We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1024192/ The old Thread was getting to long.
WE try not to stray TOO far from our subject TOO often.
Practical Matters for Physically Phallanged Gardeners #2
"Physically Phallanged?" That sounds painful! We don't know how to delete this mistake, Dave. Would you do it for us? BTW, are you real, like Santa? I mean, is there a real Dave at "Dave's Garden"? Inquiring minds want to know. *Kay*
The following is sometimes painful, but it doesn't sound as bad.
Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners" at
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1065317/
Dave is real and lives in Jacksonville TX. Almost got to meet him at the Texas reunion.
Jim, the fun part is usually straying off subject a little.
I'm getting the urge to order seed catalogs and drown my sorrows in flower pictures.
Vickie
Well, if the man is from Texas that settles it! I will renew my Dave's Garden subscription for another year right away!
The medication brain fog is thick today for poor Jim, but he has managed not to crash us on the rocks. I loaned him my Braille compass.
I thought I would try and impress our DG overseer with the "we stay on topic" stuff. You don't think they actually read us, do you? I've been hanging out here for almost a year and no one has shown up on my doorstep with that strange, white coat with the funky sleedves or anything. *Kay*
I beleive they read everything
Kay. Which is why this stays such a good clean polite site.
That other garden site is a mess. Which is why i came here originally. Twice i've seen someone politely told to change subjects because of political issues. And thats a good thing.
I don't think anyone here would say anything to get scolded. Except me of course. LOL
Vickie
I know what you mean about the other gardening sites. I did a post on figs for Amargia’s blog. I thought I should put in some links to info on growing figs outside their natural range. That is something I had no first hand experience with. I clicked on one of the other gardening websites only to find myself in the middle of a huge argument that had evidently been going on for a while. You won’t find any links to THAT site on Amargia’s blog. There is one to DG. In fact, that is how I discovered DG.
Some conflict is inevitable whenever people come together, but there are people who seem to revel in conflict. Those people are like Typhoid Mary coming into a healthy community. When we get a toxic personality here, Jim comes to me and says we need to do our “good cop-bad cop” routine. That can work, if he/she is just one of those people who need someone else to set limits. I just wish he would let me play the role of “good cop” every once in a while. :-
I’m going to check and see if the Cook’s Garden you mentioned has a web catalog. That one sounds interesting. Jim wants me to write something for Amargia’s business site And, I want to set some post in concrete for the w/c ramp up to the deck……..and …. *Kay*
Kay, i do wish you'd share some of that enthusasm with me. Maybe when i look at more flower pictures. Have you ever seen a Bakers Creek catalog? Lots of herbs and ole fashioned veggies. Good seeds too.Have'nt got mine yet.
It kinda hurts cause i can't have a garden like i use to. I've even thought about seeing if someone would do a garden up here and share with me.Might still look into it.
Does iris do well in ALA?
gotta go for now.
Vickie
I have met the real Dave and is realer than any of us. I have Dmailed with him any number of times (before Terry took over as editor). What do you want to know?
Jim tells me I am confusing people. I should be writing on the “real” Practical Matters… thread so Dave’s clean-up crew can delete his error. We could continue to use this thread to gossip about Dave, I suppose. LOL. Well, does Dave actually have a garden?
Vickie, your updated version of sharecropping sounds good, if you can only find the right person. That is the challenge. I’m going to have to do some creative problem solving like that. I’m having trouble keeping up. If only I could get a youthful body to go with my youthful enthusiasm. LOL.
