RE: update and need encouragement

[Guest guest]

Cheryl, All I can say is that I rely on God to get me through one day at a time.

I'll be praying for you.

Carol

I don't know how I'm going to survive this!!! Help! I need some words

of encouragement, please.

Cheryl in AZ

[Guest guest]

Hi Staci!

OK, you made me laugh with the Hitchhiker's Guide reference! I'm a

big fan of those books, and the BBC radio production - the recent

movie wasn't too bad. I hadn't thought about it, but I'm going to

adopt that as my motto now! (Hmmm, wonder if my students would

think it strange if I carried a towel around....)

Thanks for your note of support and your suggestions. You're so

right about the " one day at a time " philosophy. I find that

whenever I think too far into the future, I get completely

overwhelmed. That's when I start to panic and get depressed. I know

that I need to stay focused on the short-term, the here-and-now, but

it's good to be reminded.

As I wrote in a message to Sierra, my recent panic wasn't about my

chronic pain and standing to teach - I'm done that for years and

have my ways of managing. This meltdown was brought on by an acute

bout of gastritis that put me in bed for almost two weeks, nauseous

and in pain and unable to eat. So I'm not only unprepared for

classes to start due to that lost time, I'm still very weak and just

starting to recover. I'm not worried about teaching with pain -

that's old hat around here - but just living through six straight

hours of back-to-back classes without literally passing out or

throwing up!

But the good news is that the meds my doctor got me started on last

week are working, so I'm feeling better and am starting to finally

get some nutrition in my system. I could use another week to really

get my strength back, but that ain't gonna happen, so I've just got

to buck up and do it.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for your kind words and

encouragement. It means the world to me. I don't have any family

to lean on, (other than my poor hubby who has just about been leaned

on right into the dirt!), and I've got no friends out here and the

people at the office certainly don't care. So my only support

system are you wonderful people, and it makes all the difference,

just knowing there's someone out there who understands.

Cheryl in AZ