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Posted by k2p2 on 13-10-2013 at 00:21:
Good to see you, Chris!
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Posted by ChrisW on 13-10-2013 at 04:18:
I've been reading through things trying to catch up, hoping that'll help me stay out of the hole this time. A few times now I've thought I was feeling a lot better and then I pulled another "I've fallen and I can't get up" just days later. Bleh.
Uh, an update ... mostly around family health issues, which are getting a little crazy. Just need to lay it all out there and whine.
My father has liver cancer. They keep taking the tumors out and the tumors keep coming back, but this was expected to happen eventually because he has hepatitis C. His reaction isn't as bad as Walter White in Breaking Bad, but he has taken it as an excuse to be a bit of a dick. It didn't help my stress levels during the visit that he listens non-stop to far right wing stuff on TV and the radio at volumes that could make your ears bleed. Lies and misrepresentations are bad enough. At a volume so loud you can't tune it out, I thought I was going to have a psychotic break during the loooooong drive to visit my brother during my visit home. Fortunately I'd brought good headphones. Very loud music helped.
My mother was having all kinds of weird problems like coughing constantly and almost throwing up whenever she ate, and it turns out to be new allergies in a huge way (food and environmental). Eliminating a lot of it has been difficult (chocolate?!?!? malt??? lettuce?? spinach?? barley?? hops??) but she says she feels loads better, isn't coughing, and isn't feeling sick anymore. Fortunately she doesn't really drink so there's no need to quit drinking beer. Unfortunately, things like malt are in a LOT of products.
When I went home to FL to visit the folks I discovered that I have a lovely new allergy or something. It's a form of eczema (Dyshidrosis) where exposure to heat (and possibly sunlight) makes you break out with tiny blisters (it's kind of like goosebumps) on the backs of your hands and up the arms and on the face. Made me feel like a plucked chicken. Also gave me splotchy hives around my ankles. Added some surreal mystery to my visit. Saw the doctor when I got home just to understand what it was. Apparently I was a bit lucky in that it never itched. I've had a couple more breakouts since then when it got really hot here and one of the times it itched like crazy, ugh. So far I think that for me it has to be a combo of heat and sunlight.
The hubby has somehow cracked some ribs (no idea how). At the same time, he's been having kidney stone problems, this bout has been directly next to the ribs so it took a while to figure out that he had more than just a kidney stone problem. Worse, the stone is in a lower duct so gravity won't pull it out, but it's not big enough to use ultrasound/whatever to break it up, so they have to leave it there and let it grow until it's ready.
My motherinlaw just had her 2nd anaphalatic reaction out of the blue. Fortunately she had an epipen this time as she was an hour from a hospital. So far they think that it's a bad reaction to her blood pressure medication, which can apparently cause this after taking it a long while, and the stuff stays in your system for 4 months after you stop taking it so you can still have reactions after stopping. The irony is that I'm on the same med and have been having some issues. Time to change meds. Hubby wonders if they're a side cause of my eczema.
Oh yeah, and my brother joined the thyroid tumor club with me and my mom.
I think that's it for the family dramas. And I wonder why I feel like emotional roadkill most of the time ...
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Posted by gatchamarie on 13-10-2013 at 06:48:
CW ... I'm speechless! I can only send you virtual hugs when I feel that I should be squeezing you in person!
I hope that writing things down and sharing them with us has alleviated some of the weight you're carrying on your shoulders in some way! I'm instantly adding you and your family to my prayers, hoping that things would calm down for you as soon as possible! Find me whenever you might need some more venting out!
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Posted by Springie on 13-10-2013 at 07:56:
OMG...sounds like RL is crazy for you, CW! I'm with Gatchamarie in sending virtual hugs your way!
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Posted by ElectricWhite on 13-10-2013 at 13:36:
I'm sending you my best wishes as well, CW. 
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Posted by Redbird on 13-10-2013 at 14:23:
I'm so sorry to hear you're having such troubles, CW. And it's hard dealing with parents when they're unwell.
