Hello everybody! Here we are, Persi, Alley, and Lee. Back to where we belong on the best site on the internet! So, where have we been?
Three months ago I received a diagnosis from three different doctors that I had CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome). This caused a state of deep depression in me. There is no cure for the pain so I was put on antidepressants. A few weeks later my wife's appendix burst, spreading a septic condition through her that nearly killed her. My depression deepened but she made a full recovery although it was touch and go. So I got somewhat better for a while until my birthday in May which was the BIG one. Try as I might, my depression deepened and my medication dosage was upped. As I was coming out of that, I found out that my sister had died from the very same thing my wife had almost died of. During this time I was going to a five day a week, eight hour a day pain management rehabilitation program, not meant to cure me but to treat me mentally to accept my fate. I completed that program last Friday and have been working towards returning to a more normal life; not thinking in the past which cannot be changed and not thinking "what if" about the future. I am also on a new high powered antidepressant (Pristiq) so I am taking one day at a time.
I had planned to get back here on TCS during my recovery and when I received a phone call from Carolina Thursday, I was so delighted and then when I saw the nice things that you all had to say, I composed a post yesterday but it was not accepted because I am now using a new iMac computer. So, I am trying again and will keep this short in case the same thing happens today. I would have been back on here sooner but I was embarrassed and ashamed for remaining silent during my absence. But I am back.
Persi and Alley have been in good health and are just as crazy as ever. I will write more once I make sure I can post this. You guys on this site are just wonderful and magical. Please accept my apologies for my silence while I get back into the swing of things!
Three months ago I received a diagnosis from three different doctors that I had CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome). This caused a state of deep depression in me. There is no cure for the pain so I was put on antidepressants. A few weeks later my wife's appendix burst, spreading a septic condition through her that nearly killed her. My depression deepened but she made a full recovery although it was touch and go. So I got somewhat better for a while until my birthday in May which was the BIG one. Try as I might, my depression deepened and my medication dosage was upped. As I was coming out of that, I found out that my sister had died from the very same thing my wife had almost died of. During this time I was going to a five day a week, eight hour a day pain management rehabilitation program, not meant to cure me but to treat me mentally to accept my fate. I completed that program last Friday and have been working towards returning to a more normal life; not thinking in the past which cannot be changed and not thinking "what if" about the future. I am also on a new high powered antidepressant (Pristiq) so I am taking one day at a time.
I had planned to get back here on TCS during my recovery and when I received a phone call from Carolina Thursday, I was so delighted and then when I saw the nice things that you all had to say, I composed a post yesterday but it was not accepted because I am now using a new iMac computer. So, I am trying again and will keep this short in case the same thing happens today. I would have been back on here sooner but I was embarrassed and ashamed for remaining silent during my absence. But I am back.
Persi and Alley have been in good health and are just as crazy as ever. I will write more once I make sure I can post this. You guys on this site are just wonderful and magical. Please accept my apologies for my silence while I get back into the swing of things!