Yeah

[Mia]

Yeah......We're back online. Hi everyone. :)

[Rick]

WOW! What happened???

[Sarina]

Wow is right!

Long time no "see"! How is everyone doing? I want updates!

Here's mine...

We are still in Hilton Head, moved into our house now. I am concerned about my thumb shaking. I'm starting to wonder if I have parkinson's. Seriously, it is concerning me.

Karah started Kindergarten a couple of months ago and she is doing great! I am so proud of her!

Kristin just turned 3. She is adoreable as ever!

I am teaching at the school that Karah goes to and am going back for my Master's in Elem. Ed.. I love it!

We have year round school and are on a 3 week break right now. I have gotten to come up and spend 2 weeks (so far...this is our last week) with my parents. The girls are having a blast with meema and papa. :)

One prayer request (if you pray)....my dad may have throat cancer. This is very frightening to him (as well as the rest of us) b/c he watched his dad die of throat cancer when he was 10 years old. He is waiting for the doctor to call with some results from bloodwork and an ultrasound. The news the radiologist gave him was not good. The next step is probably CT scan with biopsy.

Anyway, that's me....what about you???

[blmave86]

I had to reregister in order to get on, but I am here now.

Sarina's life sounds so interesting. I am still teaching Grade 5 in Orangeville and my daughter will be 18 in March and is in Grade 12, so will be off to school next fall leaving mom on her own (well, there is the cat).

I do hope your father's tests turn out favourably Sarina.

Shirley

[Sandy Lynn]

Hi all.... I got back on too..... Nothing new here. I am enjoying the beautiful Canadian fall and dreading winter...... Hi Rick, Carol, Shirley, and Sarina. It is great to hear from you all.
I have my eldest in college and my youngest in kindergarten. Kendra still goes every other day. It will be so sad next year when she is gone every day.....
Take care....Sandy

[Mia]

Hi all. I'm surprised it's still so quiet in here.

Rick - Did you know that the forum was offline for a few months? I'm guessing that after this long, many are probably used to not having the forum to hang out in and have moved on. :rolleyes:

Sarina - What a stressful time for your family. I hope your dad gets good news from his doctor.

I can't believe your baby is already 3. Wow. And year round school? I guess I just assumed everyone had a two-month summer break...

Shirley - Is your daughter definately leaving home after grade 12? I'm sure that'll be a huge adjustment for you, after being a single parent for so many years and it just being the two of you.

Sandy - One child in kindergarten while one is in college? That's quite an age spread!

I hate that it's the end of summer, but I have to say that as winter approaches, I am glad that I don't live in central or Eastern Canada. I wish we had more snow out here (some winters we don't even see one flake), but honestly, it really is nice having such mild winters.

[mamafigure]

Hi, my registration finally got through. It's good to be home.


I seriously need help. I am beyond terrified for this surgery coming up. I know that many of you have faced much more difficult things - but this is a near impossibility for me. I am about ready to cancel my surgery.

The pain gets worse nearly every day (today was about the same as yesterday, but yesterday was the worst that it has been). I am working, but am having extreme difficulty, mostly sitting at my desk these days.

I registered with another forum and they try to help, but my friends are here.

No one knows what is causing this, so this one obgyn wants to take care of everything, hoping that the cause will disappear. I wasn't prepared for that.

I am so terrified of going to sleep, of being hooked up in any way to any tubing, to having drugs pumped into me, of losing my memory (ie versed), of staying overnight - even of laying down in a hospital bed. I am going crazy.

I talked to my gp. She gave me a generic zanax. I have taken 1/2 of 3 pills in the last week. It takes 1 1/2 hours to get to sleep, but then I am drugged out for hours.

I talked with a friend who is a counsellor. I have so many issues that she is going to try to concentrate on just 2. Sleep, and getting me to feel that making a decision about surgery is empowering. I told her that I would try in the sleep dept, and would work on visualization (which I do anyway) but there was no way I would ever see making a decision about surgery empowering. I feel like a rat caught in a trap.

I used to use a wheelchair for shopping. Now that is too painful.

Anyway, if you have some other advice, please let me know.

mama

[Sandy Lynn]

mama, I am so sorry you are feeling so frightened and wish I could help but, having so far never had major surgery, I am of no help. I would be as frightened as you are. Just know I am thinking of you and wishing you all the best. I think the idea on the other braintalk forum of talking to everyone about it, even the store clerk, is a great one. You are bound to get many positive success stories which may help alleviate your fear.
Take care, Sandy

[mamafigure]

Sad, thanks. I am telling everyone now, but I avoid what it is for, as it is embarrassing to me, so I spend most of my time walking around the subject.

love,
mama

[Maxs9th]

Hey Mama,
I met you on the other BrainTalk 2 forum (I'm Gabe). I get the terror feeling that you have. I had major surgery in April - a Thymectomy for Myasthenia Gravis. I had all kinds of reasons to be afraid and nothing anyone said calmed me down. I finally just wrote down all of my worse fears. I thought about the worse case scenarios and tried to come up with contingency plans for who would do what if I wasn't able to after surgery. It occupied my time and my brain and it kept the panic at bay. I wrote letters to my family and friends who I felt like I needed to say something to. I wrote down my wishes for what I wanted for my care if I needed others to care for me....meanwhile my family and friends kept telling me to stop obsessing and that I would be fine. As it turns out, things went great and there were no complications. They told me I'd most likely be on a respirator post surgery for at least a day and I didn't have to be on one at all. I went in to surgery without "unfinished business" weighing heavily on my mind, I had a plan for childcare for several months, I had a clean house and a clean desk at work and the only thing I had to worry about was getting well. It is hard to get rest before surgery because of the anxiety...but that's the advice I have. What I learned is that everyone in my life was far more capable than I gave them credit for and came through with flying colors. The dogs got let out, homework got done, my job was still there, bills got paid, food was prepared and even the laundry got down - all without me having to tell someone how to do it and when to do it. I have a tendency to want to control everything --now I realize that very little of it needs my control. I'm sorry you have to have surgery and I'll be thinking of you.
Gabe

[Sarina]

Mama,

I'm so sorry you're going through this.

