INSOMNIACS place to talk in the wee hours

Loveroflife

Ms. Wren, yes!! It's night and day compared to a standard collar. I feltso bad trying to correct her with the standard one. Was so afraid I would damage her throat. She is such a strong girl for a skinny thing

Cubbie2015

Loverly, I was curious about those dog halters when I first saw one. They look like a great idea, although I've never had a dog to try one out with. When I was a kid, however, we had a couple of dogs who were bad about pulling on the !east. They weren't large dogs, so it was more of a nuisance than anything else, but those halters look like they would have made walking them much easier.

My dog when I was a kid was pretty anxious, but never destructive about it. I think what helped him the most was time - being able to see that he could count on us. He'd had a couple of different homes before he came to us.

Thanks for sharing your experience with me - I guess my feelings are pretty normal. I too have lost weight with this diagnosis. Sometimes I just don't feel like eating. Sleeping has been rough. Lots of bad dreams.

Rosevalley, thank you for the welcome. I hope your treatments go well.

Susan, yes, I did pick the name because the Cubs were in the middle of their playoffs when I signed up. They did so much better than I expected this year, they are a young team and I didn't think they'd go so far into the playoffs. Very exciting and a nice distraction under the circumstances. I will miss baseball season.

I hope your test goes well. A weekend trip for a wedding sounds like fun.

Loveroflife

Cubbie, hope you had some zzz. Best wishes with the doctor appointment. Hang in there.

Ms. CHEVY, I am up before you again??

Susan, hoping nothing but favorable results. Have fun at the wedding

queenmomcat

Cubbie: to answer one of your original questions--I promise nothing about future emotional upheavals, or lack thereof, but that initial storm of tears, whatifs and brain gremlins does start fading as you progress through the process. Though that said, sometimes external support is needed!

Loveroflife

Ms. Sas, could you please clarify your question on the Mu receptor for me?? Sorry I am slow and don't catch on right away. What happened with the colon? I can try and pretend to be Sherlock Holmes. Ha! Regarding baclofen, I guess the only way to find out is to revisit it. Is it worth the trouble?? Only you will know. You are probably one of those rare people who have a special way of processing drugs. I hope the decrease in dose will help with the spasm/pain with tolerable side effects. I hope what you experienced was not the beginning of mania. I was going to say you are brave for wanting to test the water again, but I think I understand why you need to. Hug

Loveroflife

Cubbie, Queenie is right.

Chevyboy

Morning gals! Yes I'm up! And the rest of you guys are probably still sleeping... "hopefully."...

CUBBIE! I LOVE that name... Is that your "real" name? So I'll bet your family of bears named you that.... In FACT! I myself have a "cubbie" in my bed.... DH gave him to me a few years ago, and I just feel "safe" with him there....

DH has been relegated to the other bed.... but sometimes he comes in with me, and I love it... With my sore hip, and him tossing and turning and raising hell in the bed, it's just best we have our "own" spaces...

Getting back to what you were saying on another thread.... I miss my Dad too! He passed away Jan 1 2009... and I still miss that little chit..... See, all my life he was lost in his drinking.... And not the nicest guy.... But they moved when I became engaged, so all their problems, etc. were gone from here.... But it wasn't until after Mom died, did I learn what a great MAN he was! Sure he drank and made our lives miserable, but if Mom could take him, that's all that mattered... But when we lost her, he slowly changed into the sweet, caring Dad I always wanted...! I learned to love him.... even though he drank.... but I learned to accept him for the way he was...... He mourned my Mom something awful! He would call me 2-3 times a day, just wanting to talk about her, and cry with me..........

So that last year of his life, I made lots of trips to California to be with him..... We would sit and laugh and talk and he was my sweetest "best friend." But he started going down-hill... When I look back on it now, I don't think he wanted to live without her.... and I couldn't go back to be with him all the time!

I tried so hard to help him... he COULDN'T live at this altitude... That smoking and drinking just wasn't NICE to him after awhile........ I think he mostly just gave up.... and it's like he died of a broken heart, only a year after we lost Mom.... At least that's what I think......... But you will always think of your Dad... I didn't like him when my Brother and I were little... But I learned to love him, when I knew he loved me...........

Just cherish your feelings you have for your loved ones.... I wish I could just talk to him once more......... Okay.... now I'm sad.... BBL

Spookiesmom

Hi Cubby!!

NOOOOOOO Chevy can't be sad. Not the Colorado early chirping bird!!!

Sas, what you said on Pinktober.

Cubbie2015

Thanks Queenie and Lovely. I'm sure it is never easy, but I hope I can one day sleep better and enjoy things again. I did manage to sleep off and on, but I still feel tired. Thank you for the wisdom and support.

Chevy, I'm glad you had some good times with your Dad. I always feel kind of sad when people say they didn't have the kind of Dad I did - I'm sorry that they missed out on that. Thinking of him and the good times we had when I was a kid, helps at night when I'm scared and lonely.

