Reflections of 2010, how was it ?

[sean]

Almost over,........... I tend to look back at a year as a package.

I've had some high points and some intense low points. I'm a bit worn out, it has been a rough year. With some briliant high point changes/developments.

My kidneys' have scared the life out of me...or rather into me. I've had a lot of pain and worry........BUT.....a long 12 months later, I have been seen too.
The picture is clear...it's decision time...surgery or ?
So I'm in a better place with it. (I have questions,,,,later)

My rabbit passed away, I was hit by grief for weeks, I miss him so much.

On the flip side....biggest, best achievement in decades, getting into University......
flip back, it has been horrific! 1st semester, I am trying to wipe from my memory. It was constant panic, so many mistakes, signed on full time, 4 units. I was sick working on 4 assignments, same time. Thinking it was the part time 2 units I thought I signed up for.
4 units per semester maybe managable for those fresh out of college!
I was freaked out over my PC skills/literacy, (self taught, didn't know basic stuff)
Toward the end, a couple of weeks building to a couple of days of break down, left the Uni' choked holding back tears feeling hopeless and for me, over exposed..........giving up.
Felt much better after, a glimmer of determination not to give up. Slowly sorted it out.
Took a leave of absence 2nd semester, completed a few computer courses. As I tend to do, I totally underestimate myself.
Now, 2wk break, 3rd semester (ending Jan 21).
I've had no problems, a little ahead of my work/assignments, getting good feedback. It has been a slow start to my tertiary studies, 1 year, 1 unit, 1 pass, so far. I am expecting better than a pass for 2 units now, (work submitted)
First year at Uni, rather not remember it.
Confident and enjoying it now, think I need a credit/distinction before I fully embrace myself as 'student'.

Flip...and a great friend has moved in, I have a lodger. We get along really well................well, !the toilet paper is supposed to roll off from the top!, not the underneath!...it's unbareable! LOL!

How was 2010 for you?

ps, Good health and Happines for 2011 to everyone. sean.

[NerdaliciouS]

Aww, poor rabbit. :( My kitty's tail got run over by a car! Poor animals.
I think the first year of school is always rather... off. But you made it! And did a bunch of awesome stuff, so congrats!
And good luck with your decisions. Hopefully your kidneys start to behave a tad bit more. :)

I'd have to agree, though. I like to look back as a package as well.

Definitely have had some ups and downs. 2010 was supposed to be my yearrrrrrr! :signs120: It wasn't that great, but, lol. Starting to look at myself with "better eyes" so to speak. Not as self conscious all the time anymore. And I have confidence! I've rid myself of those who do nothing for me, and gotten closer to those who do. Back's been a major pain, that's probably one of the worst things to happen this year. That and the "ohmygodaremykidneysdying" pain. Managed to go to the Caribbean Festival (which I LOOOOOOOOVE! ...Heritage...Tradition... It's in my blood, lol) and had the time of my life. First time I've gone back since my nana passed. Befriended an insanely loving cat named Thumper. :D Volunteered a ton, and actually got out of the house! Got myself back in school, I'm maintaining a pretty good gpa, and yeah. Stuff's surprisingly been alright, even though it sure didn't seem like it for a while. So I suppose I've had a rather good year.


P.S. OCD coming out here, but I agree! Toilet paper has to come from the front or not at all! :connie_mini_lalalal

[Dodger67]

Seems to have been the year of the student! I too registered at a distance learning university, didn't do too badly - got 2 distinctions and flunked only one of the 6 modules I completed. I've decided to do a Masters in Disability Studies after the Bachelors. This forum and everyone on it is the inspiration for my desicion to go for DS.
I've also discovered that teaching is not for me.

Health and medical: I am well, no complaints other than a little extra weight. I managed to consult my GP only once - for a sore throat and avoided specialists except for a routine check on my heart valve, which is ticking steadily exactly as the manufacturer intended. No SB related issues at all.

Family: 2010 has been a good year. Nieces and nephews are thriving and growing up much too fast for me to keep up.

[eng188]

2010 was fascinating. Nothing profound, but look at it. Our world doesn't look like a sci fi book.

