Just Checking In On Everyone

[BrokenBladder]

I thought this might be a good time to have everyone come out and tell how they're doing.

I'll go first. I'm still having issues with my weight and sleep which results in my pain being higher.so far I'm handling it "okay" just a bit grumpy from time to time.

So now it's your turn to come on and say how things have been going. I think it helps if we all keeep track of each other and this board is a great place to let it all hang out.

[Jo6]

yes, I think this is a good idea. although I don't post much I miss people and wonder if they are all right.

I think this is as good as it's going to get for me. Most days it's hard to get about and that is depressing to me. I am not ready to throw in the towel yet!:eek:

I notice others signature and I have many of the same things. It helps me to hear from them and how they are coping.

This past week has been a bad one, bent nearly to the waist when I walk very far. Everyday I wake up and pray I will be able to get thru the day, just a little straighter. That gets mighty tiring.

Thank you Lisa for this idea. You take care and I hope you have better days:) Julia

[BrokenBladder]

Julia it's good to hear from you and I'm sorry that you're having so much trouble.

It does get depressing waking up day after day just hoping to get something

accomplished, but I know coming here is a big help for me. Take Care and let

us know how you're doing come next week!!:)

[Kathi49]

Lisa,

I hope you can get the weight and sleep issues resolved. :(

Me? I am just hanging in, dealing with the pups, and had a darn eyelash wedged in my eyelid all week LOL! Go figure...always something strange LOL! So, it was removed today. And I just now sprinkled 25mg of Lyrica on some applesauce because the burning sensations are getting to be too much. And the hot, humid weather doesn't help. So, here goes...the next couple of days ought to have me feeling a bit drunk. But I am trying the darn stuff again!! So, we shall see. I just thought tonight was as good as any to try again since my husband will be home all weekend. :)

[GardeniaGirl]

I always enjoy these check-in threads - makes it easy to read about everyone all at once!!

I have recently requested to increase the hours that I work from home (a provision of my disability accommodations). This is really helping my overall stress level, I am realizing.

And my mood problems are much exacerbated by stress.

I also just got my DirecTV turned back on after 10 months of just watching the 7 local stations. This is also helping - I am not as bored now that I have some good shows and movies to watch.

My appetite has improved the past few days, and I have gone out to eat twice this week, so I am eating more and that feels really good. I finally figured out what types of food to keep at home so I will eat.

Inexplicably, pain levels dropped about 3 days ago, so I am enjoying the absence of high pain levels as well.

Hope to hear from more folks!!!

[Mark N]

I am doing okay and have actually had my pain levels decline the past couple of days. I am going in to see my doctor Sep 9 and will talk about getting a MRI due to the two thoracic attacks the past three months. then I will be making an appointment with my OSS. For now, I am taking it easy and enjoying my days as much as I can.

I hope everyone is feeling better or will be soon.

[suede]

BB,

Thanks for starting this thread it is nice to have just one thread to catch up on how everyone is doing.

I can't seem to sit at the computer or anywhere for long these days and concentrate, I'm even worried about my bills, they are past due and I can't seem to concentrate long enough to take care of them.

I go Tue, for my second ESI of the T spine, I don't hold out much hope as the first one wore of within a couple of days, overall though it is the first one that has ever gave me any relief.

I don't want to turn this in to a whinny post so I'll try to keep it a short wine.
Like you I am having serious weight issues but I believe mine is opposite of yours, I am gaining and can't stop, I am miserable and not really eating much at all, I can't really exercise but I am not inactive I try to stay busy around the house and with this being a three story house I'm climbing stairs way more then I feel like.

I also want off this methadone and am having a hard time convincing the Dr, he did RX provigial for me but it doesn't help because I don't ever get more then 3 hours sleep a night and that is in bits and pieces..

Well I could go on but will stop for now..

Linda

[BrokenBladder]

Kathi, GG, Mark, & Linda,

Thanks so much for your support on this thread. Sometimes it just seems like we're all going in different directions and this is one way to slow us down to one thread where we can all catch up.
I'm glad to hear, for the most part, that everyone is doing okay. I hope we all have a painfree weekend and accomplish whatever it is that we set out to do.

