Geesh, I am really bad at this journalling thing! I see I haven't updated since November. House is almost done. As far as our contractor is concerned, "he" is done. Things really turned sour at the end. His wife sent me an email meant for her husband, was not nice at all. He has made threats, thinks he is professional, but the work speaks for itself. I did file a complaint with the BBB, which of course honkerblonked him off even more. At the end, we had items turn up missing out of our garage! Not small items either, I'm talking a pressure washer and a tool pouch.

It is really distressing to know that you go thru a major catastrophe and someone wants to take advantage of you and your trustworthy nature.

That said, I am pleased with our color choices, tile choices and carpet choice. But I am not pleased with the workmanship.

Only time will tell if contractor makes good on his threats or if we are truly done with him. Perhaps y'all will see me on People's Court.

Things are progessing soooo slowly and now we are going to have have basically start over as we found out the sheetrock/insulation crew was cutting corners and not insulating where they should be. Even after dh pointed out some of their mistakes, they still proceeded to do it wrong and than lied to our faces that they went back and fixed it. Did they not think that we could go and look? Especially after dh had a chat with them on Saturday morning. My dh knows his construction stuff and will not put up with this shoddy half butted workmanship. One of the outside walls in the kitchen had ZERO insulation!

I am really disappointed and am doing my best not to get upset. I know it is just a set back, but this is going to set us back probably 2 weeks.

On the good side, we did finalize our selection for the cabinets, countertop and backsplash. Also think we found the sink that we want. The sink is a granite material also. Very very nice and not that much more expensive than a regular porcelain sink.

Onward and upward. Hopefully by Christmas my house will be put back to normal and will be beautiful again. I just want to be able to get dressed without having to climb over boxes and get to my wine chiller without tripping over boxes and climbing over things. Dh had a good laugh last night as I made my way thru the obstacle course.

I see I haven't update for quite awhile. Guess I am just not good at this journal thing.

We finally received some funds from the insurance company last Friday. It's not enough, but it's enough to get things rolling and not put us in the hole. This isn't the final, we did not have to sign off on a thing. We will be able to file for supplements as we replace our furniture and I get all my clothes dry cleaned.

They have started on the sheetrock. Geesh, I thought the clean up was a mess, but this is even worse. And it's moving slowly. They started on Monday, they still have not finished and I seriously doubt they will finish today. The shingles for the roof were suppose to be here this week, but thus far there are no shingles in my driveway

We will be picking out our kitchen cabinets this weekend. And the decorator (contractor's wife) may stop by with carpet, tile and granite samples. She is really good. I love the layout she has done on the cabinets. We have suggested a few tweaks, but I would've never thought of alot of the things she did.

So things are finally happening. I know it will be very nice when it is finished. Insurance company keeps bugging us to move out, but we have soooo much stuff I wouldn't know where to begin. I'd rather they pay for a storage facility so I can get all these darn boxes out of here until everything is finished. It would be much cheaper for them.

We are working around the construction, but the dust and crap is not good for me. Sinuses had just cleared up and now they've started up again. Than I was helping clean up last night and had a major reaction to the insulation dust. I had these huge welts all over my arm. I was going to put some cortisone cream on it, but couldn't find it. Luckily dh knew what to do. He said to first rub baby powder all over the area, than wet a wash cloth with the hottest water you can stand and saturate the area, than saturate the cloth with ice cold water and saturate the area. The baby powder helps pull up the fibers, the hot water opens the pores and than the cold water closes them. Worked very well! I still had to take a shower once the workers left, but at least I wasn't scratching my arm off.

That's about it. I am living amongst boxes, dust and strangers in my home. This is a slow and tedious process. I will be so happy and relieved when it is finished.

Finally! The insurance adjuster finally called. Of course, dh wasn't home and the time I scheduled wasn't good for him. Than it was a major fiasco trying to find this guy as he gave me the wrong phone number to call him back. But dh managed to track him down so we have an appt for Wednesday.

I hope all goes well and they don't try to short change us. As dh says, we just want to be made whole. We are going to do some things we have wanted to do, such as granite counter tops in the kitchen, but we don't expect the insurance company to pay for that. We just want our house to be as it was and than we will pay for the upgrades.

