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now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer

I am feeling much better, thank you.

I think it’s safe to say that hormonal influences are/were the main culprit.

I’m back to my new-found bubblicious self, still marveling at my great fortune to have stumbled across Skills.  Who’d a thunk it?

Such a series of extraordinary turns.

A life in crisis, an ensuing epiphany, a necessary change in life course.

Divorce, followed immediately by a self-healing search for somebody to talk to; for friendship and only friendship.

A brief foray into social networking venues, only to be completely misunderstood, hence quickly disillusioned.

And yet.

That foray, those misunderstandings, and the disillusionment all contributed to the collision.

He found me.

He reached out ever so gently.

I considered what he had to say.

He actually had something to say.

And the rest?  Is a bit convoluted. One more day, or the slightest turn of events, or any number of things might have diverted the collision.

And yet.

Here we are.

Still.

Speaking, listening, hearing, laughing, crying, learning, understanding, smiling, healing.

Loving.

And I am so very grateful (as is he).

myskills

Do you see the love in his eyes? I do.

Posted in love, me. Tagged with .

By sueeeus
March 10, 2010

4 comments

a time to every purpose under heaven

I had a rough night yesterday and flipped out emotionally with a bunch of stuff that ultimately made Skills feel bad so he ended up going home, after which I cried my eyes out.  I woke up with horrible leg cramps (charlie horses) in both my calves, and the front ankle/shin area.  I’ve had gosh awful charlie horses during pregnancy that knotted both glutes, hams, quads, and calves concurrently, which is hard to fathom and harder to relieve, but that little muscle down the front of my shin where it attaches to my ankle and foot is a whole new experience, and they were all knotting at the same time.  When I tried to gently and carefully flex my feet to pull the knots out of the calves, those front muscles would knot more, so I was basically screwed.  Ouchie.   I’m wondering if it’s the IUD, tipping the hormonal balance just enough to send me to Planet Crazy.  I found a site with SO many side effects that it’s alarming and best not to dwell there too much, lest I fill my brain with hypochondriac tendencies.  I hope things settle down soon, because this?   Is awful.

I’m going to give it a few months to see how things settle.  I’ll monitor my moods and symptoms and see if they follow any patterns.  If my emotions stay whacked, I can either go on Zoloft or Wellbutrin or something to try to stabilize, or I can just have the IUD removed and try something else.

I try so hard to make sense of things, because I want to understand what’s happening.  It’s why I’m leaning toward the thought that it’s seriously something hormonal.  I’ve recently learned that the first thing a therapist asks is if you have thoughts of suicide.  I never do, but last night when I was melting down, I tried to curl up fetal as small as I could and kept wishing I could disappear or something, crying uncontrollably, and trying to make myself as small as I could, and I thought that this must be what they’re talking about, when a person gets so miswired that they do that.  It’s like an out of body experience, to see that and wonder who on earth that person is and why is she acting like that.  No wonder Skills went home and couldn’t be around me.  The problem is, what I need most when that happens is to be held and somehow coaxed back to reality.  Not his job, though.  Good thing passing out with exhaustion causes things to rewire so I can be okay when I wake up.

I hate to think I need something to make me cope.  I would like to be able to handle it on my own.  I will monitor myself for the next couple of months and see how things are, and see if I swing like this much more.  Hopefully it will settle — it’s a vicious cycle to introduce a hormonal imbalance with the IUD, then have to add Zoloft or something to counter that.  It’s craziness!  But I’ll do what I have to do.  I wrote it all out on my blog last night, just to get it out.  It helps.

That’s a whole hell of a lot of preamble to get to the point that I was trying to reach.  I like to think that there is a reason for everything.  Walk a mile in someone’s shoes…  Not that it’s a pleasant mile to walk, and clearly it’s depression with a capital D.  But one of the things weighing on my heart is the inability to reach or help someone who I love dearly, who is struggling with emotional matters.  And this?  Perhaps this equips me just a little bit.  Maybe what I’m experiencing is something she can relate to.  Maybe I can help her to make sense of it, as I help myself to make sense of it.  Maybe we can find a way to recognize the demons before they strike, and stand tall and ready, armored up.  Maybe we can armor up without mind-altering medical intervention.

And no, I would never check out of this life, no matter how strongly I might in moments like last night want to disappear.  And yes, my brother DID check out of this life, for whatever his reasons were, and yes, perhaps and most likely there are genetic tendencies with which we are faced, but I know not to let that terrify me (so I can try to help her not be terrified as well), or give me any reason to think that I or any of my beloved family are powerless in these circumstances.  It’s just data.  It’s information.  The more we can know and understand, the better we will be able to face whatever may come.

