Not Feelin' Too Groovy

I know many of you are "new" here.
Please do the clicks below if you want to know more about those things.
My comments are always open to all.

Your "Innards"
hehehe

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Good Morning.
(Is it)?
I am chilled today... It is so sunny out, but looks are deceiving. I've been out to feed the birds, my cardinal making such a fuss at Punk when I'd let her out earlier. (Those birds may be pretty, but none too bright to be thinking that Punk might be able to refill that feeder)! Dumb clucks.
Mom would call a few people that, and I have to giggle every time I think on it.

It was Mama's birthday on the 7th.
(To read about my mama, CLICK HERE).
She would have been 93 had she lived...

Reianna's birthday was on the 10th.
(To read about my Reianna, CLICK HERE).
So very hard to believe that she would have been 30 this year!

You will have to scroll down after you click those links since "Reianna", "Mom" and "Methadone" are all included in the tags on this blog.

Also included in Reianna's CLICK is the information about METHADONE.
***If you or anyone else you know is prescribed this drug for pain, or withdrawal, please DO NOT TAKE IT!

Doctors are still prescribing it.

People are still dying.

Please get the word out.

"According to the National Center for Health Statistics, medical examiners listed methadone as contributing to 3,849 deaths in 2004; up from 790 in 1999."
From here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methadone

Methadone is also prescribed as 

• Symoron,
  
• Dolophine,
  
• Amidone,
  
• Methadose,
  
• Physeptone,
  
• Heptadon 
• -and many others

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The links above should work for you. If they don't please let me know.
Sometimes I really I wish we wouldn't have had to migrate all of our old Y!360 blogs to Multiply- Hard to find them all, and equally difficult to link them appropriately too. (Maybe that's just me)?

And now on Multiply, without many comments! hehehe The original ones at Yahell 360 had many of your comments, NOT that I can even get to them anymore.

Anyway...

... My top picture??? (Stolen from here).

As many of you have already read on my calendar on Multiply, Casey and I will be returning to Minneapolis once again.
This visit, to "see" what is going on within her colon.

Dr. Sutherland believes that he will have to remove 70% of her colon.
When I asked, he said she would not need the colostomy bag at all.
It would be a surgery to get rid of the hairpin turns in her colon.
Ideally, he would rather wait for 6 months after her TP/AIT, which would bring possible surgery to June or July. We wait now, anxiously, to have the upcoming test results.

I don't know how to wrap my head around her pain some days? Or how to help her anymore. Kind of a horrible and impotent feeling. Wish it was me.

In awful pain, now with vomiting and more diarrhea, and on her doctors advice, I brought Casey to St Marys hospital again on Tuesday.

They were going to admit her, and then did not.   wth?
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Casey at St. Marys Hospital.

March 10th, 2009

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She has blogged about it herself. CLICK HERE to read her own frustrations of it all. (Oh, but do grab a cup of coffee before you do, she has written at length). I don't know where she gets that from!?

She put on a very good and happy face for her appointment for Social Security Disability yesterday. (Not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing)? But the man was nice, (even a sense of humor thrown in), and I hope smart enough that he saw through what/how she has lived these past three years.

I don't know much, but I do know that "something has gotta give" as they say.
Maybe say a little prayer?

• Thanks to all the garbage at UWGB, at this point she has almost given up her own little hopes for college.
  
  
• Remember the nasty apartment hunting, and how she was treated? <-Click those words for those two entries.
  
  
• She has lost every job she has had in the past 3 years, save for the tax one (that was temporary; they did not call her back this past year either- Not that she could have worked). One waited to fire her after she returned from surgery. The other 2 "let her go" while she was hospitalized!

Like I said, something has just got to give for her.

It all seems to keep "snowballing"...

So there's my rant for today. Not too much newsworthy.
Cold or not I really have to get outside and work off some of this "grrr" energy.

Love to all.

XOXO
Anne

PS
My title? I don't believe I have EVER used the word "groovy" in a blog before.
Have YOU?

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Posted at Y! 360, Thursday March 12, 2009 - 10:51am (CDT)

Random, Scattered Thoughts for Today...

Good Morning ALL;

Have been reading the news here... And although I didn't really even know who she was the while she lived, I find it sad that Anna Nicole Smith had to die this way... And I do believe that even with all of her prescriptions, she would be alive today if it wasn't for that damned Methadone.

