Overwhelmed and feeling sorry for myself

18 years ago

I'm taking a few minutes to sit and weep. Our sump pump has apparently failed and water is coming through the basement walls into the family room. On the tiled floor we have 6 X 8 area rugs that absorbed a lot of water and I noticed it in time to begin using the shop vac before the water reached the upholstered parts of the furniture. But that was at 8 AM; I am exhausted now, and the rain is expected to begin again in about an hour. Floods and tornadoes are a distinct possibility.

All of our six kids live at least an hour away from us; they gathered for the weekend at one son's house a six hour drive from here. Hub and I didn't go to our son's because Hub got out of the hospital Monday after a week on an IV to dissolve multiple blood clots in his groin. He cannot walk or stand yet except to go from bed to living room to bathroom and back to bed.

I was emotionally drained from worry about hub's illness to begin with. He is doing his best to keep us both cheerful and he certainly isn't making demands of me, but he feels awful hearing me work downstairs. He says he has more to worry about than I do because he has me to worry about, too! I'm kind of a quivering wreck right now.

Things have been going very badly for us the last three years. I have a mental "List of Future Failures" and the sump pump was on the list. I hope nothing else on the list fails till we get over this. As far as drs can tell, Hub's blood clots were not a recurrence of his colon cancer, so that is a good thing.

There. I feel better for having my little cry and vent. Though we can hardly afford it, I think I'll order a pizza to fortify us for tonight's ordeal; I have no energy for cooking. The sump pump man will be here in the morning; school is out, so my teacher-son said he'll be here tomorrow to see how he can help.

Thanks for listening.

Sherry

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Comments (22)

imabest
18 years ago
Sherry I'm so sorry for you ...you have a plateful right now..
But things have to get better they can't get much worse.
I will keep you in my prayers and hope your hubby gets well quick....hugs for you Imabest
jampack
18 years ago
Sherry, hugs for you and your DH ! Hang in there. Take care of yourself too.
Peace, Jan
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evatx
18 years ago
You sure don't need anything else on your plate! I hope your DH does well and that the rains quit right now. (((Sherry)))
jannie
18 years ago
I'm so sorry. My basement got flooded a few months ago, when the toilet backed up. My hubs found it overflowing and shut it off but he's not strong enough to do the clean up (he has MS) so I had to clean it and get a cesspool man to come and fix the darned thing. Luckily, the repair has held since then. I know how awful it is to clean up water damage. Groan!
lydia1959
18 years ago
When it rains it pours! In more ways than one, I guess.

I hope things look better in the upcoming days. (((Sherry)))

Feel free to unload whenever you want. The KT has lots of sympathetic ears.
ruthieg__tx
18 years ago
Sometimes like just plain old sucks...feel free to vent. I can't help but I'll send good thoughts...
sjerin
18 years ago
Do you belong to a church of some kind? I just know there are volunteers around (whether you belong or not-- maybe the Mormons?), who would like to help you. Perhaps a call to the city? I think I'd be a crying basket-case. I hope tomorrow is better; I'm glad your son can come tomorrow. As to your dh, if he is medically fragile, might he be able to stay a few more days at the hospital, especially if your house is in danger of flooding more? Whew, you've got a lot right now! I'll be thinking of you and saying a little prayer.
nodakgal
18 years ago
Oh hon its going to be a long night. I am sorry. Water troubles are the pits and you have had plenty to be a nervous wreck over besides that.
Hang in there!!!
glenda_al
18 years ago
I'm sorry!
babs77
18 years ago
Sherry,
Be at peace with yourself. Treat YOURSELF well. Nothing like this is easy. For your own sanity, treat yourself well. Take care, of course, of what you have to, but also remember you own needs....
God bless you...
clubm
18 years ago
It's okay. We all have pity parties. Try to think good
thouhgts.
vicki_lv_nv
18 years ago
(((Sherry))) I got a lump in my throat reading your post. If I lived close, I would come help you...and I mean that. And Babs is right...take care of YOU too. I wish I could just give you a big hug right now. Please know I am thinking of you.

Vicki
patti43
18 years ago
Can't blame you for having a good cry. You've had a stressful week and the sump pump was just the straw that broke the camel's back. We all need a shoulder to cry on once in a while and you have plenty of them here.

Hope things are brighter tomorrow (including the weather).
joyfulguy
18 years ago
I'm sorry to hear about that part of your problem, Sherry. I wish that I were close enough to come over to help ... but I couldn't make it till about morning.

Get some rest, keep peace in your heart ... and don't worry too much about Hub's feeling bad that you have all of that work to do alone. In a way ... that's his problem ... you don't need to take it on, too: and it won't help anything, if you do.

Tell him to just relax and go with the flow: there are some things that we can do something about, and some that we can't, and right now he can't do anything to help. So just relax and let what happens ... happen: don't sweat it.

Many men do have that yearning to "fix things" ... and feel especially troubled when weakness in their body won't let them. Quite a few seem to feel that such reflects on their integrity as a person ... on their "manhood" (whatever that may be). "Person"hood?? (!!)

(((((Sherry and Hub))))).

ole joyful
lyndy_pa
18 years ago
So sorry for all your misfortune. I wish I could help you. I will pray that things get better for you.
ritamay91710
18 years ago
So sorry to hear about all that is going on. It seems like a weird week for a lot of us!! Hang in there!!! It will get better!!
cheerful1_gw
18 years ago
Sherry, please take care of yourself, and I hope for things to get better for the two of you.
pianolady2008
18 years ago
So sorry for you and your husband. Life will get better. Hang tuff. ((((Sherry & hubby))))
bunglogrl
18 years ago
(((Sherry)))

I hope things get better soon.
dotmom
18 years ago
Sherry, like Vicki lv nv, I have a lump in throat. It is hard to understand why bad things happen to good people. Go ahead and have a good cry. I really believe it is not self pity, but an emotional release. My prayers and good thoughts are coming your & your DH's way. Dottie
sheesh
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks, everyone. I'm feeling much better today. The rain stopped overnight so I was able to sleep well. The basement is drying.

For all the trouble it caused yesterday, the sump pump wasn't broken at all! The man who came to put in a new one said the chain that operates the float got hung up on the side of the concrete lid! He looked at it for one second, pulled the chain and WHOOSH!! all fixed! I couldn't believe it. This man is our regular handyman, so I believe him. He wouldn't take anything but a cup of coffee and said he'd charge us double next time. What a relief that was. When son and his two little kids arrived a little while later things seemed so much better.

What a difference a day makes. Thank you so much for listening (reading?) yesterday, and sending all those good thoughts and hugs.

Sherry
sjerin
18 years ago
Oh, how wonderful for you! I'm so glad to hear things are not as dark as they seemed yesterday. Hopefully ds will do a few things for you while he's there. Hope your dh heals quickly!

Overwhelmed and feeling sorry for myself

Comments (22)

imabest

jampack

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Overwhelmed and feeling sorry for myself

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