Re: and Jeff

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I agree with Barbara about a pet helping with depression. Charlotte had

our Beagle on the bed with her often over the entire 12 years she had

problems. The dog had to be put to sleep about 6 months after Charlotte

died as she was 15 years old and had two slipped disks. I know several

list members who had dogs mentioned often like Barbara and Judy

Whitaker for their husbands.

Take care, Bill Werre

================================

woodford wrote:

>My heart goes out to you both. It's so hard watching your mate be in such

>physical and mental turmoil. Once you check out the physical symptoms, be

>sure to get some anti-anxiety medication for Jeff, if he doesn't have it

>already. My husband is taking Effexor now. He goes to bed with the same

>impending doom thoughts as your Jeff, but wakes up singing.

>Chuck has periods where he still gets very depressed and anxious thinking

>about the future. All I can do is try to tell him what good stuff he

>still has now and get to the challenges of the day. Also, a pet is good

>for taking your mind elsewhere.

>

>Good luck,

>

>Barbara Woodford.

>

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[Guest guest]

I agree. Not sure about med part, as I'm actually relatively anti-

med... but I do agree on the pet part. Anything that Jeff can do to

get his mind off things. For me, I have a house which we started

construction on 3 or 4 years ago. It is a never-ending project, and

while I must admit there are times that it really gets to me seeing

how little progress I am making on it... It is a great source of

motivation to get up - even on the worst of days - and just " do " .

Similarly, my job helps. As long as they'll let me work with those I

serve - I'll likely continue to do so. Not doing that great a job -

but my best times are when I can lose myself by getting totally

absorbed in what is going on with them :-)

I forgot to make my last post directed in the header column to you,

but hopefully you figured it out :-)

> My heart goes out to you both. It's so hard watching your mate be

in such

> physical and mental turmoil. Once you check out the physical

symptoms, be

> sure to get some anti-anxiety medication for Jeff, if he doesn't

have it

> already. My husband is taking Effexor now. He goes to bed with the

same

> impending doom thoughts as your Jeff, but wakes up singing.

> Chuck has periods where he still gets very depressed and anxious

thinking

> about the future. All I can do is try to tell him what good stuff

he

> still has now and get to the challenges of the day. Also, a pet is

good

> for taking your mind elsewhere.

>

> Good luck,

>

> Barbara Woodford.

[Guest guest]

Bill is right about the importance of a pet in the life of a MSA patient. We

have had a Standard poodle in our home for almost thirty-five years. Ken was

not particularly attached to the first or second ones, but when the second

one died shortly after he had retired because of this disease, he was able to

participate in the choice of the next one, and he was very close to that dog

for ten years. Even though he was very progressed when " Chester " died, it was

obvious that he was very upset by the loss, and we replaced the dog as soon

as possible. Ken helped choose " Wona " from his wheelchair, and he seemed to

be very happy to have her here. BUT, until the day he died, Ken would always

call her " Chester " and I didn't correct him. She didn't seem to mind that he

thought she was another dog, and she made his last days very happy.

I think I should add that having Wona with me has been extremely

comforting since Ken died, and I am everlastingly grateful that I decided to

get her even as Ken was in the last stages of this disease.

Barbara