Hmmmm, maybe I will make this a weekly thread. *mm2

[Kathi49]

Good idea Lisa,

I think you should do it weekly. :)

[houghchrst]

Well I am newer here to this particular forum as usually I am on the BiPolar forum but chronic pain has become, unfortunately, such a huge part of my life that I have been visiting here more often. Rarely post because there are others here worse than me and I have worthiness (?) issues but it is nice to know that I do have a place to go for advice and support.

I did post about the sacrailiac joint injections and while they did work a little I do still have pain sitting and do plan to go back for the next set. They don't help all the other places that hurt but I can tolerate that in comparison to living in a prone position on a daily basis. I love being here at BT and check in every day on and off to see if there is someone maybe I can offer a word or two to. This forum is very active and I like that.

I hope everyone here has a good day!!

[BrokenBladder]

Christina it's so good to have you on the CP board, although I wish you weren't in pain.
I read your thread about the injection but I was unable to respond to you because I don't know anything about them.
Please don't feel like you're not worthy to post here as pain is pain and we all understand it here.
I love BT too. like you said there is so much valuable information and support from a very caring group of people here.
Keep posting and I'm wishing you a pain free day!!

[houghchrst]

Thank you Lisa!! I have seen you around. A little here, a little there LOL. I love your avatar, makes me smile everytime I see it. Maybe I should get one that is a little more cheerful though I do love art and I think the one I picked is lovely, dark and meaningful but lovely.

{{{Hug}}}

[curiousforever]

I'm here. Pain levels pretty high - Oldest got the pin out of his wrist - and we almost didn't make it back to the shuttle to bring us home from balboa (they will leave you)....major major running around for me and stress which ugh...

EXhausted...shouldn't I feel better with these iron infusions? I think I'm getting more tired.

[Spikey]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the site and to chat rooms. I am finding it very useful talking to other who suffer with chronic pain. I wish that none of us had to be hear but as we all are I would like to thank you all for making me feel very welcome here.

Hope your not in too much pain

Spikey *fantasia

[BrokenBladder]

Spikey it's always so refreshing to have a new voice on the board, WELCOME!!
CP is hard to deal with, but being here makes it easier!!

[BrokenBladder]

CF,
I'm so glad to hear from you as you've been on my mind lately. I was wondering how've been feeling and kept meaning to post a question to you and find out!! I'm glad to hear that your son got the pin out, but I'm real sorry to hear that you're sooooo tired. When I was getting the vitamin IV's I remember that they were making me tired at first. I never really found out if I could've gotten the full benefit out of them as I got sick and never have been able to get the rest of the series completed.

[BrokenBladder]

Christina I've always liked your avatar. It's very meaningful and yet beautiful at the same time. I vote for you to keep it!!

[suede]

Christina, Welcome to the forum and as Lisa said pain is pain, unfortunately we are all here for that reason.
However it is a great comfort to have so many wonderful folks as there is here at BT to help us get through the pain and the problems that go along with it.

Spikey, I also want to welcome you to the forum and also sorry that you had the need to find us, but know you will not find a better informed bunch and some of the best support around.

I know the high humidity and the rain here has my pain really peaking!!

CF, I imagine it may take some time to get the iron built back up and feeling better, I would be sure and ask the Dr about it though.
Like I said I can't believe I am taken a med to help me stay awake and I'm even nodding off on it, some days I just believe that there is no winning for losing.
Though in reality I have to say no matter how much I seem to complain, I am grateful that things are not worse then they are, because we all know if nothing else, that it can get worse.

Linda

[BrokenBladder]

Linda you are so right about things could be worse!! It's good to hear from you and know that you're doing okay althogh I can certainly understand the heat, humidity, and rain. I live in Florida and wow my pain really spirals out of control if I get outside too much at all.
I hope you have a nice weekend!!

[photonut]

Photo-Nut Here:
Whew..I have been away for the week-end and just arrived home later this evening. I was having such a a bad day on Friday That Hubby decided I needed a break. He took me to a lake not to far away where we stayed in a cabin. It was wonderful. It is great to get away from phones and some problems. I do feel better. Hope everyone is doing at least OK. HUGS to All......Allie

[BrokenBladder]

Hi Allie I wondered where you were!! Sounds like a peaceful get away to me and I hope you had a great time. Thumbs up for hubby!!