Coming up with overall designs for the primarily ornamental, communal areas are an issue now. We are talking about doing some sort of low-key design idea awards thing on the blog to come up with attractive, workable, affordable plans for these areas. We had a working system for dealing with the problem. I would describe and Jim photograph the area to be landscaped and give this info to our proxy gardeners who lived at a nearby nursing home. But, we’ve lost our two wonderful proxy gardeners. Basically, we would be using Different Shades of Green to find new proxy gardeners. More “Amargians-at-large!” Could work. We are batting around the ‘award” part. We could publish the different design solutions with credits, of course. Make them visual with the computer landscaping program. Jim suggests I give away a gardening book, if we use an idea. I have gardening books I’ve never opened. I belonged to one of those garden book clubs long after I lost the ability to read print. I kept thinking some reading aid would come available that would work for me. Time for a reality check! I have no use for print books and I am tired of moving them from place to place. No one else here has time to read them either. I could take out two birds with one stone. Get rid of the clutter while getting fresh ideas. However, I just don’t know if anyone would be interested. Whether or not, we could offer enough incentive. We considered and quickly dismissed the idea of a professional garden designer. That would defeat the purpose of Amargia. Besides, if their ideas of what blind people need and want are any indication of how they would design for mobility impaired, we are better off forging our own path. The professionals seem to have ideas for a “blind person’s garden” that are too expensive for the average VIP to implement and the designs often feel “institutional” to me. Can’t think of a better word. Fumbling around as we sometimes do, I still think we can do better.
Yes, we have quite an inherited collection of irises at Amargia. They work well in the visually impaired garden with their big, bold splashes of color. (We haven’t come up with an official name for this garden area, but it is dedicated more to the hard-of-seeing (?), not the blind.) Don’t know the cultivar names for most of them yet. Many haven’t produced a bloom since being moved here. A lot of the gardening ladies who came to this area from points north during the 1950’s brought their tulips with them, but quickly discovered tulips were too much trouble this far south. Most transferred their affections from tulips to irises. They are a breeze here.
Paul, Jim is running with the idea for the ferret cage you put in his head. He is planting it with strawberries top and sides. I’ll have him post a pic next time it stops raining. Yep, raining again. *Kay*
i'm so glad you're going on with a design of your own. I think the professionals go about everything with a studied cold and proper attitude when individual and less expensive is better. House and home designing too.
I love tulips but they proved too undependable for me and i just stuck to jonquils and iris.
Yes, Dave really has a garden. Kay, do you use voice-activated software to dictate? I have given up on my dragon fo r the meantime - i t is too stupid! Maybe my house is too loud or I don't enunciate well (or I didn't read the instructions) - that first day, I was really on a roll, though.
Well keep at it. I know you would never let a machine get the better of you. This comes from one who totally panics when a machnical problem comes up and i call my DD or a repairman immediately.Well except for sewing Machines. Those are fun.
No, Carrie, not voice activated. It only talks TO me. I understand your frustration though. I absolutely HATE re-accustoming myself to new tech. That is why Jim wants to tape my mouth shut. My language has been known to get wa-a-a-y to colorful. I do talk to my computer, but DG probably has rules that prevent me from repeating what I say to it.
I’m still working out problems despite the fact this system is very similar to what I was using. I don’t know why it should be different, but the voice I’m hearing sounds like the earliest synthesized voices that were created. Very synthetic compared to what I was accustomed to. I gave up Tru-Voice “Peter” which I’ve used for over a year and am, at the moment, working with the MicroSoft “Anna” voice that came with the computer system. Not even a part of the ZoomText program. The way “Peter” sounds now gives me a headache! I can’t figure out why that would have changed. This was an UPGRADE. It should sound as good, or better. Gr-r-r-r.
Jim tells me I’m up passed my bedtime. Where did I put that tape? I AM going to need it. *Kay*
So, you ladies are going to adopt my poor, abandoned orphan thread? Okay, I know when I'm beat. Maybe, we should make this our howling...venting...grumbling...whatever you want to call it...thread. A lot of us seem to be having technical difficulties lately. I have no doubt you will get the knack of dragon riding in time, Carrie.