As most of you are already aware, this is the same drug that killed Reianna!

Please, PLEASE tell everyone you know NEVER to take methadone FOR ANY REASON.

I am also thinking that perhaps it is high time for ABC to repeat their story about methadone entitled "One Pill Can Kill." I believe they had aired it originally last October, shortly after Reianna died.

Why do the physicians keep prescribing this killer drug in the first place???

It is POISON.

Please see 20/20 article: "One Pill Can Kill"
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2475616&page=1

Please also SEND THIS LINK TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK, and to everyone in your 360 Friends list too. It is too important not to.

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Another note about those flowers peeking out... I don't think they will be 'flowering' this year, as the damnable rabbits are feasting upon each and every one of those little sprouts!

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Little buggars! ...& I don't care how 'cute' they are; (they STILL taste like chicken)!

Am thinking that when Sam and his cousin came to hunt 'em, they didn't take out enough of them.

And the other vermin around here, the bats, I should get a longer ladder and try to close up that little crack in the roofing by the chimney. While it is kinda cool to watch them come out at night, I do not think it is good to be harboring all these bats that seem to live under my roof. No, they aren't in the house... yet...

For more info on troublesome pests, (bats, bunnies, birds ,snakes and more), please go to http://www.abirdshome.com/habitat/profiles.htm (You can also learn how to attract the "better" kinds of wildlife)!

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Yesterday, Casey needed to go to one of her Labs... She had missed this lab last week and did not want to miss it again. She took my car, stopping off at Dereks home first (her car has been parked there ever since she was admitted to the hospital last week). She struggled even to get that far. Being dizzy, shaking, sweating, and in pain,; she did not care to venture any further to get to the campus at UWGB. Instead, she called the campus and was transferred to the registrars office. Only to learn that she had missed too many classes and she had a choice of being suspended, or withdrawing from her classes. She chose to withdraw yet again.

I do feel so badly for her. Besides Roberta taking a few nursing courses at Troy State, and then going to the College of Cosmetology; Casey is the only other of my daughters that, at such a young age has maintained her desire to keep up her accredited education. She also had to withdraw last semester when she had that part of her lung removed. Kind of a kick in the teeth for such an inspired and capable young lady; you would think the UW~System would have done everything in their power to help her acheive during these tough times. And her High "A" GPA is nothing to scoff at either! (Again you would think they would want to keep a student like this). Not so.

The apathy shown to her by her own profs also had my blood pressure rising. She had emailed them all last week. And she heard back from only ONE!!!! He was absolutely willing to do whatever was necessary to help her out and to allow her to catch up. (The rest of them don't seem to be worth the paper their checks are printed on)... She had to resend her emails to them (I am not sure if she ever even heard back after that).

I also think that a 'break' might be a blessing in disguise for a time. It will give her the time to get to Froedtert, and to have them make her better somehow; and it will also slow the pace of her somewhat hectic life. She will need (needs) to relax a while and recuperate. Like I said above, she is still in a bunch of pain, and along with all those other symptoms, is made also very nauseous by it too.

Maybe by the end of today we will know much more as to when we will be going back to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. (Dereks mom ended up driving Casey home yesterday, and Derek came to pick up his mom then when he was done with work).

Please just keep praying is all...

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Roberta stopped out yesterday before work too! Dropped off a few pictures for me to scan, and was on her way in then. Short and sweet. Nice to have her stopping in too! She called yesterday AM to check on Casey. Casey was still asleep... As Master Gabriel was also in the backseat when Berta got here. And he stayed that way too. (Why does the old saying about "sleeping dogs" come to mind)? hehehe Generally one to sleep good in the car, Gabriel had hollered almost for the whole drive...

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The quote on my top page, which a few of you have asked to steal, is by none other than General Norman Schwarzkopf... (I didn't have enough characters left to include who said it)... So yes, and absolutely, you may steal it away!

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So, such is Life in Flintville...

Hope your "Hump Day" is an awesome one!

XOXO
Anne

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It&#39;s Beginning to LQQK a lot like &quot;Silly&quot;

Good Morning!

And yes, if you are wondering, even Punkie says she's had enough of the funny stuff!

 

She was still half asleep, but still cute!

