I have thought about never posting this as I don't like being a complainer or thinking negatively or appearing to look for sympathy. However, should I disappear and never come back, it will offer another explanation beside my getting disgusted with the forum. It also will offer an opportunity for a new exciting thread, a mystery thriller, "Why did Faye Leave the Forum." To make this short as possible, I have 5 different major health issues and it is difficult to treat anyone of them without it effecting another. Drugs I could take that would help my facial nerve pain, cause a dangerous reaction that could cause a stroke, and are known to be at least a contributor to causing cancer. There is nothing more that can be done, other than what I am doing, to prevent a stroke that I am at a high rate of getting at any time. Damage to brain nerves that are the same as seen in MS, along with my advanced brain sag, makes me realize that ever day is a blessing and one earned because of having good doctors and my personal daily regimen and strong will to overcome. So far all attempts to slow the precancer situation, have failed. The doctors will assess again in 30 days and then decide if a radical and rather dangerous surgery will be necessary or maybe try another drug regimen. Possibly chemo, which doctors are divided 50/50 if I could survive such treatment. Of course, I will have the choice to refuse and go into hospice, should it turn to cancer with a further choice to live my days out drugged up or self administer medications under hospice watchful eye and die with dignity. I try not to think of the day when I may have to use a walker since my balance that is worsening with age more than is age appropriate due to my balance nerve loss at age 50. I also try not to think of having to go into assistance living either full or semi.
It’s weird, this time of life. I think I am less bothered by the thought of dying than I am of not living life the way I want. I don’t have the complications you do but I empathize with the balance and leg issues. My wife and I just committed to signing a contract on a retirement place in about 10 days because I really cannot work on the hill out back any more at all and I just have no stamina for anything involving my legs. It has also killed any diesire I had to do that sort of work, which I actually used to enjoy. It’s a strange thought knowing, at our age, we could just pop off at any time.
I wish you nothing but the best and hope things work out well for you. I am so clumsy now I can't even make a sandwich without knocking everything off the counter. Makes me so mad to see my sharpness slowly going. It seems to be tied with my poor eyesight and I don't see things like I once could on my out of front viewing. I am hanging in there and doing much better than a lot folks my age. Only the knees and spine really cause me misery. This morning I plan on shopping for some cat food and a couple things then come home and lay down and rest my knees. The rains have left the building until the hurricanes start firing up, 9 is the number predicted for our area. I don't know what I would do if the power went off again for a week as it did in 2008. I had a little Honda 1000 portable generator which is good for a light bulb or a fan or the TV but to make a pot of fresh coffee really put it to the test. It really struggled to make that cup of coffee. We do have running water so that is a plus and the high school is just a block from me and that is the dispersal site for rations and ice.
I know you will hang in there because you and I are a bit bull headed. Just a thought: Using one cane is causing a lopsided build-up or atrophy of muscles but I need one free hand to work or carry stuff. I often opt for use of two caned for faster walking. A walker causes a stooped posture and I am stupid enough already.
My challenged daughter's significant other was recently arraigned in court. He physically stopped another man from beating a dog. The man called the police. SO was fined and put on probation. The bully got a restraining order and goes out of his way to be where SO will be. Just like torturing. PETA and the law could tighten up the definition of abuse. I would never use a tool to beat a dog. I HAVE learned the best way to distract a bull if needs be. They have a lot more physical tolerance.
@Faye Fox - We all do wish you the best with you many health issues. Please keep all posted on how you and any treatments are going. I get the feeling though that once again you have become disenchanted by the forum. Perhaps with your stress , level high in trying to get well, you are overlooking how much you were enjoying the forum. No forum ,however well written can meet the expectations of all who participate. The fact you have made some friends here, and are willing to cheer you on in this health crisis, should outweigh any negative feelings you have in general about the forum. Wishing you well Faye.
Exactly right, G. @Faye Fox , you know you are appreciated by most of us. Forums are just people... and we never like everyone we meet no matter where it is. I'm so sorry about your health issues and I hope you can get some healing/relief. As for the things that annoy you, just let them roll off. It's truly not worth the aggravation. Take care, bud. Sending a big hug.
Thomas--maybe you could scrounge up a little camping stove for emergencies. Just keep a couple of small propane bottles for it, too. We gotta have coffee!! (I have even resorted to instant coffee...gasp!) Any port in a storm.
