General Chat

Weren't we busy bees last night, Liz, Betty and Dawn.

Liz sounds like you had a lovely time yesterday I'm so pleased for you. Hope you got some sleep ready for today xxx

Betty what were you doing up so late? I didn't realise you too were a night owl ..xx

Gill you were up early too. Make me feel a lazy bones. I got up at five to see what time my son was getting up, went back to bed until about ten thirty!
Still sat in my dressing gown stinking of bed!! Oh and coffee xx

Dawn you didn't ramble I thought you put very well how you feel, and how life has been for you. A lot of it I relate to. Others here will also. We are all taking steps together.

Eileen how was your trip? Come on tell us about it xx

Deanna I told on you to Betty for taking the P out of me, for asking for your address. Christmas isn't so far away. lol xxx

Mary how have you been? Did the kids see anything? Shakes you up seeing something like
that dosen't it. xx

Paula haven't seen you for a while are you ok? xx

Claire not very good on facebook so if I didn't answer your thingys forgive me, I might have clicked on wrong thing and lost application. xx Done that before

Anyone had any news from Elaine? Hope her and oh are okay xx

Kathy have you got back to normal now since your visitors left? xx It must have been very difficult for you. I couldn't have done that

Thomas thinking of you x

Ben hows the new job going? Can't really see you on facebook. Come on change your picture :o) x

Caz so pleased for you. It's lovely to recieve flowers isn't it. Couldn't you take a photo of them with your birdie on them. Then email it to us. That would be lovely. xxx

Jules how are you doing ? xx

Janet haven't seen you for a while are you ok? xx

Joyce sorry to hear you are not well with yet another
problem. Good job you are not a horse. (kidding of course) xxx

Ann missing you xx

Rach pleased to know your mum got on better this time. Hope results are quick and good news xxx

Carolina now I haven't seen you for ages. Hope all your problems are getting sorted out. xx

Just Joyce thinking of you as always xx
Hope you and your family are well

Anyone ever hear from Angela?

Dave hope you are okay xx

Going to get a shower even the dog has chosen not to sit by me. Love to you all xxx

Hi Carole, Sorry, I've been hiding again! Just came back on last night to see what was happening.

My car troubles continued & I was finding it very hard to cope with the money worries. Luckily the garage fixed it in the end with no extra charge! Just proves that they had caused the 2nd prob when they fixed the 1st. What a relief!

I also had a lot of pressure from my "friend" who runs a GSD rescue. She was ringing me 4 times a day about her problems with rescue dogs. She coudn't understand that expecting me to drive 200 miles to move a dog & then, after I did, wanting me to drive 53 miles the next week to hers to take a dog to the vet was more stress than I could handle.

I'm afraid I have had to cut myself off from her. I feel really bad about it but had no choice really! I still wish I could do more for the dogs but being signed off work & living on IS I can't.

So, that is where I have been! I am still missing Eddie so much too. Can't seem to get myself together again.

Sorry for whinging, ((((hugs)))) for all those that need them.
Angela

hi everyone carol i still here just been really busy thought we was gona have a quite week but not so ,hubby had his inr tested and slip came back this morning saying couldnt be tested as wasnt labeled correctly so he has to have another blood test asap ,as if he ant had enough jabs latley ,still waiting for call from hospital to say when he hasto go bk in for a cardioversion (electric shock to heart )to try put bk in rhythm if that dont work then it a pacemaker ,then to top the lot daughter phoned this morning 2 yr old grandson went to see a peditrition a few weeks ago and hasto undergo assesments for autisum ,well the leter says he defanatly got relative familial microcephaly (from what i under stand it somthing to do with the head growth )so as you can imagine we all worried about him as well wont no any more till he sees peditrition again he starts his speach therapy next week ,so as a wife ,and grandmother of them going threw it at moment i myself am well stressed good job ive stayed on my meds citalipran im coping the best way i can and trying to be positive for all ,well enough of me for now hope everyone is well hugs to all elaine xxx

