Marlene, you have been in my thoughts and prayers also, even though I haven't posted either. Even if you can legally take down the gates, I wouldn't touch them. I would ask the court to order him to take them down himself, since he bought the materials and built them, he should have to go out and take them down. The court should order them to be taken down by a specific date so that if he doesn't comply you can call the police and either force him to do it or face being arrested for failure to comply with a court order. Your lawyer should ask the judge to enter this order, so that you don't have to go out and expose yourselves to this maniac. I had a nasty neighbor years ago who I always just thought was a jerk who come over and stole our concord grapes off the vines. Even when I cought him doing it he laughed and said the former owners said that he could have them and since she had planted th vine, it was her decision. His stupidity left me speechless. We put a lock on our gate, but the vine was close enough to the fence that he could reach across and take the grapes, which he did the following year. Moments after I witnessed him stealing the grapes for the third year in a row, I went over and demanded he give them back to me. He responded that he and his wife had already eaten them. I knew he was lying, but when his wife meekly confirmed the lie, I knew by the way he looked at her and the way that she cowered that she was a battered spouse. Watch your neighbor if he has any family and see how they look at him and how they react when he speaks to them. The signs will be obvious if you're looking for them. A couple we visited once were having a disagreement and he turned around suddenly to look at her and held up his hand. She flinched in such a way that we knew that she was used to being struck by him. Watch what this man does with his hands while he's talking and you will know if he is violent. Cheryl

You have my prayers for her, as well - along with some hopes that the need for more surgeries later may be at least reduced, preferably no longer necessary. And for her family and loved ones, that they may not be unduly alarmed, though this has become something of a familiar road to travel, by now. ole joyful

Shelly, I wish you well. I wonder if you are having the same thing I had done 4 years ago. After several MRI's and Xrays to diagnosis the problem I went to the Neurosurgeon who injected cortizone into my neck and also my lower back. I went three weeks in a row for the shots. I also have arthritis and bulging discs. The steroid injections worked wonders and I haven't had to return yet. I am starting to get a few twinges in the same lower back area but so far nothing like what I had experienced before. There were days when I couldn't get out of bed because of the lower back pain. I didn't have any difficulty with the injections and I opted to have local shots of Zylocaine to numb the area rather than be sedated. The only pain I felt was from the first shot of Zylocaine- and that pain only lasts for about 10 seconds and then you're numb. Then he injected more Zylocaine to numb the rest of the area. My Neurosurgeon is a genius and the needles he used are amazingly thin. Most of the others patients who were there for the shots chose the sedation. I'll be thinking of your tomorrow. Try to relax.

All of my best thoughts and wishes are coming to you right now, and will continue to come. What an ordeal, and not being able to find out what's going on has to be awful! All good wishes, white light, and everything else holy going out right now and for as long as necessary. Nancy