Remember me?

I've been away for so long, you all probably don't remember who I am. If you do have a fragment or sliver of a memory of me,  then I will have to tell you that I am not the person you all know anymore. Changing has not been what I wanted, it has been completely out of my control. I don't look the same, I don't think the same way, and I surely don't FEEL like I used to. I have turned into a person I don't know, feeling things that are totally new, wondering where the person I used to has gone.It's funny - I think most of us are often not impressed with the person they are, always wanting more... I know I didn't appreciate who I was, always thinking that I could do better, be better, certainly look better. I took so many things for granted...and we never know that until we have lost it.

The most upsetting (horrifying) thing for me has been the physical changes. The parts the whole world can see. I know that this sounds really superficial, but really it isn't. Most of us define who we are by what we do, how we look, and the feelings that we have for ourselves and for others. Well now physically for me --- I look awful. Seriously. I see someone else in my mirror, actually asking the one staring back at me to bring back the old version. I tell him ( my mirror is a man) that I can't continue this physical downward spiral... he never reply's but sometimes I wonder if he laughs at me. :)  Heaven knows I would laugh at me, too.

I am now good at doing nothing. There is nothing left to define myself by what I do, since I literally do nothing. If anyone counts reading, or staring into space a definitive career or even a quality, then I will be at the top of my game. I miss my job. I miss leaving each morning and being so happy to return at night.  I spent so many  years being irritated that I had to interact and talk to others. I have always been a loner, wanting to be left alone in so many situations. So now, I have my wish. I want to publicly state for the record that being alone blows. Yes, I have a husband, he leaves early each morning and returns late in the evenings.  I thank God for him each day. I feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with this new me on a regular basis.Yes, I have grown kids but the truth is, it's hard for me to even let them see me. I cannot avoid it all the time, and I know it's wrong to feel this way, but I am actually ashamed of myself and I don't want them to know that, either. I am well aware that none of the changes in me are my fault, and there is nothing I can do about it. That doesn't make it any better for me, certainly I would work hard to get back to the old me if there was even a tiny chance. I can barely walk, I limp and hobble and I am bent over to the left side, sometimes nearly in half. I have gained so many pounds, due to medications and lymphedema and pop tarts. Doctors tell me it's no big deal, it's not my fault, but those that know me well know that I'd rather be dead than fat. I don't even look normally fat, it's all in the middle, showing up there overnight. Literally. You've no idea what it's like to go to bed a small, normal size and wake up looking seven and half months pregnant.

Surgeries are in my future. My spine has moved (?) three inches to the right, which is impossible,and oh so painful, just ask any doctor. The only cure for that is extensive surgery. Screws and plates and cages are involved. I don't know when yet and I don't know how, but I do know that I am not going to walk bent to the left forever. No - spines don't move. Unless you have had a spinal stimulator put in your body with (leads) wrapped all around  your spinal column. That is my theory, not the doctors. But spines don't just move for no reason. You know I did all the research on this damned stimulator before I had it put in. I didn't want in the first place but my doc was sure it would help the pain. It did help for quite a while, until I developed lympedema, and then I couldn't take it, not when my left leg swelled up to the size of a hundred year oak tree. The doc did say that the leads were causing the swelling problem, people don't just develop lymphedema. Those that are fighting cancer can get it, but it is a secondary problem. I have it as a main problem. It causes giant swelling in my leg and abdomen. So there is the reason that I look like I am having a baby. Just for the record, I want to say this never happens. You don't just develop this problem. Of course, there is no cure. Just a series of compression garments and manual stimulation to release the water. No thank you. There is one certified physical therapist that can do that here, she is part of the cancer center downtown. I have resisted this treatment so far, it just sounds too far out to even imagine. Obviously, I went to the one remaining doc at my old pain clinic and we discussed having the stimulator removed. Makes sense, right? Sure he will take the little box in my lower hip out. But the leads --- the things causing my problems? No, they stay in forever. They wrap themselves all around the spinal cord and trying to take them out is way too risky. Dangerous, even. In all my research, no one ever once mentioned that. I asked about having it removed if it didn't work the way they said, they told me sure it can be taken out. But not the wires. They neglected to ever say that. And I was too stupid to ask.

Enough for now. I know this is awful to read, and I certainly understand if you can't make it through. I just wanted you all to know why I am not around. I am sad, I am sick and I am fed up.

I do think about all of you and plan to one day get back here like normal. I love and miss you, my friends.  :)