Thanks, Vickie. You've given me an idea. I will lure Kay into bed earlier by offering to read to her from seed catalogs. For people like Kay, seed catalog descriptions would probably make excellent bedtime stories. (Jim)
Jim, What a wonderful idea. Not only would it be relaxing but would send dreams of that upcoming garden. I could make myself a cassette tape.
DW received her audio version of Horticulture magazine. That will be her bedtime reading for a while. The holidays are over for us. I have returned to trying to lose the extra pounds. A low-carb diet does take it off, but I can see now that it isn’t something I can stick with over the long haul and I still have 70 lbs. to go. I need a lot of variety in my diet to be satisfied. I’ve moved on to the “Herbal Life” program. It is like a more natural, healthy version of the SlimFast program which means I get to eat one “normal” meal a day. There are high potency vitamins, cell activators and metabolism boosters that are alleged to help the process along. At this point all I can say is the meal drinks don’t taste bad. They only have the natural sweetness of the lactose in the milk, but they don’t have that malty, chalky taste I dislike so much about the other meal drinks.
Kay’s house rule is you can whine and complain about something to your heart’s content and she will listen with a sympathetic ear AS LONG AS YOU ARE STRUGGLING AGAINST whatever you are whining and complaining about.
There is a surgery that might help my back pain, but I had a horrible experience when I went in for the preliminary test. The doctor hit a “horsetail nerve” with the needles. The pain caused my heart and blood pressure to soar. The test that should have taken a few hours put me in the hospital for days. The pain was unreal and lasted for the weeks it took the nerve to die completely. The icing on the cake was a jerk of a PA who told me in the snottiest terms that it was my fault for letting myself get so heavy. I am as mild tempered a man as you will ever meet, but I swear I would have tossed the little creep out of the room bodily, if it had been within my physical capabilities at that moment. It is a good thing Kay was out of the hospital room; I would have let my she-wolf have him for lunch. DW is extremely protective of the people she cares about and she always considers bullying, overbearing types fair game.
The weight loss is a health, not a vanity issue I still want to try the surgery, but with a different surgeon and after I get my weight back to normal. I know if I don’t at least, attempt to improve my situation, sympathetic ears and encouraging hugs can become scarce at Amargia. If something doesn’t work, you figure out why it didn’t, and go on a little wiser. The folks here will tell you the definition of failure is “to give up trying.” Don’t know what the shrinks would say, but it resonates true for old soldiers.
The worst of the cold will hit tonight. Haven’t checked the weather channel, but I assume that is true for you as well, Vickie and Steph. It feels like Pennsylvania outside. Never imagined it could get this cold here. The temps typically plunge at night during the winter. Never seen it this cold in the daylight hours, (Jim)
Jim, DD Von has the same identical back problem as you.and a botched surgery made it worse. DD will not consider a doctor again.Yes there are some doctors out there that think they can do no wrong. Right now she could use a dose of KAY.
i'm at the point of not trusting the whole medical profession.There is no excuse for us to be ranked 37th in the world. Am spending time studying herbal remedies.Wish i could come up with something for restless leg syndrome. I spend a lot of time on webcam views to help depression but that does nothing for RLS. Am trying to help out on Beginner Gardening.Helping someone else always helps yourself.
Last night was the worst cold for us and a slow increase in temps is on the way.We are lucky in that we expect a certain amt of cold and have some insulation for pipes etc,, but i left my faucets dripping anyway. We had broken pipes in Texas once and that is one big mess.
My furry cat loves the snow and the cold.My dogs are like me. A soft bed and warm fire is best. Wonder if like me they think of what they can do when warm weather comes.
Happy dreams all
Vickie
Patsy, one of the women who help at Amargia, also has D.D.D. I get to learn from her experiences, good and bad. I might not try it again if Patsy didn't stay on me about it. Can't tell her, she doesn't understand my situation. Only 4'9" in height, but she is a force to be reckoned with... I kept "losing" and "forgetting” the name and number of the doctor she has had success with. She keeps giving it to me again and reminding me. Unfailingly polite, but so....persistent.
