Belated Welcome, Shavtay2007

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Belated Welcome, Shavtay2007
1100
Tue, 03-20-2007 - 10:32am

Hi Tziporah,


I am so sorry that this is such a belated welcome to you. I've been absent from the board for nearly a month - so many things have been happening in my life that it was difficult to also come here. The good news is that life has somewhat calmed down (but I'm still crossing my fingers and my toes), which means that I'm back on iVillage.


I am so very happy to see you here, participating and sharing in our conversations! I hope that we'll get to know each other better in the coming weeks.


Welcome again!


(PS: I love the sound of your name!)


Please visit these other great message boards:
Cranio-Facial Abnormalities
In Vitro (IVF)



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-12-2007
Thu, 09-13-2012 - 6:11am
Hi Karen, I'm sooooo sorry! I had no idea you were going through such a terrible time. Personally, I haven't been on this board either, so I totally missed your sotry in your "I'm back" thread. I'll read it after this short post. The last few months have also been difficult for us. I don't even remember what I wrote last time around about Shabtai's condition. During the last half year we were busy getting his injured leg/knee in shape for surgery. We finally found a surgeon willing to operate--most wouldn't because of the high risk involved. As you know, he's a kidney transplant recipient, so infection is always a major cause for concern. He had to go to a dermatology unit to improve the condition of his skin. After that he started a special kind of physiotherapy called lynph drainage therapy. This was aimed at reducing the swelling in his legs caused by excess lymph. Kidney transplant recipients have trouble with regulating the proper elimination of lynph (part of the chemicals in the immune system) and the reduced circulation causes the excess to remain. Obviously, this had to be brought under control before surgery. Finally, he was ready. We set up a date for the operation. Then, five days before the date, we got a call from the hospital. They wanted to postpone it for thre months at least, so that instead of it being done in Sept. it would be done only in Dec. With a lot of inner connections and Help from Above, so to speak, we got his name back on the surgeon's schedule. This fact turned out to be critical. Once the operation was underway, the surgeon discovered the tear in the tendon--the space between the tendon and the bone--was much greater than originally thought. This meant he needed an immediate tendon transplant. Same as in other transplants--transplanting a limb from a cadaver donor. Shabtai, who was anesthetized with an epidural, was awake enough to hear the surgeon placing the urgent call to the transplant bank. I was going crazy because I was waiting in the lobby area and when I saw his operation was taking much more time than anticipated, I began to think the worst. The surgeon had said if the operation didn't go well he could lose his leg! Very fortunately, he had no post-op problems such as infections, the major fear and worry, and we came home from the hospital a week after surgery. All of this happened in early Sept., following the long summer of pre-op activity I mentioned before. He's now in a removable cast. There's still a long way to go. He still needs to use a wheelchair. After the cast removal, he'll need to undergo physical therapy in order to learn how to walk again. The healing could take months, if not longer. Longer, because in transplant survivors healing always takes longer in any event. Plus, from people who have had tendon surgery even without transplants, I've heard healing can take a very, very long time. Money? Running through my fingers like water. laugh. Even basic help, such as getting someone to wash him every daily, isn't covered. After the initial period when this special physical therapy was covered, we had to pay for the rest of it ourselves. Hopefully, with the need for post-op therapy and his need for continuing care, we'll get some financial help now. But youy know how red tape is. It could take months for that to happen. As for myself, a lot of things going on. But I'll make it brief, since this is already a long post. Shabtai and I started seeing this bioenergy coach. He's working on the two of us. With his guidance, I started to reduce the anidepressants. They were just masking my emotions. With very gradual reduction, I've been doing okay. Sometimes I get angry, (the anger was masked by the meds), but I'm learning to control it. Also, it probably wasn't the best time to undertake this, with all of Shabtai's concerns stressing us out, but I did so anyway. I've also started exercising again--doing aerobics on the teadmill and stationery bike we have here, plus some stretching. All went well until my neck started to hurt. Now I'm back in for another round of my own physiotherapy! More money to pay out. Plus the pain. Still, I told the physio guy I want to go back to exercising as soon as I can. Everyone says I'm looking a little thinner, which is nice to hear. I was hoping I could lose some weight before my paents come in late Oct. I'[m really feeling better since I started exercising. Another thing I've been doing is listening to more classsical music and that really relaxes me and is as deep and restorative as any meditation. I have also been trying to wrok on my depression. I've been using one book, Managing Your Mind, and started listing the activities I do every day and countering the bad thoughts with more positive ones. I wrote all of this down and kept it up until Shabtai went into the hospital. I did this for about two months and felt my mood lift. So, once again, the Jewish holidays are here and I'm trying to be organized and enjoy them. About that Catholic stuff--well, I also have deep respect for Mother Teresa. Still, I can't understand the contradictions. I guess, some people just overlook them and have a deep faith regardless. For others, and I guess we're both in that category, it's hard to believe in something that has so many contradictions. All I know is, without G-d's help, Shabtai and I could not have come through the last few months. Whenever we were really in need, the thing we needed, or the person we needed, always materialized. People who led us to the right kind of physical therapy for Shabtai. People who could get Shavtai on the surgeon's roster and get him back on it when he was taken off. The availability of the tendon transplant when he was on the op table. Karen, I'll read about your story and respond there to it. Wishing you the best of health always. Thanks for writing to me personally. It means a lot. Tziporah
Tziporah
web: www.istillhavemylife.com
blog: tziporahwishky.livejournal.com
Avatar for nawleansdarlin
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-27-1999
Fri, 09-14-2012 - 8:46pm

Hi Tziporah!

You sound so much positive in your last post. Keep up that journaling and I hope you get back to that exercise soon.

I am anxious to get back to my daily routines and bring some normalcy back to my life. Laying in bed makes me feel guilty for being sick. I know that is twisted but I blame my mother. I really do. I have those internal conversations too. I feel the guilt and then I tell myself it isn't mine it belongs to her (mom). Sometimes it works. Sometimes I just go back to sleep. I'm still very weak and I truly can sleep all day and all night. Hence the reason for wanting to get back to my routine.

I wish Shabtai all the best in his healing. I can't even imagine what it to have a tendon replaced. I've one injured and it took a very long time to heal. My son had one reattached and it took a very very very long time to heal. He says to this day it still hurts and this happened to him like 8 years ago. I hope his healing is speedy and low in pain.

As for you and your neck. Wow, you are doing something good for yourself and your body went, "what?" Moderation is always best, so when you get back to it remember moderation.

Religion-Catholicism is very confusing to me. I find inconsistencies in it and ask those who are supposed to know and they tell me to have faith. How can I have faith when I don't know what my faith is in? I can't have faith unless I understand where my faith is being put. This is why I am fascinated by people who have total faith. I think that state of total faith is probably very liberating.

I'm happy to hear that your life, while a bit tumultuous has seemed to come in for a smooth landing.

Karen

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