[photonut]

Hi Lisa:
We Had a great time. I have to say I am very lucky. I adore my hubby. He is the best. He just knew when it was time to get away. I guess being married for 31 years has helped.....Thanks for keeping this thread going Lisa. Your the best as well.....Allie

[Spikey]

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the welcome. It is so nice tohear so many kind greetings from the people here. Im sure with time I will get to know people better. I have been looking for a site for a long time where I could talk to others about my illness and pain, who have similar pain as I believed they would understand better what it is like to be in pain all the time. I seem to have found a nice site with nice people too.

Thanks again,

Happy Chatting

Natalie *fantasia

[houghchrst]

I am here. On and off all day. I am attempting to paint my kitchen. KILZ for now. Took the strongest pain med I have, only one, and am gonna see how far I can get. I am quite frankly enjoying myself immensely. We had a major, possibly life changing, family incident here last night and my 14 yr old bipolar son went to live with his grandma (only about a mile away) and I just may now be single. I feel strange mood wise but am trying to keep busy.

I hope everyone has a blessed day.

[Spikey]

Hi Christina,

Glad your feeling well. I decorated my bathroom earlier last week. Trust me you will be pleased when its done. I did the same as you, took all my pain killers in the morning, gave them half an hour to kick in and then I started. I did really well and managed to finish it that day and before the pain became too bad. Iknew aboutit the following day though, I was in agony.

What I suppose I am trying to say is be careful, take your time and dont over do it, its not worth it. It took me 3 days to get right after it.

Happy Chatting

Natalie *fantasia

[Jo6]

Lisa, wanted to tell you what a good job you're doing here in our cozy little nest.:p It is plesant to get update's and I need to be around people right now.

Christina, I don't think I welcomed you. Well, WELCOME to the Chronic Pain Fourm! Although I have talked a little to you Spikey, I welcome you too. I see so very many forums empty and that is sad for me.

No matter the pain, it is all hard and as someone said, we ALL know it could get worse. Having friends around does help very much.

Take care all and sleep well, Jo aka Julia

[Mark N]

Christina, I hope the single life is as stress reducing as your post sounds like you think it will be. Life changing events can be tough but in certain situations it takes away tons of pressure. Enjoy yourself with the painting, after finishing the priming, and bask in the reward of your new kitchen.

[photonut]

Welcome everyone new:
To many to list but just wanted to say Hi and were are glad you are here.
Hope everyone had a pleasant week-end. Hugs to all new and old......Allie

[Jo6]

Dorey, keep up the good work! I do admire you and I know you hurt, just like the rest of us. Take care of yourself!! *boogie Jo

[BrokenBladder]

Thanks to everyone for their kinds words!! It's so good to hear from everyone and know that everyone is okay.

(((Christina))) I'm sorry for what you're going through, but time heals alot of wounds. I hope this is true in your case as you desearve it!! Enjoy painting, just be careful on not overdoing it!!

[houghchrst]

Well I got half the kitchen painted. Quite an accomplishment for me. Will do the other half today. Hopefully LOL.

I am no longer single, geez just for a day. We talked last night and have made up with stipulations. Thank you Lisa for understanding what was happening. I know my post sounded like it was not a real concern but I believe I was slightly manic and trying to keep myself distant from the situation because I knew there would have to be some kind of resolution.

I get to go to the ortho tomorrow for my knee and I am going to let him drain it and maybe give me a shot.

Hope you all have a great day.

[photonut]

Hey Christina:
Keep us posted on how that knee is doing. I am glad that other situation is calmed down for now...Hugs Allie

[Kira]

Hi everyone... thanks for posting the check-in thread, Lisa. I agree that it is nice to be able to read about how everyone is doing all in one place.

I have still been struggling to get back to my baseline after my hospitalization a few weeks ago. Still having lots of trouble with nausea/vomiting, which makes it hard to eat, and not eating sets off my metabolic issues... so just not feeling well lately. I did get a GI appointment with someone who is apparently good at the motility issues, but I don't go until Sept. 13.