Thats a great idea, a little two burner would be nice for coffee. I'm going to see what is online and start preparing because I don't like the odds with all this bad weather all year now, we'll be slammed from the south now. Most of the time you have a good week in advance to stock up a few things I wouldn't need anything but some cat food and something canned plus my coffee and creamer. When I see my land owner I plan on asking if he has any screen doors in the storage shed where they keep all the old used things. The have around 40 properties so his Father in law accumulated a heck of a lot of items. Just this past week he was cutting my grass and ask me if I wanted or needed a washing machine, which I don't. I would need one screen door for my back door to allow some air in should power go down for any length of time. I would miss my computing and TV watching but I can survive that even if I had to wet a towel and put it over me to stay cool. The High School probably has a shelter in the GYM and it would be open so no doubt they have generators. I know my little town does have generators on the water plant. Our fire stations store all the rations but in 2008 they had the worst batch around. I mean it wasn't fit to eat, other areas 3 or 4 miles from us had good rations. The first thing I do is move all my computer gear to the hallway and cover it, no windows and it is on the north side of the house with some protection from the winds coming up from the south. It with stood that bad one in 2008 with not even a drop of water coming in. The water was over my bottom step but it does drain very fast. Our bridge leading out the north route water is touching the top of the bridge, it flows down to the Mississippi so it takes a while for it to move that far but it can handle all the excess. I am sure my bathroom will be full of cats should a bad one hit heh.
In WWII every German soldier was issued a little single burner stove that they carried in their field packs. It was like a modern Coleman stove that you had to pump up and pressurize the fuel to use it. Only difference the Germans used gasoline. All those stoves finally found their way to the surplus stores in the 50 and upwards until they were all bought up by hunters and anglers. Very hard to find one today but they were the usual good engineering by Germans. Our helicopters had a spring loaded push valve on the belly where you could take fuel samples to check for water and that was what a lot of us used to heat C Rations. Only problem using that JP4 was the soot, you had to spoon off the soot from the can before you ate it. heh
We have one of these. Cook efficiently and charge devices. Seemed like a good idea. https://www.bioliteenergy.com/products/campstove-complete-cook-kit
Nice piece of technology. That turn fire into electricity is really impressive. Only one problem for me is when the hurricanes come in, my subdivision is about a foot under water for several days and looking for dry firewood might be a bit hard. The last bad one was a big mess, the gas stations all had their roofs laying in the highway and our main street. Gas lines were three city blocks long and they had no one managing the gas purchase so people were as usual greedy and were filling up garbage cans with gas and not even using a lid to cover it. Myself all I wanted was 5 gallons for my little Honda and it could run 24 hours on a pint. So I sat there for two hours slowly getting to a pump and all that time I was worried about the place running out of gas about the time I drove into the pump isle. In my case I would be much better off using a 1lbs bottle of propane 2 burner. I would not need a phone or gadget. Now I might decide to purchase another small generator but I haven't looked at prices and would probably be very surprised to see one I could afford today. It wouldn't have to be a large generator but 14 years ago just a suitcase Honda was almost 2000 dollars and not very dependable. Mice love to get into those plastic cased generators and eat the wiring on the controller board and that makes it fini. There were no boards available when I was repairing generators at that particular time. I am looking at a few choices and will make up my mind soon, I don't want to wait until a big one comes in. I have no large trees around me and a lot of other homes that break the wind before I get hit. In 2008 when that big one hit I sit in my truck at the old house I once owned because it had a long driveway and no trees near it. The next day I drove home the highway was so covered with leaves you couldn't see any pavement. Water was around 6 to 8 inches on my legs and feet but no damage at all . I had put my computers against the bedroom wall and sat the mattress upright against the electronic stuff just in case there was a window blown out. I got the bed set up and when the heat came around late afternoon I would turn on the generator and watch news and let the fan run for a couple hours. It was comfortable and never too hot so we were lucky the storm came around when the heat wasn't so bad, it also rained everyday for about 4 days, I had backed up my truck and put the generator on the tailgate next to my window so all I had to do was reach out and turn the generator off when I was finished using it. After the water receded I would go out in the mornings and make coffee. I hated living without the simple comforts.