green

I cannot understand this desire to artificially sustain life through keeping people hooked up to life support. To do this strikes me as being disrespectful to the once sentient life who is now tethered to a collection of machines and as being wasteful of resources, both medical and environmental. My mum spent the day when she should have been attending the first wedding of a grandchild by her only sister's bedside. It was my mother who pulled the plug.

Green is checking in. I think I need a small fill and I still haven't got the Mexican complaint solved although I am getting closer. :help: I am still blocked about providing those faecal samples - ugh! gross - but I do now have the requisite gear in my bathroom at least. I have tried treating the problem with scotch which may be helping a little. Not so hot for the brain cells, though, and I do need those. I had a funny experience this morning. A guy thought I was hitting on him because I said that Italian men tended to be good looking. (He was part Italian.) I was shocked and told him so, telling him, among other things, that I was way older than him. He seemed surprised to hear this and asked me how old I thought he was. I told him that I thought he was in his 30s and he said that that was right. Then I told him that I was 57 and so "you see, way too old for you!"

Like Marjon, I have taken the trouble to quote the above post in full for this has been my own view of a few of those individuals who post for the pro-life side. They do come across as judgemental, arrogant, hysterical and mean-spirited individuals. I earlier made a post on this thread to that effect. And yes, the effect is entirely alienating. One closes one's ears to this sort of shrill hectoring. The above quoted words are from someone who is both firm in her beliefs and yet has a generous spirit. Thanks, niecyrenee.

Effexor. Ugh! I was on a high dose of that for over a year. I kept pleading with the shrink to find something else. :help: My normally good BP shot up and I had to go on meds for that. And for the first time in my long life I was chronically and severely constipated. This actually worked in my favour when I was travelling in Turkey. I didn't suffer from the problem that travellers usually suffer from even though I was eating a spicy and vegetable and fibre rich diet. Apart from this trip the constipation was a nightmare. Everytime I managed to go to the toilet I thought I needed to be taken to the hospital for surgery. I gained weight on this drug and then they tried me out on anti-psychotic for awhile and I ballooned in size. Now I am banded, off Effexor and on different anti-depressants, off the anti-psychotic, off the BP meds, and I weigh 155 lbs. Yippee! :clap2: I have a different shrink, too.

Thanks, nume. My husband is a real honey and he is fond of hugging and cuddling as well as the main dish. He is an affectionate and loving man and I am one lucky woman! He is also quite content to masturbate, a habit he got into when he was a lonely, acne-ridden teenager. He is one of those guys who turned from an ugly duckling into a swan but who still bears the scars of his teenage loser years. He is even now quite surprised when women hit up on him even though he is a real knock-out. I should mention that he has aged extremely well and that he is 9 years younger than I am. We have been together for 22 years now but we hadn't planned it that way. I thought of him as being merely a fling when we first connected. We were merely work buddies but we both ended up together though our start was careless and ill thought out. Your comment as to what is normal is a good comment, I think. There is an old Ukrainian folk saying which says that if a newly married couple puts one dried bean into a jar each time that they make love during the first year that they are married and then remove one of these Beans each time that they make love during the rest of their life together they will never empty the jar. Brand new sex is wild and crazy and passionate sex, obsessive sex. You just can't get enough of your new beloved. Real life and familiarity do intervene, I find. One's love for the beloved may grow much, much deeper but that crazy obsessional desire for that unfamiliar body lessens. This is why some people like to continue having affairs; they like that junky sexual high. They are unwilling to acknowledge that this is a phase, a prelude to a calmer, deeper and more mature relationship. I think that what you are seeing on TV is television sex and merely that. Sex sells and so it is written into movies and TV. As to what is normal, well, you have done the right thing by posing this question on the internet to real people. And as for me and my chemical castration, yup, this is a very big bummer. The trouble with the new array of anti-depressants, Prozac and the post-Prozac class, is that while they are a giant step forward for us depressed folk they do have an ugly side effect. In the majority of folks who take the meds this classification of drugs tends to render us without sexual interest or ability to follow through. Now, if I were an old maid I would be pretty damn happy about being relieved of the pressure....

Dynamo, dude, I am grief stricken to read the above. You are one of my favourite posters and I hate the notion that you have travelled through points 1 to 5. No one should go through points 1 to 5 and yet this has been or is the life story of not only the individuals who are members of this site but the majority of Americans. The number of individuals who fit the beauty magazine/Hollywood construct of attractiveness is tiny statistically speaking and yet we are presented with this unattainable ideal and told to deal with it. Moreover, these images are especially remote from those of mature adults. In the case of women, the magazine construct is pretty much unattainable for most women but especially so for a mature woman who has had a couple of children. Men also have their own problems with self-image. Mature/ageing males tend to lose hair on their heads, grow more hair on their bodies, and thicken around the waist and hips. Sometimes they develop man-boobs. They notice this just around the time that they are going through their mid-life crises. In this society we are trained to think that we are unlovely, unloveable, and will never, ever measure up. Of course we all know this but we are powerless, it seems, to fight against it. This is why I am looking forward to having my face lift done this fall. Go figure, eh.......

