No, no, not THAT kind of support!
I've run a support group (TippecaKnees) for about 4 years. I've talked to many, many people over the years to reassure them and get them through the surgery or after. It is very rewarding to me each time I help someone. But I never felt I was doing anything special. Now I am on the other side. I am the one who needs the support now! I found a wonderful Dercum's support group on mdjunction. It's been less than a month but I already feel like I know many of them. The comfort and reassurance they give me is priceless. I try to be supportive and encouraging, too.
These support group members - especially Jennifer, Sylvia, Sigrid and Trudy have helped me keep going as I flounder around trying to adapt to new feelings both mental and physical. I am realizing what everyone told me - the reassurance of others and having people to talk to who know what I am feeling is worth more than I can say!
The circle has come around. Lumpettes, I salute you!
The group is also good for some funny stories which I will share another day.
Take care everyone!
P.S. If you have a medical condition and need some support, check out mdjunction. It seems to have a whole bunch of great people participating!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday Funnies - Embarrassing Medical Moments
These are great - especially the last one! Enjoy!
EMBARRASSING MEDICAL EXAMS
1. A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her
baby in the cab!" I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, Lifted
the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I
noticed that there were several cabs ---and I was in the wrong one.
Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Francisco
2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an
elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big
breaths," I instructed.. "Yes, they used to be," replied the patient.
Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes,Seattle, WA
3. One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a Wife
that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more
than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family
that he had died of a "massive internal fart."
Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg
4. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his
cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble
with one of his medications. "Which one?" I asked. "The patch, the
Nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I'm running out of
places to put it!" I had him quickly undress and discovered what I
hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body! Now,
the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.
Submitted by Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk, VA
5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked,
"How long have you been bedridden?" After a look of complete
confusion she answered.."Why, not for about twenty years - when my
husband was alive."
Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson-Corvallis, OR
6. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning and while
checking up on a woman I asked, "So how's your breakfast this
morning?" "It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem to get
used to the taste" the patient replied. I then asked to see the jelly and
the woman produced a foil packet labeled "KY Jelly."
Submitted by Dr. Leonard Kransdorf, Detroit, MI
7. A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with
purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of
tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly
determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for
immediate surgery. When she was completely disrobed on the operating
table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green, and
above it there was a tattoo that read, "Keep off the grass." Once
the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the
patient's dressing, which said, "Sorry, had to mow the lawn."
Submitted by RN no name
AND FINALLY!!!................
8. As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB, I was quite
embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my
embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling
softly.The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam
suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up
from my work and sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?"
She replied, "No doctor, but the song you were whistling was,
"I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener".
Dr. wouldn't submit his name
EMBARRASSING MEDICAL EXAMS
1. A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her
baby in the cab!" I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, Lifted
the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I
noticed that there were several cabs ---and I was in the wrong one.
Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Francisco
2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an
elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big
breaths," I instructed.. "Yes, they used to be," replied the patient.
Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes,Seattle, WA
3. One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a Wife
that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more
than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family
that he had died of a "massive internal fart."
Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg
4. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his
cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble
with one of his medications. "Which one?" I asked. "The patch, the
Nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I'm running out of
places to put it!" I had him quickly undress and discovered what I
hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body! Now,
the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.
Submitted by Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk, VA
5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked,
"How long have you been bedridden?" After a look of complete
confusion she answered.."Why, not for about twenty years - when my
husband was alive."
Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson-Corvallis, OR
6. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning and while
checking up on a woman I asked, "So how's your breakfast this
morning?" "It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem to get
used to the taste" the patient replied. I then asked to see the jelly and
the woman produced a foil packet labeled "KY Jelly."
Submitted by Dr. Leonard Kransdorf, Detroit, MI
7. A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with
purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of
tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly
determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for
immediate surgery. When she was completely disrobed on the operating
table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green, and
above it there was a tattoo that read, "Keep off the grass." Once
the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the
patient's dressing, which said, "Sorry, had to mow the lawn."
Submitted by RN no name
AND FINALLY!!!................
8. As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB, I was quite
embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my
embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling
softly.The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam
suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up
from my work and sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?"
She replied, "No doctor, but the song you were whistling was,
"I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener".
Dr. wouldn't submit his name
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Where has all the John Deere stuff gone????
Today was a bight, sunny and warm (VERY!) day. Andrew and Cindy took me to lunch and we ate at surely one of the last remaining Ponderosa's! Which is a shame because their buffet is always tasty. AND they offer a SENIOR DISCOUNT if you're over 55. I turned 57 today. Wow, where have the last two years gone?
After lunch we stopped at the new Rural King. I was excited because they always have John Deere stuff like shirts and stuff for the home. We went in and were greeted by an (I think he was) automated man. He waved and everything! Too bad he was pretty much selling the store. Cool though. I headed toward the clothes and circled and circled again. NO JOHN DEERE! I said "This is Rural King and there's no John Deere and that's just... just...." My son filled in with "wrong!" No kidding! I scoured the store for John Deere items. All I came up with was JD tractors for kids and little JD toys. Not what I had in mind! I am brokenhearted now! :-(
Luckily Cracker Barrel still carries some stuff so I guess I'll have to make a run out there. And my sweet sis even gave me a CB gift card for my birthday so I can go hog wild! (Get it?)
