I miss you guys blogging with me. I know your all out there or as Pink Floyd said "Is there anybody out there' heck yeah you are.
We need reunion 2008 pic's and how it went? I keep asking in e-mails and no one responds and I know it was good cause you were together.
This is for family so lets keep the blog going.
Got a weeding coming up soon too. Would be nice for someone to show Allen's soon to be wife how to use this blog. I know she does PC's.
This Month is Mommas birthday so for her lets get this blog rocking again OK.
Love y'all xxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
Hi Family
WOW its Feb. 08 already and our family blog is still napping. I know everyone is busy working and stuff, but hope someday you'll stop in and let us know how your all doing.
I'm still looking for a job, blah I hate job hunting.
Angie has moved back to North Carolina. She will be getting a divorce, she's doing ok most of the time now after lots of good support from home and the Pastor. She still has some melt down times but thats part of the divorce. Thats why God doesn't like divorce cause its so painful.
Angie did find a good job in Charlotte, she's working for Herff Jones as a Graphic Artist. This is the company who makes School Year Books.
She has an hour drive to anf from work, but she listens to her CD's the pastor gave her and that helps.
She stopped of at a coffee shop yesterday in Charlotte before heading home. She came in smiling and happy. The day before was hard cause her soon to be ex called her and it upset her. THe last time she heard from him was Christmas Eve when he called and yelled at her.
But she is healing now and her happy self is coming around. I love to see her happy.
Bekah is having a ball in school this year. I'm so glad cause last year was awful. I did take her out of that school and now shes back in the Christian school she went to when she was younger.
They have a lot of fun together and good teachers too. Its just harder work, thats good for her.
I'm doing ok and so is Joe. I just need a jod or to win the lottery. lol
I miss you my family.
Love, Dixie
I'm still looking for a job, blah I hate job hunting.
Angie has moved back to North Carolina. She will be getting a divorce, she's doing ok most of the time now after lots of good support from home and the Pastor. She still has some melt down times but thats part of the divorce. Thats why God doesn't like divorce cause its so painful.
Angie did find a good job in Charlotte, she's working for Herff Jones as a Graphic Artist. This is the company who makes School Year Books.
She has an hour drive to anf from work, but she listens to her CD's the pastor gave her and that helps.
She stopped of at a coffee shop yesterday in Charlotte before heading home. She came in smiling and happy. The day before was hard cause her soon to be ex called her and it upset her. THe last time she heard from him was Christmas Eve when he called and yelled at her.
But she is healing now and her happy self is coming around. I love to see her happy.
Bekah is having a ball in school this year. I'm so glad cause last year was awful. I did take her out of that school and now shes back in the Christian school she went to when she was younger.
They have a lot of fun together and good teachers too. Its just harder work, thats good for her.
I'm doing ok and so is Joe. I just need a jod or to win the lottery. lol
I miss you my family.
Love, Dixie
Monday, December 3, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Hi Family
Seems our family blog is taken a nap :-(
Wakey everyone.
How are you and what's going on.
How was the reunion and do we have any pic's for the blog site?
I miss hearing from my family.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy being together.
Mine will be quiet but nice, just spending it with my girls and Joe.
I got a blessing last week. You know I'm working hard trying to get a good steay job and needing a car.
Vocational Rebah in Albemarle is who I have been with trying to help me find work.
My case worker Nancy Rummage called me one day asking me if I still needed a car and I told her I do, she then told me the someone donated a Car to Voc. Rehab for someone, but as it turned out its a stick shift and I can't drive that.
So I asked her to give it to someone who needs it and can drive it, but to keep me in mind for the next automatic that comes in. She said she would but in the dozen years that she has worked at Voc. Rehab that car was only the second car to have come in. But she would call IF.
Well that very day the IF happened and she called. Dr. Reedey (sp) called donating a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder and its MINE now. :-)
I love it, so much fun to drive it.
I am still holding onto my job, but it so Mismanaged and only time before this company will go under if the owner starts to spend money to make this job work.
Here in Stanly Co. we have a lot of very good home health care business and we are no competition to them at all. I love my job but sure and nervous. At least I have the SUV and can get out and look more for work.
I'll post a pic of my new toy.
Love y'all xxxxx
Wakey everyone.
How are you and what's going on.
How was the reunion and do we have any pic's for the blog site?
I miss hearing from my family.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy being together.
Mine will be quiet but nice, just spending it with my girls and Joe.
I got a blessing last week. You know I'm working hard trying to get a good steay job and needing a car.
Vocational Rebah in Albemarle is who I have been with trying to help me find work.
My case worker Nancy Rummage called me one day asking me if I still needed a car and I told her I do, she then told me the someone donated a Car to Voc. Rehab for someone, but as it turned out its a stick shift and I can't drive that.
So I asked her to give it to someone who needs it and can drive it, but to keep me in mind for the next automatic that comes in. She said she would but in the dozen years that she has worked at Voc. Rehab that car was only the second car to have come in. But she would call IF.
Well that very day the IF happened and she called. Dr. Reedey (sp) called donating a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder and its MINE now. :-)
I love it, so much fun to drive it.
I am still holding onto my job, but it so Mismanaged and only time before this company will go under if the owner starts to spend money to make this job work.
Here in Stanly Co. we have a lot of very good home health care business and we are no competition to them at all. I love my job but sure and nervous. At least I have the SUV and can get out and look more for work.
I'll post a pic of my new toy.
Love y'all xxxxx
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Its Just me again :-)
Hi Everyone
Well you all know Dad's surgery went well! Thanks God and Momma for looking after Dad for us.
What an awesome gift it was to hear all the good reports on Dad's operation and how well he is doing now cept the pain is icky.
What a hard day that was for us all. And on that day too. I hate October 10Th. But now we have had a GOOD October 10Th. We all needed that.
When we think of the pain of that day and missing Momma from now on we can also smile in knowing it was a special day when Momma smiled at Dad from Heaven and let him and all of us know it was gonna be OK.
Thanks Susan for keeping us all updated on Dad. Love you kiddo.
See everyone soon at the reunion.
Angie will be with Bekah and I. We won't be at the reunion for as long as I want to be but that's cause Bekah has a Doctors apt. that I had to wait months to get her in to see them. But we will be there.
Love you all, God Bless you.
Dixie
Well you all know Dad's surgery went well! Thanks God and Momma for looking after Dad for us.
What an awesome gift it was to hear all the good reports on Dad's operation and how well he is doing now cept the pain is icky.
What a hard day that was for us all. And on that day too. I hate October 10Th. But now we have had a GOOD October 10Th. We all needed that.
When we think of the pain of that day and missing Momma from now on we can also smile in knowing it was a special day when Momma smiled at Dad from Heaven and let him and all of us know it was gonna be OK.
Thanks Susan for keeping us all updated on Dad. Love you kiddo.
See everyone soon at the reunion.
Angie will be with Bekah and I. We won't be at the reunion for as long as I want to be but that's cause Bekah has a Doctors apt. that I had to wait months to get her in to see them. But we will be there.
Love you all, God Bless you.
Dixie
Monday, September 24, 2007
Its just Me :-)
Hi Guys
I think were all busy cause Suzie and I are the only ones blogging.
Nan are you getting settled down now in Atlanta? I know your having a great time with all your kids and grand kids too. :-)
I love being with mine too.
Well I found a job. I work for Comfort Home Health Care of Albemarle.
Anyone have a spare care your not using. I need one very badly for my work.
I am the office Mgr. well I manage me cause I'm the only one here for right now.
I will be hiring health care workers. As well as Talking to local Doctors, social workers at the health dept. and the hospital. Visiting senior centers. To find folks who are in need of good home health care.
I may as well get in good with the senior center cause some day we will be in one playing shuffle board and bingo. :-) lol
I'm real excited for the chance to work, my boss is great and easy to talk to.
Who ever See's Dad first please give him a Kiss from me.
OK refresh me on what weekend were all meeting next month?
Well I have it saved some where and I can look.
Rebekah has an interview tomorrow nite (Sept. 25Th.) in Charlotte for a possible job in a TV AD. Pray for her. She wants to act/ model so bad. Will be good for her. The Money will be good for her too.
Love y'all xxxxxxxxxxxx
I think were all busy cause Suzie and I are the only ones blogging.
Nan are you getting settled down now in Atlanta? I know your having a great time with all your kids and grand kids too. :-)
I love being with mine too.
Well I found a job. I work for Comfort Home Health Care of Albemarle.
Anyone have a spare care your not using. I need one very badly for my work.
I am the office Mgr. well I manage me cause I'm the only one here for right now.
I will be hiring health care workers. As well as Talking to local Doctors, social workers at the health dept. and the hospital. Visiting senior centers. To find folks who are in need of good home health care.
I may as well get in good with the senior center cause some day we will be in one playing shuffle board and bingo. :-) lol
I'm real excited for the chance to work, my boss is great and easy to talk to.
Who ever See's Dad first please give him a Kiss from me.
OK refresh me on what weekend were all meeting next month?
Well I have it saved some where and I can look.
Rebekah has an interview tomorrow nite (Sept. 25Th.) in Charlotte for a possible job in a TV AD. Pray for her. She wants to act/ model so bad. Will be good for her. The Money will be good for her too.
Love y'all xxxxxxxxxxxx
Friday, September 7, 2007
Hi, everyone...I know that you have spoken with each other over the past few days. I wanted to take a moment to advise everyone of what is happening.
Dad is fine, he is keeping his spirits up and keeping a positive outlook.
What we know for sure if that the doctor's found a few polyps in his colon. Two of the were pink and they were removed. The third is black in color and has a stem or root on it. This polyp was tested and came back as cancer.
The concern on this polyp is the stem or root, they will not be able to determine until they remove it, whether or not the root/stem is in the stomach/ blood stream or lympnodes.
Last week, Dad went into the hospital to have the polyp inked for removal and they inked two more (pink) polyps. While they were inking the polyps they burned the end of the black one to stop any further growth inside the colon, but they can not be certain that the burning when through to the stem/root.
While speaking with the surgeon yesterday, we also found out that he as a 3 centimeter mass in the gland of the left prostate.
The surgeon is working closely with the Urologists and they will run more blood test on Dad to try to determine what is in the prostate before they due any surgery.
They are going to try to schedule his surgery for the end of this month, we should know the date by next Tuesday/Wednesday.
I asked the surgeon about the possible spreading and the delay and he advised us that if the cancer has spread, a few weeks will not make a difference and that they will not be able to determine this until they remove the polyps and have it tested. They will also test the surround tissue and lympnodes during this time.
If the cancer has spread, then they will refer Dad to a cancer doctor for treatment.
I will keep you all posted as I learn more.
You can call him to talk with him if you want - his cell number is 561-271-1648 - he would love to hear from you all - as he is really scared.
I love you all!!!!!!! Suzie
Hi Guys I just got this from Susie, TY Susie for all your doing for Dad and all of us too. As to our wonderful phone call ty for calling and sharing with your older/shorter sister. I love you too sweetie.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dad is fine, he is keeping his spirits up and keeping a positive outlook.
What we know for sure if that the doctor's found a few polyps in his colon. Two of the were pink and they were removed. The third is black in color and has a stem or root on it. This polyp was tested and came back as cancer.
The concern on this polyp is the stem or root, they will not be able to determine until they remove it, whether or not the root/stem is in the stomach/ blood stream or lympnodes.
Last week, Dad went into the hospital to have the polyp inked for removal and they inked two more (pink) polyps. While they were inking the polyps they burned the end of the black one to stop any further growth inside the colon, but they can not be certain that the burning when through to the stem/root.
While speaking with the surgeon yesterday, we also found out that he as a 3 centimeter mass in the gland of the left prostate.
The surgeon is working closely with the Urologists and they will run more blood test on Dad to try to determine what is in the prostate before they due any surgery.
They are going to try to schedule his surgery for the end of this month, we should know the date by next Tuesday/Wednesday.
I asked the surgeon about the possible spreading and the delay and he advised us that if the cancer has spread, a few weeks will not make a difference and that they will not be able to determine this until they remove the polyps and have it tested. They will also test the surround tissue and lympnodes during this time.
If the cancer has spread, then they will refer Dad to a cancer doctor for treatment.
I will keep you all posted as I learn more.
You can call him to talk with him if you want - his cell number is 561-271-1648 - he would love to hear from you all - as he is really scared.
I love you all!!!!!!! Suzie
Hi Guys I just got this from Susie, TY Susie for all your doing for Dad and all of us too. As to our wonderful phone call ty for calling and sharing with your older/shorter sister. I love you too sweetie.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
I LOVE YOU GUYS
I sure do love you all.
Sorry I have NOT been on the blog lately. No good reason but I just didn't log on.
Susan thanks for the beautiful words you wrote about my daughters and about our family. And your right we did start with a very special lil lady.
We have her Beauty and her Celtic Fire too as well as her passion.
Were all gathered today in Prayer for Dad. And I know were not far from the phone for a call about the Meeting with Dad's Surgeon today at 2:30pm.
We want a Miracle for sure.
Love you Dad.
I sure am glad your my family guys.
Thanks Sue for keeping us all posted.
Jeg Elsker Dig ( that's Danish for I love you)
God Bless you all xxxxxxx
Sorry I have NOT been on the blog lately. No good reason but I just didn't log on.
