Yes, Maureen, all these years the doctors dismissed my pain as diverticulosis AT THE SAME TIME that they're treating me for persistent kidney infections. I asked one of them if I could have kidney stones. And I was told, "Oh, hon, if you had kidney stones, you'd KNOW it! You'd be in ER instead of here." Two years ago, I insisted that the source of the pain be found. And the doc ordered a CT scan, which showed the stones (in both kidneys). He told me they were nothing to worry about and that all my pain was from diverticulosis--eat more fiber and learn to live with it. I carried that same CT to my urologist a month or so ago and asked him to show me the diverticulosis. He looked thru all the xrays and then said, "I can't. I don't see any. Your colon looks normal." He said if he'd seen that CT scan two years ago, he would NOT have told me to ignore the kidney stones. They were rather large and should have been dealt with then. Thank God, I found someone who can actually read an xray! I don't think my other doc even looked at the actual xray, just went by the radiologist report. The urologist looked at all the xrays BEFORE ever looking at the report. He said a good doc always reads the xrays himself first before checking the radiologist report. Thank you for the beautiful card, Maureen. I'm getting stronger each day. And I have plans to get outside later this week and start tackling a few of the easier weeds. Wish we'd get a good soaking rain first. I can't even see some of my sidewalks now. And many of my daylilies are blooming under Johnson grass. I gotta get those weeds out so I can see my bloomers. Wanna come help?? A little weedin' party at my place? LOL N.

I am sorry to hear you were in the hospital. I haven't had a gall bladder attack yet but I have heard they are painful. My Mom could never explain to me what was wrong with her other than to say she felt funny now and then. I took her to the Doctor and it turned out she had 6 gallstones. They can be dangerous if they move into the ducts and cause a blockage. My Mom had her gallbladder out by laproscopy and she was fine after with no problems. I have a friend who had his removed and he can't eat pork of any kind. Goes right through him. LOL Hope you don't have any more attacks before you get your gallbladder removed. Anne

I've been to the emergency room of Wills for exactly the same thing--floaters--years ago. And was there for many hours. It does take a while to be seen, it seems. BUT would you ever go anywhere else? Wills is rated the second best eye hospital in the entire country. Worth waiting for their excellant drs. So how's your wife doing? Hope everything was okay--I'm assuming it is, since the main concern this morning is your length of time in the ER. Have you considered tracking down the chief of staff's name and address and writing a letter addressing the problem and asking if there is any way to solve it for the good of future patients? To be honest, I haven't been so concerned about Wills lately, since DD works for a top doc on 'our' side of the river who has his own surgical center and who--with an 'in' I can get hold of in case of an emergency. But, if you do write, let me know and I'll try to find time to send a letter also (even though my visit was many, many years ago). Good luck to you and your wife

Jasdip, I think we all wish there was something we could do to take away some of the deep grief and sadness you are feeling. Even if it turns out that the group is not a good fit for you, I think you are wise to give it a try. There is some comfort to be found in knowing you are not alone, that others are going through the same thing and that they understand your situation and how difficult it is. I am glad for you that Tom left such beautiful words for you to find and treasure. Hold onto that and know that you were and are loved and cherished by your man even though he is no longer physically here to tell you himself. You may find signs of his presence in other ways if you allow yourself to be open to them. In my case, it's pennies. When my mom died, I started finding a single penny in the strangest places. I still find them to this day, only now they are always in groups of three symbolizing my mother, father and brother. I still remember when my sister was sorting through our mother's old papers and photos when she got sucked into reminiscing over the photos and found a slip of paper from a fortune cookie stuck to the back of one of the pictures. She opened it up and it said, "get back to work"! We always took that as a sign from our Mom that she was still around and still being a mom. As always, you know that you can always come here and that there will always be an ear to listen and a shoulder to lean on.