Hi gang, and welcome to our site Thomas and Dawn, I haven't been on much lately but it has been a godsend to us all.
I owe a lot of e-mails to peeps but for some reason I am sleeping all day and all night, I think it must be the morphine plus my Baclofen that I have had to double up on. I feel spaced out and not with it more than usual.
I got my Rollator yesterday and it's brilliant, I feel just like a baby learning to walk with it's baby walker, (must look like it as well). I feel safer now as with my crutches I am frightened of breaking my arms if I fall.
Carole I have spent nearly all my time trying to keep my bird off the flowers, he would love it if I put him on them to take a photo. Anyway, I am fed up of him when I take his photo, he comes running to look at the back of the camera to see himself, my fault, I shouldn't have shown him in the first place.
Angela it is lovely to see you here again, and Gail and Deanna I will write I promise, it's finding the time when I'm not sleeping.

Love and hugs to all
Caz xx

Hi there
Elaine your message caught my eye when you mentioned microcephaly. What it basically means is that the size of the skull is smaller than average. There is a wide variance in how this presents. If it's taken them 2 years to come up with that diagnosis, it cannot be significantly noticeable.
My daughter Megan age 38 has this, as you're probably aware we have quite an outbreak of autism in our family and she also appears to have several of the symptoms. She's never been labelled with autism per se, but the traits are there. She has always been described as learning disabled, or 'challenged' in the new terminology.
She does wonderfully well, with a smaller than average head, a bit of a prob getting a hat that doesn't swim on her.
Please don't read &/or assume the worst scenario before you learn more. It doesn't necessarily mean his life will be hugely challenged. he still has capacity to learn to his potential, to love and to experience life to the fullest of his ability. the most important thing to me, is to keep encouraging, every tiny achievement, and to believe in him.
Sending you lots of hugs,
mary

Hi Claire, how pleased I am that you have received such comprehensive help that is making a difference to your life. I do hope the support etc continues and you never again feel so low that you consider harming yourself or worse.
Please let us know how things continue for you.

It's very much a postcode lottery out there regarding counselling etc and the waiting lists are long in many places, and sometimes it's too expensive for someone on benefits or low income to afford.
I hope your family stays strong and loving and can enjoy many happy stress free times.
Lizxx

Hi Mary, good that you can help with this information, makes all the difference if something is known rather than unknown. Hope you are ok and not so shaken since the accident, and that Colleen is home and enjoying time with you all. Does it unsettle the children when she comes and goes or is it all a bit of a novelty?
Been thinking about you, and all of our friends on here.

Very tired, reunion was brilliant altho not so many of 'my' year in attendance this time, had I been involved as I usually am with the orgnisation I would have picked up on that and chased them up for response, as it was I managed to persuade two people to make the effort, they had misunderstood the letter sent out as had many others, and thought it was an evening only 'do' so were otherwise engaged, but when I called them they realised they could fit in a few hours during the afternoon part of the get together so it worked well.
I have been persuaded to organise one for our year only in the spring, so will wait till Christmas is over and then knuckle down to it, and see what I can do.

We had more than half a dozen ex teachers attend too, some from long distances away, and it was great to see them, obviously there will come a time when they won't be able to attend but they have made most of the reunions from the second one I did in 1984 to now, even tho they are now in their late 70s and older. The Press were there and took some pics of me and the others who organised this one, and one with me and my old German teacher, German as in lesson not nationality lol, with him wagging his finger at me - heaven knows how it will come out, dreading opening the paper next week and seeing it lol
Will let you all have a link to it if it is printed lol

Hope to be a bit more 'with it' next week after catching up on some sleep, so meantime, take care all,
love and hugs

Lizxxxxx

Welcome to the thread Dawn, I know I have been just where you have been. I have not had the guts to write it here though, so well done you. I have pets as well and they are life savers.

Shopping Trip
Well was a big let down, I did get what was on my lists. But OH was is a rushing mood and that was it. I wanted to look around for ideas for Christmas presents. The biggest problem is that he is so used to my lists and just doing that he was confronted with me wanting to actually look around.