I am no contractor or expert, but I think we have in excess of $50K in damages.

Not much new to report. We are still waiting on the insurance adjuster. Dh did call, but was told to be patient.

We did have a contractor come out last week to give us an estimate on the repairs. Actually, it's more like a rebuild. We should have a number in about a week or so.

We did find out that the city is going to come pick up the debris. That will save us alot of money. We paid $350 to a company during the early days of the demo, and they only picked up about 1/4 of what we had! We've added so much more since than. I don't doubt it would've cost us easily $1,000 to get rid of everything. The city did their first sweep on Saturday but only picked up anything that was bagged. Unfortunately that was only about 1/4th of the debris we have. Had we known, I would have been out there bagging stuff. Oh well, at least we got some stuff off the lawn. Dh, myself and a friend ran out to help so we could pull out as many bags as we could from beneath the rubble. I than raked the lawn where we were able to clear the debris. There is still so much stuff on the lawn area from the sidewalk to the curb. I think that is going to be toast. We will probably end up resodding once all is said and done.

Dh and our good friend did do some rewiring this weekend. We are going to move and add some speakers for the TV. Dh fixed the alarm system and moved our main cable modem to a central location. I did more clean up with the shop vac and removed more nails from the walls that were left. Geesh, I went over the area twice, when dh followed he still pulled out another few dozen. I think nails are like rabbits, they multiply.

I am fighting major allergy problems. I suspect it's from all the dust. I have been taking some OTC stuff but am still having problems. I was up half the night with a sore/scratchy throat. I may have to go ahead and call the doc to be sure it's not a sinus infection.

Ooohhh and we're fighting the wasp battle in the upstairs bedrooms that sustained the most damage. Not surprising I guess as there are so many ways for them to get in. I now go in armed with Raid whenever I enter those rooms. Ewwww.... I hate wasps!

Pool is finally looking good! That was quite the job to get that cleaned up. I have never seen so much debris in our pool. And the water was soooo yucky looking.

Thanks again ladies for taking the time to read my journal and send a note. It is much appreciated.

Thank you ladies for all your kindness and support

We are still in the midst of rubble central, but are trying to gain some sense of normalcy. I did return to work on Monday, but found it hard to concentrate. It is hard when I come home everyday to boxes stacked everywhere, no floors, sheetrock dust, plastic on the ceilings upstairs, and looking at ceiling beams downstairs.

Still waiting on the insurance adjuster to come out. This needs to happen before we can proceed. We may go rent a storage unit this weekend so I can at least get the xmas decorations and other unessentials out of the way.

I did do some cleaning and organizing after work yesterday. Put a few knickknacks back in the living room. They will have to be removed again once we begin reconstruction, but it gives me peace to see a few of my things amidst the destruction.

I did have a laugh yesterday. As I sat in my living room looking up at the beams I had a thought, "why not go with the rustic look."

I hope to continue journalling our progress towards restoration. I will also be posting some pics in my gallery once dh downloads them off his camera.

I know I don't journal often, actually it's been close to 2 years since I have done so. What has prompted me here is to document the devastation that this storm has caused.

During the height of the storm we lost the back half of our roof. We spent 5 hours hauling and dumping buckets trying to stop as much damage as we could. I have never been so scared in my life! At one point I was ready to give up, but dh kicked me in the butt and I snapped out of it and continued to wring out towels and dump buckets of water.

It didn't help that the following morning we had yet another front blow in which brought more rain.

Currently, my house is nearly gutted, at least the upstairs is, except for the master bedroom and gameroom. Somehow they managed to escape any damage.

Tomorrow, the kitchen and den downstairs will be gutted. The fans and dehumidfiers are blowing and we are struggling to gain some sense of normalcy.

We are luckier than alot of people, most of our belongings are saved. It is the house itself that is a mess. And my emotional status is very iffy as is my physical status.

It's been awhile since I've journaled again. Sigh. I'd really like to use this to track my pain and symptoms, but I can't seem to keep up with it.

Since I last wrote, I finally went to the dentist and went thru a few months of various treatments and my teeth are now fixed and looking great! I can smile again

My health is still up and down. I have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks. I did have all my annual exam stuff done last month, bloodwork, mammogram and pap. Everything was except for my thyroid level was dropping again, oh and my estradiol didn't even register. I upped the thyroid supplement I take and had a retest 4 weeks later and it is climbing upward.