Spookiesmom

Loverly, pics of the new baby please

kathindc

Cubbie, I had a great dad as well. He always encouraged me in everything I tried and taught me so much. My mom, on the other hand, never gave me credit for anything. She was so into my brother doing nothing wrong (i.e. four marriages and it was always the ex's fault). My DH picked up how she was towards me very early in our marriage and jokingly said she liked him more than me and I had to agree with him. He felt so bad about saying it but I had to tell him it was true. I think my personality was too strong for her to deal with. For an introvert, I kept my nose to the grindstone and plugged away to achieve my goals. Oh well. During my journey, I missed my dad occasionally talked to him at night.

Loveroflife

My new baby

Jazzygirl

Cubbie- sorry you have found yourself here and yes, shock, tears, sadness, anger are all part of the initial response.

I see you live alone and going to PM you over to a singles thread where many of us went through treatment living alone too. We can help you with some suggestions around that over there. A bit of a different world for those of us without anyone nearby to help, but we all got through it and you will too. More to follow.

Jazzygirl

Speaking of rabbits, which I was the other day. I used to do this with my baby rabbits while the mama was nearby too heavy with milk to move around much. Babies crawled all over me and just loved it. These rabbits have a real motivator (something to eat!)

Jazzygirl

And just sort of funny with Halloween coming up......

Cubbie2015

Thanks, Jazzy, I will check that out. That Dalmation is so cute!

Jacfin

Hi cubbie.....I hope you can get some peace in these horrible early days. There is good advice for you here from many wise women. Sending hugs from downunder.

Chevy, your YouTube video for the teacher was beautiful and made me cry.....I never cry. Also, I am So glad you found love in your relationship with your dad. My mum had a similar mixed relationship with her dad. She was the unwanted last child of a bigoted drunken father, and yet her dad's heart broke when she left Northern Ireland as a 26 year old to travel to Australia. They never saw each other again, but they exchanged weekly letters and monthly cassette tapes of conversation. She at last made peace with her first relationship with her dad and had a lovely next relationship. You are the only person I have ever seen to have had a Similar experience. Thank you for sharing that intimate experience.

latest with me is that I am back at work three days a week after difficult reconstruction surgery. I still have a small open wound and significant issues with my arm mobility, but I am getting there. Had to do a presentation this morning with two hours notice for the whole Corporation and really didn't know how I would go. it went well. I am struggling a bit though. Was asked yesterday to be a keynote speaker at a women in business conference in a couple of months and am trying to decide whether I can commit the energy. My rehab (mostly arm and wound healing) seems to leave me exhausted and my confidence since returning to work has taken a tumble. I need clear air to decide.

And so I am rambling now coz I should be asleep. Nitey nite lovely Owlettes and thanks for listening to the Auusie rambler xx

Chevyboy

Kath! Exactly! My Brother, a year younger was the "perfect" one.... Yet today we are sooooo close! He lives in Nashville, has always been a Musician, and has the BEST sense of humor in the world... He was with me when we had to deal with closing up our folks house, getting rid of their whole life, and putting their home up for sale....

He didn't care about any of the family stuff... Even Mom wouldn't let me drive her car, when we went to visit! Just my Brother.... I just think some Mother's are that way with their Son's.

But still.... I got to know my Dad.... even if it was when I was in my 50's..... I miss Mom, but I feel like I really didn't "know" her.... She tried as best as she could....

You learn from what happened when you were a child.... You learn to not do to your family what hurt you as a kid...... And you become the person you were meant to be..... Oh blah-blah- BLAH! Hah!

kathindc

How true Chevy. We are much stronger for it!

sas-schatzi

I waved my wand at the sun and said "Let they're be geomagnetic storms that will mess up the internet and be a pest with electronics" and it was done. I'm very controlling that way.

Cubbie, Come see us after your visit I worked the initial period different than most folks. Didn't cry for almost 7 months. Then it was the primal scream. I do that a couple times a year. Don't remember doing it this year.

Loverly I almost bought one of those tea pots. They are so beautifully made. They all had names like prosperity, wealth, love, health etc. I will try and find some pics. They were very expensive. Over a hundred. But they were lovely. So, was the shop. Very Feng Shui. When I first learned about Feng Shui, I pronounced it f eh'ng shooey. Rather than faeng shuy. Anyways, I say it properly.

I lost part of my colon b/c I took Celebrex. I trusted the docs. When it was new in 1998(9), I went through an eval by multiple ologists. Kind of like I'm doing now. They all said it'd be a good drug for me. I researched the internet. No where did I see the black box warning. "Not to be used with a hx of ulcers, diverticulosis, diverticulitis, hx of GI bleeding. Has been known to cause spontaneous gastric rupture" Internist, rheumatologist, neurologist and another one(?) all okayed it's use. I had a hx of divertic. Oh well......