 

It was SO cold yesterday that I HAD to make a pot of chili... I never did learn to cook 'small' after everyone left home, so now I have a couple of gallons left over. But it always does taste better the next day, so I shall happily enjoy more of it today!   (And I am thinking that maybe a couple of kids might make it out here today/tonight)? hint hint!  No, I do not add the 'pasgetti'  to it, so I can always freeze it in smaller servings.

I dragged all my Christmas boxes up the steps yesterday.  Punk was also NOT amused by those taking up space in 'her' living room!  Nor did she care much for the mess I made (and left behind)...  About 9 or so at night, she always crawls in her little corner of the couch and crashes if I have not yet gone up to bed. Since the couch was completely covered from one end to the other, this was impossible for her to accomplish- So she stayed close by, and every now and then I would hear this LOUD (and somewhat obnoxious) yawning going on...  Too funny.  I cleared off the couch and she happily laid right down 'til we went upstairs.  (She is still asleep, waking only while I stuck that old Santa Hat on her head)...

Speaking of obnoxious...   You, my friends, are ALL getting me in trouble...   While I had a bit of laughter over your hitting the 'reply all' button on my message to the world, there are a few that didn't get the giggles about it.  I apologize to all for that oversight in my little note. 

(But I do think that little flurry of messages should be over and done with now)...  er, I HOPE it is anyway!!! hehehe

Sorry. Sorry!! SORRY!!!                

After finally psyching myself to go outside and walk down the very windy driveway, and cross the road;  I received my very first Christmas cards yesterday!!!  And so came my inspiration to get that darned tree up and out of the basement...  I just cannot "do" cards without a bit of surrounding Christmas ambience;  the tree, lit up, will provide that for me quite nicely...

 

 

I received a note from my sister this morning-  Finally, the FDA has recognized that people are dying from this Methadone, and has FINALLY issued a Public~Health~Advisory on it.  You should be able to click on that and read that warning to all.  Losing Reianna a few months ago was one death too many for us all, and I am sure that every other family that has lost a loved to this drug feels exactly as I do. It's about time!

METHADONE KILLS- (Even one little pill)... If you are new to my 'friends list here,  please read that link, even if you do not finish reading my blog today- it is that important.   You can also click on "Reianna" in the above paragraph and read her story...

Adverse events potentially related to methadone therapy should be reported to the FDA's MedWatch reporting program by phone at 1-800-FDA-1088, by fax at 1-800-FDA-0178, online at http://www.fda.gov/medwatch , or by mail to 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787.

I'd better close for now and get started on my day- It has been so very windy for the past few days that it has completely leeched any humidity out of the house- That said, i will have no qualms about doing a bit of wash! ha!  One of these days... If I do not freeze to death by the weekend perhaps my laundry discharge hose will thaw out enough to either use it properly or even to remove it... 

In the meanwhile, there is no need for the April-Aire!

Have a grand day everyone!

 

and DO stay warm!

 

XOXO

Anna-Anna!!!

 

PS   ABOUT the INCLUDED LINKS in MY BLOGS:

For those of you that do not 'know'  ...

...I usually will make the 'clickable' links (words) green, and with a bit larger BOLD type...  You should then be able to click on those words to get to whatever I am talking about... (not the ones in this paragraph though)!

Just don't forget to come back!  

 

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Reianna Marie DeGrave- (including my own written memorial to her family)

Reianna Marie DeGrave-
(including my own written memorial to her family)

September 14th, 2006

Reianna Marie DeGrave

March 10, 1979- September 13, 2006

"Rest in Peace My Sweet Little Girl"

"The Will of GOD will never take you
where the GRACE of GOD will not protect you."

Asleep
in God's beautiful garden
Away from all sorrow and pain
Someday when life's journey has ended
We’ll all be together again.

author unknown

Reianna as always a 'daughter'; as I was Dennis 2nd wife.

Not from under my heart, but forever in it...

Here now, is a copy of my own little memorial/tribute to Reianna...

There are no words... I have been up for the better part of 3 hours already- staring at this screen,

Alone with my own offerings, my own prayers, and my own little thoughts; and with my most wonderful memories of Reianna...

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Susan... Dennis...

I have prided myself on my ability to put myself in other peoples shoes. But I don't think that anything I can even think of would appreciate the pain you are in right now. And there is nothing that can possibly be said to help to lessen that grief for you.

