Friday, May 6, 2011

10 pounds!

That's right, in my first 6 days on WW I lost 10 pounds!!! I am so excited. I have not felt deprived at all, quite the opposite. I thinking sticking to this is going to be totally doable.

I am beginning to feel human again. I would say I am feeling like myself except that I don't really know what that feels like anymore. It has been so many years since I was my old, sane self that I don't remember what it felt like. That really bothered me at first. Then I realized that this just means that I am at a crossroads in my life and I have the great gift of being able to reinvent myself hopefully leaving out as many flaws as possible.

God is where I am turning to find what to make of myself. I am trying to find a balance between the death to self He calls for and black whole of depression and self hatred I was in. You might think the two are totally unrelated but they are not in my messed up depressed mind. So I am working on that. I am a terrible prayer and I am working on that as well.

I am enjoying my family so much more than I was. I have even forgotten to take my PRN Ativan a couple of times and still enjoyed them. God is blessing me richly every day.

God Bless all who read this.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Pleasant Surprise

So today's planned exercise was to walk a circuit around the building. My doctor told me to take it slow and not do too much. When my baby girl decided she was going to go on the walk with me I didn't feel like I could stop after just the one circuit. So, I kept walking. I walked until the pinched nerve was making my back scream. Then I sat very quickly in a folding chair my husband had lovingly provided so I didn't have to navigate the toy landmine between the front door and my chair inside.

Then something lovely happened. Once I stopped trying to hack a lung up, I sat in the shade sipping my Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry (while my precious girl sat in a chair next to me sipping milk because she wanted to be with me) and I felt......good. It took a few minutes for the feeling to return to my backside (side effect of that lovely pinched nerve) and my knees made it clear I was not their friend, but I felt good. I know going for a ten minute walk is not big deal for most people, heck it will only get you a fifth of the way through COSTCO, but for me this was huge on so many levels.

For one, this was in public. I am violently paranoid about seeing people who I will have to encounter more than once so walking in my kerchief, with my pronounced limp, with my 3 year old yelling, "Hurry up Mama!" was a real stand against my depression. Second, and I know this is pathetic, I did entirely of my own free will. I hadn't told anyone my plan so they could remind me; I wasn't guilted into by my mother's chiding. I made the plan and I followed through. I haven't had that kind of willpower since this whole depression ordeal began. I have been getting through doing exactly as much as I have to do and tyring to stay out of anything else just to keep balance. I felt good to feel in control and not feel completely overwhelmed by it. And last, but not least, I pushed myself even though I knew the pain would come. I have been very wimpy about challenging myself physically since the RA diagnosis. I have to admit I am still a little scared of the pain that will come tomorrow, but for today I pushed it.

So we sat there, my LoveBug and I, sipping our drinks. As I sat there I thought, "I made it ten minutes. I bet I could make it another five." I know, I'm as shocked as you are. So up the bug and I got and around we went again. No way could I have made it to 20 minutes but I made it fifteen. I am irrationally proud of myself.

Tomorrow if my first weigh in and meeting for WW. I am excited and nervous and just a little nauseous. I have picked a meeting led by the leader I loved 8 years ago the last time I did WW with any real intention of sticking to it. I am fairly certain this was a good idea.

Wish me luck. Offer up a prayer that I handle the results of said weigh in well.

God Bless all who read this.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Rocky but good start

So on my first day doing WW my husband didn't realize I was starting so he made me "last day before the diet" biscuits and gravy for breakfast and similar very NOT diet things for lunch and dinner. SO, on my first I burned through all my day's points and two thirds of my weekly bonus points :-) Hooray for bonus points.

This new system is very strange. All fruit is free. The points targets are much higher. I feel like I'm cheating. I'm not but I feel like I am. It is only Monday and I am already terrified I am going to get there on Thursday and weigh more than I did when I signed up on Friday.

I remember it felt like this last time but I still feel like I'm cheating.

My exercise today was wall push ups. I did 30 which I know isn't many but I am THAT out of shape.

So things seem to be going well. We shall see on Thursday morning.

God Bless all who read this.

Friday, April 29, 2011

I really didn't fall off the face of the earth : )

So, since the last time I posted I have been recovering and fielding life changes and figuring out who I am going to be going forward. It was very weird to realize that I don't remember who I was before the bouts of depression started. But now I am doing well enough to move home and to start weaning me off one of my meds.

I am also starting another journey: weight loss. Just a little background: I went from being a huge baby to being a skinny little kid to being a fat 8 year old and I have basically been fat ever since. I cleared 180 at age 12. I cleared 300 at age 15. Let's just say that I am a great deal heavier than even that now.

Up until my sweet stillborn baby Susannah was born I had virtually no health problems. I had allergies which occasionally kicked up my asthma, but that was it. Then my angel was born and my system started going wonky. Then three months later I got pregnant with my youngest and by the end of that pregnancy I had problems. I had high BP for the first time. The rheumatoid arthritis we were all just waiting for me to develop reared its ugly head. I was tired and in pain and depressed.

