transformer

Hey Everyone! I haven't posted FOREVER! Glad I was able to find all of you--I saw that the thread was locked for a while. I hope everyone is doing well. It'll take me a little while to read backwards and get caught up on what everyone is up to. I didn't have the greatest 2008, so I wasn't too sad to see it go! I got really tired in May for no apparent reason. By early June I was in the doctor's office with a milk duct that was leaking blood on my left nipple. This lovely symptom was accompanied by a small lump. I had a mammogram and ultrasound that were deemed suspicious a couple days later. I went to a surgeon who thought it was nothing, but set up a sterotactic biopsy. I arrived for the biopsy and found they had changed the order to repeat the mammogram and ultrasound again. Of course, it came back BIRAD4 again--suspicious. Duh! I finally had a lumpectomy done in mid-July. The pathologists couldn't agree on a diagnosis so my tissue samples were sent to the University of Virginia for more analysis. I finally found out that I had ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and went in for a re-excision because the tumor margins weren't clean on September 5th. Talk about a long, drawn-out, stressful period of time! The oncologist and surgeon decided that I didn't have to go through radiation or chemotherapy which was quite a blessing. I guess that's the new way they handle things now if they take out a lot of tissue around the tumor. I have to take Tamoxifen for five years. I'm anxious to go for my next mammogram in June. It's hard to believe that all of the abnormal cells are really gone when you can't see it for yourself. In the meantime, my refrigerator died and had to be repaired three times in June (had to throw out all of our food three times!). My dryer died a slow and painful death. I developed what I thought was a cold in August and kept coughing and coughing (more on that later). In early November, I developed a huge abscess where my re-excision surgery was done. I had to go get that lanced and drained. I decided after all of this that pain pills are the bomb! Thank goodness, it's all well-healed up now and back to my "new normal." Back to the coughing fits. It was totally bizarre. I didn't have a cold or a sinus infection, but I kept feeling like I was drowning and couldn't breathe especially if I exerted myself at all. After several trips to the doctor, she decided to try putting me on Advair. After two weeks, I didn't cough any more at all! It turns out that I have asthma--clear out of the blue! Isn't that crazy? I finally got an answer to another nagging medical question. Why did I keep getting hot inflamed joints? I kept telling the doctor that rheumatoid arthritis and gout runs in my family. My left mid-foot area swelled up and hurt so much the weekend after Thanksgiving that I just wanted to cry. So much for my plans to shop! The doctor ran a bunch of bloodwork in early December (lupus, rheumatoid factor, Vitamin D level, CBC, uric acid, etc.) After a decade of being sick like this on and off I finally got a diagnosis--I have gout! I got a prescription for Indocin, a powerful anti-inflammatory that worked like a charm. I took one pill and my foot was better by the next day. I'm taking Colchecine twice a day now, too, to try to prevent another attack. The issue with this is that I'm supposed to eat Protein, protein, and more protein on the lap-band diet, but the gout diet says to mainly have eggs, low-fat dairy products, cheese, and nuts as protein sources. Fish and shellfish have to be limited. The gout diet suggests having only 3 ounces of chicken, beef, or pork once a day. So now I feel like I don't know what to eat! We had a big storm yesterday and a big branch fell off one of my trees and stabbed my house! Whoops! Luckily, it only made a small hole. I'll be able to get it fixed next week. Some people had big trees fall right through their houses. It was nuts! (At this point, what's another bill? It's just been one disaster after another for quite a while)! I decided today that I wish I were rich so I could get my jelly belly chopped off at the plastic surgeon's office! My top half and my bottom half are two different sizes. It's so annoying! My legs fit into smaller pants, but my jelly belly won't make it. Grrr! My son is doing well. Luckily, my bad karma hasn't rubbed off on him yet! I have two puppy dogs now. I got a female dog in April and a male in October from the SPCA. They are both shepherd mixes. The female was about a year when I got her and the male was about 7 months old. They are my buddies! I needed something to cuddle with since my son, the cranky teen, wouldn't be caught dead hugging his little old mama! I'm still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. I'm thinking I'd like a job that combines my love of nature and animals, my teaching skills, and administrative skills would be awesome. I finally got my head above Water long enough during the holiday break to start looking at job openings. Sorry I babbled on too much about me and that most of the news sucked! Not too bad for summarizing about a year of my life though I guess! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season! I'll do my best to catch up on everyone's happenings as soon as I can.

I guess the only statistics that really matter to me are how my own finances have been throughout the years. I suffered the most during the mid to late 1990s...they totally sucked. The bottom fell out of the housing market, so we lost a house because it wouldn't sell when I got divorced. That was an enormous financial hit that took years to overcome. I had to drive a lousy, rolling tin can car for years. Those were some of the worst years of my entire life. :hurray: Myself (and my extended family) have fared the best during the 80s/early 90s and especially during the post-Clinton period. I've been consistently moving from barely making ends meet to almost thriving in the last 5 years or so (I don't want to jinx myself by saying that too loud). Everyone in my family has gotten a new, higher-paying job in the past 2 years (one sibling is earning $60,000 more than before!). Four out of five of us have bought a larger home in the past 4 years (I don't need a larger home, so I haven't had the itch to move). Everyone has a car that is less than 3 years old and in good working order. Keep in mind of course that all of us actually work our butts off, pay for our own education in order to advance, and don't rely on government handouts to survive. When we were dirt poor years ago, all of us walked to work if we had to, worked multiple lower-paying jobs while going to school, etc. Anyone can get ahead if they are determined enough and are willing to work hard. The bottom line is that I don't want anyone in the government to take my money and give it to others who refuse to do the same (although I definitely don't object to TEMPORARY public assistance for people who are in crisis or truly disabled and unable to work). It's the zillions of frauds collecting government assistance that I have an issue with. Public assistance should not be a career goal! I also don't think the government is responsible for bailing out idiots who took out mortgages they couldn't afford or who were too ignorant to understand the terms of their adjustable rate home loans. It's called personal responsibility--you crap in your bed, you clean it up! Natural consequences rock! Those are the only facts I care about at this point because after all, it's all about me! LOL!