I did have to get rehospitalized over the weekend, but only briefly. I was admitted on Friday afternoon and went home Saturday evening... just long enough to get a few liters of IV fluids/sugar (D10), make sure my labs were stable, and monitor my heart on telemetry to make sure that the tachycardia (fast heartrate) was not anything serious, just sinus tach. No rhabdomyolysis, though, even though the muscle pain was acting up as the vomiting got worse. I am so fed up because if they would just listen to me and give me a Port, I would not have to be admitted when I need fluids like that. Although I guess, in this case, they wanted to follow my labs and also stick me on telemetry (heart monitor) for a few hours. Still, I think that if I had the Port, I could do the fluids earlier at home and avoid things getting this bad in the first place.

My pain has been bad lately, too, but there isn't much we can do for it except for wait for things to gradually calm down after such a rough month. I did have a pain appointment today and she asked if I wanted to increase my Fentanyl patch, but I said no. She did switch my breakthrough meds around, so hopefully this will work a bit better. I am supposed to come back sooner if I am still hurting badly, and we can bump up my patch dose or play around with the breakthrough meds a bit more. I just don't want to increase them any more than I have to, because I don't want to get to the point where nothing works when I am in the ER/hospital with an acute attack. Plus, I want to keep my mind as clear as I can since that is really the only part of my body that works these days. But it was nice to know that my pain doc was really compassionate about it and that I do have options if things don't improve from the changes we made today.

[911]

hi all i have been having a huge amount of trouble with my gi tract and throwing up it has thrown my med cycle off as i cant keep it down , problem is ok for now ,,,, next i am going back to maine from oregon this sat the 4th yayyyyyy i cant wait i am so excited today i cant sleep , best to all i am around i dont post to much but thought i would check in here ,, yours dave aka 911

[Kathi49]

Kira,

I know you have to be miserable. :( But I am glad to hear you have an appointment with a good GI doc and that your visit with your pain doc went well. It IS nice to have options and I completely agree...sometimes I think my mind is the only that is working also and I want to think clearly.

As for me, all I had done yesterday were two more MRI's. This time they got the pics of the lumbar, sacrum and coccyx. Why they had to do two I am unclear on. I am assuming it is the technology or imaging. I have yet to look at them. And, yeah, right, as if I could really tell what might be going on. :) But sometimes I can...just not an expert at it. And it wasn't too bad. I was adding up the minutes while in there and it was only 35 minutes. But since Mark N. mentioned his shoulders. I just wanted to say that she wanted me to keep my arms at my side. That's the first time I was ever told that. So, that part hurt a little only because I am having spasms in my right shoulder. But I got through it okay.

The odd thing was when I asked for a copy of the report, or if I could pick it up, they said NOT until AFTER my follow up visit with my doc. I can understand that I guess. It was just strange because they have never said that before; usually you could go and just get a copy. So, I guess their policy has changed. Maybe someone got a copy of their own and went haywire or something before seeing their doc. I don't know...I do understand their reasoning. It was just that in the past I was always able to get a copy right away. No biggie...I will just get a copy from the doc when I see him.

[BrokenBladder]

Christina~~~how did everything go? Let us know as we are concerned about you.

Kira~~I'm sorry that you're feeling so rough, but I understand that n/v thing all too well. Glad to hear that you got a good GI doctor.

Kathi~~Well hopefully these MRI's will give you information that you need. Have you been having problems lately that I misssed? Or is this just and updated MRI?

Dave~~I'm glad your excited about your move!! Sounds like it my be for the best since you're have isssues with your PM. If you ever want to talk about your n/vv from the GI problems send me a PM, I've been to **** and back with that mess!!

[Kathi49]

Lisa,

Just an updated MRI because the other one was over a year old. And these pics show the lumbar/sacrum/coccyx this time around. The older ones cut off at the upper sacrum....at least that is the way they look. You couldn't see the whole tailbone. And this new bunch of pics of the sacrum/coccyx is beyond me!

And I knew I should NOT have looked at this a few minutes ago. :) I really do NOT know what I am looking at to begin with unless it is blatantly obvious; like a disc compressing the cord. But the coccyx one shows a huge lump more than likely where that fracture is! To me...it just looks like a big ROUND piece of bone or calcium. It probably looks large to me since these pics are so up close and personal LOL! So, now I know why the imaging center didn't want me to have a radiology report until AFTER I saw the doctor...because...now I am dwelling on it. :) Oh, well, my PM will go over all of these.

