Today was my last day at La Cheim, and I hope fervently to never return. I got a lot out of my time there, but mostly only from the CBT group ... most of the rest was fairly low quality treatment, especially as compared to the similar program at Herrick Hospital. The worst part, though, was the food. Both Herrick and La Cheim provide lunch as part ( Read more... )

We got a Christmas tree! I haven't had a tree since I lived at home, before I left for college. I.e., nearly 30 years ago. I'm enjoying it tremendously. We got a really beautiful tree: 6'6" tall and very full. It looks great with the lights and ornaments on it, and I plug the lights in whenever the room seems even close to dark enough for them to ( Read more... )

The Depakote seems to have stabilized my mood gradually over this past week or two (no more racing thoughts, no "feeling revved," no wanting to interrupt people when they're talking, etc.), and the nausea disappeared when I switched to the extended release formula. My increased appetite has gradually decreased over the past week or two until I'm ( Read more... )

There's a cat on my lap, so I can't go to bed yet. (There are complicated physics reasons for this, involving the inexplicable ability of a 5-pound cat to pin a 165-pound woman to a couch, apparently through strength of will alone, but I'm no physicist and so find myself simply baffled ... and pinned ( Read more... )

I've mentioned a couple of times recently that I've been getting some useful stuff out of the La Cheim groups regarding my trauma work, but I haven't wanted to get into it, because I'm already so exhausted all the time & it's even more exhausting to delve into those particular topics. I decided I want to write a bit tonight, though, about something ( Read more... )

Still exhausted all the time, partly due to med sedation (thanks, Depakote), but also (I'm sure) partly due to sheer emotional exertion. This journal entry is going to be disjointed, because I'm very tired and actually would prefer to be sleeping right now, but I also want to write some stuff down. I start to feel like things are slipping away when ( Read more... )

After two weeks in the ICU (and now a bit of time in the Slightly-Less-Intensive Care Unit), my friend Jay is continuing to slowly improve after his accident. After numerous surgeries, he's beginning to get his pain management under control well enough to be transferred to an inpatient rehab facility. I hope this means I'll get to visit him soon, ( Read more... )

Doing partial hospitalization at La Cheim in Oakland, and it's just as exhausting as I remember when I did it at Herrick. Also, dealing with lots of drug side effects on top of everything else. Pretty much everything is falling by the wayside until I get through this time.

Current Priorities

(in approximate order of importance to me at the moment)

1. ( Read more... )