Google shock

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

After reading what some of my Spark friends had to say about locating pages via google or other means, I decided to edit my own page. I also edited one of my blogs to protect a family member's privacy just in case someone still could get in there. I did not realize how exposed we can be. I love my Spark friends and felt safe here. Now I've limited access just to friends and when I googled this morning I didn't find my page so readily accessible. I hated having to make a change, but I'd promised to keep grandbaby photos private and I never wanted to share info broadly about health scares of others when that info was not made public by the family member. So I'll try it this way for awhile and see how it goes. The internet is certainly both friend and foe. I so appreciate all my Spark friends out there and pray this change won't interfere with our interaction. Have a blessed day everyone.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

MEADSBAY 2/3/2012 10:36PM

I was shocked, too, and will be more careful about what I reveal. Report Inappropriate Comment

JTREMBATH 1/31/2012 1:10PM

It does make you wonder just how venerable we really are. Report Inappropriate Comment

MRSJERRYBUSH 1/31/2012 11:24AM

Too bad we have to do this! Report Inappropriate Comment

KAILIIA 1/31/2012 11:12AM

A sensible idea in this day and age. Report Inappropriate Comment

Home and Beat

Monday, January 30, 2012

January has been way more challenging than I had ever anticipated back when I was thinking of 2012 resolution possibilities. I didn't expect to watch my little brother die on 1/11. I didn't expect my 97 year old mom to dive so quickly and completely into missing him - he had lived in her house the previous 17 months since splitting from his wife of 22 years. Life is so strange and unpredictable. Still, I've been s blessed through all of this. I came home a couple weeks ago and am trying to catch up with some rest, doctor appointments and tests, and just being present for my husband and for my daughter's family. There is little real time for me. I'm preparing for another two week trip to help my mother and I kind of doubt she will still be alive by this time next year. We'll see. Meanwhile, I need to make time for my exercise time, healthy eating, enough rest. Those are my new resolutions. Maybe they are a little late in making an appearance, but I know with all that is going on around me, I need to take good care of me to be there for everyone else. Blessings on each of you out there who also need to and are trying to make space in your lives for yourselves!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

MEADSBAY 2/3/2012 10:35PM

You absolutely must make/take the time to nurture yourself, my friend. Report Inappropriate Comment

JENNIW70 1/30/2012 11:53PM

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NURSNANA 1/30/2012 4:05PM

Hey Barbara, I am so sorry you have had so much to deal with this month. Sounds like you have managed to get through this time of sorrow quite well. And, now it is time to focus on taking good care of yourself. I understand this completely. I have to do this too when I have been doing way too much, and end up exhausted and in pain. I push myself to the limit, and my body starts screaming for me to slow down and rest! I feel so sorry for your mother. I can only imagine how deeply sad she is feeling now. I have always thought the loss a child must be the worst kind of loss. I agree sadly, your mother may not be here next year. I have seen this happen many times in my nursing career. The loss of a spouse or a child sometimes throws someone who is elderly into a downward spiral. It will be a great comfort for your mother to have you with her for a couple of weeks. I will lift you and your mother up in my prayers to the throne of grace and mercy. What a blessing it is to know that our God is faithful to hear and answer our prayers. Press on my friend. ~hugs~ Nancy Report Inappropriate Comment