I finally went to the eye doctor on Friday and seems that I have graduated to bifocals. Oh the joys of aging. I'm not really that upset about it, just upset that it makes the glasses more pricey now.

Well, the holidays are right around the corner and I have no clue what to get dh or what to get for MIL. We have a busy month as dh is going out of town the end of this month and than the following weekend his brother is getting married so we will have to drive to Louisiana for that. Hopefully I will have the house all decorated next weekend, but not sure when I am going to shop.

Oh well, life goes on. At least dh's friends came over this weekend to help him with the new pond he is building. If they hadn't of showed up I would have to be out there and I know that it would take me a week to recover from the hard work. My body just can't handle much anymore.

I hope everyone out here in journal land is doing well. s to all.

Why am I so tired? I have zero energy today. I have managed to do a few things around the house, but should have done much more. And it's taken all I have to do the little I have done. My dryer is dinging and I am having to drag myself up to go fold the clothes.

I did go on a business trip Wed afternoon and returned late Thursday evening. I took Friday off as I knew I would be zonked. I spent Friday resting and doing a few things around the house. I thought for sure I would be feeling better today, but thus far no such luck. My legs feel like they weigh a ton. Even sitting here my legs feel so heavy. It is such a chore just to walk from one room to another.

Dh and I had a little spat last night as I didn't want to go out to dinner with his mom. We ended up staying in and ordering out. I think the spat was partially my fault as I was having a hard time explaining how I was feeling. He said "if you're tired take a nap." Than I said "it's not that kind of tired."

I just don't understand why a two day trip has my body in such a tailspin. I was expecting it, but am still frustrated and upset about it. Sigh.

No big plans for today, so I will rest some more. And will try and rest some more tomorrow. Rest, rest, rest....

I would really like to start journalling on a more consistant basis. I mean to, but I am really really good at procrastinating.

I finally made an appt with the dentist and have begun the work to get my teeth in shipshape order. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I am going to have ALOT of work done. Sigh. The first treatment was quite painful, but things are improving. I do like this new dentist. Both her and her staff are super nice. Thus far, I am pleased with everything. Well...everything except the pain.

I have many fillings to get, two root canals; possibly three, two crowns, and some sort of fills. I'm not sure what the fills are, the enamel on my teeth is eroding due to overbrushing. I think the fills are suppose to fix that. I will find out more as the treatment progresses. I could kick myself for waiting so long!

My stomach problems continue as do my health problems. Life is a rollar coaster. I have my good days, bad days and okay days. When I have a bad day I am sure to try and get as much rest as possible and take care of me. When I have a good day I treasure it, the good days can go away as quickly as they came.

Interesting, in talking with my accupuncture doctor yesterday, every symptom I had the doc pinpointed to stomach and digestive issues. That is something that we've both known for a long time, but it is interesting to hear it confirmed. The doc put two needles under my rib cage and almost instantly my tender belly felt better. I am telling you, chinese medicine is an amazing thing. I just wish we could get to a long term solution for me. I am happy that I am going as it does help, but want to get to a point where my body is healed.

Work is going well. I am going on a business trip next week for some training. My first business trip. It's only overnight. I am a bit nervous as I am not sure what to expect. The training is to be a SOX auditor. For those not familiar with accounting, SOX stands for Sarbanes Oxley, which is an act that was enacted due to the Enron fiasco. Anyways, I will be training to be an internal auditor for my company. It did make me feel special to be asked.

The foot I had surgery on in October is still having problems. Good days and bad days, still can't wear heals. Even tennis shoes somedays bothers it. I think it's mostly nerve pain. Guess doc was right when he said it could be a year.

That's my hodgepodge of issues for the day. I hope everyone is doing well in the land of journalling.

Can't believe I haven't even put one entry in my journal this year.

Maybe it's because there's not much to report. I still have good days and bad days. Seems just when I think that things are on the upswing, my body rebels and slaps me back to earth.