Most of the time, I consider myself a lucky man in most ways, but my luck is terrible when it comes to medical procedures. It seems like if anything can go wrong it does; from surgeons to dentist. Kay points out that I have faced down fanatics screaming their desire for my demise. (“Death to Americans!” “Nothing personal, I guess) with nothing to gain but my monthly pay. She has a hard time understanding why I would be scared of nice people in clean, white coats who wish me well. When dealing with fanatics though, I have weapons to defend myself when necessary. I’m completely at the mercy of those fiends in the white coats. My grandson has offered to let me borrow his super soaker water gun next time I go in the hospital. May take him up on the offer. LOL. It would have been the perfect way to deal with that arrogant Physician’s Assistant. (Jim)
I'm trying Lyrica again. It has been a few weeks and my mind is about as clear again as it is going to be but the pain is really getting to me. I'm wearing a TENS today for the sciatic and hip pain. No surgery has been offered to me for that pain. If we can figure out for sure how much of a lift I really need in my right shoe I'll go for it. It is going to cost over $100 for just one foot. I want one that will go from shoe to shoe. I know not all shoes will be deep enough for one but I don't want to spend $25+ on a 1/2 a pair of shoes and only be able to wear those shoes all the time. I like variety in my shoe wardrobe as well as the rest of my clothes.
I have the soft foam collar on today too. No matter how I move my head it seems to make my neck hurts- badly. All of my pain meds seem to make me nauseous, headachey, or dizzy, lighheaded & off balance. Now I can't find the new bottle of Celebrex I just got a few days ago. I've looked everywhere and can't find them. No way the Plan D is going to pay for another bottle of that med before next month & I certainly can't pay for them.
I understand the battle of the bulge. I still fight it but I was very obese, often morbidly so, for over 20 years. I eventually lost 80# in about 18 months. I hope the HerbLife system works for you, Jim. I make smoothies with whey protein powder from WalMart, non fat dry milk powder, fruit, p. butter, etc. Sometimes I use a Boost, Ensure, etc. as the base. I'm in your corner. Come over to the Healthy Living forum & join us on the Healthy Lifestyle Support Thread. We get 'off topic' there because we realize that everything we do is related to our weight issues. Stress of any kind produces cortisol which leads to weight gain. Pain is a big stressor.
Must go be productive even tho I have no water yet. I can still vacuum. I've sorted thru 3 bags of clothes from the store that were to be recycled. Most will go to nursing homes in town. Other items I already knew who I was giving them to. Some in one bag need buttons so I need to take them to WM and see if I can get buttons for them. I'm afraid I'll be spending a lot of $$$ because they will require really nice buttons. I'll keep the ones that I have to take off for my collection so I can replace buttons on future items. My DD use to do this job but she is back in school and doesn't have the time.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
EvaMae
I had to take a pain pill last nite. I hate to give in to pain,but sometimes ya gotta.
I recently bought some jars of buttons from Sal, Army. O ne volunteer cuts them off clothes headed for the trash.Remember i'm the squirrel that collects everything.
I feel at the moment i'm not contributing to anyone or any thing. OH WELL!!
Vickie
Vickie, we have people who do that at our store too. Only the clothes they cut them off of are cut into rags. Our primary rag cutter is 96 years old!!! Such a joy to have on the days he is there.
Vickie, you contribute to the world just by being you. To DG by posting. To GOD you are special beyond words. You are special to us too.
I have homemade hash with venison burger on the stove. I cut the potatoes into little squares and use lots of onions. Brown the potatoes and onions in a little seasoned grapeseed oil, brown the burger(this time in the microwave)and add it. Let it all simmer for a few minutes in a small amount of water and under a lid. So my fried potatoes are not the fried potatoes many think of. They are more like 'sweated'. I season with garlic powder and seasoned salt(no MSG). I'll take some for lunch tomorrow.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
EvaMae
Thanks Eva, The self pity was just a moments thing. Can't sleep again. I did google again, Sowing seeds-Would you beleive. Way down on the 4th or 5th page Was this great site. Its a disabeled gardening site in Great Briton,called Thrive. Of course i have to give my friends a link.
http://www.carryongardening.org.uk/thrive-publications-for-disabled-gardeners.aspx
If i can get it to work.I did'nt look it over good but i liked what i saw.