You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Sarina

[mamafigure]

Gabe, I answered your Im.

s - thanks for the kind words. You guys are the best.

mama

[GaBelle]

Just checked on an off chance and found we were back on again! Yeah!! Good to see y'all, and, Sarina, I'll be praying. My mom has stage 4 breast cancer...I understand what you're going through.
Mama, you ARE going to have the surgery. You can't continue in this kind of pain!!! We'll be right there with you...let me know the date and time, and I'll pray the whole time through.
I like the idea of writing down your fears...Get them out there, look at them one by one, and deal with them. I know - easier said than done. You have to do something though 'cause you can't go through life in all this pain. It's not fair to your family. They need you whole and functioning...not worrying about all the pain you're in. I don't play fair, do I? ;) I'll send you my cell # on e-mail.

[triple*eee]

am so terrified of going to sleep, of being hooked up in any way to any tubing, to having drugs pumped into me, of losing my memory (ie versed), of staying overnight - even of laying down in a hospital bed. I am going crazy.

Mama,

I too have a MAJOR fear of being put to sleep. I had surgery in 1999 for gallbladder and I was soooo afraid.

Even after coming thru the surgery ok, I am still very afraid. I know you will make it thru with no problems, you are not alone in your fears. They will give you something to relax you when you get you ready for surgery.

If it's what they gave me, that was the last thing I remember until I woke up from surgery LOL

[triple*eee]

I am so glad to see the forums back up. Wow, I would have thought all the money we donated last year would have kept the server up for YEARS!! LOL

Update on me--

Doing pretty good. Still having alot of trouble with gerd.

Recently had to increase my thyroid. I'm supposed to stay in the hyper side and I needed to increase since it wasn't in the hyper side. I'm back up to the dose that I was on about 10 years ago that made me have alot of anxiety/panic attacks.

I'm hoping it won't do it to me this time around.


Kids are doing great.

My son is a senior this year. Still wrestling and hopes to get a wrestling scholarship for college. He's good enough to get one.


My 19 yr old daughter moved out with her boyfriend. He's finishing up his degree ad MU here in Missouri. She's going to a community college to get her associates degree.

My 10 yr old daughter is doing good. Still struggles with her ADHD. She now has a very full week. Tutoring 3 times a week, piano lessons, soccer practice.
She still models and recently landed the cover of a local Kansas City magazine.

[mamafigure]

Cheryl, you know my underbelly (my family)! I can't believe that you would pray the whole time. You have a life and a job and family, too.

It looks like it will be first thing in the morning on the 24th. I think that it will probably last about 3 hours...just saying that makes my stomach go nuts and shivers go up and down my spine.

Last time I was terrified, but I just showed up at the emergency room knowing that i needed surgery (had walked out of the local ER the night before). this waiting weeks and weeks is crazy.

I did let the main library know that I am leaving on the week before. The stress is just too much, and I am not doing my job well since everything hurts. I did do a fun activity and storytime with Headstart today. I cut out some leaf shapes, had them color them, then laid them on waxed paper. The child and I then sprinkled magic on the shapes and waxed paper (shredded crayons). We put a blanket over them (another piece of waxed paper) then told them good night and turne off the lights (put some protective white paper over the top). I had the child put his/her hands behind his back and help me count to 10 while I ironed. Then I pulled off the white paper - voile! a magic placemat for the child to use when having a great or very bad day.

mama

[Rick]

Mia, no didn't move on as I still check here frequently to see how everyone is. When I noticed the forum was down, I kept checking back until finally it was there again.
I hope everyone is doing okay.
I suspect that since it's been 8 years for me, and my symptoms are gone, I'm okay, but this community is still part of me as I lived here for quite some time.

[lindalane]

I think it's normal to feel apprehensive about surgery. I know the last time I did, I was nervous. As a former recovery room nurse, make sure you mention your fears to the anesthesia . They need to know this and can help allay your fears and may be able to premedicate you before hand. It's always scary feeling like you are not in control.Good luck. Will be praying for you!

[mamafigure]

Rick, I didn't catch that you were injured. So sorry and hope that you mend soon.

Linda, thanks. So far, no anxiety med has ever worked on me, and right now they won't do surgery until I have this colonoscopy, which is another story. Take care,
mama

[Rick]

Rick, I didn't catch that you were injured. So sorry and hope that you mend soon.

Linda, thanks. So far, no anxiety med has ever worked on me, and right now they won't do surgery until I have this colonoscopy, which is another story. Take care,
mama

Thanks, the sprain was about a month ago, but I am reminded of it whenever I walk. Just another thing to deal with, but not nearly anything to complain about compared to the many ailing here, so I won't whine.