I've just been reading the support everyone has given to Bob in his venting and mine about losing my job and I think it is so incredible that everyone here who is suffering their own pain and woes can find it within themselves to reach out and help another who is suffering.

I understand that we have a physical disease, but along with that physical disease comes so much mental pain and emotional strife. Most of us are also at an age where many people have come to depend on us and we are caregivers for others, so it is difficult for us to learn to accept care for our diseases. It is easier to come here and accept care and nurturing from others who are suffering the same disease than it is to accept nurturing from those we are supposed to be caring for in our own lives.

However, the other day, when I lost my job, and my daughter who has been clean from drugs for 10 months saw me crying said to me "Mom, God doesn't give us more than we can handle" I said back to her, "I don't like that saying, because he gave my mom more than she could handle", and in her simple 22 years of wisdom on this earth, she said back to me, "Grama gave herself more than she could handle". Then she hugged me and walked out the door! (For those who don't know, Grama committed suicide a few years ago).

Wisdom and comfort comes from many places and in many forms. And that wisdom that came from my daughter who has faced her own very scary demons over the last three years was very strong indeed.

I want to thank you all for being here and being the support team that I come to. As a person who is a "caregiver" I don't have a support team around me that I can go to, so you guys are it. I think that there are many of us here who feel the same way.

Just had to share that.
Terri

Terri.....These rooms are filled with such loving, caring people aren't they. I do not know alot about you and Bob but I do know that you are truly blessed with a miracle in your daughter! My son has been clean for 6 months now and my hubby and I have almost 7 years each....me on July 30 and his in September this year. We have alot of friends in the prorams we attend and we all know that it is one of the most difficult, painful things we will ever overcome. After a time we stared to regain our health, and emotionally we began to grow. The most incredible part was how we began to grow spirtitually! God was there carrying us, maybe dragging us, but the was there. He heaped my plate so darn full that I began to resent the saying. How dare he fill mine like a platter!!!! What I did not realize was that I was supposed to meet him in the middle by scraping off what I could. It all sounded so strange at first but I have learned over time what it was all about and I am much better at it now. Obviously I cannot scrape my diabetes off, but there are some things that I can do with the disease that will help keep it from building the mountain on my plate so high.....like exercise and eat right....take my pills and thank God that I have a good doctor!! My alcoholism is always there, but if I do not drink and get the support I need and work the 12 steps it lightens the load as well! I could not stop drinking untill I began to trust that God could help me. I did and I am a miracle because of it. Your daughter, God Bless her is a true miracle as well. It gave me goosebumps and at the same time a calm serene feeling when I read your post and what she said. It is true what she says, Cheri! Your daughter is a very wise young lady. Please send her a hug for me. Please tell her that I think she is truly amazing and to keep walking the path that she is on. You are so blessed to have her! Hugs to you and Bob as well, take care, Dorrie

Terri:

Yes indeed, your daughter is one smart cookie.

You are blessed.

The part I loved about the pain clinic at cleveland was the support of the people suffering. That was the same at my eating disorder treatments. The caring,listening,and not feeling so alone can make a huge world of difference and that sometimes I think is a huge benefit to the pain. I'm sorry for all your going through but reaching out for support and saying how you feel is so important. Even journaling about it. There is no right or wrong feeling. I hope you hang in there and take 1 day at a time.

...that most people that have a rough time of life, whether due to physical problems or emotional and mental issues, are often times much more compassionate and empathetic in general.

This place has been a God-send for me.

Seams...

I was really touched by what you wrote.

Though I do think that there sometimes is too much for people.

Before I had B12 replacement I tried to kill myself. It was in hospital after that, that I learned about my "profound B12 deficiency."

Depression can be caused by the lack of a vitamin. and stress of course.

In the outside world there isn't very much understanding. So that can be very hard sometimes.

My friend in London who was my ideal English lady, until I found out she'd grown up on 5th Ave in NY with nannies, came up in a web search I did the other day... she was talking about how her son had committed suicide.

Gosh. I mean, gosh.

Thanks for the link at the bottom of your post: Karen Kline... It showed me some signs and symptoms that I wasn't sure were due to the B-12 deficiency. Like the nail ridges I have.

They still may not be due to B12 deficiency. Just about anything is possible, but nail ridges are common in people who are not deficient (especially as they age), and many who are loaded with B12 for years do not have moons.

Nails are a good thing to pay attention to though, as they often provide health clues.

rose

Since I've started the B-12 I have now have an easily visiable moon on my left thumb when before there wasn't one. The one on my right thumb is very pronounced now when very faint before. The ridges on my nails were not always there and I can't even pinpoint when they began. But I can see up towards the cuticles that the nails are beginning to smooth out. I take this as a good sign. I just never thought of the ridges as being possibly connected. Makes me wonder how long I've been deficient.

Hey, I have moons too!!!!

That's good, right???

Melody