Google is very strange to me.They file all your searches so they can do your searches better. Heaven only knows what i'll search for. Once after i had searched for a town in France, The next day i typed in something and everything came up in French of which i speak nary a word. I am without a doubt the only person who can confuse google.LOL Yesterday I was looking for pictures of the snow in GB.
Is your water situation set right yet, EvaMay? Plumbing problems are a pain at the best of times. Working with water pipes and pumps in freezing weather….br-r-r. Waiting until it warms up isn’t an option there, I assume? Winters here are like a rather predictable roller coaster. What sets the current weather situation apart for us is that it is STAYING so cold. Normally, you may need to wear a heavy coat first thing in the morning and could wear shorts by afternoon. Normally, cold snaps only last a few days. Do you get periods of any real winter warmth that far north? Or, does it just drop down and stay low until spring?
Vickie, I wouldn't see taking a pain killer as giving in. You have to bend sometimes or you will be permanently broken. In all your reading I’m sure you’ve come across the Oak vs. willow analogy.
The willow is supple and bends when hurricane force winds blow. . A few weeks after the storm the willow bears no mark of the storm it endured. The oak is rigid and uncompromising. It tries to resist the wind and ends up losing limbs. It is weakened and scarred the remainder of its life. If it was not shatter completely. Not a weak attitude. In fact, the oak-willow analogy is one of the first lessons you are taught when you take up any of the martial arts like karate or jujitsu. (The first thing you learn in such classes is how to fall down without hurting yourself. LOL. The oak-willow analogy is part of that lesson.)
I think of life as being like a school. Occasionally, I’m assigned a refresher course or two in Humility 101. Gardeners seemed to be assigned that course often. Earth Mother smacking us down to make sure we don’t get to full of ourselves.
I’ve been thinking about creating more naturalized landscapes. More thought has to go into establishing them, but they are easier maintenance in the long run. Better for wildlife and we who have reached the wisdom of maturity. Are you far enough off the beaten path that you can do a naturalized landscape without having to deal with the objections of neighbors? Some communities still resist the movement toward more natural landscapes. Claim it pulls down property values and the like. In most cases, I think that is just an excuse control freak, anal retentive types construct to hide behind. I think change just scares some people. There is a good book here on the subject of creating naturalized garden spaces that I have no use for anymore. Does the cataract affect your ability to read print? Is holding a book hard?
Without the holidays to artificially prop me up and with this real cold, all I want to do is curl up warm somewhere and sleep. I set myself a schedule. A list of things I wanted to accomplish every month. Don’t think I will achieve my Jan. list. LOL. I think I hear the bell telling me Humility 101 class has started.
BTW, you certainly contribute here. With you to pick on and worry over, Jim is much easier to live with. LOL. He had a dentist appointment this morning so he is not only a bear, he is "like a bear with sore teeth." (One of my grandmother's favorite sayings.) *Kay*
Poor Kyle thought he had the problem in the well house fixed only to have the bladder pump drop its bottom and leak water all over the floor of the well house. He was not raised to use the lanuage I'm sure came out of his mouth about that time. Anyway, he found he needed new fuses for the heater out there, and I don't have any on hand. So he robbed another fuse box to get them. That fuse box was to the bird house which has nothing in use at this time. He will replenish the supply tomorrow as well as buy a new pressure(bladder)tank. I had gotten 2 gallons of water in town so I managed to wash most of the dishes and push everything in the stool down the drain.