Through you both I have been given the opportunity to love your little girl, and for that I promise to always remain grateful for being entrusted with loving Reianna.

My memories of, and love for Reianna, will both live on always- for my own lifetime and in my own heart...

Daniel...

I cannot even begin to know your own loss and shock. Age not-with-standing, you were always the 'big' brother- and Reianna has always had your constant, abiding and faithful love and support. That is what 'family' is all about. Having you to count on, to "step up to the plate" now with respect to the babies, meant the world to your sister- and meant PEACE to her soul as well. Your love for her and her's for you will live on in you always.

Zoe... Jennifer... Roberta... CaseyAnne...

Sometimes knowing that love offered, taken, given and shared, is enough in its entirety to hold onto for a lifetime. It is not how long we are here to love, but rather how well and how very much we love for the time that we are here.

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Once upon a time I had met this beautiful, bashful, quiet, 'wouldn't eat beans' little girl. While she did learn that those beans would not harm her, I respect that Reianna had many other fears besides those damnable beans...

As a small girl, she was prone to throwing her tantrums- almost comedic in retrospect... Pitching herself to the floor, (no matter where we were)- and screaming something fierce. After a while, we did learn to just walk away- but this too took time, and broke our hearts- Once done though, she never did throw herself to the floor again.

As a 1st grader, Reianna gave all she had to learning how to read- and the effort she put into it was an enormous one. With this effort, came a whole new world that opened up to her.

And she blossomed- and with that, she grew. Going to Parent-Teacher Conferences, the one thing that has forever remained in my heart is her teacher telling us what an exact joy it was to have Reianna in her class because every day she got a world of free hugs; ...and so very much love to look forward to.

This ability to love is Reianna's true spirit. The very same spirit that Reianna tried to hold onto- desperately at times. Most especially as a young adult; if only to find and to keep her own little place in this most ungracious and terribly unforgiving world.

And she overcame so very much in her too-short life... Learning to trust in herself, to have faith in her own soul, and in her own heart were only two of those things.

Learning to love herself as the beautful woman she was, was another.

And through the Amazing Grace of God Reianna found her way to persevere.

And she continued to grow and to learn-

She learned mostly that sometimes she just had to take one baby step at a time- and at others, there were offered those HUGE steps forward.

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Kain. Makayla. And Michael.

(Reianna's very own huge steps... and her legacy to us all).

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Michael- at 9 months, still to take his own first baby steps;

Kain and Makayla already in school- and already displaying their own unequalled spirits.

The pain will pass and the good memories and your love for your mother will always live on in the spirits of each of you.

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Again...

Kain...

Makayla...

Michael...

Susan... Mother...

Dennis... Daddy...

Zoe Catherine...

Jennifer Hope...

Daniel Bernard...

Roberta Marie...

CaseyAnne Louise...

May God Bless You All...

Each and Every one..

Not only for today and tomorrow, but may His Blessings sustain your hearts throughout your own lives- until you can all be together again.

My Deepest Sympathies and My Forever Love;

Anne/Ma/Mom

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September 14, 2006 4:00 AM

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METHADONE

Please also see 20/20 article: "One Pill Can Kill"

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2475616&page=1

Good Morning;

Most of you who are on my friends list here have probably already received my email from this morning- This is a copy of that email then...

Those of you that are lurkers here- or even just passing through

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS

I have also attached Reianna's entry... including my own little tribute to herself and to her family too....

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here is my email:

Hi all,

Did you have a chance to catch ABC's 20/20 last night? This story had the first spot, a story, (actually many stories) about people who have died taking prescribed dosages of methadone. This is what Reianna took the night before she died...

Please do NOT take this drug for ANY reason!

EVER!

And please forward this on to all of your family and friends too. This knowledge IS that important...

Here is a brief synopsis of their program last night then... One Pill Can Kill http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2475616&page=1

METHADONE

Killing More Than Pain, Killing Patients

By JIM AVILA and BONNIE VANGILDER

Sept. 22, 2006 — - Pain pills are the new "pocket gold" on the street, so valuable to drug dealers that the neighborhood prescription counter has become the target of routine holdups.