Fast forward to now and I am finally tired and in pain but not depressed. SO, I am doing what I did the last time I was concerned about my weight and not depressed; I'm doing Weight Watchers. I lost 65 pounds on it some 8 years ago and I intend to be a great deal more successful this time.

Please pray for me. My sanity is still not solid and dependable but I am really doing so much better. We are also dealing with life changing events (loss of one job, hours cut in the other and an impending move) so I will need to lean on the arms of Him who is all strength.

God Bless all who read this.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Turned a corner

Before I fill you in there are a couple of things I need to do:

1) Thank y0u God for putting in my life the hospital and doctors I needed to really start to get well. Forgive me for trying so hard to reject this gift of life you have given to me.

2) Thank you to all my readers who have prayed for me. Your prayers have kept me safe and held me up through all of this. If you can still spare them, I still need them.

As you know from my last post, I sliced open my abdomen in hopes of bleeding out and dying but it did not work. After that I went to the ER, got 14 staples and an mental evaluation and then spent hours waiting for them to find me a bed. After 14 hours in the ER I was shipped to psych hospital about an hour away. This was a big modern hospital. I was given and very sharp, caring psychiatrist who changed up my meds. In less than a week the change was already obvious. They kept me 11 days then sent me home with my new meds.

I am doing really well psychologically. My wound is infected and I am going to have to have it operated on in the near future. I am enjoying being home with my kids who are on break.

Thank you again for all the prayers; they are why I'm still alive.

God Bless all who read this.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

:(

I did it. It didn't work. I can't even get killing myself right. Feeling angry and sad and stupid and useless. Don't know what will happen now.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

A plan

I think I have a plan. I think I will stick to my exsanguination plan in the shower tonight but I will bar the door so that it takes adult strength to open it that way if the kids wake up and look for me (which is doubtful as my husband gets home before they wake up usually) they won't be able to open the door. I really think my husband will get home, check the bedroom, see I'm not there and go looking for me and find me.

I hope I have the guts. I should have done it my first night in last time. It would have been perfect. I had the knife, my family wouldn't have had to find me. I had to over think it and wait until my kids were going to be out of town. That is what messed me up last time.

This time I am going to succeed. I am going to end my family's long term pain with a little short term grief.

God Bless all who read this.

Experiment

Even I can only cause myself so much pain in one sitting before it stops focusing my brain. So I am trying sort of the opposite. We are going to find out what alcohol does to me with all the psychotropics in my system. Don't worry, my kids are perfectly safe. I'm not getting drunk, I'm having one mixed drink. We've all had dinner and the kids are watching a movie. Hopefully it will fuzz my brain enough that I won't be sitting here researching drug toxicities anymore.

You know, I have several people I could call. They have all said I can call anytime when I am feeling this way. But I know what they will say. They will tell me to go get evaluated at the hospital. But I have been in the hospital 3 times. THREE times. I don't know why the meds keep wearing off. The part of me that wants to believe all this therapy and medication and work are worth it because I'm worth it is too embarrassed to admit I am in this hole. Again. Already. Most of me feels stupid for having spent all this time and trouble when everyone would be better off without me.

Well I am pretty warm now.

God Bless all you read this.

Happy and irritated

This is an odd combination. I am happy because my sister gave birth to beautiful baby girl last night. She is perfect, as are all my sister's babies with their chubby cheeks and heads full of hair. I hate that she is so far away and I cannot hold her. My sister sounds wonderful today after her surgery so all is well there.

I am irritated because I had planned to exsanguinate in the shower today but my husband let me sleep in and my kids got off school early so I did not get the chance to take a shower. So now I must make a new plan. Grrr...

I am trying to keep myself distracted with FB and games and kids' homework. I have found that piercing myself with a large safety pin both focuses my thinking (suicidal thoughts tend to be racing and confused) and gives me a bit of a high. I will utilize this trick to get through this evening. Maybe I will wake up tomorrow and not want to make a new plan at all. I doubt it as it has been days but we shall see. I have the knife hidden and sharpened and I have tested it to make sure that it will be effective with minimal effort. It is just the timing that is difficult because I don't want my kids being the ones to find me.

My poor Guerren is already too much like me. I have already cursed him to a childhood of being taken advantage of. Once his classmates actually see me he will have a whole new world of taunting to deal with. I should have just killed myself that first day back in November. My kids would be being homeschooled my my sister in Missouri if I had. My selfishness and gutlessness are visibly hurting my children. I should have just left my wound unattended after Lily was born. It would have gotten infected, my family would have gotten my life insurance money, my family would be out of debt and my kids would have been raised by better than I since then.

God, you hold my sweet angel babies close to you. Please hold my sweet living babies close to you too. It is not their fault they were born to such as I and You can bring good even from the failure which has been their lives thus far. I commit them, again, to your care, Dear Lord. Thank you for all the blessings in my life. I am sorry for all the times I have turned from Your right path and foiled Your perfect plans. Amen.

God Bless all who read this.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Again?