I lost a lot of weight, and gained some back. My legs got looser, then tighter. GI issues have, in general, been easier. I just took a huge trip for 4 days up to Santa Barbara, 6 hours away, and handled it really well for the most part. Bowl and bladder cooperated. Didn't lose anything sentimental. I feel very good about that.

2011 will bring more traveling, and hopefully much more personal growth. Nothing terribly wrong with 2010, but it wasn't lifechanging either. I'm thankful for a pretty good year.A year that I'd be OK with living again if I had to.

[Emm]

Interesting stuff guys.

As for me it's been a sort of quite bumbling time as per usual.
But the extra money from being classified "Disabled" has come in really handy. Have been able to do things I couldn't afford before. Had my bathroom and bedroom decorated out by professionals (used to have to ask the volunteer services to do anything like that) - and then had a new carpet in the bedroom - first proper floor covering for 15years - AND then a new adjustable bed. Unfortunately my plans to visit my daughter in Ireland have had to be postponed because of the weather problems and the thought of having Xmas on my own coupled with worrying about wether to go or not just about did my head in and I suffered a really bad depression, actually felt I was going off my head - can't cope with a lot of stress now at my age!!
Thankfully all better now that day has come and gone, brings back so many bad memories from a life of violence from my OH years ago.
Will be off to my daughters on Jan 26th -- Go away snow!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!..:peace:

[Nettie]

Oh Emm...:happy065: Glad you're feeling better!

This has been such a bittersweet year for me. Terrible, to watch how nothing we did, helped my daughter. To struggle day in and day out with worsening symptoms. And then have doctors laugh at us, tell us my daughter's lying, or just lift their shoulders, unable to help us. It was really such a tough year.

But then...it was also the year my daughter has finally been diagnosed. We had doctors that really tried and some that went out of their way to help us. We had family and friends that supported us, more than I ever expected them to.

It was also the year I saw my baby turn into a sweet, caring, beautiful little boy. The year I saw my daughter succeeded in getting control over her terrible tantrums, turning into a gorgeous, loving and strong little girl that can overcome every obstacle in her way and still be happy and joyful. It was also the year I saw my talented, eldest boy achieve what we knew he was capable of, both academically and sport-wise, and saw him starting to possibly outgrow his epileptic seizures.

It was a difficult, heartwrenching year, that turned out good for all of us. I have high hopes for 2011!

[Emm]

This has been such a bittersweet year for me. Terrible, to watch how nothing we did, helped my daughter. To struggle day in and day out with worsening symptoms. And then have doctors laugh at us, tell us my daughter's lying, or just lift their shoulders, unable to help us. It was really such a tough year.

But then...it was also the year my daughter has finally been diagnosed. We had doctors that really tried and some that went out of their way to help us. We had family and friends that supported us, more than I ever expected them to.

It was also the year I saw my baby turn into a sweet, caring, beautiful little boy. The year I saw my daughter succeeded in getting control over her terrible tantrums, turning into a gorgeous, loving and strong little girl that can overcome every obstacle in her way and still be happy and joyful. It was also the year I saw my talented, eldest boy achieve what we knew he was capable of, both academically and sport-wise, and saw him starting to possibly outgrow his epileptic seizures.

It was a difficult, heartwrenching year, that turned out good for all of us. I have high hopes for 2011!

So glad things have turned a corner for you and thanks for your kind thoughts as well.

[ainemc]

It has been the maddest year of my life but I am only 22 lol.
2010 began with me learning to be a good mummy to my baby girl Caitlin who was only a few weeks old when 2010 began. I learned to cath, learned how to do physio, learned how to check for signs of shunt malfunctions. I laughed alot and cried alot. It was very up and down. I was with Caitlin while she went through 3 shunt revisions, an MRI scan and various other scans, blood tests and appointments throughout 2010. I watched her grow into a gorgeous, sweet, funny little girl who is very smart and curious about everything that's going on around her. I watched her learn how to roll over, to sit, to scoot around the room on her tummy, to clap, to wave, and start talking.
Caitlin was there when her dad proposed to her mum and we bought our first home together. Another highlight was Caitlin's first birthday. What an amazing day. I'm so proud of her.
I grew up alot this year! Here's to 2011. Happy New Year everybody :happy065:

[Ziggy]

2010 has been a rough year for us, and I'm not looking forward to the early parts of 2011 either.

