Thanks for the welcome!

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I have just finished reading my mail and I had some letters from the list,

after reading them I think I should tell a little more about myself. I live

in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of

last April I'm 54 yrs young , married to a fantastic man, who from the get

go said, that I wasn't in this alone, he would be right beside me every step

of the way, and he has been. We have been married 32 yrs and have 3 grown

sons, all are married; the oldest has 3 boys of his own ages 4, 2, and 9

months. Our middle son has no children yet and the youngest has a 23 month

little girl.... the first girl in my husband's family for 5 generations.

and her parents live in Alberta our neighboring province so we see her

on average 3 times a yr, but the visits are nice long ones - 3 to 4 wks.

The 3 grandsons are a 15 minute drive away so we see them all the time.

Ken, I had a good laugh over your shopping channel story, that's what I have

been spending my nights doing, there should be more good programs on for us

insomniacs at 3 and 4 in the morning so we don't have to resort to the SC.

Unlike you however, I have yet to succumb to their requests that I pick up

the phone and order right away while it's still available so I won't spend

the rest of my live regretting my indecision )).

Some of you may be wondering why I didn't have bypass surgery as is done

with heart patients. I was seen by a cardiovascular surgeon who after he

had looked at my scan said I was going to require bypass surgery, then after

he did a lateral angiogram he told Ren (husband) and I he was sorry but

there was nothing he could do that my body hadn't already done in an attempt

to repair itself. You see the vasculitis (inflammation of the walls of the

blood vessels) not only destroyed my celiac artery but also seriously

impaired the mesentery. The celiac supplies the blood to the mesentery (a

membrane) which covers the stomach, spleen, small intestine, pancreas,

liver, and supplies them with blood and oxygen. Nothing like a chronic

illness to turn you into a walking medical encyclopedia.

Ken, mentioned some people on the list have patches, and I would really like

to hear the pros and cons to using them. He also brought up the subject of

methadone, which made me smile as my GP runs a Methadone Clinic every

Wednesday after office hrs for narcotic addicts, but like Ken says we can't

get it. It may seem unfortunate that I have to wait for approval for the

patch, but it's not really, I very fortunate. The British Columbia

government has under their Provincial Health Care Plan a Special Products

Division and since " there is no other means to sustain the life of the

patient " I am covered by this umbrella. The cost of my formula alone is

$80.00 a day, then there is the syringes, feeding bags, and Pedialyte for a

total of $2400.00 a month. The pumps, I have 2, because for safety reasons

I need a backup should one fail cost $1400.00 each. All this is provided

for me; when my supplies run low I call Special Products telling them what I

need, generally I order a 3 month supply at a time and 2 days later it

arrives at my door by courier. Pharmacare covers 80% of my drugs after a

yearly deductible of $800.00, the deductible and the remaining 20% I can

claim on our extended health plan.

When I first became ill I swore I wasn't going to let it defeat me and

although I had to one by one relinquish many of the things I loved doing I

still try to maintain that attitude. I have always been an optimist so that

helps a lot. Right now my GP is away and I have a locum, the first time she

saw me she remarked that I seemed so happy. I told her I was happy, the

smile was a part of me, who I am. I have my down times and Ren has held me

many a night while I cried, for me though life still has so much to offer.

When someone tells me they couldn't live like this ( and they do, people can

be very cruel) I tell them I'm sorry they look at it that way; if I had

thrown in the towel (committed suicide) I would not have been here to see my

last two sons marry, known my daughter-in-laws or my grandchildren. What a

waste that would have been.

My pump will be sounding an alarm in a few minutes letting me know I'm out

of formula so will get this sent off before I tend to it.

Marg )