Today has been a rough day. My psych program is refusing me a simple concession that they allow for other people. Earlier I was livid and upset. Now I just don't care. It is just more evidence that my reasons for wanting to commit suicide are valid. Even my psych program and the psych hospital don't think my life is worth anything. I wrote goodbye notes to my kids during class. The ladies at group wanted to walk me over to the hospital but I refused. I don't want to go inpatient again. Will I hurt myself tonight? Yes. Will I KILL myself tonight? Probably not. I am alone here with my kids. I think finding me dead is a scar they should not have to bear.

I know you people reading this are thinking, "Oh, finding you they shouldn't bear but you being dead they can handle fine? Hello!?" You have to remember two things: 1) I will be burden to them all their lives if I am alive and 2) we are Catholic and they will be surrounded by people who love them who will help them understand that sadness, while difficult, is not a bad thing and they will pray for my soul and move on with their lives being raised by one or both of the most wonderful women on the planet.

God Bless all who read this.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Sad and Lonely

Today I drove on the freeway for the first time in two months. I don;t know how I ever got comfortable with doing that. It is hundreds of people, not all intelligent, driving huge machines that can kill people at high rates of speed controlled by nothing more than PAINT in the ground. It was very stressful but I made it.

Then I had an appointment with my therapist. I have decided to stay with the therapist I am seeing even though he can only see me once a week. I am comfortable with him and I trust him. Hopefully once a week will be often enough. Today was rough. We went over the whole mess that was my 15th year. Most than half my life ago. I was certain I was over all the crap that happened back then. I was a teenager. Who gives a crap what happened back then? Everyone's high school life sucked, right? Did I have it worse than others? Maybe, but, again, who cares?

I have never been one who believed in blaming adult problems on childhood troubles. It goes so against the Catholic and American ideal of personal responsibility. My therapist today said he "[felt] so sad" that I went through the things I was telling him about. The whole appointment hit a nerve but I'm not sure what kind. I am left feeling lost and sad and a little raw.

On top of that I am feeling lonely because today was a day of celebration and I could not thank a hero directly as I intended. But that is my egotism, wanting to celebrate the safety of a man for whom I and my family have prayed every night for a year. It hurts because it is indicative of the family I feel I have lost.

I am, I have found, fundamentally unlovable. I don't know what to do with that.

God Bless all who read this.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Going home

Well, I have not been home more than overnight (and that only twice) since the day after Christmas. Today the kids and I are moving home. I am both excited and terrified. I think I am ready to be alone with the kids and stay along overnight. The thoughts are still there but I don't think I'll do anything. I have gotten pretty good at managing my "as needed" medications so my mood stays pretty even. If you can spare a prayer I would appreciate it.

God Bless all who read this.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Sick as a dog = good?

I am so sick. Big bad ugly hairy sinus infection. When I can speak I either sound like a man or Peter Brady. I desperately want to crawl in bed and sleep. Wanna know why this is good? Because being sick is the only reason I want to crawl in bed and go to sleep. I don't want to escape stress or my kids or just life in general. I am just sick.



This may sound weird to y'all but this is a big deal for me. I feel normal sick. The fact that normal is in the equation makes me smile.



My psychiatrist and case manager are keeping me in the partial hospitalization program for a couple more days because I had a couple of bad days earlier in the week. After that I will switch to the Intensive Outpatient Program which is 3 1/2 hours 3 times a week. I will also start going to my therapist again. I think we have my meds right. If my bouts with suicidal thoughts get any uglier than they have been this week I will have my anti-psychotic upped one more time. For now I am assuming it was the impending illness that magnified the thoughts and hoping they will settle down.



Thanks to my wonderful brother and sister-in-law, I am going on a Journey retreat next weekend. I get to spend 2 1/2 days and 2 nights immersing myself in scripture and my relationship with God. How awesome does that sound? I am so looking forward to it.



I had an interesting experience earlier this week. On my one really, really bad night, the devil got to me. Not via the dark thoughts, though they were there, but through a human weakness. I am not willing to disclose this particular weakness as I am wholly embarrassed by my behavior. However, in retrospect I can so see that he was working on me and, this time, won. Now this is not to say, "the devil made me do it!" I have free will and I chose to sin but I have never been so aware of the devil's direct influence as I was the other night. I am now very much on guard and am waiting to see how he will try to lead me astray next. It is strange to experience the devil so viscerally. I will be sure to let you know what becomes of all this.

God Bless all who read this.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Don't know how much I will be posting

I have come to a point in my treatment where I am working through some ugly guilt and anger that involve someone very close to me. I cannot afford for that person to know anything that I am thinking and it is all I want to write about right now so I am stuck. This blog has been such a great place for me to throw all my thoughts out and sort through them. I really wish I could use this as a device for dealing with this but I just can't chance it.

I don't really have much else to write about as that is the focus of things right now. I did discover today how manipulative I can be at work and how disgusting I find that. I hadn't been aware I was doing it. Now that I know I am ashamed of myself but I am focusing on the fact that I can now avoid it in the future because I am aware of it.

I'll be back when things are more settled.

God Bless all who read this.

Friday, February 4, 2011

9:52 pm is staying up late?

I feel like an old lady!