I said "help us pull us the plug" when and if we need this assistance. Dr. K provided a useful and generous service for those people who had requested his assistance.

Wow! She could just show up at your crib with the kiddywinks in tow. Do you have travellers' hostels and YMCAs in your area? :confused:Where does she live? Will she be flying or driving? If they end up muscling their way into your crib you might just want to stay with a friend.:help: She doesn't sound like a very sensitive individual.:tired Indeed she sounds like a grrl who wants what she wants.

I am sorry to hear this, faithmd. In my own case it is my husband who is getting short changed sexually. This is because I am on anti-depressives and they have had the effect of pretty much chemically castrating me. I have zero sex drive and haven't had an orgasm in over a decade. I periodically go through the motions because sex is still important to my mate but this is a mechanical activity for me.:cry This is ironic because I was multi-orgasmic and a real hound for it when I was younger. In fact I used to worry that I wouldn't find anyone to lay me after I hit 40! By the way, I note that you are a fan of Red Green. He is another one of us pesky Canucks, you know.

Nume, a man who was homosexual when you married him still is. His sexual urges have not changed from focussing on men to focussing on women even though he may have desired this outcome. You may have a good, loving, and peaceful marriage with this man but you will never be able to have a sexually passionate one. This has nothing to do with your sexual attractiveness or your loveability; it has to do with his sexual orientation, one which he has no control over. Perhaps you might wish to talk to him in a peaceful and open way about this issue. It might make both of you feel better. By the way, one of my close friends is a gay man who married and fathered two children. He was hoping that his sexual orientation would go away. It didn't. He didn't leave his wife and begin to live his real life until he was in his 50s. He will be turning 70 this year. He and his wife remain very, very close emotionally.

I have always been able to feel mine. It is under my boobs in the centre of my torso. I find myself poking at it while watching TV.

Oh, I certainly hear your pain. I am a depressive and while I have a pretty big house I am easily stressed when I am around live people for very long. This is why I prefer to go to restaurants with friends instead of seeing them at their houses; sometimes even 4 hours can seem to me to be far too much "on air" time. And I am not a kid person, either. Of course what your sister is proposing is absolutely impossible, both with respect to your emotional health and with the respect to the floor plan of your crib. Her visit will be an absolute disaster and you must say NO! Frankly speaking, it sounds like the woman wants a free motel and and that would be your crib now that her friend, a woman who probably feels the same way as you do, has declined to house the visitors. :tired I myself have been put in your position. I have friends who live in Paris who like to stay with me when they come over.:paranoid One in particular is very, very stressful for he is labour-intensive. He does nothing for himself, complains a lot about Canadian life and Canadian food, and hogs my computer. Worse still, he sits there eating muffins and leaves the wrappers strewn all over my desk! I've never let him come back and I tell him that I am simply too mentally ill to accept visitors. Your sister sounds like she might be vacation vampire. Afterall, she hasn't been close to you for years now.

What is wrong with taking the easy way out? We have the technology. Why not use it instead of suffering from health problems and personal esteem issues brought on by being fat and yo-yo dieting? Is being under an anaesthetic during an operation taking the easy way out? Or using a vaccuum cleaner, a microwave, or sending e-mail instead of writing a letter? I find this argument to be totally ridiculous and illogical. It is such a stupid and mean-spirited comment that I want to smack each and every person who utters it. The lapband works far more efficiently than simple dieting and excercise for those of us who are fat. We are lucky that we can take advantage of this technology. I am also nuts about my microwave, television, computer, and my Swiffer wet mop. All of this stuff makes my life easier and more fun.

My problems with depression were a pre-existing condition. The problem runs in our family. I will always be on anti-depressants unless they figure out some other form of technology to treat this problem.

The reason that many people don't make living wills is for the same reason that they don't get around to making any other provision for their deaths, they are involved in living their lives and are, perhaps, afraid to acknowledge that death will inevitably come. I did not get around to writing about a formal will until my mother died two years ago. I was in my mid-fifties. I now have a living will as well as the formal papers which say where the cash will go. My brother, a doctor and a guy who is almost as old as I am, was still dawdling on doing his will the last I heard. You don't have to be stupid to be disorganized and careless. When people such as myself or my brother, and there are many of us, suddenly find ourselves terminal and in dreadful pain we may well be greatful for someone to help us pull the plug. Dr. Kervorkian did not murder anyone as far as I am aware. He assisted some people do what they wanted done is all. There are conditions under which life ceases to be valuable for the individual who is living it and extinction becomes the kinder and more logical choice.

Thanks for correcting me on this. As you can see my bible knowledge is kinda shakey.