Each day is a brand new day, and the sun will shine.

We will be okay.

We are okay.

Posted in depression, family, mental health, ob-gyn. Tagged with .

By sueeeus
March 5, 2010

3 comments

information overload

I’m going to be a published author soon.  It’s crap, really.  A technical article in a technical magazine, and it’s been revised and edited so much it’s barely discernible as anything I could really put my mark on, but nonetheless, it has to do with the project that consumed my professional energies for the better part of the last year.  So in a way, it’s kind of a big deal.   A culmination of sorts.

There was some talk of pulling the plug on one of my other major projects today.  That’s a bit disconcerting.  We’ll work it out, I’m sure, and all will be fine.  Even so, it’s sort of a shocker.

Ex-spouses had various things to say today, both his and mine.  His?  Some squabbling over child support.  That’s always a sensitive subject, for either party involved.  They’ll figure it out.   Mine?  Is getting married.  In October.  I’m happy for him, truly.  I want him to have happiness in life, so I’m glad he found somebody else.   It seems sudden, but it’s his MO, so I’m not all that surprised.  I wish him well.

The bride to be is going through a divorce that is under contest, and a guardian ad litem has been appointed to see to the best interests of her three children.  The GAL wanted my number to inquire about Gadget, since the new family will be living with him soon.  Of course she can have my number, but he wanted to know what I was going to tell her about him.  He thinks I’m vindictive and will say things to spite him.  Shows how much he knows me.  He said she was going to ask about what went wrong with our marriage.  What went right? Not a whole hell of a lot.  Two beautiful boys.

My 84 year old dad has had his driver’s license revoked, so now he thinks he wants to move to an apartment in the city.  There is much family debate on how to accomplish this.  The logistics alone are daunting– he has a staggering collection of books.  His main complaint is the inconvenience of senior transportation.  I’m sort of cold, I guess, because time is all he has, so if it takes a bit longer to get from point A to point B because public transport is involved, what is the big deal?  It’s far better than being behind the wheel when you’re practically blind and you can’t feel your feet to know whether or  how much you’re braking or accelerating.  He would still have to deal with public transportation if he lived in the city, and it might even take longer since there is more population and with that, more stops.  He might be better off to stay put.  He lives in a mild climate.  Either way.  There is drama, discussion, mixed up communication, and bruised feelings.  Why do I think it’s my job to sort it out so that there is peace within the land?

There is the matter of my niece – she has a sadness that I don’t know how to reach or address.  It hurts me, for the people I love to be hurting, and for me not to know what to do about it or how to help it, when all I want is for them to feel joy.

There is the matter of my sisters being protective of me, and cautioning me to believe more in myself and acknowledge or give more credence to that which I have to offer, which is a lot.  This translates to ‘he better be good enough for you’.  They speak it out of love for me, not out of disregard or disrespect to Skills, yet there he is on trial, defenseless, guilty until proven innocent.  So unfair.

To compound it all, my emotional state is railing.  I had the Mirena installed yesterday, so a foreign object, extra progesterone, cramps, headache, nausea, and constipation all add to the already prevailing PMS which only exacerbates all of the above.

I can only take so much at any given time.

These are some of the things that filled my head today and spilled into my evening that had been set aside to be sweet and magical.  I totally blew it.  Had I had my wits about me, I could have taken a moment to assess each thing as it crossed my day, and said, hey, do the thoughts I have about this particular thing serve me well?  And if they don’t serve me well, then adjust the way I think about them — either dismiss them completely, or find a way to look at them in a positive light.

But no, I didn’t do that.  Guard down.  Reactionary all day.  I brought him down, I brought myself down.

And all the while, I’m frantic, because I have only the tiniest window of time in my life that I can carve out for togetherness and I want so much for that time to be rich and full.  Watching it vanish in a split second rips me to shreds and I feel so frustrated that I’ve wasted time, when time is so, so, so precious and I just can’t afford for this to happen.

Recognizing that destruction only serves to make things worse, because then I berate myself for not being stronger and more vigilant and more prepared, and there’s nothing left to do but go home, try to regroup, get some sleep, and hope to God things look better in the morning.

It’s tragic though.  I can’t get back wasted time.  It’s gone.

I can’t get out of myself.  I can curl up in fetal position and cry my eyes out, but I can’t get away.