OK, not really, but this really is late for me lately :-)

I think I am going to have to give in to the fruity-ness. Unless I can find dirt on the credentials of the guy whose talk about neurobiology I watched today, I am going to have to practice the "positive self talk" they have been pushing on me for weeks now. It sounds like such gobbledygook hippy crap. But then this doctor explains how new neuropathways have to be built and the body's instinctive refusal to allow these new pathways has to be fought.

I am trying to remind myself that Christianity is thought of by some as gobbledygook hippy crap. A God who loves unconditionally? A God who sacrifices his only Son to save our sorry sinning selves? A book that tells us exactly how to live our lives in order to be happy? Perfect happiness for all eternity just for believing all this? It sounds pretty feel good, way too easy too.

The one thing I like about what this guy was saying is that it involves tapping into the endlessly, amazingly intricate aspects of God's creation in order to leave the darkness behind and again live in the light.

We shall see but.....I am hopeful.

It is amazingly good to type that and mean it.

God Bless all who read this.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Out again continued...

The rest of the stay was good psyche-wise but crappy treatment-wise. All the nurses agreed with me that Dr. A**hole was punishing me b ecause he was pissed off that he screwed up. The statement, "Dr. A**hole can be like that," was made independently by multiple staff members.

I have already filed a grievance regarding the doc's behavior. I am still shockingly angry about it. Hopefully the powers that be at the hospital will respond appropriately and save me the trouble of reporting him to a greater power in the state.

Being out has been really good for the most part. I am having to relearn patience with my children which is really hard. I am still feeling good for the most part. I am back in the Partial Hospitalization program. I am finding more useful and less...condescending than it felt before.

Prayers are still the things I need most. I have a long history of pain with the Church that has come to the surface through this process. Somehow getting well has made me feel farther from the Lord than I felt when I was so far in the darkness. I know He will give me the grace to get back to Him but it is hard right now.

I thank God for His myriad blessings in my life.

God Bless all who read this.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Out again

So I spent the past week or so inpatient at the behavioral health hospital again. I will give you a brief rundown of why I went and what happened there.

The 23rd I had my appointment with the priest who does deliverance rites. It was awful for a million reasons, the worst being that I had oppressive, vivid visions of throwing myself out the chapel window. That whole evening I was very stressed and was having terrible thoughts of throwing myself into traffic.

The 24th started off bad. My dad was on me for something my husband did when I was already having the thoughts so I went out to the busy street right by their house. Unfortunately (well, fortunately actually) the traffic was only going like 25 MPH because of the fog so all it would have done was break my leg and freaked them out so instead I stabbed myself repeatedly with a safety pin (as I had done the day before in the chapel) to focus my brain and calm down. At my outpatient program that day they could see something was wrong and decided to commit me. In the hospital I met with my Psychiatrist, Dr. A**hole, and he agreed to increase my anti-psychotic medicine. I discovered at bedtime that he did not.

On the 25th I was transferred from the geriatric floor where I had been waiting for a bed in ITU or CBU. I got a room in ITU and discovered that a gal who had been there during my last stay was still there so that was nice. I met with Dr. A**hole again, he again agreed to up the med. Come bedtime, I discover he has still not ordered the increase. On this night I snuck a plastic knife out of the lunch room and I attempted to slice open my wrist. It was extremely painful and the knife couldn't get through after the first few layers.

On the 26th I felt like all the life had left me. I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. I literally sat around staring at nothing if and when I got out of bed. Dr. A**hole visited again and complained about my behavior and agreed, yet again, to increase my Seroquil. I figured out that my lower stomach has no feeling from my c-sections and would therefore be an ideal place cut myself open in order to kill myself. I snuck more knives from the lunch room (even though staff knew about my previous attempt, no one did anything about it) and started to cut open my lower belly in the shower that night. It did not hurt but it was very difficult. It was taking too long so I had to stop my work and get out of the shower and go to bed. At bedtime (which is when they give meds) I discovered that Dr. A**hole had once again failed to increase my medicine. I threw a bit of a fit and they called him at home and he ordered a 50 mg increase even though he had promised a 100mg increase.

On the 27th I was in the deepest, darkest hole I have ever been in. I didn't care about anything or anyone. I wouldn't even let my husband bring my kids to see me. Dr. A**hole and my case manager came to visit me together and asked how I was doing. I told them I no longer cared if they kept me or sent me home, I had a plan (for suicide) either way. The doctor asked me what my plan was. I hesitated to answer saying that if I told him he would go in my stuff and take my implements away. Doc told me I had to be straight with him so I explained my plan about my desensitized lower abdomen and using plastic knives from the lunch room that night. He agreed to order the additional 50mg increase in my anti-psychotic medicine and he actually did it. This conversation was held after lunch so I expected to not be allowed to go to the lunch room for dinner, but I did get to go. I was able to get a second knife (I already had one from lunch that day) during dinner. I figured I would be put on line of sight and would have to figure a way to sneak or wait until I went home. But I was not put on line of sight. Dr. A**hole and my case manager had not told anyone about my plan. I know this sounds sacrilegious now, but at the time it was like a sign from God that I was doing the right thing. Living was the selfish option and He had cleared the way for me to what needed to be done. So I went in the bathroom and got to work. And boy was it work. Plastic knives were not meant for this purpose and it took forever. I made it through nurses checking in on me twice without them noticing the blood at my feet and the knife in my hand. A couple hours after I had started, the new shift nurse came in, opened the bathroom door and caught me. I was taken by ambulance to the associated Med Center's ER where I slept while they stitched me up with no anesthesia. When we got back to my unit, I was put in an observation room to sleep for the rest of the night.