We went to Florida for a vacation in April, I did very well. Pain was tolerable and my body seemed to cooperate as I was able to get some rest and wasn't overly tired. The week we got back I did better than expected. But than I went into a tailspin. Tired, fatigue, pain, just felt awful. Headaches are back again. I took some feverfew and tylenol this morning. It's helped some, but I can still feel it. It's like it's there, just pulsating beneath the surface.

The foot finally seems to be improving. Recovery from bunion surgery is a long process. I was able to wear a pair of flats at the office last week without too much pain. However, we went out to dinner last night for my b'day and I decided to wear some heels. Big mistake! Foot is not ready for heels just yet.

Oh well, I will survive.

I can't believe it's been so long since I've put a note in my journal. I really have meant to use this journal as a journal of my ongoing problems with my stomach and pain issues. Guess it hasn't turned out to be that way. I am just soooo bad at procrastinating.

My foot does seem to finally be getting a bit better. My accupuncture doc gave me some herbs to put on it and that has really helped. I see the foot doc next week. I expect him to release me. I am still not wearing a real shoe yet, but that will come.

My stomach problems continue to cause me major distress. I don't know why, but the last few months have been extremely bad. Lots of swelling and pain. Sigh. But I am dealing with it as best I can. Headaches have become an issue again. Interesting to note that on the weekends they're not too bad, but during the week they are horrible. I am starting to wonder if there is something in the office causing them.

On a good note, I am done with my xmas shopping. It is nice to be done early. I just need to grocery shop, which I will do on Friday after work.

<-----my new favorite smilie

The first week back to work did not go well at all. Monday went okay, but when I got home from work I started feeling really bad. By 6pm I was in bed shivering and feeling so awful. I felt clammy and just couldn't get warm. Head was pounding, tummy was extremely swollen and every bone in my body ached. I took some cold meds and managed to get some good sleep.

I did get up and go to work on Tuesday, but only made it until 9am. I came home and literally crashed on the sofa. Despite eating only soup and broth my belly was still extremely sore and swollen. I spent the entire day dozing off and on, finally getting up to go to bed at 6pm.

I felt a bit better on Wed, and Thurs was okay, but felt awful again on Friday. Luckily, it was my accupuncture appt day. The doc fixed me up and I am feeling much better now. I've still got a ways to go and I am under strict instructions to take it very easy. My body is just too weak to handle surgery without alot of rest afterwards. Doc did say that my entire body is retaining water, which does make alot of sense. While I always have problems with my stomach, this week it's been unusually swollen (if that is possible ) and my bowel movements have been really weird also.

I really am sick of this body of mine. I just want to be normal and would like to feel better for more than a few days at a time. Maybe some day..... I have to keep hoping that one day we will find a cure. I think we're finding out the causes, but it's the cure that's the problem.

Foot does seem to be healing well, but it is still incredibly sore. It is getting better, guess it is just going to take some time. Patience, patience, patience.

On a better note, today is our anniversary so dh and I are going to a nice restaurant for dinner. He bought me a case of my favorite wine and even remembered to get me a beautiful card.

Post op appt for my foot surgery went well. I still have alot of internal swelling, but healing is on schedule. I can keep the ace bandage off, but he said to wear it if it helps for comfort. I've been wearing it during the day and taking it off at night to let my foot breathe. I do still have a tiny bit of seepage so am keeping a bit of gauze over the incision. He didn't remove the steri strips, he said they will fall off on their own. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I got home, one fell off!

I think I overdid it today as my toe and the top of my foot is very sore. I had some unavoidable errands to run and it felt so good to be out that I overdid it. I will be sure and do better tomorrow and the rest of this evening.

It's back to work on Monday I have really enjoyed the 2 weeks of R&R. My kitties have enjoyed having me home also!

As my appetite comes back so does my stomach problems. Bowels have been acting weird also.

That's my update for today.

I did have my foot surgery on Oct 21st. The surgery went well but I was taken aback by how painful it was/is! The first few days were just awful It is getting better, but still hurts. At least I am down to about 2 pain pills a day.

My dh was so wonderful! He practically sat on me to make sure that I rested and kept off my foot. He cooked, cleaned up, got me my morning coffee and paper and kept me plied with plenty of water. He even brought me home flowers when he went to the store for a few things we needed. I want to do something special for him once I have recovered. Not sure what yet, but I will think of something.

