Not being on.

[fromolwyoming]

The last year or so, I have not been that active on here, and sporadic elsewhere. The reason being is, well, a few. Last Christmas, my mom, whom had MS, was rushed to the hospital due to a major blood infection. We all thought this would do her in, but she was able to come out of it, after 3 weeks in the ICU and regular section of the hospital. But it was clear this had done a lot to her, and taken a lot of the fight out of her. Not long after, she came down with pnumonia, and refused treatment. She passed away in her sleep, and spent 25 years fighting MS and its side effects. But at this time, it was too cold to hold services, and a lot of family that wanted to come, wouldn't be able to. So we put it off until Spring.

Now, going back to October before December, my grandmother was diagnosed with AFIB. They initially got it under control. But when my mom passed away, the stress and grief made her AFIB act up to where she not only had to go to the hospital, but had to go through physical therapy to get back to standing and walking (not a full on stroke, but she was getting really bad), let alone regular routines. So, within a week, my mom had passed and my grandmother was hospitalized for 3 weeks herself. Needless to say, this was not a good time. Not for my family, and really not for me. As the two family members I was closest too, either passed away or were in bad shape. My grandmother also received some emotional therapy while getting her physical therapy, so she came back in better spirits. But since that point, almost every other week, she would have to be hospitalized again.

Come my mother's services (she wanted a Celebration of Life, not a dour funeral), and after gathering at my great-aunt and great-uncle's house for lunch and conversation, my grandmother announced she would be moving. To Kansas. There, her one son, his family, and his wife's family (whom my grandmother had always gotten along with) all live within about a 100 mile area in Central Kansas. The reasons why to move are two-fold. When my mom was originally diagnosed with MS, my grandma promised she would not leave Laramie while my mom was alive, in order to support her as best as she could. The other, was that after consulting her doctors, they all said lower elevations would eliminate nearly all of her problems. And yes, I moved in and with her to Kansas.

We packed up the house that had been home to 3 generations of our family, where my grandmother had lived over 60 years, and held many memories for all of us, and downsized what we could. We ended up with 2 loaded, big, UHaul trucks, and a handicap van, filled to the brim with stuff. We now live in a small town, heart of Kansas. Wal-Mart is the main store (some downtown), but it being only 5k people in town, 8k in the county, its small. The house, surprisingly, is bigger than the one in Laramie, in almost every aspect. And now, plans are to sell the house in Laramie. We will still come down, every now and then, to visit the family there, but the house that had been home to 3 generations of my family, we will only be able to drive by. Honestly, that part still stings. Since coming down here, my grandmother's health has improved dramatically. In Laramie, she was on oxygen 24/7, low energy, and had to be extremely watchful and careful of her heart rate. Here in Kansas, she only wears oxygen at night. But we'll be spending the next year unpacking and putting things away.

So, yeah. Here, MWCBoard, and other places, I haven't been to much. And honestly, at night when I do have time to myself, I don't want to even think about sports. As I am now looking at having back surgery. I have a slipped, and deformed, disk that is pushing against the spinal chord. The only time I am not in pain, is when I sit kind of back in bed, with it adjusted so the mattress is against the back. Otherwise, small movements, walking, standing, bending over, turning, etc, cause pain. And it accumulates, with it going down the right leg, not only causing immense pain, but numbness and making my knee go out. So after all day, I just want to sit, and watch videos, no thinking, just not hurting.

I will try to be on more, as things are just starting to wind down, for now. But this year has been stressful. Hopefully the Pokes keep winning. Though I could do with less heart attack inducing games like tonights though.

[ZapPoke]

I feel for you, man. That’s a lot to deal with. I can kinda relate, except with me it’s my wife who has myriad health issues including four spine surgeries that never actually helped long term and in two instances made her worse. Try everything you can before you submit to surgery.

[Wyokie]

Glad you're back on and I'm deeply sorry for the loss of your mother.

[LanderPoke]

Dang, man. Sorry about your mother. Hope you show up here as much as you can. Cowboys stick together!

[TheRealUW]

That's a rough patch for sure. As best I can tell, life is just one tragedy after another. Some people certainly experience more tragedy than others. It really is a wonder that we can take so much poop and keep moving forward.

Try to find something in your life that is so important to you that it makes all the tragedy and evil stuff worth it...something that you can wake up each day and think, "I have something very important to do, and it is more important than any bad things happening in my life right now". You can impart some real good into the world when you find a purpose like that.

I don't mean to make it sound like I'm lecturing you or that you haven't already figured this stuff out already. I just wanted to let you know what has worked for me. If it helps, great! If not, don't mind me.

[Outlaw Arthur Morgan]

I'm sorry to hear it. I've been through some similar stuff over the last 3 years. Lost several close family members. Critters started dying off at the same time.

Add in all the insanity in the world lately, and it takes its toll. Last year I was on a kick to not support Wyoming athletics as I was so damn pissed off at NIL/Portal budgets and salaries that I decided not to support it anymore.

I changed my mind this year and it helps occupy some of those empty spots. I'd recommend finding anything that can keep you busy, entertained and moving forward. I got caught up a little too much inside my head and paid dearly for it.

Good luck - here if you need anything!