Susan thanks for the beautiful words you wrote about my daughters and about our family. And your right we did start with a very special lil lady.
We have her Beauty and her Celtic Fire too as well as her passion.
Were all gathered today in Prayer for Dad. And I know were not far from the phone for a call about the Meeting with Dad's Surgeon today at 2:30pm.
We want a Miracle for sure.
Love you Dad.
I sure am glad your my family guys.
Thanks Sue for keeping us all posted.
Jeg Elsker Dig ( that's Danish for I love you)
God Bless you all xxxxxxx
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Hi Everyone
Just a quick note.
Dee,you are truly blessed because not only are your daughters beautiful on the outside they are beautiful on the inside as well.
Mom was right - each new generation gets better and better and it all started with the most loving person I know - MOM.
Angie - YOU LOOK GREAT!
As you all know this month and October hard very hard months for us - I keep think "When does to hurt, the missing go away - it never does because she was and is so special to each of us. I have learned that it just lessens with time - sometimes will always be hard than others. For me it is Aug, Oct and all major holidays.
Dee,you are truly blessed because not only are your daughters beautiful on the outside they are beautiful on the inside as well.
Mom was right - each new generation gets better and better and it all started with the most loving person I know - MOM.
Angie - YOU LOOK GREAT!
As you all know this month and October hard very hard months for us - I keep think "When does to hurt, the missing go away - it never does because she was and is so special to each of us. I have learned that it just lessens with time - sometimes will always be hard than others. For me it is Aug, Oct and all major holidays.
- MOM - WE ALL LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH - I SEE BITS AND PIECES OF YOU IN ALL YOUR CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN - YOU HAVE LEFT BEHIND THE BEST OF YOU IN EACH OF US - ALWAYS WATCH OVER US AND KEEP US SAFE. LOVE YOUR FAMILY
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Happy Birthdays
Sorry I missed everyones Birthdays. Barbara and Zoe happy birthday and everyone else I may have missed.
Our Mom's B'day is in 9 days. Happy Birthday Mom, I love you and miss you.
xxxxxxxxxx
Our Mom's B'day is in 9 days. Happy Birthday Mom, I love you and miss you.
xxxxxxxxxx
Hi
Hi Guys
Sorry I havn't been on the blogg lately. I just havn't felt well. Sorry.
Here's a new pic of Angie. She's so Beautiful. I am so blessed to have 2 awesome daughters and they are both so pretty.
luv, ya
Sorry I havn't been on the blogg lately. I just havn't felt well. Sorry.
Here's a new pic of Angie. She's so Beautiful. I am so blessed to have 2 awesome daughters and they are both so pretty.
luv, ya
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Happy Birthday Barbara
Just a quick note....Happy Birthday Barbara A.
I know I have not been on board lately...my job has kept me very busy since I returned from vacation.
Love you all
Susan
I know I have not been on board lately...my job has kept me very busy since I returned from vacation.
Love you all
Susan
Monday, July 16, 2007
Happy Birthday Zoe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Zoe:
Happy birthday to you and like your mommy I can't believe you are four already! A big girl now! I will call you tonight before you go to bed to say happy birthday in person. I will mail your birthday gifts real soon too!
I posted that it was your birthday to all my artist friends and here is what they had to say to you:
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
Happy Birthday Winnie and Doug!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope your day was special!
Happy Birthday to Zoe!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 years old today! She is an honorary member of WC because her portrait is plastered all over the WDE in All Media. So happy birthday sweet grand-daughter! :heart:
Europa
4 Hours Ago 01:20 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
Aaaaaaaaaaw how cute is she!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!!!HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - GAIL & DAN - ELLEN AND BRYAN!!LUGGLESPat xxx
Violetta
4 Hours Ago 01:36 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
I couldn't believe it when I logged on to the Wash at midday and it was already THREE PAGES! YOU LOOK TERRIFIC IN PAT'S PICS!!!!!Nancy - What a darling picture!Have a terrific day everyone. ((((((((ALL IN NEED))))))))
sweetapplez
4 Hours Ago 02:05 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
Happy Birthday Doug!Happy Birthday Winnie!Happy Birthday Zoe!Nancy..Zoe is a little doll!
See you later.
shipbroker
2 Hours Ago 03:32 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
:wave: everyone....Nancy, What an absolutely beautiful baby Zoe was... and she's a lovely little girl still! Happy, Happy Birthday, Zoe!
Thinking especially of Heidi, Uschi, and Allen today. Prayers and hugs for you all.
gmarie
2 Hours Ago 03:44 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARYGail & Dan Ellen & BrianHappy Birthday Dear Little Zoe
gmarie
2 Hours Ago 03:53 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
G'day g'day to all,HAPPY BIRTHDAY Winnie and Doug....and that cute little Zoe.Im not into kids and babies but that little Zoe is an absolute charmer.
ameliajordan
4 Minutes Ago 06:08 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!!!HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - GAIL & DAN - ELLEN AND BRYAN!!Doug no I haven't gotten the rest done yet..........Glad to hear good reports on Uschi!!!!!!WLAHTAIN
Happy birthday to you and like your mommy I can't believe you are four already! A big girl now! I will call you tonight before you go to bed to say happy birthday in person. I will mail your birthday gifts real soon too!
I posted that it was your birthday to all my artist friends and here is what they had to say to you:
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
Happy Birthday Winnie and Doug!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope your day was special!
Happy Birthday to Zoe!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 years old today! She is an honorary member of WC because her portrait is plastered all over the WDE in All Media. So happy birthday sweet grand-daughter! :heart:
Europa
4 Hours Ago 01:20 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
Aaaaaaaaaaw how cute is she!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!!!HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - GAIL & DAN - ELLEN AND BRYAN!!LUGGLESPat xxx
Violetta
4 Hours Ago 01:36 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
I couldn't believe it when I logged on to the Wash at midday and it was already THREE PAGES! YOU LOOK TERRIFIC IN PAT'S PICS!!!!!Nancy - What a darling picture!Have a terrific day everyone. ((((((((ALL IN NEED))))))))
sweetapplez
4 Hours Ago 02:05 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
Happy Birthday Doug!Happy Birthday Winnie!Happy Birthday Zoe!Nancy..Zoe is a little doll!
See you later.
shipbroker
2 Hours Ago 03:32 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
:wave: everyone....Nancy, What an absolutely beautiful baby Zoe was... and she's a lovely little girl still! Happy, Happy Birthday, Zoe!
Thinking especially of Heidi, Uschi, and Allen today. Prayers and hugs for you all.
gmarie
2 Hours Ago 03:44 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARYGail & Dan Ellen & BrianHappy Birthday Dear Little Zoe
gmarie
2 Hours Ago 03:53 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
G'day g'day to all,HAPPY BIRTHDAY Winnie and Doug....and that cute little Zoe.Im not into kids and babies but that little Zoe is an absolute charmer.
ameliajordan
4 Minutes Ago 06:08 PM
Re: ***Daily Wash - Monday, 16th July 2007***
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!!!HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - GAIL & DAN - ELLEN AND BRYAN!!Doug no I haven't gotten the rest done yet..........Glad to hear good reports on Uschi!!!!!!WLAHTAIN
Happy Birthday Zoe!!!
Happy Birthday to my baby girl!!! I can't believe you are 4 years old already. It just seems like yesterday when we brought you home. We hope you have a wonderful day!! Daddy, Morgan and Mommy love you sooooo much!
Hugs and Kisses to you!!
Hugs and Kisses to you!!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Ang
Yeah Angie I'll e-mail you about pic's on the blog. Nancy told me how. Its a lot easier than it seems.
Yep I know how busy out 15 yr. old is.
Ty for all you do with your sister.
Yep guys check out Angie, Bekah and Corey on you tube its too funny.
love, Dixie
Yep I know how busy out 15 yr. old is.
Ty for all you do with your sister.
Yep guys check out Angie, Bekah and Corey on you tube its too funny.
love, Dixie
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Hey, it looks like Mom figured it out before I did!!
Hey, Mom, I'm so slow at some computer stuff sometimes. Could you email me how to put pics up here? I wanted to put a picture of myself on the profile and possibly put a couple art pieces up here, since I've been saying for awhile that I'd do that. We all know how life can be. And since I have the 15 yr. old right now, need I say anything at all to explain why I'm so busy? LOL!
You guys should check out some of the funny videos me and my sis are making on You Tube. You can watch them, comment, rate and if you have an account you can suscribe. We're trying to gain more popularity right now.
www.youtube.com/RACkyFiZZle
Bekah made the name. On the profile page it explains what the name means and a little about us. We are pretty silly, but it may give you a laugh or two, depending on what type of since of humor you have.
Anyway, just wanted to drop in and say hello. I will come by again soon and hopefully put up a few images.
Ang
You guys should check out some of the funny videos me and my sis are making on You Tube. You can watch them, comment, rate and if you have an account you can suscribe. We're trying to gain more popularity right now.
www.youtube.com/RACkyFiZZle
Bekah made the name. On the profile page it explains what the name means and a little about us. We are pretty silly, but it may give you a laugh or two, depending on what type of since of humor you have.
Anyway, just wanted to drop in and say hello. I will come by again soon and hopefully put up a few images.
Ang
Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Hi Babbara
Good to hear from you.
Sorry you have been so sick. :-( Get well OK.
Cool Morgan, foot ball. Yeah.
Good Scott will be home tonite. I know you miss him and need him.
Zoe is too funny. That child has more personalty in one finger than some folks have in all of them.
Wait till she's 15 :-) I have a hard headed 15 yr. old too.
Rest and get well.
Congrats on the New baby in the Kissel family.
Sorry you have been so sick. :-( Get well OK.
Cool Morgan, foot ball. Yeah.
Good Scott will be home tonite. I know you miss him and need him.
Zoe is too funny. That child has more personalty in one finger than some folks have in all of them.
Wait till she's 15 :-) I have a hard headed 15 yr. old too.
Rest and get well.
Congrats on the New baby in the Kissel family.
Sorry Been out of the loop for a while
Hello Family,
How is everyone doing??? Sorry I have not posted in a while. I have been sick as a dog for about two weeks. I am starting to feel better now. The doctor told me I had broncitis (sp??), so he put me on strong meds to get me better fast. I have never had it before and kinda strange to get it in the summer time.
Zoe has been taking swim lessons this week and she is doing great. She now can swim underwater by herself. She doesn't like to take lessons at all. She will cry, cough and gag, and as soon as Ms. Nan counts to 3 she will hold her breath and swim. Zoe is so hard headed!!
Morgan is doing weight lifting two times a week and is get really fit. He will start football camp in July for a week. Then when school starts back he will have training four times a week plus games. It should be a busy time for us all then.
Scott is out of town for a guy trip to Denver. He will be home tonight, thank goodness. I am ready for him to come home.
It is so cute because Brian has been calling every other day to check to make sure we are okay.
Other news D.J. and Karen Garrish (Betty-Sue's son) just had a brand new baby boy on June 19th. The new family is doing well!
How is everyone doing out there?? Please update when you can, I read the post everyday!!
Love to you all,
Barbara A.
How is everyone doing??? Sorry I have not posted in a while. I have been sick as a dog for about two weeks. I am starting to feel better now. The doctor told me I had broncitis (sp??), so he put me on strong meds to get me better fast. I have never had it before and kinda strange to get it in the summer time.
Zoe has been taking swim lessons this week and she is doing great. She now can swim underwater by herself. She doesn't like to take lessons at all. She will cry, cough and gag, and as soon as Ms. Nan counts to 3 she will hold her breath and swim. Zoe is so hard headed!!
Morgan is doing weight lifting two times a week and is get really fit. He will start football camp in July for a week. Then when school starts back he will have training four times a week plus games. It should be a busy time for us all then.
Scott is out of town for a guy trip to Denver. He will be home tonight, thank goodness. I am ready for him to come home.
It is so cute because Brian has been calling every other day to check to make sure we are okay.
Other news D.J. and Karen Garrish (Betty-Sue's son) just had a brand new baby boy on June 19th. The new family is doing well!
How is everyone doing out there?? Please update when you can, I read the post everyday!!
Love to you all,
Barbara A.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Hi Beth
Hi Beth
You were only venting and that's always OK. Your a good wife and trying to help Jim. He's a good Hubby and working very hard. I'm glad you two found each other.
Maybe you'll find a good job sweetie.
I can only imagine the fear of day care hunting. Glad the center your looking at sounds better than where Ava was, bless your heart. I would hurt a teacher. :-)
Some of the Day care centers here have Video Cams in all the rooms. I hope they do in yours too.
My friend works in a Center with the cam's. She said its great, the parents can go onto the web site and see what the kids are doing and it also protects the kids from harm.
Praying for you guys. xxxxxxxx
You were only venting and that's always OK. Your a good wife and trying to help Jim. He's a good Hubby and working very hard. I'm glad you two found each other.
Maybe you'll find a good job sweetie.
I can only imagine the fear of day care hunting. Glad the center your looking at sounds better than where Ava was, bless your heart. I would hurt a teacher. :-)
Some of the Day care centers here have Video Cams in all the rooms. I hope they do in yours too.
My friend works in a Center with the cam's. She said its great, the parents can go onto the web site and see what the kids are doing and it also protects the kids from harm.
