MeanLaureen
<font color=purple>Slam Dancer Extraordinaire<br><
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2001
- Messages
- 6,718
I don't even know how to start this...
For those of you that haven't read AZJazzyJ's report about the GPA3 - Jeff and I received wonderful gifts at the close of the GPA3 from a wonderful group of people here on the collectors board.
I wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone and to let you know that what you did was far far more than just give me a gift. You all have no idea how much you affected my life that night.
As you all know I haven't been able to go to WDW for 2 yrs because of my AOSD.
A while back, I noticed that Jeff seemed to be getting the adventure bug again and before you know it - we both had tickets and reservations in WDW and the GPA3 was born.
Jeff was the mastermind behind 99% of this. He did the majority of the work and gave so much of his time. I did what I could do and wish I could have helped more so Jeff deserves the majority of the thanks and the appreciation for this event. I was just the auction and games chick (well, except for the funny money - that was a Summers family project
)
Jeff, thank you for including me in the adventure again and for shouldering a huge chunk of the work and sticking by me even through my whining..lol
I had some serious anxiety over this whole trip. Whether I would be able to handle it health wise and what you guys would think of me after seeing how cruddy I look since the last time you saw me. I swear when I look in the mirrow, one of Cinderella's ugly stepsisters is staring back. I just need a big wart on my nose.
The first day there wasn't too bad. I have to say, if you like luxurious beds in hotels... stay at the Swan. OMG - the mattress was like one of those memory foam mattresses, it had a down coverlet, egyptian cotton sheets and a fluffy comfortor - thats right, not a icky hotel bedspread, a comfortor. That was topped with 4 down filled pillows on each bed. The whole thing was done in white and was like sleeping on a cloud. I think Jeff had a hard time dragging Mallorie out of bed the first morning.
After the third day I realized that this was a really bad idea. I was in tremendous pain. Probably some of the worst pain I have ever been in with the AOSD. I kept going though, and I think I kept the whining to a minimum but you'll have to ask Jeff. I also tried to keep a smile on my face as much as possible to the point where my face started hurting. Man is it hard to smile when you feel like that!
By Friday, Matt had to call my Rheumatologist because I was in really bad shape late Thursday night after everyone turned in for the night. My dr. said he wanted to see me first thing Monday morning when I got back anyway. Whoopie.
Saturday, I think it won. I couldn't do the "smile" thing anymore. It took everything out of me. I watched everyone else going off and going on rides and having fun and I couldn't even keep up with anyone just walking. As I told someone, all I ever saw was the back of peoples heads.
At this time, a depression had really sunk in. I was seriously feeling sorry for myself between the pain, thinking of how much fun I used to have and can't anymore, and having a pity party with myself over the fact that I will never be able to be that old person again. It was a fun party... we had cake. (just kidding)
A few people took time that afternoon and sat with me back in the trading area and tried to cheer me up. I had fun talking with MadStrawberry, Malcolm (Robyn's DH) and then I was relocated to party central with Manny, Michelle, Donna, Ed, Dana... so many people and not enough brain cells to remember who was there. To say they were having fun and getting into the spirit of things is an understatement.
That is when St. Ed took over. Yes... Raulandpinboy is a saint.
He decided I needed to have some fun and a friend to be with and he was going to be there for me. He left all the fun and his friends and took me over to MGM. We were going to go on the Rockin' Rollercoaster (He asked what was one thing I wanted to do but didn't think I could). The line was too long so we just walked the park, talked and he showed me some of the little things that get overlooked.
Ed, those couple of hours you took out of your day to spend with me meant the world to me and meant more than you ever will know. A lot was going on in my head right then and you taking time out to spend with me showed me that maybe I'm not so bad after all. Thank you so much.
At the actual finale to the GPA3 at the Pop Century, I was still feeling seriously defeated but you guys didn't let it get to me. Robyn embarrassed me to the best of her abilities, Ruthie was going to smack me back in line if she needed to (she's little but she's a fiesty one!) and Malcolm was bouncing around like he had a secret that was about to bust out of him.
