eating that thing for the rest of the night. He/she didn't even come back when I took out the cookies. (I was very glad to see him enjoying something so obviously good for him.) I shared the remaining portion of the carcass with the other kits, the part I had stolen from the 1st kit. They ate every scrap of that chicken bones included before they came back for treats.

Oh, I must try to sleep...

KyWoods,

Love the idea of therapy coons. Don't think it will catch on any time soon, but love the idea. : )

Hi June,

Good to hear from you. Thanks so much both for the compliments and for all of your thoughts and prayers for me and for my sister. If only we humans had Bast's constitution, but it's a lovely thought that we should all do as well as she did.

You know, some days when the pain is almost unbearable, I think of Bast sitting there picking at her food too tortured to eat yet knowing she had to try to do so just to survive. I remember the look of extreme agony so clear on her face, remember how sometimes she looked like she just wanted to lay down and quit, remember how instead she dragged her swollen, broken, bruised, and bloody limbs about managing somehow to traverse forest and fence to get here, remember that awful, tortured sound she made when asking the others to leave her be, remember how she eventually mastered the skill of walking on her hands. Realizing the incredible courage and fortitude Bast showed through all of that somehow helps me to endure my own pain.

Thanks again!

Hi Sheri,

Yes, the raccoons do seem to have tremendous power to make me feel at peace with the world.

Hi Ruth,

Thanks for the sentiment. I am feeling a bit better for now, probably due to the new med (lower dose of the 'bad' one). Now if only I could sleep...

Ok, one more quick blurb. A few nights ago, a large raccoon who clearly was not supposed to be there showed up at the buffet. For a while I could see him off in the shadows here and there. He would show up about 1/2 way down the arbor path just standing in the shadows watching us. Then he would disappear again only to reappear later in deep shadow back near the fence and far to one side. Later he might be seen hanging out behind me but well back away from all of us and always watching.

I use the male pronoun only because of his enormous size. I don't know for sure who he is especially since I only get glimpses of him from a distance and always in shadow, but from his size I figure he is probably one of those young males. Once or twice he managed to sneak up close enough to me that I could tell he was well acquainted with me and hoping for a treat; then Heidi or one of the others would run him off again.

It's interesting how I'm learning to read them. A few years ago I wouldn't have noticed these things, and I might have wondered why they were being so mean to him. This time, I knew he was barred from the area even before I saw any of them chase him. Every raccoon there tells me so with their body language every time the see him, even the kits. Seems every raccoon kits included knows who is and is not allowed and if you pay attention, they will tell you.

The other night I had seen him hanging around at a distance. Then all of a sudden I saw his silhouette emerge in deep shadow at the edge of the buffet area back near the slope. Seconds later a kit began to cry out in pain. The cry was not just the usual instantaneous type that is over quickly. It continued and continued. In the darkness, I couldn't see what was happening in any detail but the big male (presumably) appeared to be attacking one of the kits.

Instantly, Heidi spun around from her meal and headed for them at top speed. The big male dropped the kit and took off for the fence heading for the area near where HRH used to come and go. With Heidi still on his heals, Freida rushed to cut him off before he could make the fence. The two of them were all over him. This time he was the one screaming. Together they whipped him around a minute or so, each attacking him from a different side so that he could not defend himself from them both at the same time. When he finally got loose, he ran up the fence, and the two angry females ran up the fence with him. As the three of them disappeared over the fence, more screaming echoed through the forest.

I have no idea why the raccoon attacked the kit. That's something I don't normally see at the buffet. And I don't know whose kit it was. One thing's for sure though. Those ladies didn't waste any time going after him. The kits wail from time to time arguing with this or that yearling or even with each other. Most of the time Heidi barely cocks and ear that way before ignoring them, but somehow she knew instantly that this cry was serious. The instant the 1st cry went out, she spun around and took off over there - and Freida went, too.

As I said, I don't know who the kit belonged to. It was to dark back there to ID him, but both Moms went after him. Clearly, they are living and working as a group, at least, to some extent. It's the same each year. I always see some sign of family and of community with them even though this seems to be in contradiction to what I read about raccoons being solitary animals.

Freida returned 1st from the chase. I didn't notice them leaving but by the time Heidi returned I realized that although some of her kits had been with me when she left, only Freida's were there when she returned. A few minutes later Heidi went over into the weeded area where the veggie patch used to be and started trilling very loudly - something I've never noticed her doing before. She made the trilling sound over and over interspersed here and there with the "whoop, whoop" sound, calling loudly and emphatically. Just when I was beginning to worry about the missing kits, the started coming down out of the weeping willow. Apparently, when Heidi ran after the intruder, her kits had quietly headed over to the willow where they had climbed up into a vine covered crotch in the trunk and hid. It all seemed to well coordinated to have been spontaneous. I gather that Heidi had taught them to climb that very tree and hide if an emergency occurred in the yard. It was almost as if she had previously held the same kind of planning drills recommended for human families. Yep, she is quite an incredible Mom.