Praying for you guys. xxxxxxxx
B*tchy post
Sorry guys for the whiny, compaining post from yesterday. I was just feeling kind of down about everything. The thought of the boys in daycare just bothers me so much. I know it is a necessary thing but I had to take Ava to daycare when she was 6 weeks old and had bad experiences with them. She came home one time with her head smelling like urine. And when she got older I got a call that Ava had punched a teacher in the nose and bloodied it. Ava told me a year later that the teacher locked her in a closet. So needless to say my experiences with daycare have been less than pleasant.
I know that God will take care of the boys. We actually plan to put them in the daycare Nick used to go to and they are pretty good people. They were able to handle Nick at his worst after he had been thrown out of another center and he loved going there. So it will be okay.
Hope everyone is okay on this rainy Saturday morning. Thinking about you mom, I know the weather is probably bothering you.
Love,
Beth
I know that God will take care of the boys. We actually plan to put them in the daycare Nick used to go to and they are pretty good people. They were able to handle Nick at his worst after he had been thrown out of another center and he loved going there. So it will be okay.
Hope everyone is okay on this rainy Saturday morning. Thinking about you mom, I know the weather is probably bothering you.
Love,
Beth
Friday, June 15, 2007
Hi Nan
Thanks Nan for calling me last nite and letting me cry. I needed that.
I was such a mess after the HOSP. MRI and the IV screw ups. and on and on lol. TY
Was a nice trip down childhood memory lane with you, its nice to be reminded how strong we are together.
I love you xxxxxxxxx
I was such a mess after the HOSP. MRI and the IV screw ups. and on and on lol. TY
Was a nice trip down childhood memory lane with you, its nice to be reminded how strong we are together.
I love you xxxxxxxxx
Hi Beth
Hi sweetie, I know how you feel about going back to work. Thanks why I looked after kids in my home for so many years was to be able to stay home with my kids. But that's not a job for everyone.
I am trying so hard to find work too. Shame I'm not up there cause I could look after the Lil guys for you two.
I'll Pray and something good will come your way. You and Jim are good people. God will bless you.
love, Auntie Dee
I am trying so hard to find work too. Shame I'm not up there cause I could look after the Lil guys for you two.
I'll Pray and something good will come your way. You and Jim are good people. God will bless you.
love, Auntie Dee
Hello Everyone
I am sorry I haven't been on here lately. I have been reading what everyone wrote just haven't posted. Everything is going good here. Unfortunately, Jim and I have decided that I need to go back to work full time. We just cannot make it financially right now without some additional income. I hate the thought of putting Jimmy and Nick in daycare but at least we were blessed enough for me to stay home as long as I did. It seems like when it rains it pours. Ava's dad said he would pay for her to go to camp and now is saying he does not have it. Since we already paid the deposit we have to come up with the rest and she really wants to go. On top of that, I found out that in order for Sarah and Ava to go on to get their black belts in karate we have to come up with $1474 for equipment and uniforms. I was not aware of that when I signed them up. Of course it was in the contract, I didn't read the fine print so my fault.
Anyway, I am glad the girls want to go to black belts, that is something they will always have to be proud of.
Sorry to vent sometimes it feels better just to get it all out. Everyone has problems, at least we are all healthy and that is major. It sucks to feel bad so much like mom and aunt D.
Love you all!
Beth
Anyway, I am glad the girls want to go to black belts, that is something they will always have to be proud of.
Sorry to vent sometimes it feels better just to get it all out. Everyone has problems, at least we are all healthy and that is major. It sucks to feel bad so much like mom and aunt D.
Love you all!
Beth
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Hey Little Sisters
Dixie and Susan!
It is hard to believe my baby sister is old enough to be going through peri-menopause. Wow! It seems like yesterday I was changing your diapers and teaching you to walk!
I had to call in an postpone my doctor's visit for today. It is rescheduled for Friday at 11:45. The new med MS Cotin has an unfortunate side affect that slipped my mind. I was so miserable that I could not drive over there. And still no relief in site. That's all I am saying about that.
Dixie aren't you happy with all this rain? But why oh why does all rain in NC come in the form of dangerous thunder and lightening storms? Can't we just have some quiet gentle rain for a few days?
Dixie, I am going to try to make it over to your house this weekend. What time does Angie get there? I really do not want to miss her this time. No way! Please don't mind if I grab the couch or somewhere to lie down. :)
Susan, I will let Dixie fill you in on her troubles in getting approved for SSI. Supplement Security Income.
But it is my understanding when I applied that one has to put in a certain amount of money into the Social Security System before they can ever draw benefits. It is based on some kind of quarter system; Dee Dee can fill you in. But if a person has never put a dime into Social Security they can never collect anything except maybe as survivor benefits like for kids.
This is short as I am feeling pretty miserable still in more ways than one.
Love you all,
Nancy
It is hard to believe my baby sister is old enough to be going through peri-menopause. Wow! It seems like yesterday I was changing your diapers and teaching you to walk!
I had to call in an postpone my doctor's visit for today. It is rescheduled for Friday at 11:45. The new med MS Cotin has an unfortunate side affect that slipped my mind. I was so miserable that I could not drive over there. And still no relief in site. That's all I am saying about that.
Dixie aren't you happy with all this rain? But why oh why does all rain in NC come in the form of dangerous thunder and lightening storms? Can't we just have some quiet gentle rain for a few days?
Dixie, I am going to try to make it over to your house this weekend. What time does Angie get there? I really do not want to miss her this time. No way! Please don't mind if I grab the couch or somewhere to lie down. :)
Susan, I will let Dixie fill you in on her troubles in getting approved for SSI. Supplement Security Income.
But it is my understanding when I applied that one has to put in a certain amount of money into the Social Security System before they can ever draw benefits. It is based on some kind of quarter system; Dee Dee can fill you in. But if a person has never put a dime into Social Security they can never collect anything except maybe as survivor benefits like for kids.
This is short as I am feeling pretty miserable still in more ways than one.
Love you all,
Nancy
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Hey Sister
Hi,
Read your notes..... good to see someone on the blog...we had a few quite days.
Nancy, gotta tell you - evey day I check the blog just to see if there is any news...GREAT idea you had.
Read your notes..... good to see someone on the blog...we had a few quite days.
Nancy, gotta tell you - evey day I check the blog just to see if there is any news...GREAT idea you had.
- Believe it or nor your BABY sister is starting to had the same problem - I think it is an age thing....but I am sure yours is worst due to all the medications you are both on.
- V. Secrets sound great......let's do it....is there an artist in the family who can draw the design then we can e-mail it to them. (I am joking about the artist - I know there are several---anyone wanna take a shot???)
- Nan, I can't believe all the sh_t you have to go through. You go to the doctor they tell you this or that or you need this or that - then you have to fight the system to get it. That really su_ks. You are right - by the time you get finished you are exhausted from fighting for every little thing and every little bit of help you get.
- Dee....OGM you are still trying to get IIS? That is outrageous....when we all know there are people out there who NEVER contribute to SS and they get all the benefits and checks they wants and they sit at home on their butts. These are people who play the system and get the benefits, but do not have any medication problems except for being lazy butts.
Nancy...good luck tomorrow I will keep my fingers crossed that you get the medication that you need. I know you are hoping to get on better medications, so you can get off the stuff that barely touches the pain.
Love you both.....
P.S. Love your watch cats.....I have the same problems - my Bo is terrified of thunder/lighten and sever rain storms. He hides in the laundry room.
Love you,
Susan
Howdy Dixie:
I was watching the dopler since about 5:30 this morning. I saw where the storms passed over ya'll! It here too but somehow just a smattering of rain hit my street. Lots of thunder and lightening and a tease of rain. Thank goodness you have Jingles!
Midnight and Ashely were under the bed too. Frankie was at my feet; it took him five minutes to realize it was raining. He kept looking around the room for the noise. The window was wide opened but he could not figure it out for the longest time. LOL
You were not supposed to tell that we LEAK. LOL
Great idea for a new company sexy underwear with absorbent padding. OMG!
The doctor's office called back and wants to examine me right away. Why? It is the same ole thing. LOL I honestly think many people don't get fibro and how bad it hurts. Imagine someone standing over you and dropping hot wax on bare skin front back joints muscles all over. And then the ache of a toothache in the muscles and joints constantly. Just washing a few dishes is a major chore. I can hardly hold things like dishes anymore; they end up crashing back into the sink.
Well bottom line is we are appealing the denial, faxing letters and my statement to the drug company. We (the nurse and I both called them) were assurred after they receive the paperwork I will be good to go for the oxycotin for twelve months. I see Dr. Bullard on Wed. at 1:30pm, Wish me luck and that he also gives me something like vicodin for break through pain. I break through on the Oxycotin about 5 and 1/2 to 6 hours after each does and have to wait another three hours. Yuck!
I would love to be able one day not to have to take narcotics for pain. I have been working very hard trying to break up the worst of the trigger and tender points. Spend about two hours a day doing deep massage on them. But there is no cure for fibro or anything else I have. One day maybe. But my doctors advised me not to live on those hopes that it is better to accept this is the way it is.
After 6 days of not getting much pain relief I am exhausted emotionally and physically. I know you get that dear sister.
Got to go and get into bed now.
Love you sister!
Nancy
Midnight and Ashely were under the bed too. Frankie was at my feet; it took him five minutes to realize it was raining. He kept looking around the room for the noise. The window was wide opened but he could not figure it out for the longest time. LOL
You were not supposed to tell that we LEAK. LOL
Great idea for a new company sexy underwear with absorbent padding. OMG!
The doctor's office called back and wants to examine me right away. Why? It is the same ole thing. LOL I honestly think many people don't get fibro and how bad it hurts. Imagine someone standing over you and dropping hot wax on bare skin front back joints muscles all over. And then the ache of a toothache in the muscles and joints constantly. Just washing a few dishes is a major chore. I can hardly hold things like dishes anymore; they end up crashing back into the sink.
Well bottom line is we are appealing the denial, faxing letters and my statement to the drug company. We (the nurse and I both called them) were assurred after they receive the paperwork I will be good to go for the oxycotin for twelve months. I see Dr. Bullard on Wed. at 1:30pm, Wish me luck and that he also gives me something like vicodin for break through pain. I break through on the Oxycotin about 5 and 1/2 to 6 hours after each does and have to wait another three hours. Yuck!
I would love to be able one day not to have to take narcotics for pain. I have been working very hard trying to break up the worst of the trigger and tender points. Spend about two hours a day doing deep massage on them. But there is no cure for fibro or anything else I have. One day maybe. But my doctors advised me not to live on those hopes that it is better to accept this is the way it is.
After 6 days of not getting much pain relief I am exhausted emotionally and physically. I know you get that dear sister.
Got to go and get into bed now.
Love you sister!
Nancy
Monday, June 11, 2007
Nancy about the bathrooms
I don't mind telling why we need to be near the potties. Its cause we LEAK :-). lol Does that come close?
I'm thinking about talking to Victoria Secrets about Adult Depends like maybe we can start a line of sexy V. Secrets Depends? WHt y'all think?
I love you xxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm thinking about talking to Victoria Secrets about Adult Depends like maybe we can start a line of sexy V. Secrets Depends? WHt y'all think?
I love you xxxxxxxxxxxx
hi Nan
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS fighting the Gov. is a full time job. I still get nothing.
I am trying so hard to get a JOB.
But to get a job I need transportation. arggggggggg
Well some how it will work out.
Love you sis and glad your gonna get the med.s you need.
We had a HUGE storm here in Stanly Co. tonite.
I heard the winds come about 45 to 55 MPH. Saw the lightening. Heard the hail hit the windows.
Our brave guard cat Jingles was watching too and then to his guarding post under my BED. He came out about 90 minutes after the storm was over. He wanted me to know all was ok now. :-) What a brave cat he is.
Love you xxxxxxxx
I am trying so hard to get a JOB.
But to get a job I need transportation. arggggggggg
Well some how it will work out.
Love you sis and glad your gonna get the med.s you need.
We had a HUGE storm here in Stanly Co. tonite.
I heard the winds come about 45 to 55 MPH. Saw the lightening. Heard the hail hit the windows.
Our brave guard cat Jingles was watching too and then to his guarding post under my BED. He came out about 90 minutes after the storm was over. He wanted me to know all was ok now. :-) What a brave cat he is.
Love you xxxxxxxx
On The Phone This Morning:
after reading through the information about Medicare Drug coverage and appeals. Talked to a sweet guy named Jose at RX America who gave me valuable information about immediate emergency approval for the Oxycotin! Within 24 hours after they receive the faxed copy of a letter by my doctor saying that Oxycotin is the drug that covers my pain and that the other drugs which I have tried to not; I will be able to go to the doc's office, pick up the script and get it filled and paid for by the insurance company. This emergency approval will be good for 12 months.
Fighting government red tape is almost a full time job. Right Dixie? And when one feels awful it makes it all the harder when I just want to sleep and sleep. But I did it. Now the doctor has to do his part.
I have to have some relief; can't live this way.
I pray every day that no one in this family ever gets fibro and/or myofacial pain syndrome; ever. Or suffers Dixie's illness and pain either. Or Rima. Or Jimmy. It is a high maintenance life in addition to the physical pain.
