INSOMNIACS place to talk in the wee hours
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There is/was a thread on BCO about comfort dogs. Don't know if it's still active. Teka, why not start one for cats? Lots of kitty lovers here.
I meant my Spoiled Maltese forum. And some of them really are!
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Sas- thanks for the Valentines gifts! I take digestive enzymes to help keep my plumbing working along with drinking lots of water and trying to keep my fiber intake good. Our digestive system does not work as well as we age (and definately if you have had major abdominal surgery).
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Camillegal - my face on the avatar is the clown face developed at clown training. It's not tooooo inhuman cause I don't want to scare the kids. Most of my business comes from Facebook, or word of mouth. I joined the city chamber of commerce, too. I have taken a clown gag to each rad for whoever is there, professional or not. I play polka music during treatment. I hand out smile stickers or mints with smiles on them on Fridays and wear my clown hat. I plan to wear my full costume on the last day.
I like this smile face because I now have one nip that still points down and one that now points up. It looks like one is winking.0 -
Party what's,up with the deletes? Something we said? Sassy
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Sassy - how can you spend 5 hours researching poop with all you already have on the thread? Did you get your research solved?
I want to say one big YAY. My goatie's pinkeye is much better with only a $32 bottle of spray called Vetricin. Now you all will laugh but a vet visit would be prob. 2X that much and I would have had to haul her up there tomorrow in the freezing rain 35 degree weather.
MNDeb - I think I read early this morning your question. I "retired" a year ago retired in quotes because I'm not retirement age yet. I was a hospice nurse driving all over the Ft Worth area, from my home 30 minutes at best to my 1st pt and more like 45 minutes. Long days and then paperwork at night/weekends.
Teka - I think the Comfort Dogs had cats on it too. It's not really active - I read it occasionally.
Welcome Patty and Mimi and I know I must have missed someone else. Who's getting drains out Tuesday? I seem to have dozed a long time in my chair today and not read much. Maybe catch up tomorrow. That and watching Olympics. I think the Westminster Dog Show is on this week too.
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Wow Mimi wish I had been in rads with you!
SAS I didn't know you were supposed to take Melatonin every day. It taking less time to work sounds really good.
Hi Patty, I am glad you are posting here. There is so much support on this thread.
Love you all Ginger
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Mimi I really like u'r face it doesn't scare me--like a lot of clowns do. LOL and wearing full costume is fantastic u'll be the talk of the hospital and they must love u now anyway.
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Chevy - DID YOU WATCH THE VIDEO I POSTED????????
Cammi - loved the kitties in the sink!!!
Doing the happy dance (carefully) because Smaarty pooped!!!
Aw, Sassy, you give me way too much credit.
Patty: my background is in Rehabilitation Counseling, which is a combination of Medical Counseling, Therapeutic Counseling, and Vocational Counseling. I retired after 30 years in the field.
No matter what kind of illness, injury, or disease we may have, it usually takes a toll on everyone in the family. If you are the person who is ill, a whole lotta junk comes with it: anger, depression, fear, guilt, you name it. And for mothers, it's even worse.
Sadly, no one ever teaches us how to cope with life in the trenches. And it's only when things become too emotionally painful that we start to look outside ourselves for help.
One thing I always told my students and clients: Therapy is kind of like the kitty litter box. You can keep adding more litter to cover the mess up, but sooner or later you're gonna have to shovel some chit.
By that, I mean that there's a lot of fear associated with counseling... that the therapist will make us talk about things we don't want to, or that we'll have to admit to our biggest mistakes/guilt/weakness.... or that we'll start crying and never stop. The tendency is to ignore the problems and just keep pushing on.
But for me (and yes, I have seen, and continue to see a therapist to help me stay emotionally healthy) I found that counseling was like going into a spooky dark attic and raising all the shades to let in the light. I found out there were no boogeymen hiding up there after all.
When things get bad at home, and communication breaks down, everyone starts doing this dance of avoidance, so as to not upset each other. That just isn't fair to the person at the center, as it means that their feelings must be stuffed down to create harmony. But when doing that leaves you feeling scared and alone, in my book that's more harmful than speaking up.
Dealing with kids is tricky. No secret there. My opinion - and it is only my opinion - is that if getting the whole family to therapy is too hard, just go for some individual sessions by yourself.
I would never in a million years presume to understand what it feels like to have a Stage IV dx. But I do have a sense of how it feels to think I don't have forever on this earth, and that more than anything, I want to be able to communicate clearly with those I love the most.
Most breast cancer centers and most MOs have Psychologists or Licensed Clinical Social Workers on staff who are skilled in dealing with cancer patients. You can ask for a referral. If you don't click with the therapist after a few sessions, you can always change to someone else.
It's nice to have a non-judgmental ear to listen to you, give you good feedback, and valuable coping tips for dealing with family matters, and not be at all hurt when you need to vent like Hurricane Sandy.