[houghchrst]

Hey Lisa. I am here. Feeling very melancholy today. My 15 yr old is coming home for the weekend and while I love that child more than life itself his being here is very stressful for me. I am not taking any pain meds today. Taking a break. I did post on the Two Questions thread. I have appointments all day. My son's psychiatris, my therapist, then my son's therapist. All kinds of mental health going on today LOL. I have some mental health issues and usually post on the bipolar forum and visit a couple of mental health forums. So I have those issues on top of my pain to deal with. I am sure that the pain in itself causes a lot of mental health issues for people here. Thank you for asking about me, it makes me feel good to be cared about. Yeah another aspect of those mental health issues LOL. I will write later. I enjoy coming here. It is very active.

Have a great day all!!!

[suede]

Wow Lisa,
This was a great idea and I hope to get back and respond to some of the post here as so much seems to be going on for us all..
I had my 2nd Thoracic ESI Tue. and was feeling great for all of about maybe 30 hours, when I took a major slide in to the freezer in the basement when trying to sneak a ice cream sandwich with out all the grand kids finding out. what I get for sneaking, anyway I hit a wet spot and you would have thought I had hit a home run and was sliding in to home plate with all the bases full.
Well I not only didn't get everyone home safe, I screwed up my new injection not to mention many other old things and now some new ones!!
Next time I'll just wait til all the kids are in bed before I give in to my craving.

Linda

[BrokenBladder]

Linda that would be a funny story, but I'm so sorry you fell. How scary!! How are you feeling now?

[ErinENj]

Yes, I am still alive. I've been having some really good days and some really rough ones following the good ones. My energy levels have been really crappy lately, and to make it even better, my pain levels have been moving in the completely and utterly bad direction.

However, with the pain and energy levels I've been dealing with, I have still had some events I had to go to. The events have been the good days. Last weekend, I joined my parents in volunteering for a hot air balloon festival held about 20 miles from my house. It was a little bit of a journey, but it was worth it. It's a great event and a whole lot of fun! The biggest issue we all had was the weather. It was beyond tropical! I think the thermometer peaked at something around 95-100 degrees that day, and there was no shade anywhere since the event was held at an airport and trees in the middle of a runway probably wouldn't work well with landing an airplane. :p The only really good side to the heat was that everyone else there was sweating, so my horrid sweats from the pain didn't stick out! I felt right at home! My shirt was soaked through by the time I got home that night. We went out there at about 3:00pm, and got home around midnight, so it was a long day. But I got to sit in a nice shady tent selling tickets to that night's concert, so at least I had shade. And I worked with this really awesome young woman who I swear I knew from somewhere else. We got along pretty well and had fun together. Some of the people who came up to our booth were interesting! I got screamed at a few times, which wasn't so interesting. The event was horrifically badly organized, so we had to deal with angry moms who were understandably unhappy with the way things ran. And they had some issues with clarifying what you got with general admission (with the general admission, you got to sit on the lawn for the concert, so you got to hear it and not really see it. But for an additional $45, you got a chair closer to the stage.) and some people didn't understand it and when they couldn't get into the seating, they came back to us screaming. I had one very intoxicated guy get totally in my face and screamed at me until this fantastic guy who also was working the event, came up and rescued me!

The concert that night was what I really went for. One of my all-time, life-long favorite bands was playing the festival. Blues Traveler, the real group, was on stage that night, and unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of the concert (after spending about 7 hour in a tent selling tickets, sweating off about 20 pounds of water, and dealing with stupid people because of the incompetence of the people who ran the thing, they refused to give me and the other woman a single ticket, even after the concert had already started and the booth was closing. They had tons of tickets left, but refused to give me one!!! I was livid!!!) but I did get to see a little bit of it and it really whet my appetite to go to an actual live show of their's.