So glad to hear you're getting some relief from the miserable pain, Cheryl: that's great news. Very interesting report from the buffet, and I'm certainly curious as to the identity of the unknown male. It's well documented in many species that males without a territory can be dangerous to the young, thought to be in hopes of drawing the females back into heat if the young are eliminated. I had some concerns about this at first with your community, but HRH was so clearly not a threat that I assumed the behavior doesn't happen in raccoons. Well, perhaps it sometimes does; but clearly, the leading ladies rallied to the occasion and let the male know that wasn't going to happen on their watch. Sounds like they taught him a very thorough lesson, and hopefully he won't return for another try. Also hoping the kit in question wasn't hurt, but it sounds like the females rallied too quickly for that to be possible.

Cheryl, that's good to hear, that the lower-dose medicine is better, even if it's not ideal. I'm sorry, I forgot what you said about surgery being an option--do you think it would be better than dealing with the meds, or not?
Wow, mother raccoons rallying to protect their young! That's great!

Missed the jump again and just been catching up. Glad you were abel to figrue out what Heidi was up to with the teachign of the kits.

I probably woudl be even further behind except on tonight s tv they was showign a big racoon up on top of some elctrial wire s and somebody had called for somebody to coem get it down so it wouldn't get electricuted. Figure mayeba dog or somethign probably trie d to tree it cuz I have nevr seen a racoon on top of the electrial wires in the air before.

I imemdiately thought of you and that they shoudl have calle d you to whisper the coon down. They did say that if folsk find critter s on top of electricla wire s just put plate s of food at bottom and that they would coem down. They eventually did get the coon down, they didn't say how though but man oh man it was a bgi one was as big as the utility box.

Cheryl. Tell that doc what them pilsl doign to ya that they makign ya loopy all though it is a good way to spend a day catchign up on chores. LOL He surely cna giv eya soemthign els e that wil work and not sen dya into orbit.

Have you looke d into them pain patche s at all. Not sur e what all in them, but have heard of folsk using them before.

I'm glad that story had a happy ending, Starlight! The poor thing must have been terrified. Now that you mention it, I've seen squirrels run across the wires, but never have seen a raccoon up there.

Unfortunately, it seems nothing is without problems. While the lower dose of med 1 seems to do a decent job of controlling the pain, at least from what I could tell in the couple of days I tested it, it causes me to stay wide awake, stoked, and primed to do stuff all night long. Even a sleeping pill won't knock me out. Naturally, this causes its own set of problems at work.

As it is a 24hr pill, I can't avoid being on it at night no matter when I take it. I've played around with taking it at different times of day, but so far haven't had much success in finding a time to take it so that it doesn't interfere with my sleep. Again, because it is a 24hr pill, it isn't all that easy even to change the time I take it. I'm going to try one more time, this time taking it 1st thing in the morning when I arise in the hopes that if it's almost out of my system by bedtime I might be able to sleep - if I can get someone to hit me on the head with a hammer.

I couldn't check in last night as I left work early and left everything including the laptop. I expected to return but didn't; hence no laptop last night.

Just FYI on the story of the raccoon on the electrical wire. Birds, animals, and even humans are safe as long as they are only on or touching one wire at a time and are not touching the ground. So when birds sit on the wire or squirrels run along it, no problem. They don't feel anything out of the ordinary. No current flows through them, and as long as they don't touch the other wire (or ground), they are safe. Sometime larger birds will manage to touch 2 wires with their wing tips while flying between them and will be electrocuted. You just can't touch 2 wires at the same time.

Cheryl,
Know that you are in my prayers. You must me giving it all you've got to make it thru each day. My heart goes out to you friend!

We all miss you and wish you well, as do all your little furry friends!

~Sheri

Cheryl.. I don't knwo if somethign liek this would help you or not. My neighbor she can barely walk or move and has missed so much work, cuz of massiv e pain oin the back and such.

She starte d goign to this cyropractor and they would like lien stuff back, but becaus eof soemthign else, forget what she said then when she woudl mov e it wouldn't stay in line so it was back to the pain bi gtime.

The cyro is havign her and 6 other folsk all he d up to som ehospital in atalanta where they wil be put to sleep and then the docs wil put everythign back in line. They wil be there for the treatment nd then for three days afterward cming in each day to make sur e this tiem the stuff stays wher eit suppose dtoo.

Said they doign this becaus e when ya go to cyro or try and have stuff fixed yoru awake and so the human body atomatically tenses everythign up so ya never get evrythign really back in the way and spot s that it should to stop the pain, but if they put you to sleep to work on ya then they cna move and manipulate the spine and bone sand such to stop it.

Not sur e fi it woudl help you or not, but hate to see ya always in such pain. It doesn't giv eya any quality of life. It might just be somethign you cna talk to yoru doc abotu havign done to see if it woudl help. Hugs!