On the 29th I woke up to my case manager asking why I did it when I had been doing so well. Yes, the same case manager I had told my exact detailed plan to didn't understand why I had done it. Then my breakfast was brought in. No utensils. Not even a spoon. Now I understand not letting me go to the lunch room anymore (duh) and I get taking away my knife and fork, but taking away my spoon was just punitive and nasty. They expected me to eat cream of wheat with my fingers. I had to eat my eggs with my fingers. Like an animal. A little later Dr. A**hole comes in asking why I did it. I reminded him that I had told him exactly what I was going to do. He got very angry and said I was a borderline personality (I am actually diagnosed major depressive) and I was trying to manipulate him. He said I only tried to kill myself to show him up. Can you fricking believe that? What and arrogant son of a b****! I explained that my reasons had been the same from the beginning: living was the selfish option because my kids would be better off without me. He walked away.

There is more to the story but I am going to play games with my hubby right now.

God Bless all who read this.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Been a few days

The last few days have been interesting and busy. I have started my partial inpatient program. It is going pretty well. I share more than I thought I would. Mostly the sharing is helpful but today was disastrous. More about that later. On Tuesday we signed the boys up for traditional public school and then they started on Wednesday. They both love it. Getting them up and ready in the morning has been stressful but not as bad as I had expected. The kids have all been sick but Lily is the last one hanging onto it. I have managed to avoid it all together, thank God. My doc upped my seroquel which is very obviously helping with the suicidal/self-damaging thoughts and impulses. Tonight I start an additional anti-depressant called Wellbutrin. It is supposed to boost my dopamine which is not being boosted by the Effexor.

Probably the most interesting thing that has happened is that my sister called an Exorcist. it turns out that the priest who married my husband and I is one of only two priests in my diocese who performs deliverances and exorcisms. I, of course, will not have an exorcism but a deliverance. I am not clear on the distinctions and differences in the ceremonies but I do know that deliverance is for an oppression where exorcism is for a full possession. So that will happen on Sunday. If you are the praying type, feel free to join the service from afar around 2pm PST.

Back to today being horrible. It started yesterday. I am in a great deal of pain. I think the pain has a hormonal/menstrual source, though I am still not cycling. I think I am going to have to give in and make a GYN appointment :-( I don't want to know. I don't want to know that I am carrying an organized clot (which I think I am) and, more, I don't want to find out I cannot have any more children (which I think is likely as my system has been screwed up for years now). Today in one group the leader and a member started spouting off about how selfish suicide is and how she'll never forgive her brother for doing it and on and on. I actually got up and walked out. Not my most mature moment but I could not handle it anymore at that moment. They were going on and on about how life isn't that bad and how it makes other people hurt just to alleviate your own pain. Well, kiss my ass, pardon my French. I do not want to die because I am in pain. I want to die because it would make my loved ones' lives better. And while some people never get over suicide, my family is Catholic and our faith teaches us that suffering can be offered up and unify us with Christ on the cross. "Don't waste your suffering!" as John Paul the Great said. So then after doing myself a little damage I sat in the sunshine and just breathed. I was proud of myself for not running into the street, which was my primary impulse. When I had collected myself I went back in only to be sidetracked by my psychologist account manager. We talked for a long time, which was cathartic and helpful. She helped reframe some of the "fruitier" aspects of the DBT program they are teaching me. Then we ended the day with a "mindfulness exercise" involving Pop Rocks. I giggled like a little kid. I felt more myself in that moment than I have in a very long time. I decided to pick up some Pop Rocks on my way home but none of the stores I checked sold them. You would not believe how much that depressed me. I just crawled in bed when I got home. I wish I was there now in all honesty.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

God Bless all who read this.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Continued

The day after the attempt was an interesting day. I gave my confession and received communion, which was a blessing. They had me on 1:1 which meant I had a staff member with me at all times. Even in the bathroom. They also gave me a new medicine to try t do away with the thoughts. That drug put me out. I woke up when my Mama came for a visit. Seeing her was nice but it left me sad. That night the thoughts were terrible. I couldn't sleep and all I could think of was how this mess for my family would be over if I was gone. Even with the staff member in my room watching over me I was able to fashion a garrote from a sock and a toothbrush. I was in bed this time so I could just tighten it and fall asleep. Apparently my breathing sounded strange so my babysitter discovered the garrote. I was put in a room by myself and put on arms reach where my babysitter had to be, well, within arms reach at all times. All my possessions except my books were taken away.

This attempt was a turning point for me. Before this I really didn't feel like a belonged in the hospital. Realizing how close I had come to actually killing myself hit me hard. It was sort of hitting rock bottom for me. The days following that were a slow start uphill. I was released four days after the second attempt when my 7-14 day legal hold was lifted. I was scared to come home but could not wait to see my kids.