I am tired. I will feel better once the pain is covered again.
Love,
Nancy
Fighting government red tape is almost a full time job. Right Dixie? And when one feels awful it makes it all the harder when I just want to sleep and sleep. But I did it. Now the doctor has to do his part.
I have to have some relief; can't live this way.
I pray every day that no one in this family ever gets fibro and/or myofacial pain syndrome; ever. Or suffers Dixie's illness and pain either. Or Rima. Or Jimmy. It is a high maintenance life in addition to the physical pain.
I am tired. I will feel better once the pain is covered again.
Love,
Nancy
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Hi Everyone:
It sure has been quiet around here. Comes in burst and then silence.
Dee-Dee, that is a great idea that Barb and Susan should ask for our campsites to be close together and very close to the bathroom. This is very important for Dixe and I. I can't tell you how much. You don't wanna know.
I have no been posting on here because I am not feeling well at all. The new pain medication is not working at all. All the pain I felt before seeing a pain mgmt doctor has come back as well as the fibro pain which has spread since then. Last Thursday my doctor ordered the morphine doubled to 30 mg every 12 hours and to gradually go to every 8 hours. The PA did not titrate the right dose and I was miserable. Still am feeling pretty bad. I have had to add valium at night to quiet the fibro and to be able to sleep.
This is a big giant step backwards; four years backwards. My new insurance won't pay for the oxycotin; they have already denied it. So my doctor and I are going to ask for special circumstances; he has to write them a letter on my behalf and so do it.
I am not sleeping much. I am not eating well or doing much of anything around the house except taking care of the furr babies and some care of me but not much.
And here I thought having drug coverage was going to make things better. Was I ever naive.
Love you all,
Nancy
Dee-Dee, that is a great idea that Barb and Susan should ask for our campsites to be close together and very close to the bathroom. This is very important for Dixe and I. I can't tell you how much. You don't wanna know.
I have no been posting on here because I am not feeling well at all. The new pain medication is not working at all. All the pain I felt before seeing a pain mgmt doctor has come back as well as the fibro pain which has spread since then. Last Thursday my doctor ordered the morphine doubled to 30 mg every 12 hours and to gradually go to every 8 hours. The PA did not titrate the right dose and I was miserable. Still am feeling pretty bad. I have had to add valium at night to quiet the fibro and to be able to sleep.
This is a big giant step backwards; four years backwards. My new insurance won't pay for the oxycotin; they have already denied it. So my doctor and I are going to ask for special circumstances; he has to write them a letter on my behalf and so do it.
I am not sleeping much. I am not eating well or doing much of anything around the house except taking care of the furr babies and some care of me but not much.
And here I thought having drug coverage was going to make things better. Was I ever naive.
Love you all,
Nancy
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Hi Suzie and Barbara
About getting to the camp site early and your request. One thing you can add is tell them you have a couple of family members with Disabilities and we need to keep the family together to help the ones who are disabled. Your would be surprised how well that works theses days cause of the Americans with disabilities act.
Can't hurt any way lol I hope.
Love ya xxxxxxxxxx
P.S. and yes close to the potty.
Can't hurt any way lol I hope.
Love ya xxxxxxxxxx
P.S. and yes close to the potty.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Camping Sites
Hi,
Just thought that I would add a note to those of us who are getting older....we will do everything in our power to ensure that we are close to the comfort station (you know restrooms).
We can check in at 1:00pm, but Barb and I plan to get there at least by 12:00 and hopefully they will let us in early. Barb asked them to mark the reservation "GROUP - GIVE SITES TOGETHER" - since the park is on a first come first serve bases.
Love you all
Susan
Just thought that I would add a note to those of us who are getting older....we will do everything in our power to ensure that we are close to the comfort station (you know restrooms).
We can check in at 1:00pm, but Barb and I plan to get there at least by 12:00 and hopefully they will let us in early. Barb asked them to mark the reservation "GROUP - GIVE SITES TOGETHER" - since the park is on a first come first serve bases.
Love you all
Susan
Hi Nan
Well we know our bladders work Nan. :-)
But the problem is where will they start working at.
Love ya xxx
But the problem is where will they start working at.
Love ya xxx
Camping Trip
Nancy and Dee Dee,
Hey glad to see you are planning an preparing for the trip. Tents - Dad has made sure he has a tent for Dee and Family to use. I believe the only equipment we are lacking is one stove and some lanterns.
We don't have a food list together yet, but suggestions for what you would like to eat is recommended.
The game plan is for everyone to bring with them just what they need to eat and rink during the drive. Once we arrive, some of the group will plan to go shopping for the food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We will get plenty of bottle water and sport drinks, lemonade, etc. The only thing we will not include in the main shopping list is soda beverages, beer and wine. You will need to bring these items if you want them.
The money for the food will be taken out of the monies sent to Barb A.
We are suggesting that everyone bring their own cups with a lid (this will keep the bugs out) plus cut down on paper cups.
Nan, I maybe be wrong, but last I heard, Beth and the kids would not be attending, as Jim has to work.
Beth, if this has changed, please let us know so we can change the reservations.
Counting it down........
Love you all,
Susan
Hey glad to see you are planning an preparing for the trip. Tents - Dad has made sure he has a tent for Dee and Family to use. I believe the only equipment we are lacking is one stove and some lanterns.
We don't have a food list together yet, but suggestions for what you would like to eat is recommended.
The game plan is for everyone to bring with them just what they need to eat and rink during the drive. Once we arrive, some of the group will plan to go shopping for the food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We will get plenty of bottle water and sport drinks, lemonade, etc. The only thing we will not include in the main shopping list is soda beverages, beer and wine. You will need to bring these items if you want them.
The money for the food will be taken out of the monies sent to Barb A.
We are suggesting that everyone bring their own cups with a lid (this will keep the bugs out) plus cut down on paper cups.
Nan, I maybe be wrong, but last I heard, Beth and the kids would not be attending, as Jim has to work.
Beth, if this has changed, please let us know so we can change the reservations.
Counting it down........
Love you all,
Susan
Family Reunion:
Hey everyone:
I was just talking to Dee Dee about camping equipment and let her know I want to share the stuff I have with her and her family. So Dixie and I will need to share a campsite or be very close together.
She mentioned there is a food list of some sort made up by Barbara A. Could you please post this list to the Blog? Dee Dee said with the addition of some folks to those attending the list may need to be updated. Since Dixie and I will be sharing a site and camping equipment it will probably be a good idea to put us on the same cooking team. Just don't let anyone eat what we cook. ;)
Some how some way Dixie and I will make sure that her family has a tent by then. I would love to share my tent with Ava and Jim's daughter Becca but will discuss this with Beth and Jimmy. I will provide the girls with ear plugs because I admit it at long last I do snore. ;)
This is going to be a blast and I am so looking forward to it. I love camping and can't wait to see everyone!
Take care,
Mom, Nancy, Grandma Cookie
I was just talking to Dee Dee about camping equipment and let her know I want to share the stuff I have with her and her family. So Dixie and I will need to share a campsite or be very close together.
She mentioned there is a food list of some sort made up by Barbara A. Could you please post this list to the Blog? Dee Dee said with the addition of some folks to those attending the list may need to be updated. Since Dixie and I will be sharing a site and camping equipment it will probably be a good idea to put us on the same cooking team. Just don't let anyone eat what we cook. ;)
Some how some way Dixie and I will make sure that her family has a tent by then. I would love to share my tent with Ava and Jim's daughter Becca but will discuss this with Beth and Jimmy. I will provide the girls with ear plugs because I admit it at long last I do snore. ;)
This is going to be a blast and I am so looking forward to it. I love camping and can't wait to see everyone!
Take care,
Mom, Nancy, Grandma Cookie
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Camping Trip
Barb,
Thanks for the information....we are all excited about the gathering.
I spoke with Grandpa and Betty today, they are ready.
You mentioned additional equipment needed. You have your stove and two lanterns, plus your Dad has a stove and two lanterns. What additional equipment do we need?
Well gang we can start the count down....5 months and counting!!!!!
Love,
Susan
Thanks for the information....we are all excited about the gathering.
I spoke with Grandpa and Betty today, they are ready.
You mentioned additional equipment needed. You have your stove and two lanterns, plus your Dad has a stove and two lanterns. What additional equipment do we need?
Well gang we can start the count down....5 months and counting!!!!!
Love,
Susan
Forgot to post this on the blog!!
Hello Everyone,
We are ready to rock and roll for October 25, 26, 27, and 28 (leaving at checkout time on 28th). I made the rsvp’s for 35 people for three nights. I paid the deposit of $120.00 today and I will pay the balance due the day we get there in the amount of $240.00. There is also a $3.00 one time fee per car that is not included with the $240.00. I will have a balance of $152.00 which will cover the car fees and rest can go to food fund.
We have 6 sites, with 6 people per site, I am sure the camping Nazis won’t be checking to make sure there is the correct number. I spoke with Elizabeth at the Georgia State Park Service and she made sure to list us as a group so they would have our sites all together. Any question, please just ask me. Thanks for everyone being so cool about this, I felt like such a tool about the Cumberland rsvp’s. I will cancel them but if anyone wants to come to that too let me know before tomorrow night. The Decker family and The Kissel family are still going there in November.
Love you guys,
Barbara A.
We are ready to rock and roll for October 25, 26, 27, and 28 (leaving at checkout time on 28th). I made the rsvp’s for 35 people for three nights. I paid the deposit of $120.00 today and I will pay the balance due the day we get there in the amount of $240.00. There is also a $3.00 one time fee per car that is not included with the $240.00. I will have a balance of $152.00 which will cover the car fees and rest can go to food fund.
We have 6 sites, with 6 people per site, I am sure the camping Nazis won’t be checking to make sure there is the correct number. I spoke with Elizabeth at the Georgia State Park Service and she made sure to list us as a group so they would have our sites all together. Any question, please just ask me. Thanks for everyone being so cool about this, I felt like such a tool about the Cumberland rsvp’s. I will cancel them but if anyone wants to come to that too let me know before tomorrow night. The Decker family and The Kissel family are still going there in November.
Love you guys,
Barbara A.
Dear Dixie:
You cracked me up. I almost peed in my seat when I read what you wrote about Eric and Allen and rocking on! LOL
My pain doc has changed my pain medication from Oxycotin which is a synthetic type morphine substance. Now I will be on a time released morphine beginning June 5th when the Oxy runs out. I hope it covers me better. The last several months I have been getting break through pain about 5 and 1/ hours after a does. And the other 2 and 1/2 hours I tried to sleep during the pain.
I also am experiencing something new for the past two or there months; spasms. Jerking movements before falling asleep; no matter if it is the day or evening. My stomach jerks in and out and my arms and legs twitch sometimes violently. They don't know what is happening. I am to go back in a month if it gets worse. The doc thinks it might be a side affect of oxycotin. I am also to call them if it suddenly gets worse and call them if the morphine at the dose doesn't cover the pain.
I would gladly change to smoking pot to cover the pain if it were legal here in NC. I will check if it is legal in Ga. Probably not. As it is if I get caught (the pain clinic does random drug testing) I will be kicked out of pain mgmt. I have to go every two months now. I guess I could smoke pot or use that pill for the month before my next visit being without 30 days before the visit. I am going to check it out.
The pain is certainly controlling my life but like you it can't take away all of my sense of humor. Dear sister; you are just too cute for words! And congrats about learning how to upload photos! Now if we can teach the other posters here how to do it too.
I love you!
Nancy
My pain doc has changed my pain medication from Oxycotin which is a synthetic type morphine substance. Now I will be on a time released morphine beginning June 5th when the Oxy runs out. I hope it covers me better. The last several months I have been getting break through pain about 5 and 1/ hours after a does. And the other 2 and 1/2 hours I tried to sleep during the pain.
I also am experiencing something new for the past two or there months; spasms. Jerking movements before falling asleep; no matter if it is the day or evening. My stomach jerks in and out and my arms and legs twitch sometimes violently. They don't know what is happening. I am to go back in a month if it gets worse. The doc thinks it might be a side affect of oxycotin. I am also to call them if it suddenly gets worse and call them if the morphine at the dose doesn't cover the pain.
I would gladly change to smoking pot to cover the pain if it were legal here in NC. I will check if it is legal in Ga. Probably not. As it is if I get caught (the pain clinic does random drug testing) I will be kicked out of pain mgmt. I have to go every two months now. I guess I could smoke pot or use that pill for the month before my next visit being without 30 days before the visit. I am going to check it out.
The pain is certainly controlling my life but like you it can't take away all of my sense of humor. Dear sister; you are just too cute for words! And congrats about learning how to upload photos! Now if we can teach the other posters here how to do it too.
I love you!
Nancy
Monday, May 28, 2007
Pain Meds
Well so many people I know with Multiple Sclerosis use Pot for pain management. In 14 states in the USA its legal.
North Carolina is not one of the 14.
Many people I know use Marinol a pill made from cannabis. They say it works great.
I know a lot of folks in the UK who use an inhailer like the once for asthma, but its made from cannabis and inhaled for pain. With out smoking.
So I say Allen and Eric grow some more and we all become Mid-night tokers, ROCK ON.
looooooool
Love ya
Ok Now every one laugh.
MS can do a lot to our bodies but it can never steal my since of humor.