BONDMANUS2002 1/30/2012 3:36PM

yes you do Report Inappropriate Comment

Choices

Sunday, January 15, 2012

I just made arrangements at a mortuary for my brother who died 1/11 of multiple organ failure due to a lifetime of alcoholism. I will miss him so much. Part of me is very sad. Part is very angry. He was awake and aware right up to the moment of death and squeezed my hand just before he took his last breath. It was a blessing to me to be able to be with him at that moment as well as during the 15 days and nights prior as he lay in that hospital bed.
We all make bad choices and sometimes we keep making them. That's why we are here to support one another as we try to learn to make better, healthier choices. Alcohol was his drug of choice. Food is mine. If I cannot make better choices and sustain that behavior I know it could mean bad things for this body of mine.
Today I chose to have just one slice of pizza at my husband's birthday party and chose to have just three bites of his cake. I had two eggs cooked with only cooking spray for breakfast and a little Greek yogurt with cinnamon before leaving for the airport to finally come home. I also had a few unsalted dry roasted peanuts with me to snack on the plane. I know it wasn't a balanced day, but it is the most I've eaten in two weeks. Tomorrow I so look forward to having fresh fruit and veggies again and cook my steel cut oats and add the berries and cinnamon. I've missed my kitchen where I've been trying hard to concoct spinach smoothies and put together tasty suppers for us that are healthy. Can I sustain this? I hope so. I also yearn to get back to exercise after so many days at a hospital bedside. And I hope and pray that all my Spark friends can feel good about themselves one choice at a time.
Have a great day everyone!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

JENNIW70 1/17/2012 12:39AM

Barbara, I know it meant a lot to your brother to have you there with him until the last. It sounds like the whole experience has been a learning one for you, and you are ready to tackle all the healthy living goals again. I commend you and pray that the Lord will comfort you during the grieving time. Report Inappropriate Comment

NURSNANA 1/15/2012 3:13PM

Thank you for your comments on my Spark page Barbara. I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved brother. What a blessing that you could be there with him till his last breath. I can understand why you feel angry. You are so right, we all make our choices. I have often felt my addiction to food was similar to having an addiction to alcohol. Both are certainly harmful to our bodies, and can lead to premature death. How sad that some of us abuse the body God gave us with too much food or alcohol, or drugs. One day at a time, we all can make better choices, eat healthy and treat our bodies with kindness. You are in my thoughts and prayers my friend. I pray you can get rested up now that you are back home. And, enjoy all the wonderfully healthy fruits and veggies! Take good care. ~hugs& prayers~ Nancy Report Inappropriate Comment

DEBBIEDAY 1/15/2012 3:11PM

Sorry for your loss, hugs and prayers for you and your family! Report Inappropriate Comment

1_AMAZING_WOMAN 1/15/2012 8:16AM

I’m glad you were there with your brother at the end. I’m sure that was hard as well as a blessing to be there for him. In time the anger will go as the pain lingers, and then time will dull the pain. Special events will cause the pain to resurface but on a milder level than you have now. Also. excess food ‘can’ cause multiple organ failure in anyone, but those with weakened systems are especially prone. I so wish you the best as time moves forward. Amber Comment edited on: 1/18/2012 7:17:47 PM Report Inappropriate Comment

NCSUE0514 1/15/2012 6:47AM

Your brother died of alcoholism, and my sister of a lifetime of self-destructive behavior due to mental illness. It's sometimes difficult to really grasp that alcoholism and the behaviors stemming from mental illness are outside of a person's control. It took me quite some time to get over feeling angry about my sister's choices and guilty about my initial reaction when I learned of her death. Those feelings are gone, but years later I still miss her. I don't think I'll ever get over missing her. When a sibling dies, a part of his(her) siblings dies as well, because shared history seems lost. I've lost all my grandparents, my parents, and my only sister, and the pain of losing her is different from all the rest. I think I can understand some of the feelings you're experiencing. I won't give you cheery platitudes about "time healing all". Some losses leave a scar even after they stop acutely bleeding. But I do believe that in time, you'll be able to put some of the feelings you now experience to rest. In the meanwhile, if you need to "talk", feel free to write. God bless you. NCSue0514 Report Inappropriate Comment

Thank you friends

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

I am so blessed by you who sent encouraging words in response to my last blog. With blood pressure at 51/29 and respirations of about 6, I know the end is near for my brother. Now, at the end I've seen glimpses of that sweet little boy who was adopted into our family when he was 13 months old. So cute! I was 4 1/2 at the time and loved to mother him. I pray that what he is going through can touch others who may yet escape the dark downward spiral of alcoholism. Meanwhile, our mom is so stressed that she has had to use quite a few of her nitro tablets under her tongue the past few days.
On a lighter note, I tasted some of the hospital food and then decided not to push it onto Chris. One could certainly lose weight on this stuff! Have a great day everyone, and thank you so much.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

