I'm so thankful for your blessing. Many thanks to those who set the wheels in motion.
Feeling isolated?
HIP HIP HOORAY! That's wonderful. I got a new electric wheelchair for at Christmas. It felt kind of like a Christmas present, except DH kept saying that's a gift the way enemas are a gift or Vaseline is a gift. Medicare paid for it.
x, Carrie
Twiggy, that's wonderful and Carrie, tell him not to be such a party pooper or you'll run him over. Can we figure out a way to "soup" that chair up????????? LOL
Grrrr. It was available in all kinds of snazzy colors - I got basic black - I'd rather have people focus on me, not the chair. I was thinking of having the chair have a long white veil when i got married in 2000, but I forgot and then when I remembered again it was too late. He did pick me up and carry me from the church across the grass to the reception! That was our recessional. x, C
I'm sure the guests just loved that. So romantic. I have no statistics but I'd imagine some found it incredible and others reassuring that love can overcome a bunch.
My chair was delivered at 8 this morning and I did not complain about having to be presentable that early. The Pastor took care of all the paperwork via fax because he didn't want me to do without another day. I've had more calls of congratulations today. I'm amazed, practically in shock at this out pouring of concern. I've always thought of these folks as my mother's friends, not mine. A serious error.
I've made up my mind to start a new bed of daylilies and whatever just to offer the church ladies. I could sell them on Ebay but they may go farther this way. Another thing I thought of was to put the word out that I'd be glad to recycle any plants and pot up the babies for redistribution. They have a weekly cleaning party and I bet there's some good stuff getting thrown out. I guess I could offer to council or just listen to some members with illness or disability. I just feel compelled to be selfish and try to keep this connection and to try to show my appreciation at the same time.
What a wonderful outpouring for you twigg...and if you follow thru with what you're planning, I'm sure it will go well. You have so much knowledge to share and the contacts will be good for you I'm sure. :)
I'm so thankful you got the chair today. Blessing on the pastor for all he did to get the chair to you so quickly.
I think the outreach thru the plants would be be so good for you and the people you meet and touch with the plants. Many new friendships are sure to be made.
Your gift of a new chair is wonderful. Praise the Lord for the gifts He provides.
What is "paying forward"??
This is my very first post at DG. this thread is so heartwarming and yet so sad i could,nt not reply. You are such very sweet people.
I've felt before and still will on occasion feel so isolated. but actually i am.I live in a National Forest 30 miles from town and a mile off the main road at the end of forest service road. My very best good point is my DD lives about 50 yds down the road. My 2 dogs are my best pals. farther down the road are good neighbors.
I have several chronic illnesses and am partially handicaped but not in wheel chair yet. am not supposed to lift more than 5lbs tho can manage more. The worst illness i have is chronic depression. To me that is the worst cripling disease. There are things i can do to fight tho. Get in the sunshine,grow flowers read happy things as well as the medication. Like with the physical illness, one can't give up.
I want to just come and hug all of you but will settle on giving you a big smile ; )
When i go to town,i talk to everyone who don't run away from me which most don't.I know every storeclerk and bank teller i go to and their childrens names. people are so interesting. I have to use the electric carts in big stores as i can't walk that far through the stores. people are always friendly and helpful to me and i find many to talk to.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know what special people you are and glad i found you.
God Bless
vickie
Welcome, Vickie! 30 miles from town? You SHOULD feel isolated! How lucky to have your DD so close by, and DG at your fingertips . . . On the other hand, I might like to live in the middle or even on the edge of a National Forest.
I agree about how devastating depression can be. My daughter used to have a friend in 8th grade whose mother was very depressed. The mother would call me and complain that she was so depressed that she couldn't get out of bed. I would tell her that I was so depressed because I couldn't get out of bed. (This mother was not really that nice, for other reasons.) But something about MS changes the chemistry of the brain to make a person depressed, not because you have a chronic, unpredictable, potentially debilitating illness, but just makes your brain more depressed. Isn't that weird? I think so. It's even hard to explain. It's almost as if it's a coincidence that one of the results of MS is depression; it's a direct result of the disease, not a symptom of having all the other stuff wrong. I didn't used to get it, but now I think I do.
Hello Vicki and welcome. I too have had depression problems with the fibromyalgia. It is depressing to hurt all the time. I was a tomboy growing up and I had 3 brothers I thought I had to be as tough as they were so I rode bulls and did everything that they did. I found out about 10 years ago why I have always hurt so much. It was fibro and not that I was so rough on my body. I understand being depressed and anytime you want you may dmail me and I will try to get back to you. We are in the process of building a house so when it is not raining I am busy alot on houseplace, but I get on late at night so I will dmail you back. Have fun on DG I love this place for so many reasons but the friendship is on top of the list of reasons. I also live 30 minutes from town.Our area is more populated but I am somewhat of a loner in that I don't get out much. I have anxiety in crowds so I had to quit going to my church. So I wanted to say welcome and dmail me sometimes. Stephanie
This message was edited Aug 11, 2008 10:51 AM
Thanks Stephane and Carrie,
Carrie, the first time i visited here, I read your article on wind chimes in the garden and so agree as does my DD. I'm looking forward to reading your other articles
I lived at Fort Devans in Mass for several years.Beautiful place.We made some good friends there.