So here I am.  Hysterical.  Untouchable.  Alone.

Posted in divorce, family, me, mental health, ob-gyn, sorrow, work. Tagged with .

By sueeeus
March 5, 2010

4 comments

où êtes-vous

I could have sworn I’d posted at some point or another about the stranger I sometimes become when ravaged by the imbalance of things hormonal.  Or maybe not.  I’ve been on such a fantastic high for the last few weeks, so am completely caught off guard by this.  I have no other explanation, which in itself makes me crazy, because I need explanations for things to be settled in my universe.

Having an irregular cycle and general lack of ovulation has somehow given me the benefit of a very stable emotional state, in general, for the better part of my adult life.  Granted, it made the possibility of motherhood quite challenging, but now my motherhood dreams have come true, and those fertility challenges are no longer important.  A continued non-existent or barely existent cycle would suit me just fine, at this stage in life.

However.   The trauma and torment of the latter part of 2009 tipped me into the type II diabetes arena.  It was always lurking there as an eventuality, given the genetic disposition compounded with two cases of gestational diabetes.  The first line of treatment is metformin, which is actually a wonder drug of sorts.  It affects endocrine function, and prevents the liver from over-producing glucose, blah blah blah.  The other thing it does is induce or assist in ovulation.  The problem is that my blood sugar is doing fine now, but this whole business of possibly ovulating and at least cycling more frequently is not good for my mental state.  Plus, it re-introduces the potential need for some measure of birth control.  You know, that is, if this girl has any intentions of getting busy.  Which she does.  [snicker]  [blush]

Ahem.

I’ve been consulting with Doctor Google to try to figure out what’s going on with me, and have come up with PMDD.  It could be PMS, but the good doctor says that five or more symptoms from the symptoms list makes it PMDD.  In a way, just reading it helps me get a grip on things and pull myself out of the funk, but it’s no easy feat.  It’s so hard to describe what happens in an emotional crash, and how hard it is to pull oneself out of it.  It’s HARD!  And the damage control.  Good Lord, I have to run damage control, because the way I behave affects those nearest to me, and leaves them shaking their heads in wonder at who this stranger is and where in the heck did that fine and wonderful person known as Sueeeus Maximus go?

Meanwhile, I’m on the brink of getting fitted for the Mirena IUD.  Tuesday is the day.  I’ve had it before, and didn’t really like it much, but after the fact decided that my problems with it were mainly psychological.  This time around, given my age and other circumstances, it seems to be the only viable option I have, apart from having my tubes tied.  But I’m presently terrified at the prospect, because the wormhole I entered when consulting with Doctor Google led me to read about some horrible experiences for women with PMDD and/or PMS.  Mainly that the Mirena exacerbates the PMS or PMDD.

It’s hard enough to find myself facing this onslaught of emotional torment at all, and then to find that I am on the horizon of potentially making it even worse.  I am in a quandary.  I absolutely can’t stand to lose myself like this.  What is the recourse?  I’ve read that one can take low level Zoloft to address PMDD.  Great.  I’ve been through the Zoloft phase before, and it served me well, but I have such a hard time wrapping my head around the thought of needing something like that for the long haul.  And besides that, Zoloft isn’t particularly kind to the libido, and, um, I’m kind of looking forward to establishing and maintaining a healthy libido.  [blush]

What else can I do?  Become an exercise freak?  Mark the calendar for when I think I might be approaching the ‘window’ and then schedule myself to work my @$$ off so that I can keep the endorphins up and my wits about me?  And how on earth can I maintain the motivation needed to carry that through if and when I’m in the grip of the demons?

I’ve read about supplement therapy, but I already take calcium and B6 supplements, which are on the recommendation list.

One saving grace is, however insane I may become during the day, once I sleep and reawaken to a new day, I have a fresh outlook, and can try to be vigilant and not let the demons in.  The other saving grace is that this is only temporal, and if I can at least recognize it for what it is, I can remind myself that it will be OVER soon, and life can go on in its peachy splendor.  But the damage control.  Oh dear heavens, it’s no easy thing.  Here I am, in the infancy of building what could be a beautiful relationship with this fine man, Skills, and look what in the hell I’m putting him through now.  I hope he doesn’t run!

(Please don’t run.  I’ll be okay soon!)

Posted in love, me, mental health, ob-gyn.

