CAN\'T SEEM TO HELP MYSELF!
Thursday, 1-8-09: Yet another missed day of work. I just can't seem to get well. First of all, I overslept. I called in and told "them" I was running late. About an hour later I called back and told them I wouldn't be in at all. I was so dizzy! I called the local clinics and they had no appointments available. So, I called my Internal Medicine doctor, who is twenty miles away, and managed to get an appointment, the last of her day. She gave me a different antibiotic than what I have taken the past three times. She gave me several other meds, too. One, I did not fill. It was Elavil. I have taken that in the past to sleep. If I oversleep now, imagine what that would do!!! I know it made me really groggy in the morning, before. She was supposed to give me an inhaler but didn't. I have asthma like symtoms. I will call her tomorrow. I have to call anyway, about my chest x-ray. I am so sick of being sick! This has been going on since October! I have missed so much work. I am concerned about my job, although no one has said a thing. I just want to get well! And, even though I have good insurance, they don't pay it all. I just can't really afford all this right now. You know, I don't really care if I die. But, if I have to live, I don't want to live being sick. And then, there is the drinking. I enjoy it. It is the end to my day. Rum and Coke after all the "have to's" are finished. My treat. However, I think "my treat" causes me trouble. I know it can't be good when I am sick. And yet, I continue. I never, ever, mix it with anything. But give me a choice between my Valium and my drink....I will take my drink. I know I will feel better the next day if I take the Valium, but, I choose the drink. I think it just gives me a break I can't get from anything else. It slows my mind. And strange, but true, it really helps me slow down enough to sort things out in my mind. However, it seems to be causing problems! Oh yea! another thing to deal wth! I feel like I am gaining ground on so many levels. And yet, on others, I am losing. I am sick and missing work. I am drinking more than I EVER did before. I have gained at least twenty pounds since Scott died. (That is probably from the drinking.) I just don't know how to get balance! I am so confused about so many things, still. Chris is doing well. He is working on his sleep apnea and trying to find a part-time job until the baseball season starts. He is still working on his house and doing well. I have a home. I am warm. I am not hungry. I have a husband that truly loves me. I have a job that I truly love and kids there that have my heart. Really. My Mom is fighting a brave fight with cancer and is, so far, winning. I have many friends. Many of Scott's friends are still in contact with me. Adam is hanging in there. What the HELL is the matter with me?!?!?!? Why can I not focus on all these positives? Why do I do things that are negative? Am I punishing myself without knowing that I am? Or, am I just crazy? I wish I could just go back in time and do so many things differently. But, in life, there are just no "do overs". And, to add fuel to the fire, a friend of Scott's just lost her baby. He was about nine months old. He fell and hit his head on a table at the babysittter's. He got fussy, she put him down for a nap, and he died. His Dad was a really good friend of Scott's. And, an Uncle is a really good friend of Adam. It is all so sad! And, so much finger pointing. At this point I am understanding. My kids has some HARD falls. I never took them to the doctor. I put ice on whatever and monitored them. That was that. Kids fall....sometimes hard.....I never imagined my child would die from one. I really hope the babysitter had nothing to do with his death. And, as I was reading the obituaries today, I came across a name that is uncommon and is the same as someone I know. It turns out this man, 45, worked at the same hospital as my husband. I only met him and his son once. His ex-wife lived in an apartment next to the business I owned. She was crazy as a loon. She would come into my store talking to herself or "whoever". On good days she was okay. On others, not so much. Anyway, about a year ago she caused a horrible car accident (drunk) and a man, on his way home from work, died. She is in prison for 15 years. So now I read about this man's death. His fourteen year old son, who he had custody of, is in the care of family. My heart hurts. It has been a sad week. I am going to work tomorrow (today) in spite of what my doctor says. (She wants me to stay off until Mon.) I just cannot afford to miss work. I am too afraid of having my position questioned.
Replies
Ginger I feel for you, since Justin died my husband Mike has drank everyday I guess thats how he copes.I\'m a different story I take pills to cope I use to drink but since I\'m on medication I try not to drink I have a drink now and then.Ever since I blacked out while driving makes me wonder if I\'m under to much stress Justin is on my mind always can\'t seem to cope with life.I can\'t focus on any good memories my mind is always asking why my son.He was a good kid never harmed anybody I thought he was happy BOY was I wrong?I hope you start feeling better are they running tests on you? October is a long time to be sick.I go to the Dr next week about me blacking out I\'m thinking about canceling it.They didn\'t find anything wrong when I went to the hospital like you I have good insurance but it doesn\'t pay it all and I\'m sure they\'ll want to do a MRI.Keep in touch.God Bless you.Call me sometime.Love,Vicki
Ginger please take care of yourself. My husband had that flu like for almost a year & then found out it had cause some heart problems. I sure hope they are running good test on you & not missing anything.