It would be wonderful if all our family members were equipped to do this for us, but they're not. So going to a professional counselor is a gift that you give to yourself. It's like mental housekeeping.
I'm sorry this is so long, and these are just my rambling thoughts on counseling. I just have to say, I fully believe it works, and can make life so much easier when things get painful or scary.
And on that note, I will wish all my Owlettes sweet dreams. Off to do more Memorial stuff.... may be back tonight, maybe not.
xoxoxo
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My DH's bachelor Uncle was frugal to the point of obsession. He happened to suffer from chronic constipation. The family used to joke it was because he was so tight he couldn't let anything go.
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Cami-glad you said something....because clowns have always scared me. lol, but mimi...i'm sure you are not a scary clown
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jazz - wow u and your sister dx so close in time. It sucks u both had this dx but I bet it brought u even closer together. Does your sister post on here ? U asked about the kiddos. My husband and I tried for 10 years to have children - no luck. Then we finished jumping thru all the hoops to adopt right before my original dx. I thought great now they will never give us kids. I finished chemo and radiation on a thur and we picked up out first boy on Friday and his first bday was sat. 3 years later we got a 3 month old and I got everything I thought I missed the first time. God Is truly good
Chevy- how was the choc coke ? How did you pick your name? The boy part stumped me. I know men also get bc. Do what color did u put on your hair today?
Mimi - how did u pick your clown name ?
Spookie - nice idea to put the info on fridge. Surely dh will find it there.
Blessings - love the kitty litter analogy. Decided to def ask for a referral for myself.
Sassy - I deleted post becuz I have no clue how I added all that extra info at bottom. Took up to much room. Wanted to leave more owl room for ya.
Hope I didn't forget anyone else who reached out and encouraged me. Y'all r so sweet.
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hello fellow late nighters. Is anyone else still up ???? Hello Is there anyone out there
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I'm up, but it's only 11:30 here. Is the ar for Arkansas? I usually sleep ok, hopefully night won't be the exception. I was thinking I didn't need any more Norco tonight? Wrong! The left side is yelling at me for the first time. It's been pretty quiet so far but now is complaining. Took a pill so should be ok in about 40 minutes. Can't wait to get the drains out. That's what's hurting right now.
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yes I am in arkansas. It is 1:30 here. I see your r getting your reconstruction. Ouch the drain bags suck don't they. And the gunk that comes out in them is not very pretty either. What kind of reconstruction did u have? Hoping for perfect boobs for ya.
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had silicone implants put in last Monday. They are smaller than I used to be which is what I wanted. Have gotten to see them yet, still in bandages. Did you get hit with all that freezing weather?
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yes it had been the coldest winter for the longest time that I can remember here. Brrr. CA sounding pretty good right now.
R u in the drought area? When is the unveiling ?
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the drought is really the whole state. The south is a little better off, but they'll be hurting if the north can't ship water down. This time it's about as bad as in the 70s. The south did better about preparing for the drought, the north didn't. Don't know why.
Should be able to take off everything on Tuesday. Which is my birthday. When I started this mess I said I'd have new perky boobs for my birthday!
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happy early bday. Gotta say probably don't have to worry about getting two of the same presents and having to return one of them. Lol.
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better not have to return any! I'm being good about doing nothing. Of course with the extra pain in the side this time, it hasn't been hard to do. I've been catching up on watching Downton abbey. Just finished season 2 tonight. Will have to get season 3 from my SIL. I started recording season 4, so I'll be all caught by Tuesday I think.
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hi PattyP and Smaart, am up for a while. Smaarty, happy birthday!
How's the weather up north? Was hoping the rain would last a little longer.
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Smaarty, I'm hooked on DA too. Haven't seen season one so I'm envious.
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it's been raining since Thursday night. Lots of snow in the Sierra. My nephew went up to play but nothing was open because they hadn't hired staff to open the lifts.
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hey 2nd time. Loving this thread. Ths kc again for telling me
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patty, you should be meeting Aly from Australia and nickyJ from France, they pop in every once in a while.
I can feel the Norco kicking in, so may be shutting down soon.
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sweet dreams, Smaarty! Great present to unwrap on Tuesday!
PattyP, you're welcome! This thread has helped me keep a hold on the little sanity I have left. Besides Aly and Nicky, Chrissy is from Australia too
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k I'll keep an eye out for them.
Sweet dresms
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thanks for the birthday wishes. I'm going to turn off my iPad now. Night. Hope you get some sleep.
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I slept in late, then long nap
thisyesterday afternoon0 -
thanks for keeping me company and making me look smart
I think I am off to zzzz land. Have to wake the family up for school/work in 3 hours. Better get a little rest. 0 -
I'm ready to call it a night too. Thanks for playing on the games threads! Sweet dreams!
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