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Posted by Becky Rock on 13-10-2013 at 18:01:
CW, When it rains it pours. I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts.
Stress can do strange things to the body, too, including causing rashes and hives, or make an allergic reaction even worse. My mother developed a similar problem one summer and was told you can be allergic to sunlight because it causes so many different chemical reactions in the atmosphere that affects everyone differently.
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Posted by ChrisW on 13-10-2013 at 23:41:
Apparently you can have a pseudo-allergy to sunlight also because of some weird side-reaction the sunlight causes in your body, where you're allergic to the reaction and not the sunlight. Strange stuff. I'm pretty fair-skinned and not generally a sun or heat lover (I easily overheat), so it's not entirely surprising I guess. My parents and my brother tan really well. I tend more toward burning. There's a reason I prefer BC to FL, heh. And yes, eczema is supposed to be made worse by stress as well.
The hubby is visiting his parents out east. His mother's anaphylactic reaction happened the other day with him out there. Today, he's back at the ER, but this time with his father, who's got a nosebleed that won't stop. Apparently they've put a rubber clamp on his nose while they wait for triage, heh. Hubby is apparently amusing himself by listening to waiting room explanations of turkey-related injuries (thanksgiving weekend here in Canada).
Oh, one thing definitely had me thinking of you guys ... was watching NCIS: LA and G. and Sam were discussing their favorite cartoons as kids. Sam guessed that G.'s was G-Force (probably because G. was an orphan). It was actually Mighty Mouse but I got a kick out of the mention.
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Posted by jublke on 14-10-2013 at 01:15:
Hugs, Chris! That's a lot to have on your plate. Hope things improve for all soon. <3
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Posted by Becky Rock on 14-10-2013 at 02:05:
Nosebleeds are not to be messed with. I hope they get it under control.
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Posted by ChrisW on 14-10-2013 at 02:07:
Apparently he snapped a nasal artery. He's got a balloon up his nose at the moment and goes back tomorrow for another look.
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Posted by gatchamarie on 14-10-2013 at 07:41:
When enough is never enough! Hope things for your father-in-law turn out well, too! Thanks God there's this series which can take our minds off things ... eh, CW!?
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To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!
Posted by ElectricWhite on 14-10-2013 at 14:03:
I know you're busy trying to catch up, Chris. And I'm not sure if you've seen this yet. But, if you haven't, and you'd like a giggle, you might like to take a look at this:
http://www.gatchfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1488
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by Transmute Jun on 14-10-2013 at 14:37:
Hope things only go up from here, Chris!
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Posted by clouddancer on 14-10-2013 at 22:13:
Chris, it is great to see you back again. I am sorry to hear you have had a hard time though. As others have said, we are here to support you.
I am also sorry I am late in my welcome, but as you know this weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada and I was not at home where I could access the internet.
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Posted by ChrisW on 14-10-2013 at 23:46:
No one's being timed. 
After all, I made y'all wait.
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Posted by clouddancer on 15-10-2013 at 01:13:
You made us all "worry" because we were waiting so long. It is great to see you participating and getting your perspective on topics again. I enjoy reading your insight into the characters.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by KT1972 on 15-10-2013 at 09:22:
sorry for the delay in welcoming you back, Chris. it sounds like you have been having a hard time of it. I don't blame you for needing some time out, I think everyone needs it once in a while.
I hope RL turns around for you soon and better fortunes come your way.
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by ChrisW on 16-10-2013 at 04:22:
Picking the hubby up from the airport in a couple of hours. Will be nice to have him home. Apparently the air's been so dry where he was with his folks that the ER was getting a lot of people with nosebleeds. I know that I have to be careful when I visit dry climates and use a humidifier for that very reason. Probably best that I stayed home, heh.
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Posted by Becky Rock on 16-10-2013 at 13:34:
Hopefully this is the end of the bad things for a long while.
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