And he did
Jeff and I saw the wrapped boxes in the corner under a table but neither of us knew what they were. Whenever I asked someone they would ignore me (well, since I have to ask Matt things 3 times before it sinks in it didn't seem too off the wall to me)
Towards the end of the night, Robyn presented the gifts to us. As Jeff mentioned earlier - he received a big statue of himself.. err.. I mean Goofy. It was the Goofy Pintrader Big Fig. and was perfect for him. And yes, the car ride back to the Swan was pretty funny.
I received the perfect gift. It was a artist sketch of Lady and the Tramp framed in a beautiful cherry wood frame. Anyone that knows how much my pups mean to me knows how perfect this is.
But I received so much more than a framed sketch that night.
At that point, the pain wasn't the biggest thing in my mind. The thoughts of giving up became so stupid in my mind.
I realized that even though to most of you I am a screenname on the DIS 99% of the time, and rarely get to see you all in person, that I just might be important in someone's life after all. (Post edits and all ) Maybe I wasn't as alone as I was feeling.
What you guys did for me was so much more than you could imagine... you have affected my life so much more than you will ever know.
And for all of this I owe you a lifetime of Thank Yous
You are all the best friends I could ever ask for.
Well, now that I have told you guys how much you mean to me, I have to ask one more favor.
I did go to the doctor this morning. He did a panel of blood tests as well as some other tests like xrays. He had some things he needed to recheck on me because there were problems with the last time he ran tests.
I wasn't expecting a phone call 5 hours after they took the blood tests. Usually they take 48 hours for results.
This time it was my doctor himself (usually the nurse calls) - he said that the lab brought up some results from one of my blood screens marked urgent. Apparently the CPK rate in my muscles is "alarmingly high" his words. This has never been an issue with me before and the doctor said he was really concerned by this.
He put me on a pred pack and took me out of work until further notice. I go back to see him in a few days.. if the test is still high then I will be going through other tests like a muscle biopsy to see what is happening. Could be Muscular Dystrophy, a tumor, or a number of other things. He did tell me it was really serious though and I had already realized that by the way he was talking to me. He said to me "You must be in tremendous pain" I felt like saying "Duh... I always am!"...lol
So if you have a couple of moments that you can say a little prayer that this will be something minor.. I would so appreciate it. I just can't handle yet another thing to worry about.
Thank you again, everyone. I love you all!!
For those of you that haven't read AZJazzyJ's report about the GPA3 - Jeff and I received wonderful gifts at the close of the GPA3 from a wonderful group of people here on the collectors board.
I wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone and to let you know that what you did was far far more than just give me a gift. You all have no idea how much you affected my life that night.
As you all know I haven't been able to go to WDW for 2 yrs because of my AOSD.
A while back, I noticed that Jeff seemed to be getting the adventure bug again and before you know it - we both had tickets and reservations in WDW and the GPA3 was born.
Jeff was the mastermind behind 99% of this. He did the majority of the work and gave so much of his time. I did what I could do and wish I could have helped more so Jeff deserves the majority of the thanks and the appreciation for this event. I was just the auction and games chick (well, except for the funny money - that was a Summers family project
) Jeff, thank you for including me in the adventure again and for shouldering a huge chunk of the work and sticking by me even through my whining..lol
I had some serious anxiety over this whole trip. Whether I would be able to handle it health wise and what you guys would think of me after seeing how cruddy I look since the last time you saw me. I swear when I look in the mirrow, one of Cinderella's ugly stepsisters is staring back. I just need a big wart on my nose.
The first day there wasn't too bad. I have to say, if you like luxurious beds in hotels... stay at the Swan. OMG - the mattress was like one of those memory foam mattresses, it had a down coverlet, egyptian cotton sheets and a fluffy comfortor - thats right, not a icky hotel bedspread, a comfortor. That was topped with 4 down filled pillows on each bed. The whole thing was done in white and was like sleeping on a cloud. I think Jeff had a hard time dragging Mallorie out of bed the first morning.
After the third day I realized that this was a really bad idea. I was in tremendous pain. Probably some of the worst pain I have ever been in with the AOSD. I kept going though, and I think I kept the whining to a minimum but you'll have to ask Jeff. I also tried to keep a smile on my face as much as possible to the point where my face started hurting. Man is it hard to smile when you feel like that!
By Friday, Matt had to call my Rheumatologist because I was in really bad shape late Thursday night after everyone turned in for the night. My dr. said he wanted to see me first thing Monday morning when I got back anyway. Whoopie.