We did have some excitement that day. As I was getting settled at the booth, this guy came up and it seemed he missed the lip of the runway (there was about a 4 or 5 inch difference between the runway and the grass, so people were tripping on it all day) and tripped. However, he then tried to steady himself with the pole of the tent and it didn't work. He fell, nearly missing the table in the tent, and couldn't get back on his feet because his legs kept giving out on him. Luckily, the woman I was working with's boyfriend was an EMT that was at the event, and she called him and he rushed right over (he was one of those bike-riding EMTs that big events like this usually have on the grounds for things like this). We were pouring water on him, someone had a towel they wet with cold water (expensive cold water... it was $2.50 a bottle, and it was so hot, the vendors were making a KILLING!), anything and everything we could think of. He was coherent-ish and conscious, so that was a good sign. The EMTs came over, took his BP and vitals, and then took him off on a stretcher because he couldn't walk. The EMT/boyfriend came back to tell us what was going on with the guy, and told us that the man had a salt level of 20. Normal is between 80 and 120. So he was in bad shape. His partner EMT told us that they've seen people with higher salt levels suffering strokes and even seizures, so this guy was beyond lucky!

So that was last Saturday. What else? Oh, and I had an interview both last Thursday (not this week, the one before) and today (Friday). The one Thursday was with a local daily newspaper, but doesn't really seem to be turning into anything. The interview went well, but afterwards the editor basically told me that there are tons of more qualified people who applied for the same position. But it's fine. As I thought more and more about it, I'm glad I went for the interview, but I think I may be better off at something smaller, something more local where I can build experience within a community I'm comfortable in and know more about, and where I can not make a fool of myself if something should go wrong with an article. The interview today was for my DREAM job. It's at a really local weekly newspaper, within my county so at a place where I have connections and can feel comfortable with representing the community. I think the interview went pretty well. The editor gave me the feeling like I'm one of the better qualified applicants, and spent nearly an hour and a half just talking to me about the paper and the community and about how I may be a really good fit there. He really liked that I have the connections with the community and that I have some experience with municipal governments. I did a fake story, where I basically interviewed him, but him pretending to be a local fire chief, and wrote a story based on my interview with him and only the information that came out of that interview. I think I did okay. I've written stories similar to it, so I'm hoping my experience really helped me out there. Also, he gave me a story to cover in the community as a try-out to see if I can hack it so to speak. It doesn't mean I got the job, but is kind of a try-out for the position. I'm covering a bake sale put together and run by local little girls. It was fun interviewing them and seeing how excited they got over me being there and possibly getting into the newspaper. So it was great! The position would be idyllic!! Their hours are PERFECT! They start at 10am and work until like 6 or 7pm. On Mondays and Tuesdays, it's really busy, since most of the municipal meetings are on Monday nights, and Tuesdays are publishing day. BUT then Wednesday is OFF! Thursday and Fridays are lighter days, with interviews and research, etc, but with similar hours to the other two days. Weekends are usually completely off, depending on what's going on in the community over the weekend. So they only work two days in a row, which is fantastic for me, since getting back into the swing of things may be difficult and hard on my back. I'm hoping to do really well on this story and prove that I may be a good fit for the paper. But I don't know. You never can be 100% sure.

Then on Sunday, I went to a friend's new house for a housewarming party with he and his wife (that's so strange to say!!). It was really nice and I had a good time, but my back was KILLING me! I ran around for pretty much 4 days straight, and especially after Saturday being on my feet and everything all day, I was toast by Monday. I'm still trying to recover. Then yesterday, my dog was attacked by a nest of yellow-jackets. He's okay, but it was scary! He has a bunch of stings all over his head, since that's where they really attacked hardest, and since the fur is shortest there, they could get to the skin easier. His ears were stung and swelled up last night, but they've gone down considerably since then. I just feel bad for him. He doesn't want to go outside unless someone is directly next to him the whole time or has some other task to complete like fetching the newspaper or mail. Dad was out with him when he found the nest and he was stung a few times trying to get them off of Cody, but he's okay. He only got two or three stings. Luckily, last night he went out with the stuff and sprayed the nest, so all of those *******s that didn't die from stinging my cute innocent little puppy are sure dead now! I got such satisfaction from killing the one I found in the house that afternoon.

So, now that I've composed a novel, I'm off. I have another post I want to write about something I found at the job interview with the daily newspaper, and I want to try and get back to that hallucination thread I've been meaning to get to for weeks. OH, also, my doc increased my meds by 10mgs Thursday to deal with some of the increased pain before I get an epidural, which will happen when I get a job and can pay for some of it myself. It's helping some, but hopefully will help more as the levels build up in my system. So, I'm okay, just having a rough few weeks. And, also, today one of my great aunts died after a long illness. She's been having problems with her lungs for years, and they finally just gave out on her. She was 92, and my grandmother is taking it pretty hard, so I was at her house for a few hours today just to be with her and try to make it a little easier on her.