Ok Cheryl.. Just talke dto next door and got her flyer.

her e the website you cna check out. http://www.theMUAgroup.com

it caled manipulation under anesthesia and soem of the conditions it benefit s are c ronic neck, back and joint/muscle pain
chronic shoulder and other extremity pain
chronic fibromyalgia
chronic and herniated disc problems
failed back surgeries
pain syndromes due to injuries or those which have occured over tiem for a start

Says not a last resort, but a proven option when all els e fails.

Check it out when ya got time. Just might help or be what ya need.

Wow, I never heard of that! I will send that link to my sister, who suffers from fibromyalgia plus a degenerative bone disease. Thanks, starlight!

Edit: I just clicked on it, and right now it says, "Site down for scheduled maintenance", so we can check it out later.

This message was edited Sep 17, 2009 8:02 PM

Sheri,

Thank you. It really varies. Some days are awful. Others not so bad. Then other days I have problems with the meds. Yesterday really wasn't bad at all, but I came home sleepy from the medicine and slept all night. This week hasn't been as bad as last week. Not sure, but I think those shots I got 2 weeks ago may have finally kicked in at least enough so that, for now, I'm reasonably pain free if I take the medicine. But it's a day to day thing.

starlight,

Thank you very much for the information. I think I will try regular chiro 1st, but I will definitely keep that on my list in case it doesn't work. Thank you very much for keeping me in mind and for passing this information along.

Feeling good so far today!

Quick quip from the list of stuff I've been saving:

Like human babies, kits are constantly learning about their world. Things that are common place to adults are new and different to kits. The kits are still relatively small, but their tails are huge and fluffy, like Persian cats on steroids. One night a kit was walking around the buffet looking for food when his tail kind of drifted up into an area where he caught a glimpse of it over his shoulder. The kit arched his back and jumped sideways, but the attacker, his tail, stayed with him. Terrified, he sprinted a few strides and stopped to glance over his shoulder again. There it was AGAIN! Still with him!

Running hadn't worked. Now it was time to stand and fight. The kit turned to face his attacker head on - but now it was gone. Wait. There it was. He tried to catch it, but it kept moving out of his grasp yet remaining always just over his shoulder. This was war. Spinning in ever tightening circles, he set out to catch the thing once and for all...but, alas, he failed.

The kit spun around in circles until surely he was dizzy, but still did not manage to catch the woolly 'beast' that was after him. Truth be told, he did get hold of the it a time or two but each time it just slipped from his grasp as it continued running from him. Well, catching it hadn't worked. Standing to fight hadn't worked. Running hadn't worked either, but he thought he would try that again as he sprinted away once more, the hairy creature still on his heels.

Kits are a blast. I don't know if the kit was serious or playing, or maybe it started out one way and ended another. Either way, it was hilarious to watch.

What a hoot! reminds me much of felint kittens. Guess babies of all types have their similarities!!
So glad you are having a better day Cheryl.

Cheryl that is too funny about the kit chasing his tail! It has taken awhile to catch up but worth every minute. I am so happy to hear that Blast is back to semi normal and all is going well at the buffet. Sorry to hear though that you are still in pain. Thank the good Lord you have(or do they have you)Heidi and the group and Widget to keep your spirits in a good mood most of the time. The thought of you going through constant pain,be it mild or severe,is heartbreaking. You have to be one very strong woman.


Judy

ROFL If laughter is the best medicine, that kit gave you a good dose, Cheryl, and you have given us one with your gifted way of telling the story! Thank you!

Sheri,

Thanks. Except for a few hours of moderately severe pain in the late afternoon while waiting for that 2nd pain pill to kick in, today was a good day. I'm feeling fine (pain free) now.

Yes, I think babies of all types are probably very much the same.

Thank you, Judy,

It gets rough at times when the pain stays at a high level for days and days, especially when I either don't have anything for pain or it doesn't work. The past few days haven't been too bad for the most part. Having to try to work when I'm in a lot of pain is the absolute worst part of all.

While those steroid shots I've been getting every few weeks for months now don't seem to be working for me in the long run, they usually provide some relief even if only to dial the pain back enough to let the pain meds work for a week or two. I guess the fact that I get a break here and there for a week or two helps to keep me from going 'off the deep end'.

The raccoons are very therapeutic for me, much like a form of meditation. I go out there and the cares of the day melt away. And, of course, Widget is my little buddy. I must tell you though that I think you guys also help me to get through the rough spots - even when I feel too bad to write, I guess just because I know you are here and will be here when I am able to return.

Many thanks to all of you for being there.

KyWoods,

You are very welcome. Thank you! And, yes, I get many big, big smiles and lots of laughs from my time with the raccoons and esp from the kits.

I guess I can just say a quick hello to let yu know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.

this is the 3rd letter I have began tonight. the others get mysteriously erased when the scxreen changes to another site of just skips down to the bottom or back up to the last entry.
My left hip is on fire nearly down to my knee and there is about a 9 -10 hour car ride on the docket for tomorrow.

Feel better!!

Sheri ^_^