View Full Version : Life is a Voyage
quadbliss
01-14-2007, 04:26 PM
The human lifetime is a voyage at sea. You may not have control over the ship’s itinerary, but you decide how to spend your days. You can view the foreign lands from the rail of the ship, or disembark and explore the various ports of call. You can even confine yourself to the familiar, yet constricting four walls of your cabin. The choice is yours. Your passage is paid.
Mike
Yes but some days I think I'm on the Titanic. Not all days but every once in a while the boat seems leaky. AL.
CindyM
01-15-2007, 07:57 AM
We hear you. Al. Please don't forget that there are a lot of us in that same boat with you! [hug]
musicsmiles
01-15-2007, 11:04 AM
Hi,
Talk about hitting the nail on the head!!! Even as a caregiver to my husband, who has ALS, I feel I am on that ship with you all. He has really good days.....when the waves are calm. Then yesterday...Oh my!! he was exhausted and really feeling awful, from not sleeping the night before, the waves were high and mighty.
He was diagnoised with the bulbar onset...and each month I see the disease is moving more progressively through his body...harder for him to swallow, his speech getting worst, and oh, help us the sleepless nights.
Musicsmiles
John1
01-15-2007, 11:47 AM
I like your Titanic metaphor, Al. The only thing wrong with it is that the Titanic sank on a calm night and most PALS find the trip pretty stormy. Another problem with the all-expense paid cruise that we're all supposed to be enjoying is that most of the ports-of-call are not wheelchair accessible.
ellisa
01-15-2007, 02:45 PM
Well some days I feel like I am floating in the ships dingy, awaiting rescue.
Ellisa
That's true John but the Titanic was the most famous boat that I thought the Americans would recognize. LOL. ALS is like the iceberg. Cold, dark, formidible, and mysterious. And a sneaky killer. AL.
I think this thread was supposed to be positive but turned depressing pretty quick. Are you Canadians getting cabin fever up there? It is that time of year.
Liz
John1
01-16-2007, 09:46 AM
I think this thread was supposed to be positive but turned depressing pretty quick. Are you Canadians getting cabin fever up there? It is that time of year.
LizLiz,
I don't think it is the weather but more that not many people related to the metaphor of having ALS being an all-expense paid cruise on the good ship Lollipop.
John,
I hear where you're coming from. I'm not quite "on board" with the ALS is bliss thing myself but you guys usually sound a little more upbeat.
Liz
Hey! We're upbeat up here. Some snow on the ground. Not enough to ski on though. Cold as heck and sunny. Crisp clear winter day. Doesn't get much better than that. Except of course if you are someplace warm and sunny with a frozen Margarita by your side. AL
vantec
01-16-2007, 09:30 PM
Hi,
Talk about hitting the nail on the head!!! Even as a caregiver to my husband, who has ALS, I feel I am on that ship with you all. He has really good days.....when the waves are calm. Then yesterday...Oh my!! he was exhausted and really feeling awful, from not sleeping the night before, the waves were high and mighty.
He was diagnoised with the bulbar onset...and each month I see the disease is moving more progressively through his body...harder for him to swallow, his speech getting worst, and oh, help us the sleepless nights.
Musicsmiles
I finally found the combination of medications that will let your husband sleep. I have ALS, and had many nights where I could not sleep the whole night, up for more than 36 hours.
One tablet Soma 325mg, one tablet 2mg Xanax, two tablets 100mg Trazodone. I can get up to six hours of sleep, with these medications.
I hope it will help him.
Conrad
Barbie4
01-16-2007, 10:38 PM
I love Quadbliss, this person mentally has found a way to find peace within and learn to accept and enjoy what they have. I have no idea how they do it, with such a disease, but I wish I knew the secret.
As a caregiver and friend, how can I help my loved one find that peace.??How can I comfort a mother losing the ability, very quickly, of parenting her own 3 children.? How do I help the husband who is unbelievabley amazing and burning the candle at both ends to keep up.? How do I comfort the Mother of the woman dying from ALS and the inlaws who are suffering and doing their best to help, to find this "bliss", How do I find the "bliss" myself.?
Quad bliss, I envy you. I wish my pals could feel your serenity. I wish her children could feel your serenity and comfort. But what I really wish is that I could close my eyes and this whole nightmare, would go away and we would be back to last Christmas 2005 and Gail and I would be kareokeing "paradise by the dash board light" on her daughters 'Barbie" machine and we wouldn't have a care in the world.
Barbie4
Al, Hey it's even been cold as heck way down here in so. N.M. 31 for a high here today and in Angel Fire in no. N.M. it was 31 below zero last night! not our usual weather, though.
That is cold for down there. Hope you have a furnace in your place. Stay warm. AL.
CindyM
01-17-2007, 09:08 AM
Good morning Mike, Liz, AL and everybody! I think the weather metaphor also fits for this thread. Some days it is unbearably cold, other days it pours, and other days it is warm and sunny. It is OK to acknowledge the discomfort and unpredictability. It is even OK to complain a bit. But we are smart not to let it overtake us. We've said it before: we can define our own attitude.
musicsmiles
01-17-2007, 02:39 PM
I finally found the combination of medications that will let your husband sleep. I have ALS, and had many nights where I could not sleep the whole night, up for more than 36 hours.
One tablet Soma 325mg, one tablet 2mg Xanax, two tablets 100mg Trazodone. I can get up to six hours of sleep, with these medications.
I hope it will help him.
Conrad
Hey, Conrad
Thanks for all the info. My husband and I will check out these meds with his doctor and see if he can take them and that they don't counter act with what he is taking already. Thanks again
Musicsmiles
quadbliss
01-17-2007, 03:29 PM
Hi Barbie4,
One thing I am learning is that it is very difficult (if not impossible) to change someone's outlook if they are too deeply rooted in their pain, and not motivated to change their perspective. I would say to you that life seems to randomly distribute various circumstances to people. You can't think in terms of the way things should be, or used to be. I try to deal only with the present moment. The only circumstance I really have any control over. I have decided to take the situation I have been dealt as a challenge, to turn difficult circumstances into a tool to forge myself into a better person, to find a way to make a brighter reality for those around me. All you can do is be a positive example.
Mike