[BrokenBladder]

Erin it's good to see you posting again!! I was about to send out a SOS to find you!!:)Good luck on your job search. Don't worry something will come along shortly.

[ErinENj]

Thanks Lisa!! Sorry to have worried you! I really hadn't anticipated how busy things suddenly got and that mypain and energy levels would go so far in the wrong direction. But sometimes it's nice to get busy, provided it's for good stuff. :D I really hope that the job I interviewed for on Friday works out. It's such a great opportunity and is really one of those jobs where it seems to fit me perfectly. The schedule is just ideal! I really think that it couldn't be more perfect, especially while trying to get back into the groove of things or even just trying to get into the groove of working. I haven't had a job since my back started causing me problems, and it makes me somewhat nervous about getting back into the workforce. The last job I had was a secretary/assistant (where I basically did my boss's entire job. One of the biggest parts of her job was to enter invoices and bills into the requisition system. (it was a job at our county government and they had this special complicated system that kept track of all the money we spent. We had to fill out a requisition and then get it approved before the powers that be would send out the check to pay the bill.) and she taught me how to do the entire thing, even sending me for a day of training with the woman who ran the system, so I could learn how to use it. Since that was the main part of her job, and she handed it all over to me, I probably could have gotten rid of her and done it all myself. I don't think she trusted training someone new who would go to the person above her and tell them exactly how little work she actually did.) position. I worked there for about three weeks, if that, before my back went out the first time and was admitted to the hospital for a week, and then I had my first surgery. When I slowly returned to work, my pain just kept getting worse, and when I told her I had to have a second surgery immediately, she flipped. Basically, she told me that if I didn't come in on the day of my surgery, I didn't need to bother coming back ever again. So she basically fired me. But when I went for unemployment after my surgery, they refused to approve it. She told the person who deals with that stuff that I had quit and voluntarily left my position, so they refused to approve my unemployment claims. It was such amazing crap! I was furious, but as much as I wanted her head on a spike, I couldn't do anything because it would have put my mom's job in jeopardy and I refused to risk that. The politics in the county government are just rediculous! So I don't know what it's like to work with my back the way it is. I think going to school wasn't the same thing since I could miss a class without having too much of an issue. Missing work because I'm having a difficult spine day just won't work.

So I have some concerns, but the job I'm in the running for right now is just so great because of the way the schedule is worked out. I'd only have to work two days in a row most of the time, dependiing on what's going on in the area. I really like that idea! But, we'll see. Unfortunately, and as per my luck, I started having issues with my computer yesterday, which is making it difficult to work on my article due Monday that'll make or break my chances for my job. For some reason, the screen just keeps going out, turning black and then when you move the mouse, you get a little bit of the screen but it's so dark it's practically impossible to see anything. I tried everything I could think of, including turning off my screensaver and changing the power settings (it's a laptop), and then even going as far to delete as many programs as possible, and even doing a system restore for the first time ever. And none of it worked! It's been driving me absolutely psychotic!! Tonight, it kept doing it more and more and there were shorter periods of time when it was useable. Yesterday, I could use it for a few hours without any issues. Then tonight, it started with 45 minutes, then a half-hour, and then 12 minutes! I finally just went to Geek Squad web site where I found this 24 hour help line program where you can chat with an 'agent; who told me that I had to take my computer to the store tomorrow to have the backlight replaced. Lovely! And he couldn't tell me how much it'll cost, so I have no clue on if I can even have it done. So, now I'm using my mom's laptop and trying to get used to the really strange keyboard.

Okay, this started as a nice short little post, but has again turned into a novel! I'm just so good at rambling on and on! Well, it's time for me to get to bed since I have to get up nice and early to take my computer to Best Buy first thing so I can get it fixed and back home asap, and get to work on my story! I've spent so much time dealing with my computer problems that I haven't been able to start on my story. I was going to tonight, but now I'm so tired I can't! But, anyway, thanks again Lisa! I'll keep you posted on how things turn out! :D