I've been reading recently that there is suspicion of some depression being an autoimmune disease. and listed other diseases that occur along with depression and i've got the other problems too. Low thyroid,psorisis are two. When i read that a lot of people who have this problem are left handed.I laughed the whole day.Yep! left handed here.I,ve always wondered about handedness and why,even animals have handedness.LOL!!
I liked the pictures of your container garden. I started putting my raised bed plants into pots so i could take care of them better and wish i'd done it years ago.They are doing so much better than before. except tomatoes, they don't get as big. but hey,it's better than none.; )
Stephanie, You were one very brave young lady to ride bulls. You do mean one of those tall mean looking critters with the horns and swishing tail and and the step across this line i made attitude.LOL!! I was a tomboy too,spent a lot of time in trees.
Is'nt fibro myalga an aftereffect of polio from years ago? Or am i thinking of a different disease.
i've been through Miss several times but have'nt had time to stop.
Ilove to research different things on line is it allowed to link to other websites for articles and other info to our posts, as long as it's information.
vickie
Thank you, Vickie! It's delightful to hear that an article I wrote had that kind of impact.
Articles are supposed to include links both as information and as references, where appropriate. Posts can include just about anything, am I right, folks? in terms of recommended products or websites (as long as they're not your own), youtube links, pictures of the neighbor's hedge, links to the Miami Herald-Tribune, whatever! Especially posts tend to include links to other, related threads. And here's a link for you:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/by.php?user=carrielamont
I recommend the December 4 article about Dave's Garden!
Fibromyalgia is a disorder all on its own. Post Polio Syndrome is what you may have after having polia. Many of the symptums are the same but they are not the same disorder.
Oh, sorry, forgot to mention that part! And MS is a separate but equal disease that gets misdiagnosed as other things all the time, maybe not so often these days but back when I was first diagnosed..... it was the diagnosis of last resort!
Vickie, I do not think it takes a brave person to get on a bull but a fool and I tend to be one at times.LOL. I hated so much, the fact that because I was a stupid girl as the brothers called me, that I was considered weaker. I never let it show and try not to now around them. It made me crazy and I would do anything to prove I was tough too. I have had almost all these old bones broken. Our local hospital xray tech jokes that he has a picture of my whole body in xrays. I was such a fool to try it all but I can only see those things in hindsight. However, I earned my brothers respect when I helped fight for them when they got in brawls with others as teens. We could beat the fire out of each other but nobody else could. Now the fibro gets a hold on me and I have trouble walking sometimes. I joke and say I have just worn this old body out. I am just 45 but feel 90 sometimes. Have a good evening. Steph
Oh, I used to say that I felt 93, when I was in my late 30's and had two little girls and a jerk of a husband. Now I'm feeling more like 89, at 47, because I'm so much happier, although much more disabled!
Glad to clear up the post polio syndrome. I know some one with it and did'nt know.
Steph, You may have had foolish courage but still courage.: ) My neice had 3 rambunctious sons. When they were growing up the ER staff and they were on first name basis.LOL.
carrie, am glad you're happier now.
leiflady, you'll probably never know how you may have made someones day by your smile and greetings. I,ve been told before that there are so many glum and angry faces around that a smile is like a ray of sunshine.
vickie
Vickie - me too!!!!!!!! I owe it all to two things, Massachusetts Woman's Guide to the Restraining Order (or some such publication) and my DH. I like your name, CAN DO!
On a grumpier note, I went in for an IV treatment today and it took them SEVEN sticks, I was there for two hours, they couldn't get a line started and I left without the medication (only $9 for parking). I could have screamed but that would have gotten me nowhere, so I didn't bother.
Carrie, have you thought about having a port put in? A friend has one and she wishes she had done it long ago. It is just above her boob, to the side of her bra strap. Only thing she won't wear is strapless dresses.
I have, Cathy, i always ask them about it, and they tell me i don't need IVs often enough. This would have been a once a year treatment. (Feeling like a pincushion.)
Please see my *n*e*w* thread.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/890417/
Tell them next time you want a pedia-phlebotomist. They do the tiny babies. I've had to have them several times.
They used a teeny-tiny needle, then decided that because that was so small and flexible, it didn't have enough stiff to get threaded in the vein correctly? So then I had two more infiltrates. ^_^
Carrie, I'm so sorry you had such a rough day. IVs done wrong are painful, have terrible after effects, and really are not necessary. I would have given them 3 tries and then demanded a new tech. Been there done that. Those nurses or techs who do not do a good job need further training and no access to patients until they can do each other, themselves, &/or a manakin painlessly and without more than 3 tries. If they cannot see or feel the vein, go higher in the arm or go get someone else. No, I'm not IV certified but I did learn phlebotomy in one of my several medical schools. They told me I was good at it, especially the butterfly ones.
