Re: Show of hands? Please?

[Guest guest]

Babs...this makes me think of something that would be good to have in a permanent place under "membership" or some place and we could click on the person's name about whom we are curious.

I'm a native Oregonian but have lived from coast to coast. One daughter born in Oregon and one born in Burlington VT. My favorite place is the Oregon north coast and we would live there if we could access good medical care locally.

I'm 69, divorced then widowed and now married 15 years to a great guy, Rich, 77. Between us we have 5 kids. My 3 live within an hours drive...his two boys are on the east coast.

I'm retired from Human Services (not 'retired' by age buy by health) and loved doing the teaching, workshops and mediation.

I've been called an "Earth-Mother" because I do sincerely care about those in crisis and tend to tuck people under my wings to be of help. I truly believe in "Bloom Where You Are Planted"

We have a 10# Doxie, Lola and of course Rosebud!

My 'past life' has been 25 years of volunteer work with kids in foster care and seniors.

Dx 3-06 IPF and fairly stable since. Also have fibromyalgia and arthritis; depression; chronic pain; diverticulosis/gastritis; sleep apnea; skin disorder; heart problems and a chronic, horrible bowel disorder!

I use no O2 (sats went up after starting on cpap) currently. I take Levothyroxin,Celebrex, Oxycontin and a water pill, vitamins/minerals and Fish Oil.

I like to read murder mysteries and fiction, I watch a lot of TV and I'm a tidy, neat person. Assertive, outgoing and humorous.

My motto is" The way it is is the way it is".

Anybody next?

Mama-Sher, 69; IPF, 3-06, OR.Don't fret about tomorrow, God is already there!

Show of hands? Please?

Not meaning to be presumptuous, or step on Leanne's toes, but would it be possible to have a show of hands? I'm fairly new here and still trying to figure folks out, and I know there have been quite a few join since I did....soooo.....please? Here's my hand up:Babs in Texas Central Texas, near Austin for the past 27 years, but I'm a Native Californian. This makes me a Texi-Cali girl.Age: 47Married to Chaz since 1984, my second hubby but totally the best!One child, a grown daughter, h, age 27 who lives on our property in her own home and is the joy of my life5 dogs, that I adoreSister to many, Auntie B to several munchkins that are my heartIn my past life I graduated from business college in San and worked in a bank before meeting Chaz and helping him run his convenience store/pizza parlor/game room and paddle boat concession at the State Park. I also had a band for 5 years and was the female lead vocalist. Chaz is a master electrician with his own business.Diagnosed with PF due to lupus/scleroderma in Nov. 1999 though am now told it could be IPF.Diagnosis was made via bronchoscopy with lavage, and CT's and PFT'sAlso have rheumatoid arthritis, sjogren's, raynaud's, dermatamyositis, fibromyalgia and crohn's. maybe more, can't remember due to lupus brain fog 'I currently take only Aleve and Darvocet, plus a multi-vitamin, NAC, and will begin using fish oil along with a few other supplements tomorrow. Am on O2 at 2 lpm upon exertionI have used in the past: Cytoxan, Imuran, Cellcept, Plaquenil and of course PrednisoneMy hobbies are reading (murder mysteries and paranormal), collecting and selling costume jewelry, collecting paintings, and gardening when I can. I love colorful flowers, but especially roses.I root for the UT Longhorns and the Dallas Cowboys and also the Tennesee Titans since Vince Young became Quarterback.I'm described as goofy and silly, kind, caring and occasionally as impatient. Chaz says I'm a witch but I'm not sure he means that in a good way...hmmmmmm. gotta think about that one....My motto is "I have PF, but it does NOT have me"Next........?