"We may have MS, but MS does not have me" only sometimes.
Love, Dixie
North Carolina is not one of the 14.
Many people I know use Marinol a pill made from cannabis. They say it works great.
I know a lot of folks in the UK who use an inhailer like the once for asthma, but its made from cannabis and inhaled for pain. With out smoking.
So I say Allen and Eric grow some more and we all become Mid-night tokers, ROCK ON.
looooooool
Love ya
Ok Now every one laugh.
MS can do a lot to our bodies but it can never steal my since of humor.
"We may have MS, but MS does not have me" only sometimes.
Love, Dixie
Valuable New Information About Chronic Pain:
There are several of us in this family who live daily with chronic intractable pain (chronic meaning over six months duration and intractable no cure); Dixie, Rima, Jimmy and myself. If I have forgotten anyone sorry!
Dee Dee, I was pleased that the article discusses new ways of treating chronic pain besides treating with narcotics. I know you are concerned about that. But there is no reason you have to live without treatment for your pain! I love ya Sis!
To those of us who live with chronic pain we are aware of most of the issues in this article. I just wanted to share it with the members of the family who don't understand it and would like to.
Many of us with chronic pain and illnesses spend way too much time trying to convince others that our conditions are real; that the pain we feel is real and dibilitating and can change our lives drastically. What a shame that there is a need to prove ourselves.
It is ironic, that when I had my heart attack one of the first things I thought about after waking up after the angioplasty was "well now they will believe that I am really sick!" That a heart attack is pretty tangible and can be seen on films and other test results.
I am happy that doctors and other health care providers now recognize that chronic pain in of itself is a disease. Rima, I am sure because of your profession; much of this article will be no surprise to you. Especially the pathways of pain and how chronic pain actually produces more pain receptors in the brain. Amazing stuff!
I hope this helps explain to those of you who do not have chronic pain what life is like for us that do. That the way we behave is a normal reaction to living with constant pain.
MSNBC.com
New Research Into Pain Treatment
Millions of aging boomers and the latest generation of wounded soldiers hope the secrets of our most enduring medical foe can finally be unlocked.
By Mary Carmichael
Newsweek
June 4, 2007 issue - Late into the night of May 2, 1863, a few hours after Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson took two bullets in his left arm at the Battle of Chancellorsville, surgeon Hunter Holmes McGuire sawed off the bleeding limb, trying to save the general's life. With the knife came another medical tool, one fairly new to the battlefield—a rag soaked in chloroform. As he awaited amputation, Jackson, who would die a week later, was as stoic as his nickname suggested. But as he slipped into unconsciousness, it's said, he betrayed his vulnerability in the face of pain just once, mumbling that the anesthesia was "an infinite blessing."
For most of the 144 years since then, the military has stuck with similarly crude techniques for treating its soldiers' pain. Morphine, also given to Jackson and many others in the Civil War, is still the Army's most commonly used painkilling drug. It works, but compared with more-modern options, it's one step above chloroform and two above biting the bullet. Now, though, with casualties mounting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military is being forced to change its strategy. More than 90 percent of wounded soldiers have made it off the battlefield—the highest survival rate in American history—only to overwhelm chronic-pain clinics when they come home. "We're seeing the tip of a tidal wave of pain," says Lt. Col. Chester (Trip) Buckenmaier, an anesthesiologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who has emerged as a sort of pain czar for the Army. After decades of "sucking it up," the military has finally started to respond in new and innovative ways to this escalating pain crisis. Even as the VA hospital system has come under fire for poor care, Army doctors haven't just joined up in medicine's larger war against pain—they're leading the charge.
Winning this medical war is crucial, and not just for the sake of the soldiers, who are far from the only burgeoning new group of pain sufferers. Chronic pain is one of the most pervasive and intractable medical conditions in the United States, with one in five Americans afflicted. Aging baby boomers have reported in surveys more aches and pains than any previous generation. Cancer patients have more treatments to choose from than ever, but more pain, too. Even retired NFL players—a suck-it-up group if ever there was one—have started speaking out about the wear and tear on their bodies. Civilian chronic pain already costs the country $61 billion in lost productivity and many more in medical fees. Treating the soldiers in the coming years will add at least $340 billion to the toll.
As the number of patients has grown, though, so has medicine's understanding of what pain is. Scientists once viewed it as merely a symptom of injury, an intuitive idea that resonated with laymen. "The public understanding of pain has been that it's a stubbed toe or a broken bone," says Will Rowe, executive director of the American Pain Foundation. "But that's just one aspect of it. Now there's a growing awareness that pain is a disease of its own."
This is far more than a semantic change, Rowe adds: it's "tectonic." Docs now know that the brain and spinal cord rewire themselves in response to injuries, forming "pain pathways" that can become pathologically overactive years later. They are trying to sever this maladaptive mind-body connection with a host of new drugs and approaches. Some focus on recently discovered chemical receptors in the brain and muscles. Others pack all the punch of narcotics with less of the specter of addiction.
(Patients can still become dependent on a new form of the morphine derivative called Kadian, for instance, but if they crush one of the pills for snorting, its center explodes, releasing a substance that blocks the euphoric high.) New types of electrical stimulators targeting the brain, the spine and the muscles hit the market almost every year. Fentanyl skin patches, first introduced in 1990, have evolved into a patient-controlled, push-button device called IONSYS, available by the end of this year. And complementary and alternative medicine offer a parallel universe of treatments: herbs, yoga, acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and "prolotherapy," which injects various solutions, including cod-liver oil, into ligaments and tendons near the area of pain.
The military is pioneering its own new approaches. Since 2003, a small but growing number of soldiers in Iraq have been treated at the front with high-tech nerve-blocking devices that are effective but not addictive. They are common in civilian life, but their use on the battlefield is unprecedented. Back at home, many VA clinics are offering extensive and elaborate pain treatments, and they're learning how to get tough guys and girls to soften up and admit they need help. At Walter Reed, Buckenmaier's team is conducting groundbreaking research on the link between acute and chronic pain; his findings, due in the next few years, could revolutionize treatment. "The military needs people to be functioning out on the field," says Rollin (Mac) Gallagher, chief of pain medicine at the Philadelphia VA hospital. "What we're now starting to recognize is that if you control people's pain, they're not liabilities—they're assets."
That's not to say pain is all bad. It's unpleasant, of course, but in an evolutionary sense, it has its uses. Acute pain begins in the peripheries of the body, where sensory neurons are constantly on patrol for signs of damage. They are the mechanisms that alert us to one injury so we can avoid a second one. Touch a hot stove for the first time and you won't be happy, but you'll ultimately be better off—because you'll certainly never want to do it again.
By the time it has become a chronic condition, however, pain is no longer useful. It is, as Rowe says, a disease—specifically, an overactivity of the nervous system. The brain keeps a diary of the injuries the body receives, writing each entry by reconfiguring certain neurons into new, interconnected patterns. In healthy people, these neurons stop firing once the initial damage is fixed. But in chronic pain, they keep going long after the injury has healed. "The circuits get turned up, and they stay up. They get stuck," says Gallagher. "Most diseases are physiology gone wrong. Pain is one of them."
Scientists don't know why some people develop chronic problems after injuries while others continue on with no pain. It is nearly impossible to answer the question on a wide scale; pain simply has too many causes. Some patients fully recover from massive trauma. Others, like most of the boomers with aching backs and knees, find themselves debilitated by nothing more than the accumulated, mundane strains put on joints, bones and muscles every day. Even soldiers can fall into this second category—if the bullets don't get them, the back pain brought on by months of jumping out of trucks, burdened with heavy equipment, well may.
Complicating the issue even further is pain's inherently subjective nature—we may say we "feel each other's pain," but really, we can't. Doctors don't have any good way of measuring pain from one person to the next. The best they can do is ask patients to rate it for themselves on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the greatest agony of their lives. This is absurdly imprecise. Patients are usually honest (and fakery is fairly easy to spot), but they can exaggerate. A person feeling a 4 may claim a 7 to get aggressive treatment, and a person feeling a 7 may downplay it as a 4 in hopes of looking tough. Robyn Walker, a psychologist at the Tampa (Fla.) VA, says she's seen the latter dynamic in her clinic. "These patients know what a 10 feels like," she says. "But they are active-duty soldiers, and they minimize their problems. Unless you really ask them about their pain, they may be very hesitant to tell you." Doctors are trying to develop new methods of measuring pain, but their most advanced idea so far is to study facial expressions—which aren't much more standardized than the 10-point scale.
On top of that, one patient's 7 may be another's 4. "Our bodies are not one-size-fits-all," notes Rowe, "and doctors are finding that this is far more true with pain than they ever imagined." Genes may vastly influence how intensely people feel pain and how much they can withstand—although genetic testing for pain susceptibility is probably decades away. Gender matters, too. Women have up to twice as many nerve fibers in the skin as men do, so they feel some types of pain more intensely. (This doesn't mean they're weaker; it means that, all other factors being equal, their 10 is off a man's chart.) Even traits that seem unrelated to pain, like vitamin D deficiency, may increase it for reasons no one fully understands. Trying to untangle all these factors is a scientific nightmare.
Regardless of their injuries, their genes, their gender or their background, though, nearly all chronic-pain patients agree on one thing: the hyperactive neurons can make life near unbearable. The cascade of changes in the nervous system can lead to an equally painful cascade of events in a patient's life: memory loss, job loss, marital strife, depression, suicide. And through it all the body hurts like hell. "Imagine somebody holding a knife in your back and twisting it against your nerves continually, never stopping. That's what chronic pain is," says Dan O'Neal, a contractor who herniated two vertebrae in 2003 while cleaning up a job site. "At first you just shut off totally. It's terrible living like that."
Among chronic-pain patients, O'Neal is actually one of the lucky ones. He, at least, knows why his pain started; some patients are deniedeven that knowledge. Chronic regional pain syndrome, for instance, is a rare disorder that can begin with something as trivial as a skinned knee. The scrape heals, but the nervous system does not. Within a few years the knee that was skinned feels like it is on fire, even though nothing is outwardly wrong. Similarly, fibromyalgia assails the bones, muscles and joints, but has no obvious bodily causes and doesn't show up on X-rays. Growing evidence now suggests that it is in part a brain disorder that sets the pain pathways afire, responding to imaginary wounds—as if the brain's diary of injuries has suddenly filled up with wild, untrue stories. The pain itself is not imaginary. But because it is hard to pinpoint and even harder to treat, for years many doctors used to write it off as such.
Andrea Cooper says that's all doctors did when she first developed fibromyalgia, which afflicts 6 million Americans. "There was a bunch of 'We can't figure out what's wrong with you, therefore there's nothing wrong with you'," she says. "People don't like to hear about symptoms that they can't do anything about."
Some fibromyalgia patients may be helped by standard pain treatments. Others aren't. In that, at least, fibromyalgia patients are just like all other pain patients: relief can come for them, but it is often hard-won. Cooper, who is now on fentanyl and Kadian, compares her current pain to "the roar of the faraway interstate, as opposed to being in traffic." But to get to her current regimen she had to go through nearly everything else—antidepressants, anticonvulsants, muscle relaxers, acupuncture and six operations that probably made the pain worse.
Some of the most promising pain treatments of the past decade have turned out to be disappointments. Studies of some radiofrequency therapies show they work no better than placebos. Spinal-fusion surgery, a recent review found, has "no acceptable evidence" to support it. And if a treatment does work, says Edward Covington, a pain specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, "for most people, the effect is temporary." There is no cure for chronic pain, period.
There's not even any "single drug or technology alone" that can treat all the types of pain, says Eugene Viscusi, director of acute-pain management at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Most people need two or three therapies in combination. Scientists' new understanding of pain's broad effects on many levels of the nervous system explains why: a multipart syndrome requires multipart therapy. Viscusi notes that patients under anesthesia still have elevated levels of the pain enzyme Cox-2 in their spinal fluid following surgery. They may not feel pain, but some parts of their brains still think they're in it. For any treatment to work long term, it will have to address not just the immediate sensation of pain but the other, subtler aspects—and there are surely some of those that scientists don't know about yet.
At the American Pain Society's annual meeting in May, a panel drew attention to what seems like the best option pain medicine currently has to offer: "multidisciplinary pain centers," essentially rehab clinics that employ doctors, nurses and therapists from a variety of fields. They prescribe a tough-love regimen of physical therapy (as well as the psychological kind), and many also make a point of cutting down on drug use. Pain specialists have been singing their praises for the past three decades. Data show why: they help many debilitated patients get back to work. But multidisciplinary clinics are on the wane. There are no statistics, but Covington says he suspects their numbers have dwindled by about 90 percent in the past 30 years. The problem is that a lot of patients just don't like them. "Americans love deep brain stimulation, replacement discs, things that are sexy and magical and frequently hyped," Covington notes. Multidisciplinary clinics are a much harder sell. They're not a quick fix, and their emphasis on exercise strikes fear in some people who are already worried about injuring themselves.
Insurance companies also sometimes balk at multidisciplinary clinics, which are costly. They'll cover them, Covington says, but usually "only enough so they lose just a little bit of money on them every year." Insurers say they sometimes have trouble determining how legitimate the clinics are or how much of a service they'll provide, since there are no national guidelines for what the clinics should encompass.
