Quite a few of you have been wondering what happened to me during my 9 mos. of absence (and no - I did not have a baby! ), and I have promised to blog it. I have to be honest and say that I had blogged a whole novel and as I read it I thought "TMI - WAY MUCH!!!" I erased all of it t and decided to just put it down as simply stated without every single gory detail

As most of you well know, I have a rare disorder that is slowly shutting down my digestive system. If you read below, you will know that I have had my gallbladder and colon removed due to their ceased function.(I have also had surgeries to repair a small bowel obstruction, perferated bowel; I have also had hysterectomy, appendectomy and many other surgeries as well) My stomach now taking 4-5x longer to digest than normal, and I have esophageal spasms and difficulty swallowing. To put it simply my digestive system is SNAFU.

In late Autumn of last year, the pain from this problem began to escalate and slowly became uncontrollable. We barely made it out of town to spend Christmas with my 2 sons, my daughter in law - my oldest son's wife, and of course my adorable grandson - it was his first Christmas!! By the time we arrive home the pain was so intense that I had to be hospitalized to gain control of it. For the next several months I was disabled by the enormous constant pain - even with a huge arsenal of pain medication!! Sometimes it was easier just to sedate me than try more pain meds. If I had to go to emergency or to the doctors, I went in my pj's. I could hardly make it to the bathroom let alone shower on a regualr basis or even communicate to my close friends on this forum. Just getting out of bed was a huge thing and it was so painful. I was also nauseated most of the time.

As July rolled around, I was at my Dr.s for a check up. He put me on a new medication and I started tapering off the huge amounts of pain killers. Needless to say, today, I am feeling much better and it is easier to deal with my pain. I have completely quit 2 of the pain meds I was on and the new perscription (Metformin for Insulin Resistance) has really given me an abundance of energy. I still have debilitating pain but I feel better equipped mentally to handle it. I have only had to reach for the pain killer prescribed for break thru pain twice in the last month. And, No hospital visits either!!!

As I made my way back to the forum, I was completely overwhelmed by pms waiting for me - people sending their love and support and wishing me well. I want to thank everyone who wrote me and worried about me while I was AWOL and I want to thank all of you who have welcomed me back with love and friendship. This is truly a forum full of lovely caring people. Thank you!!!

NEXT BLOG: Latest pictures of the grandson!!!