Homecoming was lovely. My kids were so happy and snuggly. It felt otherworldly. Sleeping in a real bed was great. It became very apparent very quickly how barely started my journey up the hill to wellness is. Today I have hurt myself and by last night I already had a new plan. I would have succeeded in killing myself today had I my door not jammed in my car. That scares the pee out of part me and just violently irritates the other part of me. My Mama asked me if I will be safe for tonight. I don't know. I just don't know.

God Bless all who read this.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I'm out

I am out of inpatient. They released me from inpatient yesterday and I will start Partial Inpatient on Monday. I will spend 6 hours a day at the hospital in intensive individual therapy and group class on a program called Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. I hope it is enough. As of right now I have a new plan and the thoughts are persistent if I am not strongly distracted.

So here is a rundown of how the stay went:

The stay started with stress because I got there and they hadn't even called my insurance company yet. So I waited in the lobby for a couple of hours, alone and crying, afraid they wouldn't approve my stay. Finally they did. I then sat in the lobby for a nother couple hours waiting for them to find me a bed. I was supposed to be on the Behavioral Unit (CBU) but there were not beds there so I was put on the Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) with the psychotic and violent patients. It was terrifying and lonely and made me feel even crazier. I did a great deal of crying that first night. Blessedly a dear friend came to visit that night and gave me a break from feeling alone and scared. Nighttime was bad as i try to lay between a bipolar woman berating me for snoring while talking incessantly and a psychotic woman randomly complaining about being from another planet and the doctors attempting to poison her. While in the rest room the dark thoughts over came me and I slammed my head into a wall which calmed me some and I went to sleep. The next day I was very lost and uncomfortable. We had a violent guy on the floor which disrupted most of the schedule. The thoughts were always there in the lulls and quiet time. They overcame me several times that day. That evening the staff caught me in action, fed me an Ambien and put me to bed. The third day was horrible. The violent guy had to be corralled by staff more than once in order to be given medication so his endless stream of violent obscenities would stop. I had by then made a couple of friends and my husband came to see me but I was getting no real help and the families were all so sad and stressed. As I was sitting reading the Bible and praying that night the thoughts were the strongest they had ever been. I tried to kill myself. I fashioned a garrote out of a kerchief and high lighter. When I had tightened it enough, I went to climb into my bed about 2 feet away. My foot caught on the chair in which I was sitting and I fell. The staff, and one of my roommates, rushed in and took away my tools. Once again I was given an Ambien and put to bed. During the night my belongings were sorted and many things were taken away.

More tomorrow....

God Bless All who read this.

Friday, January 7, 2011

One more

I thought that last post would be my last before going inpatient but since I have not been able to get even a moment of sleep tonight (it is 5:16 am my time right now) I guess I will post here again as I have nothing else to do and can only play so many rounds of solitaire before I lose my mind. Oh wait, I already lost my mind. Until I...beat myself senseless. No wait, I've done that too. Ummmmmmm....moving on.

I am amazed at the number of things flying through my brain when I try to sleep tonight. First, as always, is the parade of guilt: Hitting my sister in the back when we were kids (she has back problems to this day, though she says they are from falling out of a hammock and RA), ruining my brother's surprise gift to me by guessing it (and the later event of ruining his gift giving excitement because I knew about ice cube lights), the untold number of people I led away from God when I thought I knew God's truth about homosexuality but did not, the pain I caused so many when I faked a suicide attempt in high school, the life long damage I've done to my kids because they have been living with a crazy depressed mother for 4 years, and on and on and on.

Then there is the rational brain berating me for being crazy: "She's right, just buck up and get over and don't make such a fuss!" "You are not special. God can forgive anyone so he can forgive you." "Do you have any idea how badly you have screwed over your boss?" "How much is this mess going to cost your parents?" And on and on and on.

Then there are the random flashes of life where I should have caught my mental illness before I was this far over the edge: Trembling and crying while my sister swaddled baby Guerren because there was cat hair on the blanket. My Mama trudging through my overgrown backyard to knock on my bedroom door because she new I had PPD and I was not answering the front door. Driving down Highway 99 and thinking I could just blow into the pylons.

Then, as always lately, the ideas that are better than this hospitalization: Driving off a cliff in the snowy Sierras where, even if I don't die in the crash, I'll freeze to death which wouldn't be so bad. Freezing to death you just fall asleep. Grabbing some cash out of an ATM getting on a bus and heading anywhere where I can't screw up my loved ones' lives anymore. Walking up Alpine and standing by the train tracks and just stepping out in front of it as it passes. Stabbing myself over and over until I am bleeding enough to exsanguinate. Just swallowing the whole bottle of Vicodin (though I admit that one scares me because it is so likely to leave me a vegetable instead of killing me).

These thoughts are always accompanied by thoughts of the various people who are going to take away my children.