Insurers usually prefer to pay for single therapies, like opioids, the narcotics that block messages in the brain and make patients care less about their pain. The drugs are hugely widespread; almost 200 million opioid prescriptions get written in America each year, most of them for Vicodin, OxyContin and various forms of fentanyl. But "widespread" doesn't mean "effective," nor does it mean "popular." In opioid trials, fewer than a third of patients on average report relief, and more than a third drop out of the same trials rather than deal with the side effects, which include nausea, constipation and trouble breathing. "Most of the soldiers I treat say they don't want to take these strong medications," says Walker, the Tampa VA psychologist. "They say, 'These things make me groggy. I want to get back to my life'."
Opioid users also run two parallel risks: that they will become addicted, and that they will suffer the stigma of addiction even if they're not abusing the drugs. Steven Passik, a pain specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, notes that "the issue of addiction doesn't lie in the drugs," but in a complex interaction between the chemicals and biological predispositions. Still, many patients struggle. Brooks Bono, 28, was born with a tumor on his spine and has spent his whole life in pain.
At one point he was on so much OxyContin that "the dosages would have killed someone else," says his mother, Kadie Dempsey. He sees Passik now for counseling, and a few months ago he switched to methadone. It's not as addictive, says Bono, but it does little to dull the pain and it brings its own problems. "I went to about 20 different pharmacies," he says, "and they told me, 'We don't treat drug addicts here'."
No one wants to avoid an epidemic of drug abuse more than the military. Addicted Vietnam vets still wander into VAs, and as Gallagher notes, "if our soldiers can't get pain relief in the medical system, they'll turn to other ways." Many VA clinics make a point of cutting down on soldiers' use of opioids and other drugs. At a congressional hearing on pain in December 2005, Capt. John Pruden said he'd talked with one of his old buddies, who had been wounded in Iraq. "As we were talking, he bragged how he was not using his pain meds," Pruden told the audience. "But unfortunately it turns out he was self-medicating with alcohol to cope with the pain."
The military is now pursuing a new pain strategy: stop the trouble before it starts. Historically, wars have led to medical advances, and this one is no different; the notion of a kind of pre-emption has captured the interest and excitement of the entire pain-medicine community. Treat acute pain early, the thinking goes, and you stop the brain from responding to it. You might just wipe out chronic pain in the process.
This is where Buckenmaier's research comes in. His team is responsible for bringing those high-tech nerve blocks to the battlefield. Since 2003, hundreds of injured soldiers have received anesthetic pumps within hours of their injuries. Buckenmaier and Gallagher are jointly tracking these soldiers over the next year and beyond. If the ones who got pumps quickly have less chronic pain—and animal studies suggest they will—the research will not only point the way to new treatments, says Gallagher: for civilians and soldiers alike, "it will be a revolution." It may mean that injuries will be treated much more aggressively. That sprained ankle that only registered a 4 on the pain scale? If you want to avoid chronic pain later, you might need serious therapy, and right away.
It's too soon to say what will ultimately become of the Walter Reed study, though the hospital believes in Buckenmaier's work: despite being short-staffed and underfunded, it decided two weeks ago to fully finance his vision for a new acute-pain-management service, one that may remain in place after the war is over. There is much else left to do. Buckenmaier's nerve-block program needs to be expanded; thousands of soldiers injured in Iraq still don't get the advanced treatment. And, he says, on the battlefield there's usually "no one in charge" of pain in any given unit. The VA system, like the rest of the country, needs more pain specialists, not to mention mental-health professionals. Indeed, there's call for change at every level of a lumbering bureaucracy that, as has been amply documented in NEWSWEEK and elsewhere, lets too many soldiers fall through the cracks.
But Will Castillo, a 27-year-old Army sergeant, is not one of these soldiers. Like Stonewall Jackson, he is an amputee. Iraqi insurgents shot him in the head—twice—and as he lay on the ground, an IED blew his leg off. It is a horrible story, but sitting in his hospital bed with his leg covered, Castillo shows no sign that it even happened. He is one of the soldiers who have nerve-blocking pain pumps. He feels good, he says, and once he gets a prosthetic leg, he might even consider going back to Iraq for another round. It's hard to believe it, but yes: this is a man who feels infinitely blessed.
With Samantha Henig, Dan Ephron and Julie Scelfo
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18881802/site/newsweek/page/0/
Dee Dee, I was pleased that the article discusses new ways of treating chronic pain besides treating with narcotics. I know you are concerned about that. But there is no reason you have to live without treatment for your pain! I love ya Sis!
To those of us who live with chronic pain we are aware of most of the issues in this article. I just wanted to share it with the members of the family who don't understand it and would like to.
Many of us with chronic pain and illnesses spend way too much time trying to convince others that our conditions are real; that the pain we feel is real and dibilitating and can change our lives drastically. What a shame that there is a need to prove ourselves.
It is ironic, that when I had my heart attack one of the first things I thought about after waking up after the angioplasty was "well now they will believe that I am really sick!" That a heart attack is pretty tangible and can be seen on films and other test results.
I am happy that doctors and other health care providers now recognize that chronic pain in of itself is a disease. Rima, I am sure because of your profession; much of this article will be no surprise to you. Especially the pathways of pain and how chronic pain actually produces more pain receptors in the brain. Amazing stuff!
I hope this helps explain to those of you who do not have chronic pain what life is like for us that do. That the way we behave is a normal reaction to living with constant pain.
MSNBC.com
New Research Into Pain Treatment
Millions of aging boomers and the latest generation of wounded soldiers hope the secrets of our most enduring medical foe can finally be unlocked.
By Mary Carmichael
Newsweek
June 4, 2007 issue - Late into the night of May 2, 1863, a few hours after Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson took two bullets in his left arm at the Battle of Chancellorsville, surgeon Hunter Holmes McGuire sawed off the bleeding limb, trying to save the general's life. With the knife came another medical tool, one fairly new to the battlefield—a rag soaked in chloroform. As he awaited amputation, Jackson, who would die a week later, was as stoic as his nickname suggested. But as he slipped into unconsciousness, it's said, he betrayed his vulnerability in the face of pain just once, mumbling that the anesthesia was "an infinite blessing."
For most of the 144 years since then, the military has stuck with similarly crude techniques for treating its soldiers' pain. Morphine, also given to Jackson and many others in the Civil War, is still the Army's most commonly used painkilling drug. It works, but compared with more-modern options, it's one step above chloroform and two above biting the bullet. Now, though, with casualties mounting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military is being forced to change its strategy. More than 90 percent of wounded soldiers have made it off the battlefield—the highest survival rate in American history—only to overwhelm chronic-pain clinics when they come home. "We're seeing the tip of a tidal wave of pain," says Lt. Col. Chester (Trip) Buckenmaier, an anesthesiologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who has emerged as a sort of pain czar for the Army. After decades of "sucking it up," the military has finally started to respond in new and innovative ways to this escalating pain crisis. Even as the VA hospital system has come under fire for poor care, Army doctors haven't just joined up in medicine's larger war against pain—they're leading the charge.
Winning this medical war is crucial, and not just for the sake of the soldiers, who are far from the only burgeoning new group of pain sufferers. Chronic pain is one of the most pervasive and intractable medical conditions in the United States, with one in five Americans afflicted. Aging baby boomers have reported in surveys more aches and pains than any previous generation. Cancer patients have more treatments to choose from than ever, but more pain, too. Even retired NFL players—a suck-it-up group if ever there was one—have started speaking out about the wear and tear on their bodies. Civilian chronic pain already costs the country $61 billion in lost productivity and many more in medical fees. Treating the soldiers in the coming years will add at least $340 billion to the toll.
As the number of patients has grown, though, so has medicine's understanding of what pain is. Scientists once viewed it as merely a symptom of injury, an intuitive idea that resonated with laymen. "The public understanding of pain has been that it's a stubbed toe or a broken bone," says Will Rowe, executive director of the American Pain Foundation. "But that's just one aspect of it. Now there's a growing awareness that pain is a disease of its own."
This is far more than a semantic change, Rowe adds: it's "tectonic." Docs now know that the brain and spinal cord rewire themselves in response to injuries, forming "pain pathways" that can become pathologically overactive years later. They are trying to sever this maladaptive mind-body connection with a host of new drugs and approaches. Some focus on recently discovered chemical receptors in the brain and muscles. Others pack all the punch of narcotics with less of the specter of addiction.
(Patients can still become dependent on a new form of the morphine derivative called Kadian, for instance, but if they crush one of the pills for snorting, its center explodes, releasing a substance that blocks the euphoric high.) New types of electrical stimulators targeting the brain, the spine and the muscles hit the market almost every year. Fentanyl skin patches, first introduced in 1990, have evolved into a patient-controlled, push-button device called IONSYS, available by the end of this year. And complementary and alternative medicine offer a parallel universe of treatments: herbs, yoga, acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and "prolotherapy," which injects various solutions, including cod-liver oil, into ligaments and tendons near the area of pain.
The military is pioneering its own new approaches. Since 2003, a small but growing number of soldiers in Iraq have been treated at the front with high-tech nerve-blocking devices that are effective but not addictive. They are common in civilian life, but their use on the battlefield is unprecedented. Back at home, many VA clinics are offering extensive and elaborate pain treatments, and they're learning how to get tough guys and girls to soften up and admit they need help. At Walter Reed, Buckenmaier's team is conducting groundbreaking research on the link between acute and chronic pain; his findings, due in the next few years, could revolutionize treatment. "The military needs people to be functioning out on the field," says Rollin (Mac) Gallagher, chief of pain medicine at the Philadelphia VA hospital. "What we're now starting to recognize is that if you control people's pain, they're not liabilities—they're assets."
That's not to say pain is all bad. It's unpleasant, of course, but in an evolutionary sense, it has its uses. Acute pain begins in the peripheries of the body, where sensory neurons are constantly on patrol for signs of damage. They are the mechanisms that alert us to one injury so we can avoid a second one. Touch a hot stove for the first time and you won't be happy, but you'll ultimately be better off—because you'll certainly never want to do it again.
By the time it has become a chronic condition, however, pain is no longer useful. It is, as Rowe says, a disease—specifically, an overactivity of the nervous system. The brain keeps a diary of the injuries the body receives, writing each entry by reconfiguring certain neurons into new, interconnected patterns. In healthy people, these neurons stop firing once the initial damage is fixed. But in chronic pain, they keep going long after the injury has healed. "The circuits get turned up, and they stay up. They get stuck," says Gallagher. "Most diseases are physiology gone wrong. Pain is one of them."
Scientists don't know why some people develop chronic problems after injuries while others continue on with no pain. It is nearly impossible to answer the question on a wide scale; pain simply has too many causes. Some patients fully recover from massive trauma. Others, like most of the boomers with aching backs and knees, find themselves debilitated by nothing more than the accumulated, mundane strains put on joints, bones and muscles every day. Even soldiers can fall into this second category—if the bullets don't get them, the back pain brought on by months of jumping out of trucks, burdened with heavy equipment, well may.
Complicating the issue even further is pain's inherently subjective nature—we may say we "feel each other's pain," but really, we can't. Doctors don't have any good way of measuring pain from one person to the next. The best they can do is ask patients to rate it for themselves on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the greatest agony of their lives. This is absurdly imprecise. Patients are usually honest (and fakery is fairly easy to spot), but they can exaggerate. A person feeling a 4 may claim a 7 to get aggressive treatment, and a person feeling a 7 may downplay it as a 4 in hopes of looking tough. Robyn Walker, a psychologist at the Tampa (Fla.) VA, says she's seen the latter dynamic in her clinic. "These patients know what a 10 feels like," she says. "But they are active-duty soldiers, and they minimize their problems. Unless you really ask them about their pain, they may be very hesitant to tell you." Doctors are trying to develop new methods of measuring pain, but their most advanced idea so far is to study facial expressions—which aren't much more standardized than the 10-point scale.
On top of that, one patient's 7 may be another's 4. "Our bodies are not one-size-fits-all," notes Rowe, "and doctors are finding that this is far more true with pain than they ever imagined." Genes may vastly influence how intensely people feel pain and how much they can withstand—although genetic testing for pain susceptibility is probably decades away. Gender matters, too. Women have up to twice as many nerve fibers in the skin as men do, so they feel some types of pain more intensely. (This doesn't mean they're weaker; it means that, all other factors being equal, their 10 is off a man's chart.) Even traits that seem unrelated to pain, like vitamin D deficiency, may increase it for reasons no one fully understands. Trying to untangle all these factors is a scientific nightmare.
Regardless of their injuries, their genes, their gender or their background, though, nearly all chronic-pain patients agree on one thing: the hyperactive neurons can make life near unbearable. The cascade of changes in the nervous system can lead to an equally painful cascade of events in a patient's life: memory loss, job loss, marital strife, depression, suicide. And through it all the body hurts like hell. "Imagine somebody holding a knife in your back and twisting it against your nerves continually, never stopping. That's what chronic pain is," says Dan O'Neal, a contractor who herniated two vertebrae in 2003 while cleaning up a job site. "At first you just shut off totally. It's terrible living like that."