Surprisingly my body is doing well also. I was fearful that the surgery would send my stomach problems and immune system into a tailspin. I am sure it helps that I am off work for two weeks and I have been careful of my eating, until last night that is.

I have my post op on Tuesday so hopefully I will be able to take the gauze and ace bandage off my foot for good. I am sure that I will have to wear the special boot for quite some time.

That's my update. I am resting and pampering the

My date got changed 4 times! Hopefully the 4th one will be the charm. As it is less than a week away I am hopeful that this date will hold. It can't get here soon enough for me as my foot is getting really bad. It is so painful. My left foot is about twice the size of my right. I can barely wear shoes anymore. Although, last night dh and I went to dinner and I wore my cowboy boots. Those were actually quite comfy. I may need to break them out to wear to work. Maybe because they're a little bigger? I just don't know, but I was shocked that they didn't hurt as my tennis shoes were killing my foot all day yesterday.

I've been busy today and yesterday cleaning house and making some food to freeze so I can stay off my feet after the op. I plan on being a good I will be taking two weeks off of work. I hope that will be sufficient, but won't hesitate to take more time, if needed.

My stomach problems are still bad, but have been feeling a little better. I don't know how long it will last, and am hoping that the surgery won't throw my body into a tailspin.

We survived Hurricane Rita! It was very scarey for awhile, but we really lucked out when she made the northern turn. I have never been so scared in my life. I am absolutely exhausted from the preparations we did for this gal. We boarded up windows, packed up special memories, stocked up on water and packaged foods, and considered leaving. In the end we stayed but never let our guard down until late last night when we knew for sure that she was landing well to the east of us.

I think we are going to chalk this up to a good disaster drill. We worked as a team and now know exactly what is important to pack up and what is not.

It was quite a chore taking everything down and putting the house back in order. I am not sorry that we did the preps we did, but it was ALOT of work.

I do have my foot surgery scheduled for Oct 11th and am hoping that the date won't be changed due to this city shutting down for the hurricane. Dh and I took a short drive early this evening and Houston was like a ghost town. Gas is still in short supply and most everything else was closed. I kept forgetting it was Saturday as the city was so dead.

My foot is getting so much worse so I am glad that I decided to go ahead and get the bunion fixed. I know that it's pressing on a nerve and that is what is causing me the problems.

That's my update for today. I am trying to declutter as I put stuff back and am hoping that soon my foot will be pain free. Small steps, one pain free body part is a major milestone for me.

My foot problems continue to get worse. I finally made an appt with an Orthopedic doctor and it was confirmed that I have bunions. The one on my left foot, as I thought, is pressing on a nerve and causing me lots of problems. The doc said it was up to me and I'm opting to have it fixed. As the right one isn't bothering me right now, even though it has a bone spur on it ,we are going to wait and leave it alone.

I'm scheduled for surgery on Oct 11th. I sure wish I could get this done earlier because it's really becoming a pain, but the gal that I cover for is going on vacation the end of Sept and I want to be able to take some time off. I've learned my lesson, I will take extra time off to ensure I let my foot recover and heal.

Well as expected, my tests all came back I know that's a good thing, but it doesn't get me any closer to answers. There was one thing noted in the CT Scan that was interesting. They noted alot of fecal matter in my colon. And that there was some contraction of the sigmoid colon.

I spoke with my accupuncture doctor about this, and she says that she wasn't surprised at this, as my body doesn't have the energy to clear the waste. Doesn't surprise me either, as it's what I've been saying for MANY years now. Accupuncture doc is now talking about some new herbal remedy to put on my abdomen. It sounds weird, but I will try it! She seemed leary to mention it, but I assured her that I want to leave no stone unturned. I don't think there's anything I won't try.

I'm back to where I started from. Somehow, some way I will continue to get thru this stuff. One day we will figure out what my body is trying to tell me and why I can't eat or have fun without having lots of swelling and pain.

I'm pleased to report that dh loves my new hairdo. I think I'm getting used to it also. Now the trick will be if I can make it look similiar tomorrow morning. :hair:

The celebrex seems to be helping the new pain I'm having. I still have some tenderness, but I've slept well the last few days and the pain hasn't been as bad as it's been.