Vickie, thank you for the kind words. I try to be upbeat and positive. Christians are to be imitators of JESUS and you can't do that and be negative and grouchy all the time.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
Please forgive the IV nurses; each one only did two tries except the first one who kept thinking she was on a roll (she got three tries). These ladies do infusions all day every day; I just have really horrible veins! The last one was an IV specialist, i was surprised that she couldn't do it. They decided next time I should drink a lot before i go in.
please forgive me Carrie, but I chuckled when I read their advise to you for next time preparation.....I assume they meant to drink a lot of water or other type fluids, but my warped sense of humor immediately chuckled and thought.."makes sense..she won't be bothered by the pain. after drinking a lot as they suggest!".............No, ...I do not condone or encourage drinking but do hope you can enjoy my warped humor for a moment.
As retired RN...it is heartbreaking for (most) of us also, who have to do the repeated sticks, cause we don't want to cause even yet additional pain. Carrie, You bless our Lord, and are planting seeds fo HIm when you react to these experiences in love and forgiveness and grace....which is what I read in your posts.
--Sheri
Great minds think alike! I was imagining Carrie all "lickered" up. haha!
Hic..uh....what were we talking about?
going back to bed now, goodnight!
Cathy, Carrie, Vickie, Steph and anybody that I failed to name...Good night, sleep tight, sweet drerms and happy face in the morning. (per my Mom, every night ).. I hope that you each rest so well that you wake in the morning refreshed to a new day with excitement and renewed energy.
I am very blessed to have you all in my life and in my heart.
--G'nite & gentle hugs "way round the back" (that was per my Grampas saying!)
;-) --Sheri
No, no, no, they meant HYDRATED!!!
My DH has a joke (which was funny the first 75 or so times) that if I have a few sips of a drink, I get out of the wheelchair and start dancing on the table!
Hey Carrie, Sorry for the yucky day but hey you have to be laughing now as you think about getting liquored up for the next time. It would be soooo funny to pull out a big old empty whiskey jug and say " Well, do you think this was enough to keep me from feeling the pain this time?" "hiccup". I do not approve of drinking myself but that was funny.
Thanks Birdie for the chuckle I needed that to get me alert and on my toes I can't get moving this morning.Have a goood day !!!!
I'm black and blue but it didn't hurt so much as WASTE my time and my veins! I guess lack of superficial sensation comes in handy once in a while. AND I didn't get the treatment. So I still have to go back. DH wants to go kill all the nurses there, LOL, good thing he wasn't with me!
I found out today that when "they" start screening you for a transplant, they check records back to the time of original diagnosis (years) to see if you keep appointments, follow doctor's instructions, take your meds right, eat right, exercise, etc. And you aren't supposed to be more than a little overweight (a big problem for me.)
Oooh, Cathy, I hate to imagine.... that sounds bad. hugs from all of us.
Hi Cathy! Well, let's see., are you a possible lap band candidate? So many people are having such fantastic results in just that little bit of asssistance in proportioning, just thought what it might help to speak some of the good possibilities here.
That may not be of interest at all, but I have heard of people even as low as 50# wt loss goals using it. Just thinking out loud....whatever goes......I hope it goes well.!!
Oh yes...here is another shot of those pink flowers that I'd like ID assistance with. I may have seen some driving past a nursery today(me not them!). Will have to stop and check one day when it's not raining
Sure it's not this?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/119536/
Doggone it!! I just typed a lenghthy entry and hit wrong button...all lost...shucks.
No...Carrie, I cannot say for sure that your link is not the same plant, but I thought my pic looked fuller in flower and more pink....anyway, I plan on stoping by there this week to check them out. I deffinately want some seed if possible. (sure cannot afford !00+ plants like Walgreen's did.)
Any of you that plant by seed..................I guess since annuals reseed themselves in the fall that that is the best time to cast seed?? right?? I have never grown from seed before, my usual is a 4" pot plant to begin ( well , I meant "potted" plant ) and then also my experience is probably 90% shade.
Any tips will be appreciated as I am a Very novice "sun" gardener. Right now I am praying for some plants still in their small shipping pots from Bluestone, to just hang on & not dry up & die before I can afford to get somebody to work my soil. I cannot get shovel or spade or fork past 3" down and so..not much point in planting . Unexpected medical and then roof expenses ate up the $'s that would have gone for setting these plants. Maybe I should just pot up everything into big pots and hope for overwinter survival till bed prep next year....................blah, blah, blah.....sorry all, but TY for listening...er reading ;-)
BB, repot in only 2 sizes larger pots or the plants can get root rot from too much moisture. Keep them fertilized every 2nd - 4th watering. Remember that a pot changes your zone by as much 3 zones.
Mot all seeds can survive winter weather. Some must be spring sowed. Read the back of the package and ask people in your area(call garden centers)to see what they recommend for each plant.
I would think that in NC, potting them up would be an acceptable choice - you've got a lot of extra zones to play with, unless the plants are already very tender for your zone. It depends on what you chose!