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Real Life Struggles/Support/Vent
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@junipersky said in Real Life Struggles/Support/Vent:
WHO APPLIES FOR A KITTEN WHEN THEIR CAT IS MISSING?!
WHO DOESN’T FREAK OUT ABOUT THEIR MISSING CAT WHEN IT IS FREEZING AND SNOWING?
probably someone who feels the need to take care of something when they are stressed and in mourning? just because they applied for a kitten doesn’t mean they AREN’T freaking out about their missing cat.
In Occam I trust.
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Well, I know for sure they aren’t. Part of our adoption process is a home interview and they said “Oh, I’m not too worried. They have always come back before!”
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@junipersky i’m sure you’ve tried something similar to this so I’m not sure if it would work but I’ve now trained (for the most part) the preschoolers to 3rd graders at my school to hand me their name strips (everyone has a laminated first and last name strip of paper they can put on their table/on floor work they’re leaving in place, ect) when they need me. It helps me a lot too, as I have people in order and I don’t forget (which in the children’s defense I did do a lot before instituting this). One of the lower elementary teachers does this in her class and I was skeptical but I’m a believer now. Once the kids realized that I would not get sidetracked (except for blood, poop, or vomit) and they could trust me to come to them, it worked well and I didn’t have to constantly say “give me two steps back/mind my bubble/I don’t want anyone’s hand in my pocket but mine” or accidentally bootybump some poor child to the ground or step on them if i took a step back or turned around.
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My brain: Can we lie down for a bit?
Me: Sure (lies down in bed)
My brain: That’s not what I said (proceeds to produce whatever chemicals/nerve signals that make you feel like you shouldn’t be lying down)???
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So I bit the bullet and did it. This is pretty much a last ditch effort to keep a roof over our heads but I know everyone is struggling right now. Thank you for reading.
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This last year has been one medical disaster after another. It started back in April with having issues with dehydration, then in August I was diagnosed with 15 cm cyst on my left ovary concerning for cancer. In October I had a hysterectomy to remove those cysts and get anything concerning out and was told I was cancer free. But at the end November, I was told that I have stage 1A Fallopian Tube Cancer - which they found after they biopsied that part some time after my surgery since that’s not the area they were looking in - and I’m starting chemo next week.
I was already struggling financially with all the medical bills from the emergency room visits and surgery that were piling up; the chemo is going to compound that. To top it off, I’m starting chemo right before Christmas so I’m going to be very immunocompromised and won’t get to see family, again, this year after having COVID at Christmas last year.
I am so, so, so, very tired of year after year of ALL THE BAD THINGS happening.
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lots of worse stuff going on, but I am just so tired.
Been sick for what seems like forever, now with the fatigue about the same level as it was when I got infected with covid for the first time. It’s never truly gone away completely. Going to get checked out soon for things beyond the symptoms. I’m trying to not feel super sad at just not having the energy to do much. Or when I push it, worrying that I suck since it feels like doing anything is doing so wearing huge weights. Or my energy is so low that tolerance for stuff I don’t like is low and I don’t wish to inflict that on other people. It’s affecting everything, work life, home life, game life. I know that it’s not my fault per se, but it’s hard to not feel very down, and disappointed, mostly in myself. -
@Nynrose I’m so, so sorry for the year you’ve had. Holidays are hard even when everything is going well. They’re harder when things aren’t. I hope you and your loved ones can find ways to safely keep in touch without compromising your health, and that you find some moments of peace and happiness amidst the darkness.
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My mom’s in the mid to late stages of dementia. Every Christmas Eve since I can remember, we’ve watched It’s A Wonderful Life. Tonight she was bored and agitated throughout, which means she doesn’t remember it or why we were watching it.
Just…fucking sucks.
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@Snackness I’m so, so sorry. It’s so hard watching those we love lose themselves. And it’s so strange grieving the loss of someone who physically is still here with us. The deepest of condolences and support.
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After having a tree come through the wall of our house last year, another tree fell on both of our cars this year. One is likely to be pretty wrecked, the other has one broken side window and some dents and dings.
Plus usual holiday-related stresses. Yay.
Formerly known as Seraphim73 (he/him)
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@Roadspike jesus what did you do to piss of the tree gods, this sounds personal
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@Roz We keep talking about how we can bury bodies in the back acreage, but never do it. I think they want their nutrients.
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This one barely rises to the level of a peeve, but: queerbaiting.
So I’m watching What If, a cartoon about MCU stuff set in alternate realities. The last episode I watched–the fifth one of season two, I think–was about what if Peggy Carter became Captain America instead of Steve Rogers. So she does the Captain America stuff, joins the Avengers, and I am not projecting when I say she and Black Widow are totally gay for each other. They never actually say they’re in love or do anything remotely sexual, but they’re coded as being perpetually ten seconds away from kissing…
…for the first few minutes of the episode. Then the plot kicks in and it’s about how Steve is back from the dead, so Peggy forgets she’s one thousand percent in love with Natasha to chase after him and tell him how in love with him she is, despite this breaking Nat’s heart (again, not projecting; the look on Nat’s face in several reaction shots makes it clear). And I could go on, but I don’t want to. Hell, it’s probably my own fault for thinking Disney would ever give me any amount of gay worth talking about. Just…ugh. You suck, Disney, and I don’t want to watch your queerbaity cartoon any more that I was definitely watching legally and not on a pirate site; so THAT will teach you a lesson.
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@GF While Disney+ doesn’t create Dr. Who, they do have exclusive rights to the new ones in the US and had to know what they were getting. And Dr. Who is TOTALLY queer. Queer with a capital Q Queer. Highly recommended for many reasons beyond that.