Some of you may be thinking, "Aren't you Christian? Where's the prayer you idiot? Quit whining!" Well, all of these thoughts I have listed, which are just the tip of the ice berg because I have been laying in bed for HOURS, are occurring while I am praying. Tonight I have said numerous Our Fathers, Hail Marys, Divine Mercy Chaplets, Hail Holy Queens, Glory Bes and other random "conversational" prayers. These prayers are why, mixed in every once in awhile was a thought like, "St. Peter just up and abandoned his whole family to follow Jesus. I wonder if his in laws thought he was a jerk. Maybe I should walk away to start preaching on street corners. Then I wouldn't be hurting my family and I could be spreading the Good News."

It has been a long weird night. I hope the choice having been made and the action taken will allow me to sleep tonight.

God Bless all who read this.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Tomorrow is the day

Tomorrow morning I go into the hospital. I am dreading it and can't wait all at once.

Tonight has been rough with my folks home. My Mama wants to talk and that makes me want to drive an icepick in my ear and hug her all at once. My kids have decided that tonight is the night to disobey every direction and request. I have actually thought about just walking to the hospital tonight.

I know very few people read this blog and the ones who do probably know me and are praying already, but if not, please pray for me. I will only get through this if I can overcome my pride and lay fully on the arm of the Lord. For that I need grace so please, please pray for me.

God Bless all who read this.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

God is good

Today I had my meeting with my priest and gave my confession and was anointed. Even though I know it I am always amazed at the peace the sacraments bring with them. I thank God for loving me when I am feeling so unlovable.

What today did not do was wipe out the suicidal thoughts. My brain is still constantly turning with the plan and the hatred of myself. For now I am peaceful. God's grace is holding the thoughts in a sort of balance so they are not spinning out of control. It is sort of like my depression car is driving in town instead of screaming down the highway like it has been.

I feel hopeful that I will be able to accept and take in the help I will be given at the hospital.

God Bless all who read this.

I shouldn't post this here

but it is the middle of the night and I have no one to talk to without ruining someone else's day.

I was having a pretty good day today. I was then having trouble sleeping, as always of late, and I got up. As is my habit lately, I can think of little other than suicide. After doing some online reading I decided to try something. I decided to write my goodbye note to my loved ones. I thought it would make suicide seem as ridiculous as my rational mind knows it should be. But the fact is that everyone I know would be better with me gone. My kids would be raised by better people than I. My husband could find a wife he could be proud of. My family would be out of the financial nightmare I buried them in. My parents could enjoy their retirement without having to worry what embarrassment I am going to heap on them next. My siblings would not longer have to explain to their children why Aunt Carie is such a pathetic mess.

Why am I putting everyone through the time and trouble of putting me in a hospital and drugging me up just to put me back into the world as a burden to everyone?

I've been afraid of crashing my car ever since it was pointed out to me that I could hurt someone else. I was thinking tonight, though, that there is a turn on the way to my family campground that could solve that problem. It is the scariest road I ever have to drive on. But there is a reasonable straight away just before the sharp blind curve to the left and there is no guard rail. If I accelerate and just don't make the turn I would fly right off the cliff and there is nothing below but the side of the mountain. Highway four goes way of to the left before it turns back so there would be no other cars or drivers in my path. If I turn off the airbags and don't wear a seat belt there is no way I would survive. I might even have a heart attack when I am airborne or in free fall.

None of this, of course, is an actual serious plan. My plan is to enter inpatient care on Friday. This post is just a speculation because so much of what is posted online claims that a car accident cannot be planned to not hurt other people.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Mostly better

Today was mostly better. I didn't get as much done as I wanted to get done, but I did get some stuff done and I am not in the state I was in last night. That alone is enough to make this a good day. Last night I didn't think I was going to make it to Friday. Now I feel like I can. Tomorrow I see my priest which I think will really bring a lot of peace. Going to confession always brings me a sense of peace. I think getting to spend some time in prayer with Father Matthew and making my confession and receiving the blessing or anointing will fortify me a great deal.

An aspect of this depression I have avoided talking about because I find it so shameful is my relationship with God. For a long time I have felt unforgivable. I know that is an insult to God on several levels, which just reinforces the feeling. I am a proud Catholic. I know and love my Lord. I know his infinite grace and love and forgiveness. I know there is nothing I can do that is too great for him to love me and forgive me and I know there is nothing I can do that has not been done by others before me. This being true, my belief in my unlovable-ness is violently egotistical, which, again, reinforces my belief. And even as I type this I know in my rational mind that it sound stupid and ridiculous. But there you have it.

One big factor is that I know I have led people away from God. When I left the Church in my college years, and even before then when I was just vocally speaking against some of her teachings, I didn't just hurt myself. People depended on me for right information about God and salvation and I lead them wrong. I started a trend at my high school that has only gotten more and more prevalent leading kids to heresy and sin and away from the Truth.

Another big factor is the fact that I do not go to mass every week. Sometimes I try, sometimes I don't even do that. The thought of going to mass literally liquefies my bowels (sorry TMI). When I do make it to mass I am either in serious physical pain or I am drugged out on pain medicine. Mass is not the only public event I avoid. I try to avoid large groups of people as much as I can. I get very agitated and sweaty. But none of that really matters. Jesus said do this in memory of me and I don't.

So tomorrow will be wrenching and cleansing and hopefully will leave me steady and ready to do what I need to do when I get to the hospital.

God Bless all who read this.

