The ICI Experience:

I thought this would be an appropriate blog post for New Year's Eve, 2007. Here's to a 2008 that is free of conflict that is unnecessary and unsanctioned by the people of these great United States of America. How does this relate to the topic of ICI, you might ask. Here's a tie-in: Have you ever wondered what might become of you if there were actually a war in THIS country? Or am I the only morbid person with CI who envisions a life (if I lived through the initial attack) where I was suddenly on my own and off my meds? Meds, several of which say plainly that suddenly stopping could cause seizures and other uncomfortable sounding consequences. I'll stop the morbidity there, though I could go on envisioning what my life might become in the event of a war on American soil. I do understand that it's not all about me-me-me. My New Year's resolution for 2008 is to wipe the clutter out of my home and my life, for good. I'm sure you'll be hearing more a

Click the link above the picture for the sideshow of all his work. The photographer's website has some interesting stuff: The Gargoyle's Domain Good "Pain" section

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Have A Kickin' Kwanza and a Happy New Year! Here are a few items I'm looking at now: Keep My Mind Focused on Good Health O Lord, I find it hard to remember what it was like to be healthy. Help me keep my mind focused on good health and strength. Let me be positive about the course of treatment I am undergoing. And let me always have faith, great faith, in your presence in my life and your glory in my health. From "Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain and Illness" by Maureen Pratt. Psycmaster: Non-Denominational Spiritual Psychology and Mental Health A Spiritual Approach to Holiday Blues by Judy Marshall, PsychMaster.com Positive Strategies for Dealing With Holiday Blues Mental Illness: Coping With the Holidays - Brochure, applies well to any chronic illness. NAMI Award Winners - books and DVDs recognized by NAMI for their outstanding contribution to public understanding of mental illness. I've never been steered wr

of Absence, Sickness, Holiday? Take your pick. More when I'm able, and I apologize for missing last Monday with no explanation. Thanks for checking in! 1/5/07 Update - Turned out I didn't have to take any more Mondays off. I'm thankful for that.

My new cyber friend, Aviva Brandt, author of the Sick Momma Blog , honored me this week by tagging me for the "7 Random Things" meme. In her link to my page on the ICIE, where she officially "tags" me , she says "The hardest part of illnesses like mine and so many other people is that we don't look sick so people often don't realize how hard our illnesses hit us. Her (my - Sherril's) blog makes me think about that aspect of my illness. She's also the one who I first saw mention NaBloPoMo, which was a positive experience for me. Mostly." I think Aviva's blog is excellent, and I don't even have any kids. This is the first time I've been "tagged." For anyone else out there who doesn't know what some of this stuff means, here's how I got my education on the topic of the "meme." What IS a Meme??? The Daily Meme definition The more esoteric Wikipedia definition And the best explanation imho, from How

"Fence" by David S. Bell, MD Maybe this isn't so much an answer to the question as a possible solution. I had already found that Clonazepam greatly helped me to sleep, especially when I was having one of those "mind racing" kind of nights that just wouldn't quit. When I found this article in Dr. David Bell's Lyndonville News , I knew why: Clinical Notes The clinical notes for this newsletter is kindly suggested by a reader who sent information to the website. It is extraordinary how much knowledge and information is available, and really needs to be collected and presented. It is because of this that I would like to re-organize the research group (see below). For years I have said that clonazepam is perhaps the most useful medication in ME/CFS, and because of the notes of a reader, I now understand why. Clonazepam is a medication distantly in the anti-seizure and benzodiazepine class. I say distantly because it is different from Xanax™ or Valium™. Clon

I got the idea to take pics of my sleep study from this pictorial description of a study at Stanford U. Sleep Disorders Clinic, on the talkaboutsleep.com website. Here is the link where they describe what all goes into a sleep study: View A Sleep Study . Please refer there for more nitty gritty details. So, here's my View of a Sleep Study , taken at the Tift Regional Medical Center Sleep Center in Tifton, GA. This is the main desk where I guess they watch all the feedback from the gizmos they had me hooked up to. The bed! The room. The bathroom was small but nice. It seemed to be for my own private use. I never saw any trace of anyone else being in there; matter of fact I never once saw either of the other two patients who were also having studies done last night. Mom by the nice TV. I watched Part I of Tin Man , the new Wizard of Oz movie on the SciFi channel. They even let me watch when I got in bed. LVN Dennis put the TV on a timer; I was asleep before