Oh! Have to tell you about one of the cool gifts my son and daughter-in-law gave me. They found a tablet that says "Stop me before I volunteer again". OH MY GOSH! That is sooooo me! I don't know where they find these great items - they won't tell!
It's ebay time so I must jump over and get busy. Hope you all had a good day, too!
After lunch we stopped at the new Rural King. I was excited because they always have John Deere stuff like shirts and stuff for the home. We went in and were greeted by an (I think he was) automated man. He waved and everything! Too bad he was pretty much selling the store. Cool though. I headed toward the clothes and circled and circled again. NO JOHN DEERE! I said "This is Rural King and there's no John Deere and that's just... just...." My son filled in with "wrong!" No kidding! I scoured the store for John Deere items. All I came up with was JD tractors for kids and little JD toys. Not what I had in mind! I am brokenhearted now! :-(
Luckily Cracker Barrel still carries some stuff so I guess I'll have to make a run out there. And my sweet sis even gave me a CB gift card for my birthday so I can go hog wild! (Get it?)
Oh! Have to tell you about one of the cool gifts my son and daughter-in-law gave me. They found a tablet that says "Stop me before I volunteer again". OH MY GOSH! That is sooooo me! I don't know where they find these great items - they won't tell!
It's ebay time so I must jump over and get busy. Hope you all had a good day, too!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
It's rare for me to feel this rare...
I like my steak rare. I like to admire rare artifacts. Rare books are a treasure! And you all know how much I LOVE the rare bargain find!!!
I've now moved into a new state of rare and I'm kind of struggling with it. Three weeks ago my doctor (the good one) confirmed my self-diagnosis of Dercum's Disease (also known as Adiposis Dolorosa). Dercum's is defined by the WHO as a rare disease. Wow! How cool is that? The cause is unknown, there is no cure and there is very little research being done. (Mostly anecdotal which is a single observation according to the doc...) It is a progressive disease characterized by painful lipomas (lumps of fatty tissue) in the body. It is thought to cause weight gain - sometimes quickly and for no reason - and it makes it difficult to lose weight. One of the most fascinating aspects of it - if I look at myself in the 3rd person - is the changes it causes to your body. My thighs have swelled up and gone back down leaving more lumps and folds (elephant legs I call em). My calves and arms now seem to have a layer of squishy, rubbery fat on top.
I've started calling myself a shapeshifter. I told a dear friend that at lunch and then looked for a definition to be sure I was correct. I found one that is so perfect, it's funny.
"There are many different styles of shapeshifting to be seen. One is the literal bodily alteration where the body physically changes. Depending on what the subject is changing into, the different parts of the body will shift, stretch, compress, and expand. This type of shapeshifting is often against the subject's will and can be a slow and painful process; articles of clothing are usually lost or destroyed, as in the case of the werewolf."
Huh, what???? The werewolf? Clothing being destroyed???? The rest of the description fits so perfectly with what is happening that I'm wondering if I need to start keeping an eye on my clothing and watching for extra hair growth! =:0
As I said I have been struggling big time with this. Mainly because I realized that the treatment I have received at the hands of 3 doctors who based their judgement on my appearance was even more unwarranted. It's going to take a while to work through this one. But noone else should have to go through that for this reason so I want to make you all aware of it. Education is really, really important in this. I am now a face of Dercum's so please help me spread the word.
Other than the shapeshifting story and being cool, there really hasn't been much fun with this. I do thank God for the support groups I have found online.
Sorry to be a downer this time.
Take care!
I've now moved into a new state of rare and I'm kind of struggling with it. Three weeks ago my doctor (the good one) confirmed my self-diagnosis of Dercum's Disease (also known as Adiposis Dolorosa). Dercum's is defined by the WHO as a rare disease. Wow! How cool is that? The cause is unknown, there is no cure and there is very little research being done. (Mostly anecdotal which is a single observation according to the doc...) It is a progressive disease characterized by painful lipomas (lumps of fatty tissue) in the body. It is thought to cause weight gain - sometimes quickly and for no reason - and it makes it difficult to lose weight. One of the most fascinating aspects of it - if I look at myself in the 3rd person - is the changes it causes to your body. My thighs have swelled up and gone back down leaving more lumps and folds (elephant legs I call em). My calves and arms now seem to have a layer of squishy, rubbery fat on top.
I've started calling myself a shapeshifter. I told a dear friend that at lunch and then looked for a definition to be sure I was correct. I found one that is so perfect, it's funny.
"There are many different styles of shapeshifting to be seen. One is the literal bodily alteration where the body physically changes. Depending on what the subject is changing into, the different parts of the body will shift, stretch, compress, and expand. This type of shapeshifting is often against the subject's will and can be a slow and painful process; articles of clothing are usually lost or destroyed, as in the case of the werewolf."
Huh, what???? The werewolf? Clothing being destroyed???? The rest of the description fits so perfectly with what is happening that I'm wondering if I need to start keeping an eye on my clothing and watching for extra hair growth! =:0
As I said I have been struggling big time with this. Mainly because I realized that the treatment I have received at the hands of 3 doctors who based their judgement on my appearance was even more unwarranted. It's going to take a while to work through this one. But noone else should have to go through that for this reason so I want to make you all aware of it. Education is really, really important in this. I am now a face of Dercum's so please help me spread the word.
Other than the shapeshifting story and being cool, there really hasn't been much fun with this. I do thank God for the support groups I have found online.
Sorry to be a downer this time.
Take care!
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