We also left a bag full of groceries at the shop, we were very lucky they still have them and so a friend is picking them up this week.

Part of the trouble was the service was very poor as well, really snotty people working, plus very slow service and this does not help. Once again I was treated like an idiot, I chose to ignore it, it upsets OH and makes him angry and edgy.

It is not going to stop me, I need to get out and be able to socialise again, and not be afraid of other peoples reactions.

Mary how scary for you and the children.

Love and hugs

Liz I'm so glad you enjoyed your reunion, always such an interesting thing to get together and see how everyone ELSE has changed. LOL.

Angela, good to see you back, you are doing so well, of course you'll miss Eddie terribly, he'd be so proud of you for taking a deep breath and trying to move forward. You have friends walking with you.

I've recovered from my upset over that accident, the kids only saw a woman climbing out of the window on the drivers side. They were talking about it today, and Emlyn age 8 said that if that lady had children still in the van while she climbed out, she "wasn't a very worthy mother". I tried to explain that sometimes the mother would need to move out of the way so someone else can help the children. It appears she was alone in the van, no children injured, but what a philosophical discussion we had. LOL me and an 8 year old, wise beyond her years.

Colleen couldn't come home this w/e, so the kids and I are managing. Got someone in to plaster and paint my bathroom ceiling today, only had part of the ceiling down since last December. Now it looks so clean I will have to paint the walls. Need advice, so silly, I cannot make decisions about colour. Currently the walls are a dark blue green(more green than blue), with gold painted woodwork, plus gold cherubs stencilled round the top of the walls. Lace curtains on the windows, wood grain cabinets, the basin, shower and jacuzzi are all white.Anyone have any bright ideas. My towels were pale pink until Sarah used them with some (so-called) washable blue poster paint, so in time they will become rags.
I am thinking a "dusty rose" shade might be nice.

Another difficult night with Gareth, he's resisting going to bed, can feel myself becoming more annoyed by the minute, walked away, he's angry, kicking, more agitated than usual. Megan has him lying now on the settee and she's sitting with him.Once he's asleep we'll move him to his bed.
I was starting to have chest pain so I had to bail out.

Ouch, I managed to sustain a 2nd degree burn to my inner arm earlier this evening. had to run to the chemist for dressing supplies. My own fault for lifting the lid the wrong way, while tonights canning specialty, spaghetti sauce, was bubbling and steaming. 8 pints should be bottled by midnight and then I'll try to settle down. I seem to be pretty "high" today, felt I'd adjusted to the 60mg dose Citalopram, but obviously it's still too high. I only have 2 speeds these days, fast and stop.
Tomorrow I am not cooking anything, I think.

Carole I don't know how you remember everyone's names and issues, you are truly appreciated.

Gill, YCaz, Ann, Deanna, Gail, AnnGG, Betty, Dawn, Rachel, Eileen, Whitenancy, Liz, Elaine, Carolina, Carole send love to you all, and to whomever I've neglected,
group hug,
Mary

Good morning everyone

Hope today is a nice gentle day for you all

hello Dawn welcome to the thread, I will pm you in a little while.......do keep posting.

((((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))))) to all

Gill

Good morning everyone.

Hope the weather is as lovely as it is here.Being so warm and sunny, it encouraged me to wash the guest room bed linnen and hang it out.

There are so many posts to read, it will take ages to do so properly.Have only skimmed through them to try and catch up with everyone. I want to thank those who mentioned me.

My eldest (handicapped) daughter and husband TOLD me they were picking me up "on their way back from north Wales", two weeks ago.They had a very long journey, needless to say.I was with them in Brittany for a week, saw 3 granchildren, 2 g.gandchildren, helped move grandson Finn to Brest, where is is studying at uni.Then, on thursday 4th sept.they dropped a bombshell, told me they had booked a flight to England for me to see my old school friend, whom I hadn't seen for yonks! I was more or less kidnapped.It was a very kind, thoughtful geasture of them. They did this because they said it would take a bomb to shift me, make me fly over alone to see my friend.True! Talk about gob-smacked.Sheila, my friend was in on the secret.We mail each other about 4-8 times a day, but she didn't say one word about the trip.