Bandits have been caught on surveillance video jumping over counters, not for cash in the register, but for Percocet, OxyContin, and a new favorite, methadone.

No matter how it is acquired, illegally or by prescription, methadone is now the leading drug killer in many states.

In North Carolina, methadone-related deaths have increased by 50 times in recent years, skyrocketing to more than one death every other day. Cheap and Lethal

Methadone is prescribed more frequently and sold on the street for as little as 25 cents a pill.

Ruth Winecker, a chief toxicologist for the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Office, says methadone is so cheap, insurance companies promote its use.

Often doctors wrongly prescribe methadone for temporary pain, such as a migraine headache, menstrual cramps, or a pulled tooth.

Winecker says the danger with methadone is that it stays in your body for a long time.

About 15 hours after you take a methadone tablet, half of the tablet is still active in your system.

Now autopsy reports are showing that even people who suffer legitimate pain and have prescriptions from their doctors can be at risk. Lives Lost to Methadone

Michael Houston, 17, of Winston-Salem, N.C., lost his life to methadone.

His parents, Terry and Lisa Houston, say he had too many activities on his plate to be a drug abuser.

He was active in church youth groups; played guitar and baseball; and, had an after-school job and a girlfriend.

His father, Terry Houston, remembers that his son was very congested and was not sleeping well at night.

"Someone may have told him, 'Take this [pill]. This will help you rest. You'll get a good night's sleep,'" Houston said.

Houston says his son came home from work one night and went to sleep at around 10:30.

The next morning, he didn't wake up.

He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance and was put on a breathing machine for a day and a half.

Michael Houston was pronounced dead. Terry Houston says the autopsy showed that the only drug in his son's system was about 10 milligrams to 15 milligrams of methadone -- only one pill.Shared Grief

The Houstons are not alone in their sorrow.

Three other North Carolina families have lost loved ones to accidental methadone overdoses.

Eddie Ellis' brother, William Ellis, and Darlalu Craanen's husband, Robert Craanen, both died within a week of starting new methadone prescriptions.

Linda Simmons also lost her daughter, Ronda Wilson, a 34-year-old nurse, who was taking methadone for a bad back.

Simmons says the medical examiner called her to tell her that methadone poisoning had caused her daughter's death.

"One pill can be lethal," said methadone expert Lynn Webster, the president of Utah's Academy of Pain Medicine and a practicing pain-management doctor.

Webster analyzed methadone deaths nationally, and he says that the main problem is with new users.

The drug doesn't kick in right away, so new users are more apt to take more and overdose.

So, Webster says, doctors need to strongly warn patients not to soothe their pain with more amounts of the drug.

"If a doctor prescribes too much medicine, you may not wake up two or three days after you start your prescription," Webster said.

By "not wake up" Webster says he means "die."

Robert Craanen, an electrician with severe migraine headaches, took methadone as prescribed and died four days after starting the medication.

"After he passed away, I counted the days and counted the pills. He had taken the proper amount that was prescribed," said Darlalu, Craanen's wife. "He shouldn't have died."

Then there's Simmons.

Her daughter was a high-risk patient, overweight, asthmatic, and suffering from a chronic cough -- not a good candidate for a drug, like methadone, that depresses breathing.

After taking methadone, Simmons says, her daughter was found dead in her sleep by Simmons' grandson.

"Our daughter was a nurse. She just didn't know what she was taking," Simmons said.

"Even educated people don't understand the devastation this drug can cause or how quickly it can happen." Reacting to Methadone

Strangely enough, there was a warning sign in all these patients before their deaths.

Terry Houston woke up in the middle of the night when he heard his son snoring extremely loudly.

Eddie Ellis says he noticed the same thing before his brother, William, died.

"I could hear him snoring, outside," he said.

Doctors say uncharacteristic snoring is a sign that a patient may be suffering from methadone poisonings.

"We see this constantly. In tons and tons of cases that cross my desk, the patient was snoring, doesn't usually snore, making gargling sounds," said chief toxicologist Winecker.

"Those are all indications that the patient is toxic."

Innocent patients are dead, and many were never warned on their prescription bottles about the tricky nature of taking methadone.

The Houstons say they are angry at themselves that their son is dead.

"Angry for not being awake when he came home that night. … Angry at God for not giving him another chance."

Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures

Take care-

With love always, "Anna-Anna"