Married w/ four kids.
Hi John..
Glad you're still here.. !
All of us with life long disease have had those same thoughts. But there is financial help and there is hope for bodily and mental health.
I find that because we are dependant upon the $$, sick part of the time and, we accept the responsibility of being a provider, it lays heavy on our minds when all the parts don't fit right.
There is financial help. Begin with your company. Do they have Long Term Disability or any disability program in place? Does your State have State Disability? Are you a Union Member with union disability available?
In a conspicuos place in your workplace, the law (in the US) requires employers to post the rights, responsiblities of employers and employees. Also there, any disability programs will be posted. Read and learn these postings. Go also to your HR department and see what information they have available.
If you have to take time off of work for your disease, open up the Disability Claims availiable to you. You don't have to be unemployed to collect.
Talk with your doctor and tell him/her that you are doing this and you need his/her cooperation in filling out the forms. How they phrase things on the reports can make a difference.
If you are unable to get a job because you get laid off (you will get unemployment in most cases) you can file for Social Security Disability (or if you are a government employee, there is a program for you under that entity).
Get your finances handled as best you can then, Know you have done your best and take the rest of this one day at a time. We bite off more trouble than we can chew most of the time.
We tend to think that our life insurance will solve all the problems. No, that option actually can create more problems for others.
Think it thru: you provide so Much more than $$ ever could to your children and wife with your friendship, love, guidance and just your physical presence in the house. These kids today need protection from the world, even if you have to give it from your bed.. ! To a kido, there is something re-assuring about Knowing your Dad is there and loves you. Think of the years of wisdom and knowledge you make available to them, so they can make good decisions for their lives. No one loves them like you do and is able to provide that for them, with the same care and concern, as you do. You are not replaceable. You are unique and possess self worth.
Then, there is your wife.
I didn't want to be a burden to my husband (of 40+ years) when I was dx'd in '97. After several years of horrible disease, losing my job and life changing daily habits, I expressed that concern to him. Know what he said? "Honey, your disease is my disease."
They love us and, every thing that goes with us. They are with us because they have feelings of tenderness and concern for our welfare. You know what true love says,? It says, "what can I do for you,?" Not, "what can you do for me?"
So, know that you are not alone in your situation, you are loved and cared about and, there is coming a happier day. Wait for it.
There is no such word as can't. Can't simply means wouln't. Grab as much as life as you can. Future is a long way away for those who don't believe. Don't build a foundation of life on sand. It will take it away with the tide. Love a little more, be unkind a lot less.
Sorry to hear that you are going through such a difficult time right now. I too have CD and am very aware of the benefits of stable employement and insurance benefits. I had surgery 3 1/2 years ago and have had CD for 35 years. Even though the pain is gone now with the surgery, I still have to deal with the depression associtated with having CD for so many years. I take an SSRI and go through talk therapy with a counselor to help me find the positive things in my life. Sometimes the only thing I can find is that I am breathing to face another day.
We can respond to irritation with a smile instead of scowl, or by giving warm praise instead of icy indifference. By our being understanding instead of abrupt, others, in turn, may decide to hold on a little longer rather than to give way. Love, patience, and meekness can be just as contagious as rudeness and crudeness.
well, it's a new day and a better one the most so far. I do appreciate what you guys said.
these thoughts of ending it have been with me for a very long time. i can remember them since about 4th grade. which is about the time my health started taking a nose dive. since then my mind continuesly plays out scenarios on ways to do just that. when i feel REALLY sick, these scenarios run threw my head alot more often. but on a good day it only happens a few times a day. i don't set around and plot my own demise. the thoughts just keep running threw like having a bad song stuck in my head. one i WANT to get rid of.