Today is going to be better

I know it is late in the day but I wanted to post this anyway. I had some energy when I woke up this morning so I have done some laundry and other cleaning. I have some work I have to do for my (?) job today then I plan to play games with the kids this evening. It will not get as bad tonight as it was last night. It can't.

Tomorrow afternoon I have an appointment with my priest. I am hopeful this will bring some peace and courage.

I know I am supposed to write in this blog as part of my therapy but still I wonder why I do it. it feels very exhibitionist. It does serve as a bit of a release valve. it is also helpful for me to get my thoughts out of my head. They are somehow easier to manipulate once they are not bouncing around in the confines of my skull. This, I suppose, is also a place where I have a modicum of control still. In so much of my life i feel like I am watching a movie of my life rather than living it. This blog is my creation entirely. And yet, I feel like I am somehow glorifying myself and this depression by putting it into words. When I started this blog it was both for therapeutic reasons and in hopes of making someone, somewhere not feel as alone I have. I feel less like that is a possibility and more like this is an experiment in egocentricity. Of course this whole situation feels like an exercise in egocentricity.

Anyway, tonight will be better. Because I command it. And I am that powerful.

God Bless all who read this.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Back again

I had such good intentions to get to sleep early tonight. It did not work out that way, as you can see.

Tonight was bad. If I could have worked out a way for my kids to have been cared for I would have gone to the hospital tonight. But my husband will get in trouble if he calls in sick because he had to take so much time when I lost Charlie and was in and out of the hospital. I resorted to hurting myself, which I know is not good, but it was better than the alternative.

Please God, grant me the strength to hang on until Friday or even Thursday. Grant me the strength to go through with this necessary step. Grant me the humility to understand and accept the tools that will be given to me there.

God Bless all who read this.

Courageous?

So I had my appointments today. My PCP adjusted my meds and extended my leave. The hospital thinks I need at minimum partial hospitalization (which would basically mean I would eat dinner and sleep at home) but full inpatient would be better. I spent most of those appointments convincing people that I would not hurt myself between today and Friday. I promised all parties that I would not do anything and would show up Friday morning. Keeping that promise is proving difficult this evening.

Then I went to my shrink and he said I was courageous. Courageous? I think that is the fruitiest thing he has said so far. He said I was courageous but then he was afraid to delve any too deeply for fear of setting off the suicidal thoughts. Little does he know that I spend my days googling methods that could appear to be accidental and pulling my hair out. I find myself hoping that the ache in my skull means that the damage I did to it last week has caused a slow bleed that will eventually kill me. I wasn't trying to kill myself when I hit my head but it would be ironic if death worked out to be an unintended side effect. Then it will have done its job of calming me in the moment and then gone above and beyond its duty.

My son was playing car pirates tonight and he sang, "what do you do with a scurvy pirate?" He then said in his sweet big guy voice, "I would kill my mommy." Seems like a sign, don't you think?

God Bless all who read this.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Is it the same?

I was chatting with a dear friend this evening and I told her that it is not so much that I want to kill myself as it is that I do not want to be alive. When the suicidal thoughts I refer to come around those are specific thoughts of killing myself. Today however is just a general dismay at the reality that I am a burden in this world. Someone said to me recently that I like to play the victim. I very much do not comprehend that comment. Someone who is a victim believes s/he has no part in the nightmare that s/he lives in. That could not be more untrue for me. I know that I am the problem.

I hate being the problem. I hate being the person my family has to handle. My parents are just beginning retirement, why should they have to worry about their adult child like this? My sister and her family are off on a new chapter in their life, why should they have to call to check on and worry about me? My beautiful babies are such sweet, precious little people. Why should their whole lives be burdened by a crazy mother?

So much effort to help one person just to burden so many others. I made a promise so I will see it through but it seems wrong to me.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The countdown begins

I have appointments with my shrink, my doc and the hospital on Monday.

I am hopeful and terrified at the same time. I am hopeful that the focus and intensive therapy will get me back to my normal self again. I am terrified for a whole host of reasons.

First it scares me that this is what I really need. I know that makes no sense but I am not used to being, well, crazy. PPD was one thing. It was contained and had a definitive source and usually a definitive end. This nebulous bouncing from nearly normal to suicidal is uncomfortable. Also, I am scared this isn't what I really need. If I am wrong in the head, how can I trust my experience of what is going on there? In my rational mind I know it is not normal to think constantly about plunging a knife into one's own chest or ear or to want to drive off the freeway. In my rational mind I know that I cannot going on feeling that my family would be better off without me..

And that right there is my biggest fear. We are going to go through all this time and expense, and I may lose my job, and I just don't think it is worth it. Most all of the people in my day to day life would be better off without me. Their lives would be substantively improved by my absence, even those who would have a temporary upset from the loss. How can I ask them, then, to go to so much trouble to keep me here?

I wish most forms of suicide were not so flagrantly evident. Of course, since everyone knows I am suicidal, I could have a genuine car accident and they will probably think it is suicide anyway.

I need to make an appointment with my priest. I need to have my confession heard and get the anointing of the sick.

Please for God's will in my life.

God Bless all who read this.