We love you, Judy. Your strength and perseverance is a real blessing to me.

Kitty! I went to the Chronic illness devotional blog, and I am so glad to see this site. I couldn't read it yesterday when your link showed, because my eyes will take only so much puter time now. I will probably need to shell out for some puter-only glasses--sigh, another expense of being chronically ill! But then, the blog would teach me to be thankful that I do have enough saved to do this, buy the special glasses. Every time I think about my financial support I think of how gracious God was to send me my husband, whose pension is keeping me afloat--i have my own pension from teaching, but it's much smaller, as I was paid less and had to quit early. And our savings got whacked by the fire of 2000 and non-payment of insurance, which disallowed my disability (long story which many have heard).
Well, I agree that the blog you provided, Kitty, is great because it is not one of those sugar coated ones. I avoid ministries and individuals who claim God will heal me, and look "knowing" about their own inner knowing; this is because I have long experience with spiritual healing. I WAS healed by a couple of ministries long ago, before I got two more diagnoses, Porphyria and Polycythemia Vera; that is, I was partially healed, just enough to let me know God was there. My right eye (once again bad because of the smoke we had a few weeks ago) was instantly and completely healed of Optic Neuritis which I'd had for eight years, and the healing was permanent for over 16 years. I was also healed of foot drop in another ministry where a young woman prayed for me after the service. But many other prayers have not healed me; perhaps they have kept me alive and functioning through many struggles? So, again, I appreciate this blog site you linked, Kitty. I still couldn't read it all today, maybe later; I bookmarked it.

I too am having a very bad time, Judy, not as bad as you are. I am holding my own physically but I have to decide whether to leave my family (my grandsons) and find an
Independent Living/Assisted Living place elsewhere. I have no family support here...my son does not help me, although, again, I am grateful I get to see my grandchildren (I will be babysitting three nights in a row this week). I am just overwhelmed with sorrow that there is no love in my family, except from the children, and I may need to find a place to live before I am too weak to move. My son's idea of a good place is something cheap (and therefore toxic) in a state i've never been to, where I have NO roots, and where tornados are endemic. I will have to be my sole helper, but I pray for God's help as well.

God bless us all, Mariel. What one of us needs another of us provides. We're all here for each other.......and maybe that's just the way it's supposed to be. I do pray for each and every one of us here.