Having2LeftFeet (please don't take this the wrong way, i don't mean it baddly)(just my thoughts)
as far as "the easy way out", i don't want to sound like an ingrat, but i don't see life as a race and the one who sticks around the longest wins. there's nothing easy about it.I feel guilty as hell just for thinking about it. If i didn't have any ties to this world, i would of done it long ago. the thought "there are people out there who are in much worse shape then i am" so what, what am i inspiring them ? no....it's exactly that kind of thinking which has lead to alot of my suffering. not going to see the doctor because i wasn't passed out due to the pain. i was embarrased to see the doctor unless i was worse off then most because "there were people out there who were worse off then i was". I'm not sure if i just try to impress the doctors by holding off as long as possable or what. My wife usually has to drag me to the ER. I hate those places.
2leftfeet, i am sorry to hear that you are in such bad shape. as far as the pills.....i have you beat...not a good contest to be the winner in...and the deal with your hubby...i'n not sure which one is worse, your condition or living with someone hooked on liquar..(((((2leftfeet)))))i'm sorry.
i hope i didn't sound like i was upset or anything. it's just i was raiseed not to complain.
CheerDad,
I know all the stuff you and the rest of the guys from the Crohn's forums deal with and am too embarrased to say anything there. makes me fill like a wimp. I'm not sure which one i hate worse the Crohn's or the Crohn's related depression. btw, what is the "SSRI"
not sure what to say,.........thanks. lol, i'm gonna print it off and see what i can find out.I print it beacuse my memory is shot. It kills me to think of having to be "DAD" from my bed. as far as the rest, it's easy to loose sight of sometimes. 
I don't try to sound like an idiot. I guess it just comes naturally. ok, that's funny, my print just changed colors all on it's own. 
well, i guess that's fitting. goes nicely with my last statement.
Married w/ four kids.
Post Edited (JohnD) : 3/19/2005 6:38:59 AM (GMT-7)
John,There is no such word as can't. Can't simply means wouln't. Grab as much as life as you can. Future is a long way away for those who don't believe. Don't build a foundation of life on sand. It will take it away with the tide. Love a little more, be unkind a lot less.
Hi John...
Your font colors just changed on you? Ha ha.. A little Twilight Zone music please.. Do-do, do-do.... haha..
Not sure of your age but, think I have a decade or two on you and, that gives me a bit more hind-sight. (If I can see around my rump.. ! haha)
You made me laugh when you said you had to print things because of your memory. I think my area around my computer is wallpapered with yellow sticky notes.. !
Each of us have the IBD but, for all of us, there may be a different twist on some symptoms, mental state, finances, family etc.
Don't forcast yourself in the roll of being dad from the bed. That of course, was just an example to relate the thought that, no matter how sick we are, we are still of value.
Generally speaking, chronic, incurable disease automatically brings depression. It means a change or loss in our lives that creates the grieving process, as if losing someone we love. The difference is, this is life long and has no closure. There is a saying, "Time heals all wounds." Well for the most part, that is true Except, when the wound is new each morning.
Getting the picture of why we are depressed? I know we are supposed to "not dig our own hole deeper," but, the difficulty in being able to do that is, we are In the hole and the only tool we have is a Shovel. What else can we do???
When we are "down," we don't Feel like looking for help. That's another point of this: it creates its own visious cycle.
We need help to find help. Make sense? So, discuss with your wife, brother, sister, parents.. someone.. the idea of them looking for you then, helping you get to the appointments.
I know you don't like doctors. You're a man, aren't you? Comes with the territory. But, with good counseling, there will come the tools to co-exist with this disease and get that song out of your head.
You sound like a very strong, responsible, take control, take action kind of man. Well, in this situation, that can be a deficit. Strong personalities tend to identify their worth with their ability to provide support to others, whether it is financial, mental, physical or emotional. It takes some work for us to re-train our thought/identity processes.
So, maybe you can print off a couple of things from this post:
I am alive therefore I am valuable.
And the other thing would be to print the whole post and just hand it to someone you know will pick up the phone and get an appointment for you with someone to talk with.
A 100 mile journey is accomplished one footstep at a time. Get your tennies on.. ! :)
We can respond to irritation with a smile instead of scowl, or by giving warm praise instead of icy indifference. By our being understanding instead of abrupt, others, in turn, may decide to hold on a little longer rather than to give way. Love, patience, and meekness can be just as contagious as rudeness and crudeness.