update

October 1, 1999

<< They added 3 stops. She got frustrated with that and got out of her

seatbelt on the bus, took off her clothes and diaper and went to the

bathroom, yep both, all over the front seat of the bus. Needless to say, the

driver was not pleased by the time

they reached our house. We shared a few words, all were in the dictionary,

and then she told me to clean up her bus. I couldn't do anything about it, I

was holding a naked child.

Needless to say, I cried all night long and most of the next day. By Tuesday

evening, I almost found humor (sick, I know) in what she did. I guess you

could say she finally communicated how displeased she is with all of the

changes going on.>>

Sheryl,

How dare that busdriver tell you to clean up her bus.

You are absolutely correct. was definitely expressing her

displeasure at the situation. Our kids may have their issues, but they

definitely know what's going on and respond to it.

It really bothers me the way some schools treat our kids like cattle to be

shuffled off here and there with no regard to the child's needs.

Keep up the fight, you *will* win! And try never to lose that sense of

humor!!!

Janet

Wife to Matt

Mom to & (CHaRGEr) 7, nne 2 1/2, and

Mom to 16 months, and Devon 3.

Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA

September 16, 2000

Hi Susie, Teri, Barb and Friends,

Sorry I have been so quiet, but have been elbows deep in paper work for SSDI,

VA, Apt. Manage, Attorney and God only knows who else.

My medical and mental health has been on a roller coaster over the past couple

of months and I'm hanging on for the ride. My bg levels in July when I finally

got

medical help was at 520. Yesterday when I went in for a follow-up it was down

to 220. During the two months between visits it has been avg 225. I know its

high, but considering my food and meals are donated from neighbors and food

banks, I think I have been doing a good job. My weight in early July was 265,

yesterday I weighed in at 248. I guess I am doing something right.

I found out yesterday that it does pay to be late for an appointment sometimes.

I was 15 min. late at UCI, which is the county medical hospital, and normally

they make you obtain a new appt., instead they had the dept. head of internal

medicine come in and examine me, and was I impressed. Susie, you will like

this. One of the first things he ordered was a complete thyroid check (next

week). He seems to think the thyroid is playing havoc with the diabetes, the

kidneys, my blood pressure (sky high 220/110, pulse 126) and a few other

things. He gave me a new med to take with the lasix. I have been on three

20mg tabs twice daily. The problem is that after three or four days I get

tremendous pain on both sides, right in the kidney area. I then stop taking it

and the pain is gone in 24 - 36 hours. He said this new med, Zaroxolyn, 5mg,

will ease up the side effects of the lasix and he also cut the lasix down to 2

tabs

two times a day.

The swelling in my calves and feet are still about the same. I am now having a

lot of numbness in the toes to the middle of the feet and the rest of the area

up to just below the knees is like having someone poking me with a few million

needles all at once. The pain is growing worse, but the doctor doesn't want to

do anything until the change in my diuretic meds has a chance to work. He

seems to think that the carpal tunnel in both hands, wrists and forearms is

a result of the kidney's slowdown and he is hoping that if I can stay on the

lasix

for a period of uninterrupted time, the carpal might just go away.

I still haven't seen a psychiatrist yet, so no anti-depressant meds. My mood

swings are like being on a elevator that goes up 100 floors and falls a 100

floors

without stopping. My neighbor went with me yesterday and I had him go in with

me for the exam. As a favor my neighbor checks my daily record of bg readings

to make sure I don't forget. He made a comment to the dr. that surprised me,

but

not the dr. He said that he noticed a definite correlation in my mood swings

and

my bg levels. The dr. agreed that this does happen, so he now has asked my

neighbor to make a note of my mood level when he checks the record.

I went to Orange County Mental Health in early Aug. The first thing they wanted

was a co-payment for their service. I asked her if 50 cents would be OK (that's

all I had)? No sense of humor lol. The next thing they wanted was to draw a

sample of blood to check for drug abuse. I told the Social Worker that I was

there for a mental health evaluation not substance abuse. She said it was

required and I said good bye (I know, I can be stubborn at times). I start

Veterans Counseling next week and they will be referring me to their own dr.

for the mental health evaluation. SSDI has also made an appointment for me

with one of their doctors for the 25th of this month.

On Sep. 8th, I applied for VA Pension through their new Internet service. It

works

great. From what I understand, they don't take near as long as SSDI does.

Last week I obtained the services of an attorney who works on contingency to

represent me with the SSDI and the VA. He also checked through my state

disability and my long term disability and he feels I am owed a fair size amount

of funds from my former employer's long term disability insurance carrier. I

sent

a certified letter out to have the file reopened.

The Salvation Army has been a big help to me. They not only paid my electric

bill, but also gave me a big bag of groceries and a $15.00 voucher for fresh

meat and veggies at a local market. They also gave me a list of other agencies

to go to for aid. Yesterday I went to SOS and got another bag of food and a

check for $50.00 as financial aid. This put gas in the car and fed my cat.

The biggest problem I am having now financially is rent money. As most of

you know my income stopped last April. With the help of some neighbors,

a room mate, selling my TV and remembering to file (and have now obtained)

my 99 fed and state income taxes, I have been able to cover my rent through

Aug. 31st. The problem I am having now is covering the Sep. rent. I have

been able to only pay $50.00 so far. I have a list of three places to contact

this

week in hopes of getting financial assistance. I contacted the county housing

and rental relief and they are sending me an application. The Catholic

Charities

will help, but not until Oct. 4th. My apt. manager has told me he has no choice

but to give me a 30 day eviction notice on Monday and for some reason I haven't

panicked, nor has my mood swing gone on a nose dive, and actually, I haven't

even gotten upset.

Sorry this has been so long, but it has been several months since I wrote last.

If anyone living in Calif., can think of any rental relief agency I can contact,

please drop me a note. I guess that's it for now.

Take Care and God Bless,

September 18, 2000

,

Good to hear from you. I know it's slow, but this is real progress. Hang in

there, and please keep in touch.

Teri

Re: Update

My Groups | diabetes_int Main Page | Start a new group!

Hi Susie, Teri, Barb and Friends,

Sorry I have been so quiet, but have been elbows deep in paper work for SSDI,

VA, Apt. Manage, Attorney and God only knows who else.

My medical and mental health has been on a roller coaster over the past couple

of months and I'm hanging on for the ride. My bg levels in July when I

finally got

medical help was at 520. Yesterday when I went in for a follow-up it was down

to 220. During the two months between visits it has been avg 225. I know its

high, but considering my food and meals are donated from neighbors and food

banks, I think I have been doing a good job. My weight in early July was 265,

yesterday I weighed in at 248. I guess I am doing something right.

I found out yesterday that it does pay to be late for an appointment

sometimes.