[Guest guest]

Brett, My mom died March 15, 2006 of lung cancer ( she never smoked) and I still cry just mentioning her name or seeing, smelling, or hearing something that reminds me of her. I miss her so much and like you often stop by her grave. Thank you for sharing your story. Your little is truly a miracle. God bless you and your family- Sarcoid/PF 3/2006 California-----

Original Message ----To: Breathe-Support Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 12:52:32 PMSubject: Show of hands? please?

well here you all go ((big breath))Im 40-yrs. old Im married my wife's name is mistie we went out when I was a senior in high school (1985)I broke it off and we went our separate way's , until 17 yrs. later when my sister and her sister went to there class reunion and her sister asked what I had been up to , my sister gave her my phone number which in turn she gave to mistieshe then called me the following monday, left a message on my machine saying to call if I wanted to catch upso I did and we then talked every day after.we got married two years ago. she has three kids from the previous (abusive) marriage so it was an instant family , we had our first baby together january 14 2007 the best day of my lifeshe was our miracle baby ,, because when my wife was about 6-months along she woke up in the middle of the night with severe cramping, she went to

the bathroom and found she wasbleeding , she woke me and said I think I had miscarriage we called here OB and she said get to the ER when we got there the doctor gave her a pelvic exam and ultra sound he then told us It looks

as though you are in the early stages of a miscarriage because he said he saw part of the placentaduring the pelvic exam.we were devastated we sat and cried , the doctor came in and said they had scheduled a d & c to remove the fetus . we cried some more and told the doctor that we were not going to do anything as long as the baby had a heart beat. so we waited in that room for about an hour when In walked her OBshe talked to us and we explained what had happened she then did all of the exams again and said that the baby had way to good of a heartbeat to be in distress and that the so

called placenta the doctor saw was actually a polyp that had burst . everything after that day was worrisome but on jan. 14 she was born, 3-weeks prematurebut healthy . Yes Im probably a big sap because I cried In the delivery room and in the waiting room with my family. she spent two weeks in the hospital and then finally came

homeI still remember going to the hospital every morning at 5:00 am before work to feed her and thinking I never imagined loving someone so much (she is definitely touched by god) we named her elizabeth after my mother, who died of IPF 3-yrs ago I never new anything about this disease until she was sick then I wanted to know everything, she was in and out of the hospital for a few years OHHH! the ups and downs she received her transplant just in time, the strain on her heart was getting to much and her lungs were really badshe recovered from the surgery slowly but when she recovered she was walking all over the place

no O2 at all hardlyit was really looking good and for one good year she was great then It all started going down hill ,,,all over again she was in and out of the hospital again with pneumonia and then the rejection started she was on sooo many pills

she had to literally carry them around in like a toolboxshe passed away six months laterthat was the saddest day of my life the whole time she had this disease she never once

complainedalways always upbeat ,even though we could tell she was really sufferingwatching someone you love slowly day by day slip away was soooo hard but I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could I would go to my mom and dad's house every day

in the afternoon I would eat lunch with her and then in the eveningI would stop by just to say goodnight... . now I stop at the cemetery every night on my way home from work to say I LOVE YOUand goodnight .I MISS HER SO VERY MUCHI have to change the subject I am having a hard time with this (can't

cry at work)I am an identical triplet , which a lot of people seem to think is so cool , (did you switch classes , girlfriends etc.)It's not all that great and no we did not . I found my self trying to be my own person so I did a lot of things to stand out , just be differentnot grouped with my brother's all the time . that's probably why I grew my hair long and got a lot

of tattoos ,just to be different.I guess as we got older we grew closer together and now I like to do a lot of thing's with them and they often come over to my houseall though I think it is just to see elizabethmy hobbies are snowboarding and golf I work in screen printing have been in the business for about 20 yrs I live in rockford MI. (about three hours west of detroit)I was dx in nov. 07 with familial IPF I am not on O2 my PFT numbers show a mild restriction and decreased diffusing capacitythe last test's I had (ct, pft, 6min walk) were in septembermy doctor wanted some new test's done but he said if I was going to participate in this new study coming up (nac,prednisone, imuran)I should just wait till It starts, because all those test's will be free so there you have a little slice of my life NEXT!!

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.