Among chronic-pain patients, O'Neal is actually one of the lucky ones. He, at least, knows why his pain started; some patients are deniedeven that knowledge. Chronic regional pain syndrome, for instance, is a rare disorder that can begin with something as trivial as a skinned knee. The scrape heals, but the nervous system does not. Within a few years the knee that was skinned feels like it is on fire, even though nothing is outwardly wrong. Similarly, fibromyalgia assails the bones, muscles and joints, but has no obvious bodily causes and doesn't show up on X-rays. Growing evidence now suggests that it is in part a brain disorder that sets the pain pathways afire, responding to imaginary wounds—as if the brain's diary of injuries has suddenly filled up with wild, untrue stories. The pain itself is not imaginary. But because it is hard to pinpoint and even harder to treat, for years many doctors used to write it off as such.
Andrea Cooper says that's all doctors did when she first developed fibromyalgia, which afflicts 6 million Americans. "There was a bunch of 'We can't figure out what's wrong with you, therefore there's nothing wrong with you'," she says. "People don't like to hear about symptoms that they can't do anything about."
Some fibromyalgia patients may be helped by standard pain treatments. Others aren't. In that, at least, fibromyalgia patients are just like all other pain patients: relief can come for them, but it is often hard-won. Cooper, who is now on fentanyl and Kadian, compares her current pain to "the roar of the faraway interstate, as opposed to being in traffic." But to get to her current regimen she had to go through nearly everything else—antidepressants, anticonvulsants, muscle relaxers, acupuncture and six operations that probably made the pain worse.
Some of the most promising pain treatments of the past decade have turned out to be disappointments. Studies of some radiofrequency therapies show they work no better than placebos. Spinal-fusion surgery, a recent review found, has "no acceptable evidence" to support it. And if a treatment does work, says Edward Covington, a pain specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, "for most people, the effect is temporary." There is no cure for chronic pain, period.
There's not even any "single drug or technology alone" that can treat all the types of pain, says Eugene Viscusi, director of acute-pain management at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Most people need two or three therapies in combination. Scientists' new understanding of pain's broad effects on many levels of the nervous system explains why: a multipart syndrome requires multipart therapy. Viscusi notes that patients under anesthesia still have elevated levels of the pain enzyme Cox-2 in their spinal fluid following surgery. They may not feel pain, but some parts of their brains still think they're in it. For any treatment to work long term, it will have to address not just the immediate sensation of pain but the other, subtler aspects—and there are surely some of those that scientists don't know about yet.
At the American Pain Society's annual meeting in May, a panel drew attention to what seems like the best option pain medicine currently has to offer: "multidisciplinary pain centers," essentially rehab clinics that employ doctors, nurses and therapists from a variety of fields. They prescribe a tough-love regimen of physical therapy (as well as the psychological kind), and many also make a point of cutting down on drug use. Pain specialists have been singing their praises for the past three decades. Data show why: they help many debilitated patients get back to work. But multidisciplinary clinics are on the wane. There are no statistics, but Covington says he suspects their numbers have dwindled by about 90 percent in the past 30 years. The problem is that a lot of patients just don't like them. "Americans love deep brain stimulation, replacement discs, things that are sexy and magical and frequently hyped," Covington notes. Multidisciplinary clinics are a much harder sell. They're not a quick fix, and their emphasis on exercise strikes fear in some people who are already worried about injuring themselves.
Insurance companies also sometimes balk at multidisciplinary clinics, which are costly. They'll cover them, Covington says, but usually "only enough so they lose just a little bit of money on them every year." Insurers say they sometimes have trouble determining how legitimate the clinics are or how much of a service they'll provide, since there are no national guidelines for what the clinics should encompass.
Insurers usually prefer to pay for single therapies, like opioids, the narcotics that block messages in the brain and make patients care less about their pain. The drugs are hugely widespread; almost 200 million opioid prescriptions get written in America each year, most of them for Vicodin, OxyContin and various forms of fentanyl. But "widespread" doesn't mean "effective," nor does it mean "popular." In opioid trials, fewer than a third of patients on average report relief, and more than a third drop out of the same trials rather than deal with the side effects, which include nausea, constipation and trouble breathing. "Most of the soldiers I treat say they don't want to take these strong medications," says Walker, the Tampa VA psychologist. "They say, 'These things make me groggy. I want to get back to my life'."
Opioid users also run two parallel risks: that they will become addicted, and that they will suffer the stigma of addiction even if they're not abusing the drugs. Steven Passik, a pain specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, notes that "the issue of addiction doesn't lie in the drugs," but in a complex interaction between the chemicals and biological predispositions. Still, many patients struggle. Brooks Bono, 28, was born with a tumor on his spine and has spent his whole life in pain.
At one point he was on so much OxyContin that "the dosages would have killed someone else," says his mother, Kadie Dempsey. He sees Passik now for counseling, and a few months ago he switched to methadone. It's not as addictive, says Bono, but it does little to dull the pain and it brings its own problems. "I went to about 20 different pharmacies," he says, "and they told me, 'We don't treat drug addicts here'."
No one wants to avoid an epidemic of drug abuse more than the military. Addicted Vietnam vets still wander into VAs, and as Gallagher notes, "if our soldiers can't get pain relief in the medical system, they'll turn to other ways." Many VA clinics make a point of cutting down on soldiers' use of opioids and other drugs. At a congressional hearing on pain in December 2005, Capt. John Pruden said he'd talked with one of his old buddies, who had been wounded in Iraq. "As we were talking, he bragged how he was not using his pain meds," Pruden told the audience. "But unfortunately it turns out he was self-medicating with alcohol to cope with the pain."
The military is now pursuing a new pain strategy: stop the trouble before it starts. Historically, wars have led to medical advances, and this one is no different; the notion of a kind of pre-emption has captured the interest and excitement of the entire pain-medicine community. Treat acute pain early, the thinking goes, and you stop the brain from responding to it. You might just wipe out chronic pain in the process.
This is where Buckenmaier's research comes in. His team is responsible for bringing those high-tech nerve blocks to the battlefield. Since 2003, hundreds of injured soldiers have received anesthetic pumps within hours of their injuries. Buckenmaier and Gallagher are jointly tracking these soldiers over the next year and beyond. If the ones who got pumps quickly have less chronic pain—and animal studies suggest they will—the research will not only point the way to new treatments, says Gallagher: for civilians and soldiers alike, "it will be a revolution." It may mean that injuries will be treated much more aggressively. That sprained ankle that only registered a 4 on the pain scale? If you want to avoid chronic pain later, you might need serious therapy, and right away.
It's too soon to say what will ultimately become of the Walter Reed study, though the hospital believes in Buckenmaier's work: despite being short-staffed and underfunded, it decided two weeks ago to fully finance his vision for a new acute-pain-management service, one that may remain in place after the war is over. There is much else left to do. Buckenmaier's nerve-block program needs to be expanded; thousands of soldiers injured in Iraq still don't get the advanced treatment. And, he says, on the battlefield there's usually "no one in charge" of pain in any given unit. The VA system, like the rest of the country, needs more pain specialists, not to mention mental-health professionals. Indeed, there's call for change at every level of a lumbering bureaucracy that, as has been amply documented in NEWSWEEK and elsewhere, lets too many soldiers fall through the cracks.
But Will Castillo, a 27-year-old Army sergeant, is not one of these soldiers. Like Stonewall Jackson, he is an amputee. Iraqi insurgents shot him in the head—twice—and as he lay on the ground, an IED blew his leg off. It is a horrible story, but sitting in his hospital bed with his leg covered, Castillo shows no sign that it even happened. He is one of the soldiers who have nerve-blocking pain pumps. He feels good, he says, and once he gets a prosthetic leg, he might even consider going back to Iraq for another round. It's hard to believe it, but yes: this is a man who feels infinitely blessed.
With Samantha Henig, Dan Ephron and Julie Scelfo
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18881802/site/newsweek/page/0/
Saturday, May 26, 2007
A Funny to Share:
This came from a member of the art site I belong to and I thought it was hysterical.
HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT
The following is an actual question given on aUniversity of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet,which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure ofenjoying it as well. Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) orendothermic (absorbs heat)?Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefsusing Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heatswhen it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time.So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.
The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting anymore souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting"Oh my God."
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A"---
HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT
The following is an actual question given on aUniversity of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet,which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure ofenjoying it as well. Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) orendothermic (absorbs heat)?Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefsusing Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heatswhen it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time.So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.
The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting anymore souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting"Oh my God."
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A"---
Friday, May 25, 2007
Fanily Gathering
Barb,
I spoke with my Friend's Jean and JoAnn - JoAnn is a go for the date change, Jean will let me know.
Val and I have a sister's weekend this weekend in Ormond Beach, FL - We will go by Grandpa's on Sunday and I will discuss with the entire gang in Florida and will let you know by Tuesday at the the latest.
I am OK with the date change.
Check with Dee, Angie and Nancy....
I noticed that Beth is not on the list, did you have a change to see if she would be willing to attend with the kids, even if Jim can't get the time off? You know Grandpa is going to pay for them to attend.
We would love for them to come, but we understand if she can't.....
I love you all and hope that the date change is not a problem.
Suzie
I spoke with my Friend's Jean and JoAnn - JoAnn is a go for the date change, Jean will let me know.
Val and I have a sister's weekend this weekend in Ormond Beach, FL - We will go by Grandpa's on Sunday and I will discuss with the entire gang in Florida and will let you know by Tuesday at the the latest.
I am OK with the date change.
Check with Dee, Angie and Nancy....
I noticed that Beth is not on the list, did you have a change to see if she would be willing to attend with the kids, even if Jim can't get the time off? You know Grandpa is going to pay for them to attend.
We would love for them to come, but we understand if she can't.....
I love you all and hope that the date change is not a problem.
Suzie
Date Change!!!
Hello Family,
Scott called Cumberland Island this morning and the dates we had picked are already gone, they were booked solid. So we got the next available time slot which in Wednesday, November 14th thru Saturday, November 17th. It is three weeks later than we had planned. If you can’t change your vacation days we will send you a full refund. I am sorry, this was the best we could do. Please reply as soon as you can to let me know what you would like to do.
Love you all,
Barbara A.
Scott called Cumberland Island this morning and the dates we had picked are already gone, they were booked solid. So we got the next available time slot which in Wednesday, November 14th thru Saturday, November 17th. It is three weeks later than we had planned. If you can’t change your vacation days we will send you a full refund. I am sorry, this was the best we could do. Please reply as soon as you can to let me know what you would like to do.
Love you all,
Barbara A.
10am Cumberland call
Good Morning Family,
Here is the list I will be calling in this morning (31 adults or kids over 12) and (5 kids under 12). If you name is not on this list you are listed as a NO!!!
Please look over the list and e-mail me or call me with changes before 9:30am.
1.Grandpa
2. Betty
3. Nancy
4. Barbara A.
5. Scott
6. Morgan
7. Zoe
8. John
9. Shelley
10.Brian
11.Dixie
12. Joe
13.Angie
14.Bekka
15.Eric
16.Rima
17.Barbara J.
18.Ralphie
19.Allie
20.Evan
21.Rita
22.Erin
23. Allen
24. Eric
25.Thomas
26.Teresa
27. Cathy
28. Val
29. James
30. Erica
31. Annie
32. Susan
33. Joann
34. Matt
35. Jean
36. Sarah
Okay, that is all I have. The five kids under 12 I have listed as Erin, Allie, Evan, Eric, and Zoe. Please send corrections asap.
Love you guys.
Barbara
Here is the list I will be calling in this morning (31 adults or kids over 12) and (5 kids under 12). If you name is not on this list you are listed as a NO!!!
Please look over the list and e-mail me or call me with changes before 9:30am.
1.Grandpa
2. Betty
3. Nancy
4. Barbara A.
5. Scott
6. Morgan
7. Zoe
8. John
9. Shelley
10.Brian
11.Dixie
12. Joe
13.Angie
14.Bekka
15.Eric
16.Rima
17.Barbara J.
18.Ralphie
19.Allie
20.Evan
21.Rita
22.Erin
23. Allen
24. Eric
25.Thomas
26.Teresa
27. Cathy
28. Val
29. James
30. Erica
31. Annie
32. Susan
33. Joann
34. Matt
35. Jean
36. Sarah
Okay, that is all I have. The five kids under 12 I have listed as Erin, Allie, Evan, Eric, and Zoe. Please send corrections asap.
Love you guys.
Barbara
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Hi Again Barb:
Well that won't work either. If I could just pick up and drive from Atlanta to Albemarle, I would have been to Atlanta in the last year. I think you have missed something. I will be living with Beth and Jimmy or close by in October. I can't drive to Dee Dee's house.
Darn why does this have to be so difficult?
Love,
Mom
Darn why does this have to be so difficult?
Love,
Mom
Mom, got it!!
Hey,
I e-mail Dixie about something else and then asked her how they were getting to Cumberland. She said they are renting a car and coming down. She offered to let you ride with them. You would just need to drive to her house. That was so nice of her to offer. Thanks Dixie, love you.
Love,
Barbara A.
I e-mail Dixie about something else and then asked her how they were getting to Cumberland. She said they are renting a car and coming down. She offered to let you ride with them. You would just need to drive to her house. That was so nice of her to offer. Thanks Dixie, love you.
Love,
Barbara A.
Hi Barb:
Thanks about the photo but I didn't appreciate having my butt photographed. LOL It is funny though.