BETHJRN 1/14/2012 8:21AM

Dear Barbara, I am so sorry to hear of the sad time you are going through. My prayers are with you, your poor brother, his wife, your mother, and the entire family. God is with you during this horrible time. Lean on Him, let Him be your strength. Report Inappropriate Comment

JENNIW70 1/12/2012 12:37AM

Prayers and hugs for you Barbara! Report Inappropriate Comment

NURSNANA 1/10/2012 8:10PM

Barbara, I am so sorry to hear about your brother. I know from experience as a nurse that liver failure is a miserable way to die. I pray he doesn't have to suffer much longer. I hope you are doing well. I will be praying for your brother and all of you at this sad time. (((((((((((hugs))))))) )))) Nancy Report Inappropriate Comment

Sad outcome coming!

Monday, January 09, 2012

Why do we so often persist in doing things to ourselves that can't possibly have good outcomes? My 'baby' brother's drug of choice has been alcohol for over 35 years. Now he is soon to succumb to liver failure, renal failure a d blood that no longer clots properly. As I helped him get more comfortable at the hospital for the umpteenth time today I prayed and wondered why he had come down this road. Helping him through this has presented me with an odd sort of diet. It has made me desire less of my drug of choice - food. perhaps I will meet a goal or two as we travel together down this difficult path. Disappointment and sadness are tempered by love, but any hope for a different outcome has flown away. I pray this will remind me often that we have just this one body and it is up to us to treat it as the temple it was intended to be. I wish us all much success in our own personal journeys of 2012!
Blessings and hugs to you all!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

1_AMAZING_WOMAN 1/13/2012 5:47PM

I am so sorry about your brother. My brother died at 38 years old from alcoholic cardiomyopathy. He killed himself with alcohol as many of my relatives have done. It's really sad that people do this because they are in so much emotional pain they feel the need to dull the pain with something. Some of us do it with food. Food seems 'the socially acceptable addiction', yet it is just as deadly and toxic as alchohol. I get so disappointed in myself cause I try so hard to stop my food addiction and over and over again find myself turning right back to it. I so hope both you and I can succeed in managing our food addiction in a healthy, constructive manner and make all our goals. Amber Report Inappropriate Comment

SARAHTAIT 1/12/2012 10:28AM

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. I totally understand how addictions are....food, alcohol, drugs, sex, etc. So many of us have an addiction to something. I'm glad to know that seeing his struggle with his addiction has helped make you aware of yours. I think food is the sneakiest addiction of all....you have to eat to live and can't give it up all together like you can drugs or alcohol. Your brother is blessed to have you there to help him! God Bless you! Sarah Report Inappropriate Comment

BAMAJAM 1/10/2012 11:26AM

In terrible adversity, there can be valuable lessons learned. I too have seen "demons" destroy my family members. With unwise choices, our lives can be ruined. Physical and emotional health can be wrecked--- and loved ones suffer the severe consequences. No love can "fix" the damage, so the family pain is just heartwrenching! I have watched the program, "intervention"-- and the family of the "diseased" person, are innocent victims! Report Inappropriate Comment

MJ7DM33 1/9/2012 10:32PM

You and your family are in my prayers!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

LITTLEBO 1/9/2012 10:23PM

Thank you for sharing your story. Report Inappropriate Comment

MEADSBAY 1/9/2012 8:04PM

I am so sorry to hear about your brother, my friend. He has a disease and, imho, he lost the ability to make it a choice long ago. He must be in so much pain. I lost a sister, 54, mother of 5, grandmother of 3, and a brother, 40, father of 4, to alcoholism. Comment edited on: 1/9/2012 8:06:29 PM Report Inappropriate Comment

LITTLELENNA 1/9/2012 7:32PM

So sorry to hear about the heartache you are dealing with. I guess out of every bad thing, something good is supposed to come. It sounds like you are handling things very well. I pray for you and your family. Report Inappropriate Comment