It was lovely to see each other in person, really catch up, but I would have liked to have known beforehand.It dawned on me why my daughter kept on to me to take as little as possible to France.They had gone by plane to see their daughter in north Wales, bought a car there (far cheaper than in France) came back by ferry.They told me that they had bought a tiny Nissan, that was why I could only take a small case and handbag.Not true, it was a biggish car.

Will read all the messages at greater length later, after giving my daughter a hand with her washing etc.

Love to all

Eileen xx

Caz, I did e-mail you along with a few others but your PC will not accept my mail unless I send it on its own...
Don't know why, but that is how it is.
Hope you are well, well as can be expected ... like the rest of us! ;-0)
You have had a bad time lately though haven't you?

Mary, I have tried to read all the mail I have missed but ... no chance. Just too many to get through in one sitting. So how are you after your ordeal and I hope it did not leave the children with any traumatic dreams.
What tablets are you taking 60mgs of... I can't remember.
Speak again soon love.

Angela, how are things with you now?

Dawn, you stick with this thread love. You are most definitely amongst like minded friends.
I have had Agoraphobia for years. It happened at the happiest time of my life, after a particularly hard time in my life. I could not understand why. It kept me indoors for 5 years. I got better but I know now that i will never get over it completely.
I live with the fact that each time I go out I have to collect all the inner strength I can. I then get out and on most occasions forget my problem... until the next time.
It gets easier in time, but you must realise that yourself by now, don't you?
Depression is not a fun thing and we all know that so keep coming back.

Eileen you are so lucky to have such a *sneaky* daughter. What a lovely thing to do, but then you knew before that that she is a good girl.

I can't tell you all just how great it is to be back.
I was ill to start with. I don't know what was wrong, but it started with a pain in my back which spread all around my body. I told my doctor that i thought it was probably my gall bladder. she phoned about my blood tests.
I had had to wait until I was well enough to go for them, and they showed up all the inflammation and some infection. she was glad to hear that there was a reason for the rise in them, but wants me to go again Monday or Tuesday just to make sure.
She is so lovely. she phones and keeps an eye on me... how many doctors do that nowadays?
However, I then got a headache of huge proportions which would also give a high reading on my blood test... and was generally very ill for a while.
I then thought 'I must get a message to everyone to tell them that I am still in the land of the "sick and depressed"
;-0) That was when I found that my PC was broken!
Anoither long story, but since i now have a new one.... who cares?
Oh I missed you all so much.
Glad to be back amongst you all.
Ann , Gill, Gail, Liz,Eileen , Carole, Claire, Caz ,Eilaine (how is your lovely man these days?)
And everyone I have missed, forgive me but Allan has called me for my dinner and if I don't come.... he will beat me!! ;-0(
lots pf love to all,
Deanna XXX

good day to you all. I have sent emails to some of you asking for your address, as I need to get organised for Christmas cards. If I haven't sent you a message I might not have your email address. Rather than send a pm to you all (it would take all day) I thought I'd put a message on here.

So can you pm me your address please and surname if I don't have it.

Also anyone want to pass their email address or have mine pm me.

Welcome to our latest posters. Brave move to join in when all seem to know each other, let alone when you are feeling low as well.
So Thomas Dawn and Claire hope you will stay with us and enjoy this place as much as we do.

MMMMmmm dinner smells nice somewhere what you got cooking???