I have an idea if it is okay with your Dad, Shelly and Brian. Brian could ride with them and I can ride with ya'll. That could work out fine.
I am getting excited about the reunion too. This will be the first time I have been able to attend.
I got to go. I have a regular check up with the family doctor today and have to get washed up. Ick.
Love,
Mom
I have an idea if it is okay with your Dad, Shelly and Brian. Brian could ride with them and I can ride with ya'll. That could work out fine.
I am getting excited about the reunion too. This will be the first time I have been able to attend.
I got to go. I have a regular check up with the family doctor today and have to get washed up. Ick.
Love,
Mom
Camping
Hey All,
Mom,love the photo of you setting up camp! I had already told Brian he could ride with us (because he doesn't have a car), and all our gear we are not going to have the room. Does anybody have some ideas about getting Mom, Dixie, Joe and the girls down to Cumberland?? Help!!!
I will change your maybe to a yes on my master list. I will be sending out a camping list out this week so everyone will get an idea on what to pack. Please make sure you pack by your list, because if you forget something then you will have to do without. There are no stores on the island and it is costly to leave the island and get what you need at St. Mary's and then come back. It would be an all day affair.
I am getting so excited about the reunion, it will be so much fun.
Love to everyone,
Barbara A
Mom,love the photo of you setting up camp! I had already told Brian he could ride with us (because he doesn't have a car), and all our gear we are not going to have the room. Does anybody have some ideas about getting Mom, Dixie, Joe and the girls down to Cumberland?? Help!!!
I will change your maybe to a yes on my master list. I will be sending out a camping list out this week so everyone will get an idea on what to pack. Please make sure you pack by your list, because if you forget something then you will have to do without. There are no stores on the island and it is costly to leave the island and get what you need at St. Mary's and then come back. It would be an all day affair.
I am getting so excited about the reunion, it will be so much fun.
Love to everyone,
Barbara A
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Thanks Barb for the update!
This is me trying to set up my tent in the Blue Ridge a few years ago!Wow 30 that is a big group? Cool!
Barb, you have been busy lately and perhaps did not notice that I am not a Maybe afterall. Over a month ago I became a Yes when Susan offered to treat me to the costs of the reunion. Dixie and her family too. Thanks again Susan. Didn't want you to be shocked when you get the check from Susan and she paid too much. That is what the extra is for; moi. :)
Beth, I am disappointed that you and your family will not be able to attend. I was so looking forward to sharing my tent with Ava and Becca! But I understand.
By October, I will be living in Atlanta and had planned on driving to the reunion with Beth and gang as I will be living under their roof. So Barb, may I ride with you and your gang to the reunion?
It is sad that the rules on Cumberland Island about reservations are so strict that it doesn't allow people to change their minds about coming. I understand the reasons. But still maybe something could have come up to allow Beth and gang to be there. Oh well. :(
This weekend it is supposed to be nice out without any chance of rain. So I am going to get my tent out of the box and begin practicing setting it up. While I am at it I will also give it a good shampoo, let it air dry, pack it up and put it in the house rather than the shed. I don't want to accidentally carry any spideys with me. Ick!
Will I need to bring my coleman stove? Or are there grills there at the campsite? Or other coleman stoves? I do like to make expresso on the stove in the morning while on camping trips. Hot, strong and sweet! Kick starts my aching back. LOL
The only thing I need to buy is an air mattress and I think I can pull that off before October.
Eric a few years ago taught me a neat thing to do with those outdoor solar lights. I have two actually lanterns on stakes along the sidewalk. I will be bringing them and do not have to worry about propane lantern in the tent. They are bright enough to read by at night. Eric, thanks again for that neat idea.
Okay it is late and I am pooped. I spent the last three days cutting my front yard; it was 18 inches high and takes awhile with the lightweight weed wacker. Tomorrow I start on the back yard and the grass is even higher. Darn it.
Hugs to all and I am so excited about this reunion!
Love,
Nancy/Mom/Grandma Cookie
PS Congrats on learning how to upload photos Dee Dee. Becca sure is beautiful!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Head count for the family reunion
Hello Family,
Here is my current head count for the reunion. Please send me anyone’s e-mail address that I have missed and I will forward this to them. I need to know this is correct asap. If you are not on my list by Wednesday as yes or no then I will not make an rsvp for you. Thanks for your help everyone.
Yes: Grandpa, Betty, Allen, Eric, Thomas, Teresa, Cathy, Joe, Dixie, Becka, Susan, Val, Erica, James, Annie, Rita, Erin, Barbara J, Ralphie, Allie, Evan, Eric, Rema, Barbara A., Scott, Morgan, Zoe, John, Shelley, and Brian Jon. I have gotten checks from Grandpa. Susan, Val and Rema’s checks are on the way.
No: Beth, Jim, Sarah, Becca, Ava, Nick and Jimmy.
Nancy: maybe
My total is 30 people, if this is not correct please let me know before Thursday. I will be on the horn with Cumberland on Friday morning!!
Love to all,
Barbara A.
Here is my current head count for the reunion. Please send me anyone’s e-mail address that I have missed and I will forward this to them. I need to know this is correct asap. If you are not on my list by Wednesday as yes or no then I will not make an rsvp for you. Thanks for your help everyone.
Yes: Grandpa, Betty, Allen, Eric, Thomas, Teresa, Cathy, Joe, Dixie, Becka, Susan, Val, Erica, James, Annie, Rita, Erin, Barbara J, Ralphie, Allie, Evan, Eric, Rema, Barbara A., Scott, Morgan, Zoe, John, Shelley, and Brian Jon. I have gotten checks from Grandpa. Susan, Val and Rema’s checks are on the way.
No: Beth, Jim, Sarah, Becca, Ava, Nick and Jimmy.
Nancy: maybe
My total is 30 people, if this is not correct please let me know before Thursday. I will be on the horn with Cumberland on Friday morning!!
Love to all,
Barbara A.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Hey Sis
Hi Posted a pic yeah.
Well summer is almost here. Hard to believe just 2 weeks left of school. And I survived Bekah's first year of high school.
After college Rebekah wants to go to law school to become a Lawyer. She is in pre-law now cause she has the arguing her case down pat.
I love you my youngest kiddo.
@->----
Well summer is almost here. Hard to believe just 2 weeks left of school. And I survived Bekah's first year of high school.
After college Rebekah wants to go to law school to become a Lawyer. She is in pre-law now cause she has the arguing her case down pat.
I love you my youngest kiddo.
@->----
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Happy Birthday Ava Marie
Dear Ava:
I wanted to post a birthday thread for you on your birthday but I was in a not too good place; a bad pain flare. I did nothing that day but feed me and the pets and slept and slept and slept. I am so sorry sweetheart dear grand-daughter of mine.
I have painted you a watercolor painting. I hope you like it. It is comprised solely of watercolor paints. I have been practicing a lot lately and it is beginning to show. I even like it! I will mail it as soon as I can. I even have a mat and frame for it and will do this for you. All you have to do is hang it up.
Have I told you lately how much I love you? Well I love you!
You were my first grand-daughter and such a happy event in our family the first girl grandchild. I remember when you were born; you gave us all a big scare. Your mommy had to come home a few days before you did because you had jaundice. Not too serious but something that has to be watched closely.
The first time I held you I felt such motherly love. You were so tiny, beautiful and your hair felt like silk. I loved kissing you on the top of your sweet head. I think you liked it too.
Your first bath, your mom, Auntie Barb and me were there doing it all together and it was such a fun time. You were very quiet and it seemed like you were trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. You were just getting a bath for Pete's Sake and there was all this grown up women chattering around you.
Your parents had to keep a special light over you for a few days after you came home from the hospital. And a very nice nurse came over to check you out everyday. She had to take blood from your little foot and we all almost cried for you. Thank goodness you were well in just a few days.
I remember when you were in your little chair, it was parked under the living room window for the light. You had your little blue glow light on too. Morgan was a cute littel bald haired baby then and he was fascinated by you! He could not keep his eyes off you for a second. Or his hands either. He kept trying to pat you on the head and a swarm of women descended on him keeping his hands off your head.
I think he got ticked off at us because he started rocking you in your chair and got to going way too fast looking at us a bit defiantly "Gonna stop me from doing this too? " We had too. He almost ejected you out of the chair!
But he loved his baby cousin so much!
I got to give you a bath the next day by myself and was scared so much. It had been a long time since I bathed a newborn. I brought with me a yellow infant girl's dress that my grandfather (your great great grandfather) bought for your momma when she was born. I remember putting that cute little dress and booties on you and coming your hair. Then I sat you up on the sofa so we could all ohh and ahh at how adorable you were. Still are too!
Another time at Christmas, you had not been walking very long. I think you were a year and a half that year. Morgan had gotten a tiny tike bicycle and he loved it. But he got off it and wandered off to play with something else. It took you one second to get up on his bike. Morgan spotted you and came back over to try to get you off his bike, He was about 2 and 1/2.
I was on the floor video taping the entire thing. Morgan was frustrated. You were busy with the pedals and paid no attention to him. And he looked over at me to help him out. I just smiled. Finally he spoke. "Dad can I hit Ava?" I heard Scott in the background saying "Better not son!" That was very cute and I have it on tape still.
I called you last night but perhaps all of you were at karate class. Give me a call so I can say Happy Birthday in person. I want to talk to you about Jeremy too.
Is he adorable or what? To get him used to being handled; you should start now by touching his paws front and back, his tummy, etc. Be gentle with him and he will never learn to be afraid of touch. Get him used to people too as much as possible. Boy cats don't care for their bellies touched. But if you start when they are very young they will accept it. That is what I did with Frankie. He does not fear anyone touching paws or belly.
Okay sweetheart. I imagine your party will be this weekend. I hope you had a wonderful birthday. And please know that even if I wasn't feeling well I was thinking about you and your birthday all day (when I was awake)!
I love you Ava!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grandma Cookie
I wanted to post a birthday thread for you on your birthday but I was in a not too good place; a bad pain flare. I did nothing that day but feed me and the pets and slept and slept and slept. I am so sorry sweetheart dear grand-daughter of mine.
I have painted you a watercolor painting. I hope you like it. It is comprised solely of watercolor paints. I have been practicing a lot lately and it is beginning to show. I even like it! I will mail it as soon as I can. I even have a mat and frame for it and will do this for you. All you have to do is hang it up.
Have I told you lately how much I love you? Well I love you!
You were my first grand-daughter and such a happy event in our family the first girl grandchild. I remember when you were born; you gave us all a big scare. Your mommy had to come home a few days before you did because you had jaundice. Not too serious but something that has to be watched closely.
The first time I held you I felt such motherly love. You were so tiny, beautiful and your hair felt like silk. I loved kissing you on the top of your sweet head. I think you liked it too.
Your first bath, your mom, Auntie Barb and me were there doing it all together and it was such a fun time. You were very quiet and it seemed like you were trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. You were just getting a bath for Pete's Sake and there was all this grown up women chattering around you.
Your parents had to keep a special light over you for a few days after you came home from the hospital. And a very nice nurse came over to check you out everyday. She had to take blood from your little foot and we all almost cried for you. Thank goodness you were well in just a few days.
I remember when you were in your little chair, it was parked under the living room window for the light. You had your little blue glow light on too. Morgan was a cute littel bald haired baby then and he was fascinated by you! He could not keep his eyes off you for a second. Or his hands either. He kept trying to pat you on the head and a swarm of women descended on him keeping his hands off your head.
I think he got ticked off at us because he started rocking you in your chair and got to going way too fast looking at us a bit defiantly "Gonna stop me from doing this too? " We had too. He almost ejected you out of the chair!
But he loved his baby cousin so much!
I got to give you a bath the next day by myself and was scared so much. It had been a long time since I bathed a newborn. I brought with me a yellow infant girl's dress that my grandfather (your great great grandfather) bought for your momma when she was born. I remember putting that cute little dress and booties on you and coming your hair. Then I sat you up on the sofa so we could all ohh and ahh at how adorable you were. Still are too!
Another time at Christmas, you had not been walking very long. I think you were a year and a half that year. Morgan had gotten a tiny tike bicycle and he loved it. But he got off it and wandered off to play with something else. It took you one second to get up on his bike. Morgan spotted you and came back over to try to get you off his bike, He was about 2 and 1/2.
I was on the floor video taping the entire thing. Morgan was frustrated. You were busy with the pedals and paid no attention to him. And he looked over at me to help him out. I just smiled. Finally he spoke. "Dad can I hit Ava?" I heard Scott in the background saying "Better not son!" That was very cute and I have it on tape still.
I called you last night but perhaps all of you were at karate class. Give me a call so I can say Happy Birthday in person. I want to talk to you about Jeremy too.
Is he adorable or what? To get him used to being handled; you should start now by touching his paws front and back, his tummy, etc. Be gentle with him and he will never learn to be afraid of touch. Get him used to people too as much as possible. Boy cats don't care for their bellies touched. But if you start when they are very young they will accept it. That is what I did with Frankie. He does not fear anyone touching paws or belly.
Okay sweetheart. I imagine your party will be this weekend. I hope you had a wonderful birthday. And please know that even if I wasn't feeling well I was thinking about you and your birthday all day (when I was awake)!
I love you Ava!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grandma Cookie
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