Holy cow--it's back!

[Laura P]

I had been checking in periodically, but hadn't recently. How long has the site been back?

We've had a rough, rough summer, and not with Sierra. My DH had a really severe depressive episode that culminated in almost 2 months' of hospitalization, and loss of income. He is at his (hopefully) last outpatient day hospital session today, and it's our fervent (desperate) desire that he gets cleared to go back to work. It has been a really difficult time--August and September seem like a bad dream--but we are heading in the right direction now.

It forced me to do a lot of growing up (yeah, I thought I was already there, but apparently not) in a short period of time, and I got much more confident about my ability to (should the worst happen) raise the kids on my own. It really looked for a while that he'd never be able to recover--he was actually having hallucinations for a while. Lexapro and Ambien are a potent mixture, and he should never have either one again--note to self.

I had to deal with all the finances and decisions during the 2 months on my own, and have a few life lessons (hard-won):

1. If your employer offers optional additional short-term disability insurance, TAKE IT!!! We opted for the free version, and got only 2 weeks' coverage. The rest of the time, we've been down to my salary alone. Fortunately, we live below our means, but it was still a bite in the rump

2. If you (like us) have neglected to get your wills and advance directives in order, get off your a$$ and do it.

3. People who've previously not been part of a support network really can come to your aid--my family and in-laws really have been superb, and anyone who's read my earlier posts knows that (at least on my side) this is nothing short of a miracle. It's been hard for me to admit I needed support, but knowing that it is out there is gratifying.

4. I took advantage of our company's Employee Assistance Program (to get a counselor so I had someone to whom to vent all the unbearable feelings of rage and hate) and a financial planner whose flyer came to my mail at the right time. This helped me get a handle on the budget issues.

5. ON the downside, our church was totally useless. They (like others) approach mental health issues very differently than physical health. Not one damned person called or visited, and the pastor called ONCE. Needless to say, shopping for a different faith community is high on my list. This was just the cherry on top of problems I've had with the congregation--really "nice" people, but they can't see the problems in the local community (including their own congregation).

Lots to learn, but I'm glad to be back on-line again.

[MaryEvelyn]

Just wanted to send (((BIG HUGS)))