Deanna I am really in the same boat, having been without my computer for several weeks, I doubt I'll ever catch up on what's been happening here but it's so good to be back.
I'm on Citalopram, oh you may have missed that part, I didn't realise the pills had been changed from 20mg tabs to 40 mg tabs and cheerfully (VERY cheerfully) continued taking 2 tabs a day, ie 80mg daily, so I became unwell, lots of symptoms which led me to think I had MS, was actually toxicity from my inadvertant double dosing of Citalopram. I am back down to 60mg from 80 mg, in another week or so I'll try 50mg. for a week or two, then down to 40mg hopefully. A lesson to be learned!!!!
Glad we're both back,
Mary

Carole... I send you a Christmas card.. HOW??
I don't have your address either.
AND I have to say love, you are so so brave. You could end up posting 22,000 Christmas cards this year. ;-0)
Mary some doctors are not so good at explaining what they mean are they?
Yopull be fine soon.
I remember that your copmuter decided to go on a holiday without you... how selfish they are!! LOL

love Deanna XXX

Oh my goodness what an evening. I had to go out with my granddaughter for a meeting for her dance school. Emlyn and I stopped on the way home to buy her new shoes for hip-hop class tomorrow. The roads were wet and slippery as it had rained most of the day. When we came out of the shop, nightmare weather had begun - wild wind, the rain was horrific, falling horizontally instead of vertically - and the shopping carts in the parking lot had taken on a life of their own, flying across around the cars, smashing into several of them. After about 10 minutes I ran across, among all the possessed shopping carts, to the car. Em was frightened by the enormity of the storm, but I reassurred her non-stop all the way home, where we found a large tree branch on our front lawn!!.
we are only feeling the outside edge of "IKE", just imagine how horrific the situation is for our southern neighbours. Galveston Island off the coast of Texas is virtually demolished in parts., I've been watching the news channel on TV tonight. And feeling very grateful to be warm and dry.
Off to do some baking for the kids lunches tomorrow, it's just midnight so I should be asleep by 1am, all being well.
Stay safe and dry
Hugs
Mary.

To Claire, hi Dawn here, Im new too, just read your story, some similarities to my own so know how youve been feeling, Im trying to put my chilhood to rest too, been very difficult but since my (father) I say that with difficulty as he wasnt much of a father, died a lot has been lifted off my life, lets say, Im 51 and had depression since I was twelve, well thats how I remember feeling at that age but had such a terribly unhappy chilhood that I think it was depression then too. I hope your son is fine and the rest of your family, I have a son with crohns disease although hes 30 now he was diagnosed at 10 after years of pain, I still worry now even though he can look after himself, hes so far away from me and I hardly ever see him because hes a work o holic, which actualy disturbs his crohns as it reacts to stress, but what can you do, life goes on, we will always worry about our children what ever age they are. Im finding this thread very theraputic as I never see anyone and have no one to talk to, not that I would talk about how Im feeling anyway as Im private like that too, but this page has already been good for me after only a couple of days, people that know how I feel, hooray! an understanding community at last, I dont feel so alone already, I know someone is going to be there what ever time of day it is. You take care Claire, thinking of you, Dawn X

Hi every one, hope your all ok out there, just going to take the dog for a walk then get a few hours sleep, just to say that this is Dawn here and my name will now come up as Diamond Chrisy, still learning all this stuff about computing and e.mailing and chating etc, have patcience,(is that the right spelling) anyway will be back prob this evening, take care all, big hugs, Dawn x

hello everyone

Mary you do get yourself into some situations! My goodness I guess my cousins in Ohio and Nebraska
will also have had a rough day with the weather. They never said anything.

Back to work this morning. It seems ages since I was there. Tuesday last week was the last time!
Well must dry hair, have coffee make some sort of pack up and feed Coco the dog.

See you all later.

Dawn so pleased to see you posting and already
feeling some comfort. Spelling? We don't do spell checks ha ha xxx

Good morning all,
Claire I am suffering from the same debilitating disease that you are.
I came on for a look at my mail, and cannot get off again to sort out my next load of washing!!
I don't know how many people I have told that 'I am off now to sort my next load'..... NOW I REALLY AM GOING.....
Will be back though...
love Deanna XXX

Morning, it's still raining here, but wind has died down. The basement is mighty wet but the 2 sump pumps should handle it.
So glad to see new friends on here posting, this is a real life line, especially if you have no one else to talk to. I like the expression "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet". It's certainly true of this board.
Off to -pack lunches (yes I should have done that last night) and drive to school. Then 5 hours quiet.
Good day all, hugs across the pond.
Mary