Reviewing your posts, Daffodil, leaves me feeling quite queasy. You see I believe that both human laws and, yes, New Testament teachings do acknowledge this business of moral relativism. Let me put this simply for you. The law says that you must not kill and the individual who does so will be tried and convicted according to that law. It is at this point that the judge steps in and examines all the factors which may have had an impact on this case. Was this person mentally ill or under stress at the time? Was it an accident? Is he likely to do it again? Does he enjoy murdering folks or is he remorseful? Has he financially profitted by his crime? Was his childhood so tormented that he has grown up to be a dysfunctional adult? Was he being consistently brutalised by the individual whom he killed? Down here on earth we recognise that though certain activities may be wrong we still must attempt to understand the reasons behind these actions. We do this because we want to be fair and because we want to understand and by understanding change the forces which create these evils. We do not simply announce that an entire group of individuals have "stained souls." That is really very bluddy arrogant on your part and such a judgement is better left to your Creator. Now, it seems to me that Jesus was an individual who made a point of spending time with sinners while He was alive. He did not kick that hooker, Mary Magdalen, to the curb. He became friends with her. And He did grant amnesty to those two sinners who were hanging on their crosses along side of Him. It seems to me that part of what he was teaching was to embrace simplicity, good works, and a generosity of spirit towards others, even those whom you might judge as being sinners. In your posts you have shown an utter lack of respect or concern towards those women who have had abortions or to those who are protective of their sisters. Indeed, you have cursed them all with having "a stain on their souls." (Whatever happened to the notion of loving the sinner and hating the sin?) You have merely proven yourself to be a moral bully, not a kind and loving individual, nor one who is capable of subtlety. You are not the best spokesperson for your group.

Except for the gas pains my op was a walk in the park. I spent 3 days in bed enjoying the pain meds and was up and goofing on the computer on the fourth day. I was 57 when I had the op. You might want to take a week or more off. Nursing is strenuous work.

Yep, my initial fill was up to 5ccs, then the fill nurse dropped this to 4 because I PBed on water. Since then I have been getting half a cc whenever I go in for a fill. And all of my fill work is free, part of the initial price of the work. Mini-fills at 200 bucks is too much!!!

I have finally had the chance to watch this video and I must admit that I am confused by both the numbers and the message. In Canada our birthrate is very low and our overall population is small. We number in the mid-30 millions and our birthrate is less than that required to replace our existing population. We accordingly rely on immigration to replace and indeed augment our existing population and we assume that our newcomers will become Canadian citizens. We also take in refugees. This is a policy based on a humanitarian philosophy. This video left me entirely confused as to the rationale behind the American policy on immigration. Is it in place for economic reasons - that is to say to stabilize/augment the existing population - or is it, as this individual suggests, based on some sort of vague humanitarian ideals? If this is so then the narrator is right: the current policy does not make sense. It would be far better to leave these migrants where they currently live and only accept those individuals who are genuine refugees. The numbers seem a bit inflated. As we all know, a well-educated and affluent society tends to have few children. Though the new immigrants may have large families it is unlikely that their children will. He is, moreover, assuming that the newcomers will be a financial charge on the existing society. In fact the truth is that more people create more jobs in all sectors of the economy. I am inclined to view this man's take on the situation as thinly veiled xenophobia.

J, the suggestions provided in the above posts will help you through this. You will find that once you begin get filled you will eat less. My condolences to you at this time. It hurts to lose someone you love.

In Africa AIDS is an epidemic, a heterosexual epidemic.

It makes sense to me. The punishment should fit the crime. Your two kids sound like nice girls. They were filled with contrition by the time you had come home.

I must confess that I am entirely slovenly about providing references for my many statements. This is because though I read a great deal of material both on-line and off I never paginate, bookmark or, in the case of newspapers, keep the material. In the case of my own books, I've got 'em jammed into many bookcases usually to the depth of two or three books thick. My crib is in the way of being a papery swamp with a thick crust of dust and cat hair icing every surface. :welldoneclap: :help: I am always very pleased when folks like Carlene, Laurend, Gadget, and TOM (and where is he these days??) provide the rest of us with reference materials. At the same time, others of us are equally reflective and are capable, I believe, of processing current events and through this do provide valuable contributions to any discussion/debate.:success1:

This is very true. I live just next door in Canada and while we prefer American pop culture to our own our core values are very, very different. We are both a morally liberal and a socialist country by American standards. And we do sometimes become anxious for we the mouse who is sleeping beside an elephant. When our former government was pondering decriminalizing simple possession of marijuana Washington applied pressure to choke this initiative off before it ever hit the floor of Parliament. Our former government also incurred Bush's wrath by refusing to suit up and go to war in Iraq. We are also aware that we possess some very attractive natural resources: gas, oil and a huge supply of fresh Water. If Canadians are sometimes made anxious by America's less than diplomatic ways then it is easy to understand how your country is often viewed in the international arena. This is particularly the case since the current regime has taken over the presidency.