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Seeing this bloodless fuckmuppet of a congressman from my district who had his spine surgically removed years ago getting on camera and parroting the nativist nonsense of the opposition party in regards to hOw We ArE oVerRuN wItH mIgRaNtS and being constantly reminded how my country* has just ceded both tone and actual policy to frothing xenophobes screaming the same recycled shit of the xenophobes of centuries past is an absolute blood-boiler.
Obviously I can’t do a thing about this complete lack of moral courage but I reserve the right to be furious about it.
*I realize this isn’t a uniquely American problem, I just live here.
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After spending the better part of the last four years successfully dodging it, I got COVID at the (mandatory) work Holiday Party this year, because they had the genius idea to have it be a self-serve buffet. Over a dozen of us popped positive from it. PaxLovid knocked it on its ass in relatively quick order, and I’m on the mend, but. The experience itself? Sobering.
Now it feels my thoughts are stuck on an endless cycle of the fragility of human life.
Feels like I just cannot break out of a funk of thinking about how if things were even a little different, that would have just been it. A life’s journey ending due to awkwardly mingling and eating cold spinach dip. And realizing that situations like these were the capstone for so many people… I just can’t. It breaks my heart.
So… yeah. It’s a grey day outside, and I just wish I could stop thinking about death.
And fuck brainfog, too, while I’m at it.
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@Solstice - I’m putting this under a spoiler tag, because I hope maybe talking through similar things will provide some assurance and support. But. I also don’t want to trigger those fears further, or make things worse. So. If you don’t want to read it, PLEASE don’t. Either way. I’m so sorry you experienced that. I’m glad you came out ok on the other side. And I hope your mind gets gentler and kinder about how stressful drastic illnesses can be - even after they’ve physically healed.
Commentary re: unpromised time and having to come to terms with the impossible beneath the tag.
I don’t know if I should write this or not. But I’m going to, in hopes that maybe it will help ease some of your burden. If it makes things worse, I’m really, really sorry.I disappeared from the internet earlier this year as summer faded into fall. I got devastating medical news. It’s going to lead to an absolute horror-show ending that I am to my core terrified of experiencing and have NO IDEA what to do long-term about figuring out how to maybe cope with it.
If I’m lucky, I’ll have time to maybe make coping progress. If I’m not… Well. I won’t have to cope after, either way.
But the part that actually seems impossible… I know the whats. They are indisputable and not changeable at all. But. NO ONE knows the whens. Tomorrow? Next week? A random Tuesday a year and a half from now? A couple decades? There is zero timeline predictability from ANY of the specialists, despite the definite knowledge of how it ends.
I spent a few months honestly just crying for a lot of it, and telling people how much I loved them in between. I spent a lot of time broken-hearted at all the things I might end up missing out on doing before it comes. I grieved the loss that hasn’t come yet, but that will.
But the longer I grieved and the more I waited… The less patience I had for it. Some of the bucket list won’t ever happen, because my body isn’t capable. But. There are still plenty of things that I still may well have time to surprise myself with.
I baked and cooked for those I love, their favorites, even if I couldn’t eat with them. The joy as they ate was more than enough. I went on long drives with loud music and windows down and good coffee talking about everything and nothing with my spouse. I watched bad movies with my partner. I spent as much time telling my bestie how perfect she is as I could. I veg’ed with friends and gave my mom extra hugs. I still cried a lot. I will probably still cry a lot always - even if it does end up being decades.
I read books that have been on my to-read list for ages. I read old favorites from when I was super young. I bought tickets to every play and musical that came through our town, even if I did have to miss about a third of them because day of my body couldn’t. But I also saw a University production of my all time favorite musical that I thought legit did it better than when I saw it on Broadway.
And each day where the awful didn’t come… Each day made me just a little braver in regards to my capacity to deal with the bad one, when it gets here. And eventually, coping skills and therapy made progress. I /probably/ know how. I’ll never know when until it’s done. But like. The SCARY part of that is true for everyone. None of us know when.
And fuck. Maybe even I don’t know the how. Maybe a plane falls out of the sky on top of me, or I’m bitten trying to pet a rabid raccoon, or I get a Covid or flu or strep or other infection my compromised immune system can’t handle and the end comes without reaching the certain moment of awful after all.
When it comes down to it… Every single minute is an un-promised gift. Try to enjoy as many of them as you can. Give yourself compassion and grace on the ones that are harder or scarier. Tell the folks you love how much you love them. Pet any fuzzy thing that crosses your path. Spend more on dinner than you can maybe afford that week, and make up for that favorite special meal with a few weeks of instant ramen to fund it.
And just be as kind to yourself as you can manage. Because death is really scary. And there are no promises. But. Right now? In this moment, we’re all here, and trying, and doing our best. And that’s just as beautiful as it is terrifying.
I’m not going to posit any of what may or may not come next. I don’t know for sure what I think about that even for myself, much less for what it could be with anyone else. But. I believe in every fiber that makes me that love is forever, and that spark will get passed on long after those who love me are gone, because it will show in how they love others, and how those others love others, and on and on and on.
And when I forget how to grieve and mourn with joy and gratitude, and need a cathartic sob before carrying on… Andrea Gibson’s poetry has been unspeakably useful - to me. Her book ‘You Better Be Lightning’ is both heartbreaking and heartbuilding in all of the best and worst ways possible.
I’m rooting for you over here. I’m rooting for us all.
We're all mad here.
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@Jenn Quite the opposite of making it worse - this resonated really well with the sort of feelings I’ve been having, and I’m not even going to pretend that you didn’t make me have a good, productive cry.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. You laid it all out so beautifully.
