agate, my haunt these days is My fitness pal. It has a forum for women over 50. We can write 4 pages a day on that forum. Now I don't, but others are very verbose!

I read this thread but seldom post. I think as the years go by, it's not so much the MS (Like what don't I know most stuff by now) but reading the voices I know so well I often can tell who wrote it before I look at name. Us old-bies remember other old-bies, come and gone now. On FB I read posts of others who went to my High School. I find people on this thread not so stuck in the past and more interesting. We do have MS in common but it's become more than that. We'll never meet. Absence is noted but it happens. Virtual worry with the worry we really get in out lives. I like it (better than FB).

By now many of us have been around long enough that we have a history and hark back to the good old days when the Internet was young. Back then message boards were newer and people were climbing on board in large numbers.

It was almost more traffic than a typical message board could bear. Some very bitter disputes broke out. I don't see those happening quite so often with fewer people, and kicker is right--after reading a person's posts for years, you feel as if you "know" that person.

An Internet message board seems to me to be an ideal place for many who find the isolation of MS or other disorders hard to take. It's a way of connecting with the outside world as it really is. The stories people tell about themselves and their lives are real.

A while back somebody here had a very sick dog and she was frantically trying to take care of the dog while also coping with MS. I understood what she was going through. I'd had similar situations with a pet cat. It's agony. You want desperately to help your pet but you have these limitations--physical, emotional, financial.

That's just one example of times when I came here and found I wasn't quite so alone.

Agate,

Good for you......You hit the so called "nail on the head".


Gerry

I've been dealing with a sick cat and finally had to let the vet take care of him so he could get better!! I felt like I was hindering his recovery.

He is much better now and will probably get to come home in the next few days (he had pancreatitis) but it was touch and go at the beginning.

The vet I take him to is excellent and takes care of him like he's her own. I went to visit him on Wednesday and the tech who brought him out to me said she has an orange kitty at home and Tigger reminded her of her own pet. I do think he is getting spoiled by now. So many girls (vet techs) to love on him.

I probably should post more here on this thread but I do read it. I just feel like my daily life would bore people to tears!

Kitty, my present cat had pancreatitis. They are sick, sick, SICK with that. It was also expensive!!!!! But that was 4 years ago and she is a darling! Glad she is better and was spoiled.

Doydie, I'm so glad your cat is doing well. Tigger was a sick little boy, too. I'm so thankful I took him in when I did because had I waited it might not have turned out well.

He's still in the hospital but is doing so good he might get to come home tomorrow.

And yes, it is expensive! But the doctors at the vet I use are such sweethearts and care so much for each and every pet that comes to them I felt better immediately when he got there and knew he was getting the best of care.

I hope your kitty continues to do well.

God bless your little kitty cats.

kitty, I had to put her on a special diet afterwards. And it wasn't cheap. It was one for indigestion problems, a canned type. Oh did she eat little tiny amounts at first. She kept herself underneath my dresser all the time and I would put her little bowl of food under there. I would lay on the floor and talk and pet her. Was so glad when she finally felt well enough to come out.

Hi everyone. I do spend more time on Fb, but rarely post anything on the MS threads there. I actually haven't had much time lately to be on line anywhere. Spending alot of time with my sister and niece.

My sister's chemoradiation treatments were finished this week. She is in a lot of pain from the radiation, and having difficulty eating. Hopefully the pain will lessen soon. Surgery will most likely be in around 6 weeks. They want you to get your strength back after the treatments. They will be removing about 2/3rds of her esophagus and 1/3 of ther stomach and pulling the stomach up under her lung to meet the reamiaing esophagus. It is pretty brutal surgery and she will be on a feeding tube for at least three weeks.

Sally, I knew that you were now in a nursing home. I am sure that has to be hard. You were so independent for a long time. Hoping you can find a few hunks there to whistle at.

Doydie, Hoping that you are feeling better and that you and your hubbie can visit family soon.