I ate too much yesterday and have been so miserable today. Dh and I made a run to Whole Foods last night and I got all kinds of goodies for myself. I ended up making a pizza bread with soy cheese. It was very yummy, dh even enjoyed it. But we also had popcorn and I finished up my bag of sugarfree licorice. Sigh. My belly is so huge today.

Hey, maybe that's a good thing. Maybe the hida scan tomorrow will show something if my belly is at its worse! One can hope.

It's been a good weekend. Busy as usual, but it went way too quickly. I wish Monday would go as quickly as Sunday does.

Hi journal!
Here I am again. I'm never sure how to start out here. It's been a rough week, the pain in my side continues to get worse. I can barely drive because it hurts to turn the steering wheel. Any sudden movement causes deep pain. It did feel a little better yesterday after I took some advil and after I made an appt with the doctor. Isn't that the way it goes? I did keep the appt this morning and am glad I did because I had a rough night and it was hurting very bad this morning.

As with everything with me, they really don't know. He did take xrays, which showed my old rib fractures. He said that I may have hurt the top rib, which doesn't always show in xrays, or may be a slight case of pleurisy. He gave me Celebrex and said to take it once a day.

I am confused on the pleurisy as I have had that before. The pain is NOT in my chest, although it does sometimes hurt to breathe, but it's more the muscles pulling on my side than in my chest.

Why can there NEVER be a simple explanation for my pain. This pain on my side feels very similiar to when I cracked my ribs in a motorcycle accident. It doesn't hurt when I am still, but as soon as I move. Yikes! I am fine laying down, but when I try to get up. OUCH!

Oh well, I will take the Celebrex at night before I go to bed. At least maybe I can get a good night's sleep. If it's still hurting next week this time I will make another appt.

I had my CT Scan on Tuesday. Am waiting on the results, or in my case, non-results. I have the hida scan scheduled for Monday. Am not very hopeful. I will probably be back where I started from once all the tests are complete. I just want an explanation and an answer after all these years. :cry:

Don't get me wrong, I know it's good to have things checked out and it is a good thing to have tests come out negative.

Guess than I can look at getting my feet checked out and make an appt with the dentist.

I'm getting my hair done this afternoon, hopefully a new do will have me feeling more optimistic. This new pain is really making me cranky.

Wow! I sure am bad about keeping up with journalling. I really meant to do this at least weekly. I guess I feel that no one wants to hear my long sob story.

I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago as my accupuncture doctor wants to make sure my gallbladder and liver are okay due to taking the pain meds for so long. As expected, all was okay. Except, the results showed a pelvic hematoma. My doc shrugged it off. Said it was from all my previous surgeries, but it's never been there before.

Anyways, I requested a CT Scan as suggested on the report. I will have that done on Tuesday. I also have a hida scan scheduled for the 15th to check out the gall bladder more closesly.

I doubt these tests are going to show a reason for my problems, but I feel better having them done, just to be sure. When you've been dealing with these problems for so long, you never know when things have changed.

I have been having a very difficult time lately. It's hard to function on a daily basis. I've been listless and lifeless. My accupuncture doc gave me some new supplements that really seemed to have helped. I can actually stay up past 6pm!

I do have a new pain that is driving me crazy. I think I pulled a muscle to the right of my right breast. I can't imagine how I did it, but it's the only explanation I can think of. Last night, it hurt to even breathe! If the pain was in the front or back, I would be concerned and call the doctor, but the location of this pain I don't think is reason for concern. I just don't know why the heck it is hurting so bad. :cry:

Well, that's my update. Things are status quo here. No better, just hanging in there.

Wow! I knew it had been awhile since I've journaled, but didn't realize it's been five months! I've become a big procrastinator, I think about doing things, but am getting good at not doing them.

Anyways, things are not that great with my health. I have good days and bad days, when my days are bad, they are pretty bad. I am getting a bit worried as my acupuncture doctor seems to be more worried each time I see her. She doesn't say so, but I can see it in her face.

She has been very insistant that I have an ultrasound of my gall bladder, liver and lower abdomen. I did make the appointment as I think it is a good idea due to the years of pain meds and given all my digestive problems. She has also ordered me a *special* pill for my digestive system. I'm not sure what it is, guess I will find out when it comes in.