Hope we can get together again this summer...Love & hugs, Connie
Oh Hon, it sounds like you are in a bad place right now. Maybe it is time for you to see an internist?? My hubby was dealing with a viral thing since October! He was just sooo tired all the time and his thyroid was off so he is on meds for that. Also, depression can do a lot. Do you take anything for that? I am on a mild one. It doesn\'t make the pain go away,..but I do believe that it helps me to deal with things!
I am so sorry to hear how you are feeling, but please exhaust the medical things first. You never know what might be wrong. Of course, there is the grief, but this sounds like more than that going on. I think you need to get a complete physical with bloodwork and tests done. Please consider it!
You have my prayers and my love, please let me know if I can do anything for you, Hon! Love, Judy
Ginger I hope you feel better soon...you have really had a hard time...take care...love to you...Karen
Ginger, I think the fact that you are physically not feeling good is making your emotional state even worse. I know what you mean about the meds, etc. My husband and I both have had to start taking something to help us thru and neither of us has ever had to take anything before, but this is just too big to handle sometimes. I hope you start feeling better soon. Take care of yourself and try to focus on getting better. I\'m saying a prayer for you and sending you a big hug....Kim
Dear Ginger, do what you need to do to get through. Don\'t beat yourself up about not focussing on the positives and as long as you\'re not falling down drunk, then just enjoy your rum & cokes without guilt. If you had a broken leg would it help the pain that the rest of your body was not broken? It\'s the same when your heart is breaking, there can be wonderful things going on around you, but the pain is all consuming. Take care of you. Hugs, Charlotte. xo
Ginger, I\'m so sorry your still under the weather. I went through illness this time last year. I had some type of respiratory bug that lasted about 3 months. Stress takes a toll on us emotionally and physically so please take care of yourself. I\'ve also gained weight. It stinks! I don\'t drink so I can\'t comment on that other that to give you a friendly reminder that alcohol is a depressant so I\'m sure it doesn\'t help with elevating your mood. Perhaps that keeps you a bit sadder, but I know we all do whatever we need to help with the grief. I\'m so sorry to hear about the little baby. That\'s got to be so difficult, it\'s all so difficult when we bury a child. They will be in my prayers. Speedy recovery friend. Love to you. Robin
Ginger, Your feelings are very familiaur and sound like so many more of others that are grieving. You are physically sick, and that does not help. Stress makes your body sick and hard to heal as well as your heart.You are an adult, so I am not going to bother telling you that you should lay off rum and coke for a while. Not forever ,but for a while. It is a depressant, and not what you need at all. You are NOT crazy. You are grieving. You have regrets about the past, news honey we all do, but it is just something you will learn to deal with in time. You can\'t focus on the positive because you are sunk and stuck in your illness and your grief. You also still have a mother with cancer. Home,husband,kids job all to deal with.That is stressful without the grief.Be a little more gentle with yourself. Give yourself a break, and don\'t expect so much from yourself. You are 1 person. You keep coming to DS for help. I will pray for your life on all counts of it. I love you and I care. You should not take antibiotics and drink the rum, that could stop the meds from working. Maybe why you are not well yet? Being on antibiotics for so long is also bad, it lowers your resistance, and they make the body respond LESS to the meds. Love you. Be OK we all need each other Love Peggy
Oh Ginger, I so completely understand. I feel so much the same way. And I\'ve gain 40 pounds since Weston died. Sometimes I care and others I really don\'t! I haven\'t had to deal with being sick like you have (except for a bad cold), but I know that doesn\'t help your situation at all. We really do seem to be so close on the journey of grief. If there\'s any comfort in it, I guess it\'s in know we\'re not alone in the way we feel. Here for you always!!! Cyn
hey ginger, i so understand your space. it is not that you are not focussing on the positives, its just that the pain is so unbearable. sometimes i also feel guilty that im not focussing on the positives, especially when people SAY TO ME but jan, you have this and this etc. and i KNOW i have been so blessed with so much love around me and OF COURSE i am ever grateful for that. but sometimes to give an analogy, its like say your fingers are chopped off and the pain is UNBEARABLE, not that ANYONE can even imagine. OF COURSE you appreciate that your other body parts are good and your faculties are intact, but this PAIN, how CAN WE NOT FOCUS ON IT!! i think maybe you need to REALLY MAYBE NEED TO focus on the pain, go for intense counselling. your pain is eating at you. you have to deal with it, at least let it come out and learn how to deal with it. i am in very much the same place. dont panic about losing control. we can work together cos i also feel that way. we go for counselling and keep each other posted on how we are coping. all my love, jan
Ginger take the time it takes to care for yourself. When we are emotionally in turmoil our immune system is not working, case in point. Be kind to yourself, you area doing as well as you can. We all struggle and some much more than they\'d admit. Just keep trying it will come. Love and hugs Cathy