By sueeeus
February 28, 2010

4 comments

the road less traveled

…that would be the high road…

~*~*~*~*~

My boys spent Saturday night and all of Sunday with their dad.  Their coats were forgotten.  Sunday night, night, I repeat, I got a call from Gadget.  The truck won’t start.  I’ll have to pick them up directly, rather than meeting in the middle.  Fine.  I repeat the address back to him, that he’d given me, in order to comply with visitation rules, only to learn that he’d given me a bogus address.  WTH.  WTH. Armed with the correct address, I set out to collect my boys.  Of course I took a wrong turn and ended up way the hell away, deep in the heart of parts unknown, parts where it’s best not to pull over, parts where it’s best NOT TO BE.  He doesn’t exactly live on the nice side of town…   But I eventually got there, collected my boys, and returned home.  I think it was well past 10pm when I finally returned.  Pissed off, on many levels.  I simply don’t get why he would give me a bogus address.  In what universe does it do any good to do such a thing?  I’m flabbergasted, to say the least.  And grateful to have gotten divorced. Grateful.  Who is this stranger that I spent the last nine years with?

~*~*~*~*~

Now the boys are sick.  Pneumonia.  Nice.  It’s hard not to point any fingers.  They could just  as well have gotten sick while under my care.  Even so.  They are on antibiotics, and we caught it early, so we’re nipping it in the bud.  My beautiful little boys.  I want them to be WELL!

~*~*~*~*~

I, myself, am disoriented.  Having trouble with names.  What are my boys’ names, what is my name (Sueeeus Maximus, I’m not completely gone yet), what is Skills’ name?  It’s so strange not to be able to hold my own thoughts, and somewhat disconcerting.  So much so that I came home from work, just in case.  Had a hot eucalyptus and peppermint bath, a two hour nap, and a small salad, but still feel like my brain is not quite connected to the rest of me.  So strange.

~*~*~*~*~

Skills has a psycho ex.  Nice.  Does everyone have at least one psycho ex?  She’s throwing the STD card, among other things.  Noice. Maybe I should introduce her to Gadget.  They could be very interesting to one another, leaping about in the quagmire of all their tales and deceptions.

~*~*~*~*~

Oh, did I forget to mention that Gadget’s roommate L and her son C have moved out, and he is now entertaining a new woman roommate, who has three kids.  Gadget told me he was tired of the drama and tantrums on L and C’s parts, and that he was looking for a new roommate.  According to BB, and this has to be taken with a grain of salt, as he is just 5, the new woman shares a room (bed) with Gadget.  Just like the last woman, L.  Nice.  I really don’t care if Gadget sleeps around or goes through women like bubble gum, but I do care what environment he presents to my children when they are in his care.  I need to know that any other people, whether children or adult, who are living there are being decent and good to MY boys.  This, in addition to the crap address bit, makes me inclined to refile the visitation papers to remove further rights until adequate responsibility can be shown.  It’s asinine, that he would behave like this.  He loves his kids and wants to be a part of their lives, yet he pulls this $#!t.  And I want the kids to grow up with respect and admiration for their dad, if at all possible.  Can he not see this?  Is he so immature that he would make these piss-poor life choices that ultimately do nothing but hurt himself more?  I shake my head in utter consternation.  I need to talk to him about these things, but have to collect myself and my thoughts before I do.

But I am just. Too. Tired.

~*~*~*~*~

Apart from the scorned lovers’ drama, I had an incredible weekend.  Incredible!

~*~*~*~*~

I hired a sitter and went OUT on a Friday night.  Out!  Skills took me to his ‘club house’ where an AC/DC tribute band was playing.  I actually had a couple of drinks.  Drinks!  Me!  And loosened up commensurately.  Wink wink.  We danced and laughed and laughed and danced.  He’s a people magnet, is Skills.  It was fun to see him in that element.  Master of all he surveys.  Kind of like me.  Queen of all I survey.  (In our own worlds.)  Ahem.

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Saturday night, after Gadget drove off with my kids, Skills arrived to whoosh me away.  We drove into the city, where he’d secured waterfront view reservations at a fine seafood establishment.  He fed me steak, asparagus and king crab legs.  So, so nice.

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We slept.  (Minds out of the gutter people.  We truly just slept!)

20100222_18us

Sunday I made pecan and apricot waffles, and we went for a two hour walk along a nearby trail.  So, so nice.  We enjoyed each others’ company for the rest of the day, until it was time to collect the kids.  After which everything went to hell in a handbasket.  See above.

Posted in adventures, bellyaching, divorce, family, love, marriage.

By sueeeus
February 25, 2010

11 comments