I've been having a big problem with my feet also. The bones on both of my feet, located just beneath the big toe are jutting out of the side. The left side is a bit worse than the right and after a day of walking the whole foot swells. It's also quite painful to wear shoes. I don't have a clue what it could be. Does anyone have any ideas?

I feel like I am falling apart. I celebrated my 42nd birthday in May and I feel like I am 50 some days. I also spotted a problem with my two front teeth, there is actually an indentation in the middle of the tooth; as if the tooth is just wearing away. I guess a visit to the dentist is also in order here.

I did schedule an appt with my Osteopathic doc for the end of June. We will get the ultrasounds scheduled and do my annual bloodwork.

I do have some good news. I finally graduated college in May! It is a goal that I have wished for many years. There was a time that I didn't think it would ever happen, but I finally did it! I put some photos of that magical day in my photo gallery.

Well ladies, I guess that is enough of an update for now. There is much more that I could say, but I won't bore y'all with all the details. I'll just say that I am hanging in there and somehow, someway I will find some answers and will get better!

Just when I think my pains and problems can't get worse they do! I had a really bad week, topped off with an unreal Friday. I was really dizzy and my legs were very numb and tingly. I managed somehow to get thru work and thru the appt dh and I had with our broker. We went to dinner with MIL and I went to bed as soon as we got back home.

I woke up Saturday and felt wonderful! It was like the week before hadn't even happened. Here's the weird part...dh woke up in the middle of the night on Friday and said he saw an Angel hovering over me. When he said it I kind of shuddered, but went back to sleep.

Than I woke up Saturday and was raring to go! We had such a great day. I don't know what to think, but will see how this week goes. I think I hope that dh sees more angels.

Just a quick check in. My tummy isn't much better today. I just can't believe how swollen this belly of mine can get. I've been getting really hungy in the evenings again and while I don't munch like most munch, it's just the eating part that does me in. Tonight I had 2 pieces of smoked turkey, a few sun dried tomatoes, about 1/2 cup of baked butternut squash and some veggie cheese. My belly is going to pop at any minute! With the swelling, the pain increases. Sigh.

I've still been trying to get my extra steps in. It was tough yesterday and today as I wasn't feeling to well, but I did make an extra effort. Yesterday I did take the elevator once and didn't do my walk at lunch, but made up for it today and walked a few extra steps at lunch and made sure I used the stairs for all my trips. I think I'm going to buy a pedometer this weekend so I can see how many steps I am doing. Some days I do make alot of trips up and down those stairs and lots of walking down the hallways. I think it would be interesting to see just how much walking I do in a day.

That's it for me today, I am heading to bed and my heating pad. The heating pad always feels soooo good. Could be the laying down part helps too.

So why did I have to eat those taquitos last night? I knew that I shouldn't, knew that I would pay the price today. They were yummy, but I woke up with a very swollen stomach and cramping very bad.

I did have a slice of yeast free/wheat free cinnamon raisin toast with some vegetable butter and it helped to calm the But why do I lose my willpower on Saturday/Sunday???

Other than that, it's been a nice weekend. Once my belly settled down dh and I went and worked in the yard, so I think I can count that as my exercise for today. We cut back all our crepe myrtle trees. They are HUGE, so it was alot of work. I also got hit in the chest with a HUGE branch. OUCH! I think I'm going to have a pretty nice bruise there.

As my stomach as been bothering me alot the past few weeks, I made a big batch of my special turkey soup today. It smells heavenly. For some reason the soup sits very well on my tummy and I always feel better by the end of the week if I just have my soup all week. It's not alot of variety, but as I make it myself I know it doesn't have any ingredients. Today I put in carrots,turnips,bok choy,zuchinni and spaghetti squash.

My acupuncturist came back from China and I had my first visit in over a month on Friday. It was wonderful! I felt instant relief. She really is an angel. I just wish that we could find more lasting relief and find why I can't eat without having pain.

One more thing, my hands have been giving me problems at night again. They fall asleep and become numb and tingly. I was diagnosed a few years ago with the beginnings of nerve damage, aka Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. What was very odd last night is that when I woke up, my whole left side was numb, including my face! Very odd and scarey feeling. Hopefully it is nothing and something that I just need to keep an eye on. I remember my neurologist telling me to up my B-6, so I think I will do that and wear my hand braces at night and see if things improve.

