connections

It's 12:15 and I should be fast asleep and dreaming of someone I hold so dear but, here I am seeking companionship in my computer. What do people do who have no connection to the world and have these horrible diseases? My pain level is around nine tonight and with every movement comes a sound from far inside me. It's the same sound tennis players make when they hit the ball. My sound gains me no point and sometimes never even moves me. My decision is what pill do I take to gain me a peaceful co existence with the world.....Is it Zanex to sleep or hydrocodone to mask the pain. Then there is always the chance that my seizure medication could bring me some relief. When you have a chronic illness the medical world supplies you with an endless group of narcotics which might "help get you through the night" But then you have me who would rather not take medication in any form and will quite often put off medicating some thing until the pain is so intense that it takes forever for relief. I can only voice my opinion on the whole medical world as I see it today....Pray for us because we are in big trouble. My big hope was in the stem cell research fjeld. Just when it was obvious we were making huge break thoughts, a federal judge bans all future research. How can they do this when you can place a stem cell quantity in a patient and the cells grow and function....This means quadriplegic can have sensation in their limbs after many years of vegetation. Medication is being shared b cause of the cost. People are going into the hospital with one disease and never coming out because while in there they get a foreign virus and it kills them. Where does this all stop? Maybe only the heavens know........ Love Pokie

ALS TDI

Two days ago I traveled to St.Louis, Missouri for one of the most informative and interesting seminars I have been to in some time. I dawned my Patientslikeme.com shirt and drove to a meeting on ALS. At this time not knowing what to expect but always wanting to learn about Neurological Disorders and know this is the one place to go for straight answers. Why me with Parkinson's? Because I have found diagnoses change and what applies to one Neurological disorder often applies to another. So many of the symptoms for ALS and MS show up in different forms of PD. The title of the seminar was "Brick and Mortar" Non profit B iotech's Opportunities for Preclinical Drug Development. The statistics are staggering...30,000 patients in the U.S., 5,000 plus every year...Those diagnosed have a 50% mortality rate in 18 months and some 20% survive 5 years. This disease can be sporadic (90%) or genetic(10%). Thank heavens if you are diagnosed with ALS you have a wonderful place to go for clear and caring information for both you and your caregiver by going to . ALS TDI focuses on two things molecular mechanisms of disease onset and progression and therapeutic development.ALS-TDI was founded by The Heywood Family in 1999 and has an annual budget of $10 million with 42 employees and 25 full-time scientists. The driving principle behind all of his is: To combine power of a 501(3)c non profit with the best practices of a for profit biotech or pharmaceutical company in the hope that the productivity gap will be breached and a cure or better treatment found. If you are interested and you should be. check out the ALS Forum: The largest Online Discussion of ALS Therapeutics 3,000+members 40,000 posts Topics include Therapeutic and Clinical Trials to living with ALS and Advocacy. All of this comes with the chance to be anonymous, open to the public and it's FREE. Let me give you some numbers and sites and you check it out: Questions and Comments? info@als.net 617-441-7200 or www.als.net/forum or Patientslikeme.com

NEVER EVER GIVE UP IN LIFE

Not Raising Hogs....

A very close friend sent me this today to pass on to you: Dear Sir: My friend Bobby, in Missouri, just received a check for $987 from the government for not raising hogs. I want to go into the "Not Raising Hogs" business next year. What I need to know is, what is the best breed of hogs - not to raise? I want to make sure that I approach this important work in keeping with all government policies. I would prefer not to raise razorbacks, but if that is not a good breed to raise, then I will just as gladly not raise Yorkshire or Durocs. What do you recommend? As I see it the hardest part of the government program will be keeping an accurate inventory of how many hogs I haven't raised. My friend Bobby is optimistic about the future of this business. he has been raising hogs for thirty years, and the best he ever made was $392 back in 1994---until he got your check for the $987, for not raising hogs. If I get $987 for not raising hogs, will I get $1974 for not raising 100 hogs? I plan to start out small, at first, holding myself down to around 5,000 hogs not raised. That should make me about $98,700 for the first year. Then I can afford an airplane. I have another question. These hos I will not raise will not eat 90,000 bushels of corn. I understand that you have a program that pays farmers not to grow corn. what size payment can I expect for not growing the 90,000 bushels of corn that I won't need to feed to the 5,000 hogs that I am not going to raise? This estimate of potential income is needed so that I don't exceed the level the president has set--where I become a rich person and my income must be redistributed. Also I am considering the "Not Milking Cows" business, so send me any information you have on that program. In view of these plans, you understand that I will be totally unemployed. Therefore, I plan to file for food stamps and unemployment. Can ACORN help me with these applications? Be assured that you will have my vote in the coming election. Politically yours.........

Making the Most of Everything.....

I know everyone if so tired of hearing about the economy and how bad things are. I am more tired of hearing how the government is going to fix it for us. Why must we wait on them to spend more of our money and we reap less return. I am not talking finances but I am talking things we can do for our own well being and contentment that can make a big difference in our lives. We as Americans have so much and for some have Had so much and are losing it. Take a look around you. Say you are a senior citizen, in a small apartment on limited income and see few visitors. I will call you Jane for today. Jane has a sunny window in her living room that faces nowhere but the sun. In front of that window Jane could position a small table and saving fast food containers or other containers that holes can be punched in the bottom for drainage. Scavenger up some dirt from areas around you. It won't take much and if you drink coffee ....save your coffee grounds. get you some cheap seeds. They are being marked down now..thinking the season is over BUT you can play around with this all winter. My mother saves a salad tomato plant all winter last year and we enjoyed fresh tomatoes ever so often. Try lettuce and onions, herbs maybe some small flowers. Nurture these plants and their surroundings and when you harvest for a meal, make it a special affair. It's only Jane in this apartment and I have it on authority she talks to her plants and waters them daily, in return they keep her busy year around. If you have excess for one, freeze it and take it out later for soup. My grandpa use to tells us to pull up our boot straps which coming from him meant "toughen up and make things work for you." I know this is sorry times for seniors and many, many of my friends are suffering daily. But we baby boomers come from good stock and can make good if we set our mind to it. Don't be afraid to try. love always Pokie