Micah had a routine MRI in April that showed he needed to have a chiari decompression and arachnoid cyst drainage ASAP, plus he had what they thought was a cyst in his original myelo defect... we had less than 24 hours notice for the first surgery, and knew that as soon as he'd recovered from that one, he'd be having the second one done. The second one turned out to be a detethering, the cyst was actually more of a syrinx. In between the two, my daughter had to have a muscle biopsy for what the doc thought was a metabolic disorder, but it came back inconclusive. We're still trying to figure out what's up with her, and we're on our 7th specialty...

Micah's detethering was in June, he spent 3 weeks in the hospital (2 of them on the rehab floor), and then in September he had a routine MRI that showed shunt malfunction, his Chiari is still too tight, and he still has a syrinx under the arachnoid cyst that refuses to drain. So we're looking at surgery in January for those. His shunt was replaced the next morning, and failed immediately. So he was back in the OR for the second day in a row. He's doing better now, but still looking at another decompression following his next MRI in two weeks.

And then we found out today that DH has to have a biopsy of a mass in his chest. :( Tomorrow. We won't get results until Monday, and the kids and I are stuck in oklahoma until Monday because we'd flown down instead of driving like we usually do.

[Nettie]

Ziggy, I'm so sorry for all that you and your family went through this year! :happy065: Stay strong and hang in there. I hope the results of your hubby's test will be all negative. Keep us posted? And good luck with the surgery needed in 2011!

[Gymp]

Well it's New Years Eve Day...time to post here...My 2010 was kinda Meh,pretty much same old same old.I've noticed myself getting somewhat weaker in my legs,I'm tripping and falling alot more than ever.In November I fell off a ladder and buggered up my right shoulder when I hit the ground,using my arms to break the fall.It started feeling somewhat better and what do I do the other day,trip over my feet out on the concrete sidewalk and down I go again,of course on my right side to re-bugger up the somewhat healed right shoulder.

Our 26 year old daughter is still keeping us on our toes from one escapade to another.We found out her new Beau is in prison doing 2 years for armed robbery.Geez...how do we welcome him into the family with open arms when he gets out,after hiding all the valuables.

On the upside.
We threw my Mom a surprise 80th birthday party that went off perfectly.All of her old friends/family that are still with us were there.Other than the rain that day it was perfect to see the look on her smiling face,seeing all those people coming together just for her.It was indeed a priceless day.

Business is picking up somewhat I've got a few logos/letterheads and business cards on the go and it looks as if I'll be getting a few more contracts for more to keep things going at a steady pace for the foreseeable future.
The garden did really well this year.We filled up the freezer with loads of string beans,stewed tomato,parsley,basil,green peppers and dill.We were able to give lots away to other people as well.Even the cucumbers did well despite the plants getting the downy mildew.I was able to keep the fungus at bay long enough to get a reasonable sized crop off the plants before the fungus finally took over.I also built a large wooden compost bin that makes us able to recycle 100% of all our yard and vegetable waste.
I also planted a strawberry patch this year and after seeing its growth by the fall we should have a good bunch of berries next June.

All in all,other than me falling down all the time,it's been just another year and I'm hoping for more of the same for 2011.Except,I'm rather hoping our daughter will ditch her new love of her life.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2011,I know I will...

Steady as she goes...and a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL !!!
Gymp

[dahliafaolan]

Hmm looking back on 2010...

Well it's definitely been a year of ups and downs. Started the year with my first hospitalization due to a UTI in 12 years. Grandmother went into the nursing home right after that by her own choice. Got a good job right after that.

My heath has been sort of up and down with UTIs coming more frequent and more bowel accidents even with my having the cecostomy. Finally got some of my mood swings under control with hormone shots.

It's been a rough and bumpy year for my love life as well. It hasn't been a good year for my boyfriend. His dad had a major stroke in October, but knock on wood, he seems to be having no major long lasting effects from it. But we're going on four years and two months on Wednesday so we're doing good.

So all in all, I'll say it's been a decent year, but I'm hoping next year will be better.