I do have a strange processing problem. Very rare. For example, one-two oxycodones gives me pain relief for 24 hours. I'll send you a link to 2D6 thread start reading my posts in Feb 2014.

Mu opiod receptors in the colon. Are they're any new pain drugs that don't cause constipation by blocking those receptors?. I can't take NSAIDS. Tramadol as a non opiod was great, but it affected the colon. Oh well......... I am going to revisit Baclofen next Monday.

No Mania here. I think Rosie was worried about that too. Nope it was simply drug affect/effect.

Spookie you are speaking in code. A few more words please , funny girl

Loveroflife

ok, that's what I thought. Do you mind sending the list of current meds you are on through PM? I will try and put on my Sherlock's glasses and see if i can find anything.

Loveroflife

Oh yeah, love the idea of feng shui.

sas-schatzi

Chevy, you admit raising hell in bed, you frisky ole gal. Teasing me about Essex. There is hope for all of us

Queenie what's up with the skin?

Susan have fun at the wedding. Do you get to see the kids. Tell DD and SIL we're all very happy and excited for them. ould love to see prego pics(like Smarrty's DGD).

Jacfin, You did great on short notice, b/c you did have time to worry. Do you have to do research for the keynote address? In the EMS job long ago, we were encouraged to do that type of thing and allowed to use all the office resources, including staff. The prep time was all on company time. Is that similar in your office? . Having someone assigned to help with the research and slide development would ease your work. It would seem a reasonable request b/c it makes your boss look very good when one of his staff is asked to do such a prestigious presentation.

Off to housekeeping threads, Hugs to all that need them Waving at our lurkers

sas-schatzi

Oh Loverly, 1. try putting the cage under a table. Far enough away from legs and top that she can't paw or chew through the bars. Some dogs feel more secure when in a cave like atmosphere. 2. Get her bedding and stuffed animals at the local thrift. Generally, stuffed animals are 25 cents to a dollar versus 8-10 dollars at the pet store. Use blankets or sheets from the thrift versus a standard cage cushion. Some dogs make nests and that can't be done with a cushion. 3. After washing the linens and stuffed animals, you sleep with them for several nights to get your scent on them. 4. During the time you are home, leave the door open to the cage. 5.Give her a treat with her in the cage with the door open. Sit or be on the floor next to her. If she tries to come out with the treat, coax her back in. Don't give her the next treat until she's back in the cage. 6. If she chews her stuffed animals, make it allowable in the cage but no where else. 7. You could have a second cage for time outs for bad behavior. Don't do any nice happy things around that cage. The ultimate goal is for her to think of this space as cozy, protected , and happy place

.

Spookiesmom

Sas, me? You put a post on Pinktober, then asked me and a few others if that was the first time sexism had been mentioned there. I answered you here. I'm about done with that thread.

queenmomcat

Skin's pretty much back to normal, thank dog, save for a few residual nerve jabs now down to the hallucinatory levels. Even better, the antibiotics did not wreak absolute hell on my digestive system. A little faster than usual, but given I tend the other way (endometriosis), that's hardly a problem. I think.

Cubbie2015

I'm back from my appointment. Found out I have to have more surgery at some point, so that was disappointing. Also found out I am IIA instead of 1b like I'd hoped. Doc says for a micromet like I have, you calculate risk based on IIA, even though it is technically 1b. I know I'm a lot better off than some others, but I am still sad about not being Stage 1 like I'd hoped. It seems so much scarier.

Jacfin, that is great you did well on your presentation with short notice. I have to return to work tomorrow myself, and I'm concerned about concentrating with so much else on my mind. Hope I do as well as you.

Rosevalley

Jazzy- that poor dalmation!!! Hahaha.. fabulous picture! What a funny idea to turn the spots into spiders.Love the bunny picture too.

Loverly- what's the new pup name? She's adorable. Like our little "Flower" we had to put down at age 18.. (Corgi -Chihuahua- West Highland terrier mix). She was so silly looking she passed clean over to adorable. People would ask what kind of dog she was. We would say seriously she was a rare "Westcorgi-huahua." Hey specialty pure breed dogs have their followers. We in mutt land can have designer named mutts right? Good luck with the training.

Cubbie2015

I may have missed it, but what kind of dog is that, Loverly? She has such crazy fur, I can't figure out what breeds she is.

magdalene51

Hi Owlettes. You know, I think I've told you about the online game I play, and the friends I've made in real life, like the ones who made an 8 hour each way drive for a 24 hour visit when I was in chemo. Well, one of the gals was just dxed with BC yesterday. Had a long FB chat with her last night, she's still in shock, but I pointed her to BCO, and she may check in here. I know you'll give her a warm welcome, as you have with our newest, Cubbie *waves*.