Kay, that was some fall!! I sometimes imagine that terrible things happen to me and how I will react or what I will do. I ususally carry a phone handset with me when I go outside.
I need to work a few hours tomorrow to make up for those I missed last week and the week before.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
EvaMae
The oak and willow i remember from childhood. The bear with sore teeth is a new one, but i completely understand it.LOL
Thanks for the words of wisdom.
I always think nature is better and she has been gardening alot longer than i have.Most of mine was natural when we bought it and it just seems the right thing to mostly keep it that way. Could do without the snakes tho. How natural do you want your gardens? I hear you about some gardeners even just yard owners with green grass carpets and no variation.
Pain is a part of life. Which i know everyone here understands.I think my fear is getting too use to pain killers and they will cease to help.My doctor just shakes his head. But he trusts me with a couple months supply at a time. And that is hard to come by today.All doctors are paranoid about giving out pain killers.
And now i'm thinking about changing doctors because my wrist is not getting better and i think it ought to be in a cast but doctor says no. I may not be smarter but i'm older than he is. LOL
lessons in humility come frequently to all of us. This cold ice period is a good example. We humans are not nearly as much in charge of the earth as we think we are.
The cataracts don't seem to keep me from reading as long as the book etc is right up in my face.I have to sit close to the computer and TV. When i have to drive i keep within the stripes and pray a lot.Have always had an angel attached from the rearview mirror. She does most of the driving.My foot on the gas is not nearly as heavy as it was.I'll be glad to get this surgery over with.Am going to Russellville to have it done.
Tell the"Bear" I love to pick on him too.
Good night all
Vickie
I almost forgot to give you (((HUGS))) for your fall. Do take care Kay.
This message was edited Jan 11, 2010 11:38 PM
Vickie, addiction and lessening of effectiveness in people who live with chronic pain seldom happen. We just aren't wired that way. That is why your doctors trust you with so much at a time.
I seem to remember the doctors shuffled my mother's blood pressure meds around. periodically because of loss of effectiveness, but, like Eva, I've never seen a doctor do that with painkillers. Your doctor certainly has faith in your mental and emotional stability if he/she is willing to let you have large quantities at one time.
I gave my rather lead-footed daughter a clip that went on the visor in her car. It read, "Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly."
Gee, and here I was thinking I was spouting ancient oriental wisdom. Come to find out I’m spouting stuff out of children’s stories I’ve decided I am going to develop an inscrutable, all- knowing, wise old lady image with the young people since I can’t impress them with my ability to physically keep up with them anymore. You will have to help me work on it, Vickie, since some of the children around here actually read the classics like Aesop’s Fables. LOL.
Makes me think of another one of my grandmother’s favorites. When she thought one of my sisters or I was behaving like a little know-it-all, she would say, “What you gonna do next, Child? Teach your old granny how to knit?” I think I was about 12 before I figured out what that one actually meant. And, why she always doubled over laughing when I offered to teach her. I thought it was a fine idea. My great aunt taught me to knit when I was very young, but neither of my grandmothers could knit.
Snakes, didn't think about that drawback. I don't see them anyway, but for the sighted that needs to be considered. I was thinking paths mown through stands of wildflowers in some areas. *Kay*
Kay, I love the faster than an angel can fly saying. I'm going to get that saying on my visor pronto.
I have a plack on my kitchen wall, i got in Alabama...Old indian proverb. "Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."That proverb spoke volumes to me.
Knitting!!! Nor did they want to learn. My GM taught me a couple knitting stitches.
My sis-in-law taught me to crochet.I semi taught a neice. Before i knew it she was making up patterns for a crochet magazine.Talk about humbling.
I've been glad i had pain meds the last 2 nights.I did'nt hesitate. Thank heavens i see 2 of my councelors and my psych doctor Monday. I also need to go into group therpy Tuesday. Sunday I am going to church. It's been too long. The owner of the nursery i buy from is giving a program on Iris Sunday afternoon at the Senior citizens in Russellville. Am thinking about going to it too.