So true! It's like "Inspector 12" is watching you! :smile:

Love it, love it, love it!

Touche! Thanks for explaining the "oxymoron" statement, marjon! I sometimes read these threads way too late at night and sometimes it all goes right over my head! I had never heard that word used that way before. I missed the democratic debate last night, but from what I heard on the news, I should have watched it with a bowl of popcorn and a hockey face mask on! So, what do we do if we decide that ALL of the people running are scary?? Who could the "write in" candidate be, I wonder?? :biggrin:

As a former New Englander, I have to go with the Patriots! Sorry Giants' fans!

Just like anyone else, Tommy boy can believe whatever the heck he wants. But I agree that he needs to keep his "medical" (I use the term EXTREMELY loosely here...) opinion to himself. When was the last time he gave birth? What the heck would he know about post-partum depression? Until he gets some extra letters behind his name that don't spell "S-C-I-E-N-T-O-L-O-G-Y" (e.g. MD, etc.), he needs to shut up and occupy his time controlling every aspect of his new wifey's life. I am proud of the fact that I haven't contributed a single cent to his career since he started leaping on couches and slamming people about psychiatric disorders!

EEEWWW!!! Oh my innocent eyes! LOL! Thanks a bunch for the LOVELY mental image right before I head off to bed!

Chelle--I'm with you on this one! My son and I didn't eat at our hotel at all during our trip over the holidays. The hotels don't want to lose too much money, so they serve more inexpensive carbs rather than spending their "dough" on protein! LOL!

From the posts I've read over the past year or so, people on all sides of this issue overreact from time to time. Everyone has had their turn appearing to be "oversensitive" to someone who held an opposing view. That being said, no one should be jumping on someone just because of his/her religious beliefs (or lack thereof) in the first place. It's one thing to debate someone with respect and share ideas in order to gain a greater understanding of one another. It's quite another to be attacked and called derogatory names just because of your beliefs. That should not be acceptable behavior anywhere at any time. Hopefully, everyone can agree with that!

I just don't trust Hillary and I would be very disappointed if the Clintons returned to the White House. We've already been there, did that, and bought the t-shirt. I want the country to move forward, not backward. It's time for different leadership! I would never vote for anyone just because the candidate was a woman, a certain race, or a specific religion. Some folks seem to be jumping all over that bandwagon, but there really ought to be a more substantive reason for voting for someone. This isn't supposed to be the same as voting for prom king or queen or class president in high school. It's a serious decision. In any case, I haven't decided who I'm going to support yet, but at least I have until the February 12th primary to make up my mind!

I never said that any Republican or Democrat presently holding a political office, those who have formerly served, or that anyone currently running for public office actually possesses this all-important leadership quality. That's the whole problem with this election. Some voters are actually stupid enough to vote for someone just because they are...___________ (fill in the blank with whatever quality you like--a woman, black, white, old, young, the same religion, from their home state, cute, ugly, graduates of the same college, etc.) instead of critically assessing their character and leadership qualities. Instead of blindly selecting someone just because of one of these "flimsy" reasons, I think that we should really consider whether or not the candidates would sell their own mother's dentures (or their soul, if you believe in such things) to win an election. Do they have strong principles or are they just another slime bucket who is just spouting off what they think you want to hear? I want to be clear that I don't think that a person running for president can't have flaws. What I am saying is that any leader should be an ethical person (a synonym of ethical is moral). Ethical means "conforming to accepted standards; being consistent with agreed principles of correct moral conduct." If a leader is not committed to a strong set of principles that guide all decision-making, he or she is extremely vulnerable to becoming corrupt. Politicians are very, very good at "getting into bed" so to speak, with the highest bidder. As Jack said, the equation "politician = honest" does not make sense and hasn't for a very long time. There are obviously ethical issues on both sides of the aisle--duh! That's the whole point behind my wanting a "different animal" to run for the presidency. Maybe it's time for everyone to stop being such "rabid" Republicans or Democrats and start paying attention to the leadership displayed by the people who are running for office. I don't know that I've actually seen any of the candidates demonstrate true leadership ability yet. I've just heard a whole lot of meaningless crap from all involved so far... BTW--what do oxen (a cattle-like beast with horns or somebody who is regarded as unintelligent and clumsy, especially somebody with a large build) have to do with oxymorons (a phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are used together for special effect, e.g. "wise fool" or "legal murder")? You lost me on that one, marjon! I don't get the joke! WAAH!

I haven't watched a Tom Cruise movie (not even a rerun of an old one) after his rant about anti-depressants when he attacked Brooke Shields about postpartum depression (what a couch-hopping loon he is). He's welcome to have his own opinion about psychiatric drugs, but he shouldn't run around condemning people about disorders he knows nothing about (when was the last time he gave birth?)...idiot! His views on disorders like AD/HD, etc. are equally moronic. While not every person needs medication, it is extremely beneficial for some individuals and enables them to lead a successful and fulfilling life. Without meds, my child would be institutionalized by now (or incarcerated). So, I don't want to hear it from Mr. Scientology. He ought to stick to posing for the covers of glossy magazines and making movies. I feel sorry for his new little wifey and that little kid...whoever her daddy is!