I've been going through alot lately. DH, Tim, has a definitive Crohn's diagnosis. He was released from the hospital on Friday. He has never been seriously ill in his life. It is taking a toll on our whole family. The docs are struggling to get his exacerbation under control. He is in pain pretty much all of the time. It's a different variation of Crohn's than my 17 year old son has so he is taking different meds etc.

My mom is back in the hospital, her white blood cell count fell drastically low due to the chemotherapy she has been on. She has decided to stop the chemo because it is absolutely ruining her quality of life. The radiation is hardly shrinking the mass at all. The radiologist is going to do "remapping" to target the tumor from a different angle. The docs have gotten her blood cell count raised, thank goodness.

My 17 year old son has decided that now is a great time to have sex with his first girlfriend!!!!!!! I am grateful that he feels like he can talk with me about it but this is just horrible. He is using protection.

I am so exhausted physically and emotionally I feel like I'm just gonna explode or implode. I haven't even felt like typing on here but I figured I had better do something that resembles normal before I completely lose my mind.

Thanks again guys !

Awww, Joelle

You certainly have a platter full of sickies to deal with. I'm glad you came here to get it out of your head. We are here for you. Anything I can do?


Sending healthy healing prayers and thoughts to your whole family, including you.

There's been some great results on the LDN trials for Crohn's, and it's helped my flare-ups Ulcerative Colitis into almost complete remission for 3 yrs now:

Trial Results

- 67 percent of patients achieved remission
- 89 percent of patients experienced an improvement in their symptoms
- Sleep disturbance was the only side effect reported by patients (reported in 7 patients)
- CDAI scores decreased significantly and remained lower than baseline 4 weeks after the completion of the trial
- Improvement was recorded in both Quality of Life surveys compared to the baseline scores

http://autoimmunedisease.suite101.co...crohns_disease

Cherie

Joelle...

Sounds like your plate is FULL!!! Wrap it up and put it in the fridge, and deal with it little by little.

While, I don't condone premarital sex (well, THAT is the mom in me...LOL we won't discuss what *I* did before marriage ) At least he is 17 (wow, that is old for a boy) and at least he is mature enough to use protection. Make sure you discuss with them what this means with the possibility of STDs and preggos (things happen even with protection). Make sure they are both aware of possible consequences. Good for you for having that open line of communication.

Hugs to DH. I hope they can get it under control. They dx;d my sis 15 years ago, and she was at death's door. It wasn't common back then (at least it took them long enough to dx her). By the time they figured it out, she needed a bag. She had it for 2 years, and they figured for life. She was able to get it reversed... and has been in remission since.

Take a few hours/days just for you. Tell your son he owes you a dinner or something since he thinks he is grown up enough (add a bit of humor).

Hope you feel better being able to talk about it. Hope your load starts easing a bit!

I don't know what to say Joelle! I won't give you the song and dance about what doesen't kill you makes you stronger...BS! You've been dealt more than your share of heartache and you are at the mercy of things that you have no control over. More prayers for Mom. I don't know about Chrone's but I'll do some research so I understand more. Sending comfort to you and those you love

As for DS17...well...it was bound to happen. I remember dealing with this with my DD19, but she was 14-15. I did the best I could, was grateful she was talking to me, and I taught her how to protect herself from illness and pregnancy. You can't turn the clock back on this one and not having control over the young lady involved makes it more difficult if truth be told. We women have more control over pregnancy than the men. I pray she has a mother that will also intervene and make sure her DD is protected. I remember getting a phone call from one Mom to discuss such things with me to protect her son I assured her that things were being taken care of on my end....what you gonna do? Stop it? All the preaching in the world won't change what is and what will be.

This year will pass and good things will be delivered to you soon....you are in line for good fortune and I know one day these things and feelings will pass and you will be okay. Maybe not stronger, but okay.

Take care of yourself!

Joellelee, you definitely have a platter-full of life challenges, don't you?

Wish I lived close by and you could use my shoulder whenever you wanted.

Hugs to you and your dear Mom.

Hugs to all Joellelee... you have a lot going on, please remember to take care of yourself as well.

Thanks so much everybody !!

I've been talking to both of my boys/men (my oldest is almost 21) about sex openly since they were small.

Believe me when I say my sons, know ALL of the consequences of sex, . I have been drumming it into their heads forever, lol.

Since my mom got a cancer dx in February, it feels like our lives have been turned upside down and inside out. With her living a 1000 miles away from me, it has been so difficult flying back and forth from Florida to Pittsburgh. Now with Tim sick too, I have had to take over a lot of things that he was doing before. My boys are definitely helping but they are going through a lot too. They grew up very close with my mom.

I have NO family here in Florida. They all live in the Pittsburgh area. We are totally on our own here. I have a couple of friends that have MS also that live nearby but other than that we have nobody. We've only lived in South Florida for 2 1/2 years. It's tough to make friends when you aren't working or doing much else.

I'm having a really hard time with Tim's illness. I feel selfish. He's always been the one that I can count on when I feel terrible.

My husband works in a physically demanding job. He has not been to work in a month. Fortunately, he has short term disability. We both work/worked for the same company!! I was diagnosed last May (I was just approved for LTD) and now he has Crohn's along with our son! I'm betting they are plotting on how to get rid of my dh right now ! Thank goodness we are both union employees. Tim is such a hard worker. I know this is just about killing him being this ill and not going to work. So far they have been very understanding .

I miss you guys, I'm gonna try to post every day ! It'll keep my spirits up for sure.

Joellee~ You know how saddened I am about your Mother. I know how hard things are for you right now. Seems like everyone needs you, and there's just so much Joellee to go around. Your emotions are really being spread thin.

I can't make anything better for you, but I can say that I understand part of how you feel and I am praying for you and your family.

Please make time for yourself even if's it's just a quiet bath w/candles.

Sending prayers and hugs your way.

if it had flowers i would flood the post with flowers for you joelle, I know your plate has been full lately, wish i had magic words for you, please try to find time for yourself, so you dont imploded(ouch) try to take care of you, ok


peace