Goodnight all,
Vickie
I googled "First people"
There are a lot of wise indian sayings listed. So have fun and google first people.
This message was edited Jan 16, 2010 4:27 AM
I had been posting ocassionally over on the Fibromyalgia Thread, and it has been pretty inactive lately, and thought I would come over and see what your challenges in gardening are.
Let me introduce myself, I am defoecat (Bonnie) and I have Macular Degeneration and although not formally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, have all the classic symptoms. Just waiting till somebody else recognizes them besides me.
If you let in lurkers and intruders, I would be happy to join.
Bonnie, we would love to have you join us. Please post as much as you wish. Can I say misery loves company? LOL
It certainly does. I am one of those people who do have pain, and sometimes extreme pain, off and on. Doctors haven't been able to diagnose me. But knock on wood, have been doing quite well for the past 3 months.
Thanks for the welcome,and I will try to read between the lines and come to know who has what illness.
I think nearly all of us have fibro, a couple maybe have post polio, and I'm sure of one or two more. Maybe some chronic fatigue victims. Jim has degenerative disc disorder. His wife Kay is visually impaired and also suffers from chronic pain I think. You should feel right at home here.
You will probably have to go to a rhuemotologist(?)to get the definative diagnosis. Or maybe a neurologist since it has been moved from an autoimmune to a neurological syndrome(collection of symptoms that can't be proven or disproven by any tests) now. I think they may have come up with a marker in the blood but that is only recent and not widely accepted. I went to WebMD and got on the Fibromyalgia forum there. I get emails from them updating new research and findings.
I need to go to bed. GOD bless and keep each of you.
EvaMae
Bonnie, Welcome, I'm glad you joined us.I'm also glad you have been doing well lately.
I'm the exception in the club. I don't have a lot of physical pain. I have Congestive heart failure.So can't do anything without losing my breath. I do have arthritis and the disease of depression,Right now the depression is up to a 9.(1-10)
Tonight,I keep waking up. So decided to come online.I also fell and broke my wrist. That does hurt.LOL
Vickie
Hi, Bonnie. I'm Jim. Eva is on target about me. I have degenerative disc disease. In fact, it is the pain not letting me sleep that has me online in the wolf hours. My wife Kay (Kudzu1) also has macular degeneration. Not the usual age related in her case. She has very slowly been losing her vision since she was a child. Also, been developing cataracts and some hearing loss when she was a teenager. Some doctors have theories, but they don't really know why. She is beginning to experience arthritis pain lately. TMB as she says. Too Many Birthdays. Although she won't tell anyone exactly how many is too many. LOL. Welcome. (Jim)
Vickie, I didn't know you have CHF. When I was finally diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease with Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis I was been being treated for end stage CHF. Had I not gone to an ER in a different hospital I would have died in about 24 hours. I now understand it is a common misdiagnosis since the lungs and heart work so closely together. Like you I still run out of breath pretty quickly if i do much walking. Mostly I mosey or poke along. lol
Ouch on the wrist. When did that happen? I remember mine. Once it was set & casted it wasn't too bad most of the time. I already had Percocet and Tramadol to take.
Bonnie, have you asked your doctor for Lyrica or Cymbalta? I know these are very controverial meds but if they work for you they are wonderful. I don't know if you remember my bout with depression about 4 years ago. That turned out to be a spiritual issue that no med could cure but when we found the cause it was gone immediately. I took Cymbalta then and it was wonderful except for the hyperactivity which left me with incurable/untreatable insomnia. But there was no pain!! And until I collapsed from exhaustion I had LOTS of energy!! Lyrica and I are getting reaquainted for about the 4th time and this time it seems at this point to be a friendly relationship. Both of these meds were developed mostly for fibro.
For those of us with fibro, deficiencies of B12 & Magnesium seem to be a cause of many of our problems. I have been using both with some quite good results. Just some hopefully helpful hints.