Saturday, I think it won. I couldn't do the "smile" thing anymore. It took everything out of me. I watched everyone else going off and going on rides and having fun and I couldn't even keep up with anyone just walking. As I told someone, all I ever saw was the back of peoples heads.
At this time, a depression had really sunk in. I was seriously feeling sorry for myself between the pain, thinking of how much fun I used to have and can't anymore, and having a pity party with myself over the fact that I will never be able to be that old person again. It was a fun party... we had cake. (just kidding)
A few people took time that afternoon and sat with me back in the trading area and tried to cheer me up. I had fun talking with MadStrawberry, Malcolm (Robyn's DH) and then I was relocated to party central with Manny, Michelle, Donna, Ed, Dana... so many people and not enough brain cells to remember who was there. To say they were having fun and getting into the spirit of things is an understatement.
That is when St. Ed took over. Yes... Raulandpinboy is a saint.
He decided I needed to have some fun and a friend to be with and he was going to be there for me. He left all the fun and his friends and took me over to MGM. We were going to go on the Rockin' Rollercoaster (He asked what was one thing I wanted to do but didn't think I could). The line was too long so we just walked the park, talked and he showed me some of the little things that get overlooked.
Ed, those couple of hours you took out of your day to spend with me meant the world to me and meant more than you ever will know. A lot was going on in my head right then and you taking time out to spend with me showed me that maybe I'm not so bad after all. Thank you so much.
At the actual finale to the GPA3 at the Pop Century, I was still feeling seriously defeated but you guys didn't let it get to me. Robyn embarrassed me to the best of her abilities, Ruthie was going to smack me back in line if she needed to (she's little but she's a fiesty one!) and Malcolm was bouncing around like he had a secret that was about to bust out of him.
And he did
Jeff and I saw the wrapped boxes in the corner under a table but neither of us knew what they were. Whenever I asked someone they would ignore me (well, since I have to ask Matt things 3 times before it sinks in it didn't seem too off the wall to me)
Towards the end of the night, Robyn presented the gifts to us. As Jeff mentioned earlier - he received a big statue of himself.. err.. I mean Goofy. It was the Goofy Pintrader Big Fig. and was perfect for him. And yes, the car ride back to the Swan was pretty funny.
I received the perfect gift. It was a artist sketch of Lady and the Tramp framed in a beautiful cherry wood frame. Anyone that knows how much my pups mean to me knows how perfect this is.
But I received so much more than a framed sketch that night.
At that point, the pain wasn't the biggest thing in my mind. The thoughts of giving up became so stupid in my mind.
I realized that even though to most of you I am a screenname on the DIS 99% of the time, and rarely get to see you all in person, that I just might be important in someone's life after all. (Post edits and all
) Maybe I wasn't as alone as I was feeling.What you guys did for me was so much more than you could imagine... you have affected my life so much more than you will ever know.
And for all of this I owe you a lifetime of Thank Yous
You are all the best friends I could ever ask for.
Well, now that I have told you guys how much you mean to me, I have to ask one more favor.
I did go to the doctor this morning. He did a panel of blood tests as well as some other tests like xrays. He had some things he needed to recheck on me because there were problems with the last time he ran tests.
I wasn't expecting a phone call 5 hours after they took the blood tests. Usually they take 48 hours for results.
This time it was my doctor himself (usually the nurse calls) - he said that the lab brought up some results from one of my blood screens marked urgent. Apparently the CPK rate in my muscles is "alarmingly high" his words. This has never been an issue with me before and the doctor said he was really concerned by this.
He put me on a pred pack and took me out of work until further notice. I go back to see him in a few days.. if the test is still high then I will be going through other tests like a muscle biopsy to see what is happening. Could be Muscular Dystrophy, a tumor, or a number of other things. He did tell me it was really serious though and I had already realized that by the way he was talking to me. He said to me "You must be in tremendous pain" I felt like saying "Duh... I always am!"...lol
So if you have a couple of moments that you can say a little prayer that this will be something minor.. I would so appreciate it. I just can't handle yet another thing to worry about.
Thank you again, everyone. I love you all!!
, but I am telling you this: you have so much worth and value to SO many people......it is one of things where you have touched other people's lives in positive way but you don't even know it. Well I am here to tell you...YOU MATTER you redheaded nut! 