My first day back was awful. My head started to pound by 10am. Interesting that I didn't have many problems with headaches the week I was off. Wonder if there's something in the building? Anyways, by 2pm the pain was so bad I almost threw up twice. Now, that has NEVER happened. I did take a phenagran and thankfully didn't actually throw up. Although my head did continue to throb most of the day. My wasn't acting much better.

Today was a little better. At least the head felt better.

I did start taking a walk at lunch time to try and up my activity level. I really really needed to start doing something instead of sitting in a chair. I sit in a chair all day, than come home and sit in a chair. I've also started taking the stairs at work, even to go up! Can you say ouch? I am sooooo out of shape. I am going to keep at it though. I hope that I can work thru the pain and in the long run this will help.

First, I'd like to thank everyone for the warm to the journals section of HysterSisters.

For the first time in my life, I've had off the week between Christmas and New Years. It was a very welcome break. I felt relatively well most of the week, although I still had to turn in early with my heating pad most nights.

I just ate lunch about an hour ago and I can feel the belly swelling and the pain rearing its ugly head. So, is it the food or is the stress of returning to work? I really haven't thought that much about returning to work, but the mind and body does work in strange ways.

Typically I do have problems on Sundays with my belly as I tend to eat more than usual on Saturdays. But I didn't last night and also last week I was fine, even though Xmas was Saturday and I had more than usual.

Sooo...what does this tell me? I need to win the lotto, so I can live a life of leisure!!!

I am determined to start some sort of exercise program despite the pain issues. I think in the long run, some sort of exercise may actually be helpful. It may be painful in the beginning, but I may just need to work thru that. My doctor and my acunpuncturist have both been urging me to exercise, even if it's just walking. So that is my goal for 2005, to get this body in motion.

I thought I would join in on the reflections, what has 2004 meant to me:

I finally found employment in January. While I'm not making the money I used to, I also don't have the stress. The hours are good as I get off at 10am on Fridays. I've also, for the first time in my life, had the week between Christmas and New Year's off. Sometimes it's not about the money, but about your quality of life. I'ts still been hard though, as I am making about 1/2 of what I used to make.

I've continued thru the year with acupuncture treatments. It has helped, but my body still seems to have a mind of its own. I do good for a few weeks and than my body rebels. My acupunturist says that I am her most difficult case.

Overall, it's been a good year. I graduated from college this year!!! It took me 10 years, but I finally finished. I filed for graduation in mid December and am anxiously awaiting the paperwork. I feel soooo proud of myself to finally have accomplished this goal. I can't wait to put on the cap and gown and walk across the stage to accept my degree.

Dh and I are doing well, he's a sweetheart and I'm not quite sure why he puts up with me, but I will keep him. He does all he can to make me comfortable and has finally, after all these years, knows what makes my heart swell. My best xmas present was that he had a picture that my great great grandfather painted reframed and fixed for me. I've had it sitting in the shipping box for over 10 years now. He even hung the picture in our hallway for me. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. My heart just swells everytime I see that picture. It reminds me of my childhood as the picture always hung in my childhood home.

Anyways, I am hoping for 2005 that I can continue with the acupuncturist and that we will finally find something that will stick and my body will decide to cooperate. My goal is to have a healthier 2005! I don't need to be happier as I have all that I want, I just need a healthier body.

When I saw that we now have a category in the journals for those whom are travelling The Road, I thought that this may be a good time to keep track of my progress and how I'm feeling.

I guess I should begin with a bit of background. My hyst was in May 1999. Both my dh and I were extremely hopeful that the hyst would take care of my problems. I did okay for awhile, but thinking back, I believe that was only because I was more concerned with getting the hormones balanced and didn't realize how much my body was falling apart.

Once I got the hormones balanced I realized it was time to concentrate on me and my continued pain and swelling problems. Thus started the countless different doctors, the many tests and additional surgeries. While I would find intermittant relief, nothing lasted for very long. I sometimes wonder if it wasn't the hope that I had that actually made me think I was feeling better.

I'm going to keep this entry short. I just wanted to get started. But I hope as time goes on that I can document my journey here and that perhaps I can help someone else who is travelling a similiar path.