I'm believing for the fog to lift so I can go to church this morning. I have the bathroom heater on so I can stand to take a bath.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
EvaMae
Wow, everybody here is so friendly, and helpful. Leaflady, I have started taking Magnesium, and it does seem to be helping the pain. I see a rheumotologist, but he is certain that I don't have Fibro, but he is treating me for Rheumatoid Arthritis. I asked him about the Lyrica, but at this point he doesn't want to give it to me. I too have had bouts of depression, but I was depressed because I felt so bad. I take Effexor, and it seems to be doing the trick. I do notice that I am so much better in the spring and summerr and even fall, it is the gloominess of winter that usually brings on the depression.
I have developed some hobbies for winter, and keeping busy (on the days where I feel like) seems to help also. I love working outside in my gardens, and planting and maintaining about an acre of flower beds and yard. My DH does the mowing and trimming, but I am the master of the flowers. This year, I will need to dig and divide about 200 daylilies. It will take me all summer, as I can't work as long and hard as I used to.
We have a pool, and I enjoy swimming, and it is good therapy and exerrcise. the best part is working outside until I get hot and sweaty and then going in the pool to cool off. All work and no play......you know.
Bonnie, I'm so thankful you feel you have found friends here. I know you will have a lot to add to the 'family' mix.
I made it to church today. What a wonderful feeling. I haven't been there for 3 weeks now.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
Bonnie, You have a lot of daylillys. I transplanted most of mine into containers so it'd be easier to take care of. I'm glad i did. The ones i left are overgrown with weeds.Where did you get yours. I got nearly all of mine at Homestead Farms in MO.
Its a small daylilly farm but they are growing. The owner is supernice. I envy your pool. I know swimming is so good for you.
Eva, i've been told i have CHF for abt 5 years now.I'm just beginning to feel heart problems. I can't lift anythng or i lose my breath,walking does it and bending alot. So i just slowly do anything.Something causes me to lose my balance easily and am supposed to use a cane. I do mostly. I fell in November and broke my wrist. I've got arthritis in my knees,ankles,hips and sholders. I've got cataraks. due for surgery the last of Feb or march.
I did'nt make it to church. DD used the car this morning to go get parts for their car.
I went to a river park and listened to my gospel music that i had'nt played in awhile.
Vickie
Vicki, I have gotten most of mine from a local grower, through the Lily Auction, trading on the daylily forum, trading with my sister. I don't have a lot of money invested in them. But in order for them to expand, I need to dig and divide and begin to sell some on the lily auction. Or if I meet someone who has what I want, we will strike a deal. It will be a year long job, as some have as many as 12 fans, and a good exchange is at least 2 fans.
Maybe we can strike a deal, if you are interested.
Welcome, Bonnie. I have a problem with S.A.D. myself. The recent rainy and cold weather has been rough. I don't have much energy and want to sleep all the time. The doctor put me on Lexapro, but it has the side effect of interfering with my spacial sense. I have a small amount of residual vision in one eye, but I'm what they call "functionally blind." So, that is a serious side effect for me. Luckily, spring comes early here so I'm beginning to pull out of it.
The pool does sound wonderful. When does it get warm enough you can use it in KY? A small wheelchair accessible exercise pool is one of the in'progress projects at Amargia, the community garden we are creating. We can't afford a heated pool so we will put it inside a greenhouse. Of course, that means some trees will have to come down and...... That is the way it goes around here. One project always seems to lead into or require doing another project first. Everything is a mess of half and 3/4 finished projects. Our resolution for 2010 is to finish every project we have started and not start anymore until the others are finished. Not as easy to do as it sounds. We are trying to get more organized. Jim is making a list of all the projects we have "in progress" and is going to prioritize them for us. No doubt you will be hearing about the trials and tribulations of working with "disorganized artsy, creative types." LOL.
*Kay*