Update on my Life: Small Victories

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve posted some stuff in the past and people have responded with “keep us posted” or “let us know how it turns out”… maybe they were just being nice, but here are some updates:

Yesterday the Salem newspaper finally ran my editorial on prayer in school. You can read it at http://news.statesmanjournal.com/single_article.cfm?i=15594

In a thread about “female problems” (TMI alert), I posted that doctors thought I might have VVS (do a search if you need more info). I’ve been up to the Oregon Health Scienced University twice since then and the diagnosis is some kind of dermatitis. I took prednisone for 2 weeks and it has helped some, but long term use is risky so now we’re using topical treatments, cortisone and something else. The doctor says that I’ll probably never be cured, the symptoms will wax and wane, but my husband and I may actually have a “normal” relationship some day.

And I’ve hi-jacked many a thread to complain bitterly about my sociopathic, predatory, self-righteous, and all around annoying and abrasive carpool partner (do a search if you need more info). Well, very soon a vanpool will be starting from Dallas to Salem and I won’t have to ride with her anymore. Also, she’s been on job rotation in another department for the last few months. Well, the lady whose position she rotated into has resigned so now my carpool partner is “on loan” until they fill the position permanently which won’t be until after the first of the year. And carpool partner is considering applying for the job herself. So if she gets it (or if managemt decided to forego the hiring process and just make the “loan” permanent), and the vanpool works out, I’ll be pretty much shut of her forever! Yay!

So that’s my life. What’s new with you?

2

Yes - my mother took cortisone/prednisone for many years and now has serious problems. Among other things, if you look at her she bruises, and if she were to put on a bandaid, it would rip her skin off. And she can’t stop taking it now because the consequences would be even worse.
Congrats on the editorial and other good news!

3

drinking beer. And thanking god that all I’m worried about is if my six-pack will last me for a few more hours. shakes head and leaves post

4

I got a piece of hate mail for my letter so I was a little depressed this weekend. But I sent a response and I feel a little better. Here’s what I received:

Subj: Re: Article on “don’t teach prayer in school”
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 8:18:13 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: (Name withheld–ain’t I nice?)
To: Gr8Kat1

I think you are despicable and so ignorant. It is sure apparent that you had no Christian upbringing. I certainly do not respect our so called “Founding Fathers” for thinking that our Creator’s word is found in nature and science and considered the Bible to be a collection of superstitions and fables. Total hogwash. They were about as ignorant as you are now. Who do you think and who do they think created this world and all of us human beings? It certainly didn’t just happen by accident. Our real “Founding Father” is GOD. We were “Founded” as “One nation under God.” As far as the ones you consider to be our “Founding Fathers”, I notice that you do not list those who were Christians. I’m sure they far outnumber the deists. As far as spending our energy and time educating students about the history of this country, God’s creation of this country IS our history. I think you are the one who should educate yourself on the history of our country and you will find out it was based on Christianity.

What do you think is wrong with the youth today including yourself? I will tell you. They are not raised in church by Godly parents. It is more important to learn about God than anything they could learn about our country. It all means nothing unless you have God in your life. I am so thankful for the students who do want prayer in school and the prayer circles of students that have been formed to pray over the schools.

God has told us…and yes this is in the BIBLE…that some day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. What a glorious day that will be.

Signed,

A devout Christian
And here’s how I responded:

Thank you for your reply. There are several points I must take exception with, not least of which is the name-calling and prejudiced questioning of my upbringing. Is that what Jesus would do? Attack a person anonymously? Is that how you reach out to and “help” a person who is having a crisis of faith?

Personally, I find the whole debate silly. Children are allowed to pray all they want in school. The issue is whether it should be mandatory, and the answer is absolutely not. Tell me honestly, do you want the government dictating to your children when and how they should pray? I don’t see how religious people can support that. After all, that is exactly what the Founding Fathers were trying to avoid. Remember, they came from a country that could imprison a person for going to the wrong church or for voicing an opinion against the government. They sought to create a country where the government couldn’t tell people how to worship, the churches couldn’t tell the government how to govern, and no leader could claim they held the position by divine right.

I find it rather humorous that you attack the Founding Fathers’ and belittle their beliefs because, if it weren’t for their efforts to establish this country, you would be either be an Anglican right now or a Catholic. If you can make assumptions about my upbringing, then I’ll make an assumption about your faith and guess that you are neither? Yet in the “good” old days, if you didn’t belong to the state church, you would find yourself imprisoned, hanged, burned, crucified, impaled, dismembered, guillotined, stoned, oh the list of holy tortures goes on and on.

George Washington was a tolerant person. He forbade the Continental Army from observing “Pope’s Day,” which was celebrated by burning the Pope in effigy. He didn’t agree with Catholicism, but he believed each person has the right to his own beliefs without fear of ridicule. Because of him and the rest of the Founding Fathers, you have the right to be a devout Christian. Thank God for them. Thank you for sharing your opinion. Have a good day.

Katheryn

I haven’t received a reply yet. I hope I don’t, I hope he/she is too chickenshit to respond. I don’t take criticism well :frowning:

5

Kat, great article and great reply, I admire you!

I will think good thoughts for you and your health. Take care of yourself.

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I did that with a letter to the editor in last weeks Clarion Ledger. One dude wrote a response in which he stated I was full of it, and the like. One problem… He wrote it to my Dad. :smiley: I’m Saint Zero, Jr, officially, and this genius wrote it to the first one he could find in the phonebook, which was my Dad. Dad read it (after my Mom wrote him back, and my Mom has the diplomacy of a pitbull with Rabies) and laughed.

So I understand, and think you made a very good point. Not really with the deist stuff, but that’s another debate. :smiley:

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Yeah, well, I’ll tell you the same thing I told my husband and that I’ll tell this guy if he writes back: If you don’t like it, write your own letter to the editor and let nutballs e-mail you! Er… again!

I received another response that gave me pause… this fellow basically said he agreed with me because prayer is just people’s opinions (that’s how he phrased it), but then went off on a tangent (non sequitor?) about how homosexuality shouldn’t be taught in school either because it’s also just people’s opinions. I wonder if he remembers the anti-OCA letters I wrote 8 years ago? I’m still formulating a response to that one.

8

You might want to look at this webpage:

http://www.guaidoc.com/PAGES/genitourinary.html

This doctor thinks VVS maybe be caused by the same thing that causes Fibromyalgia. This website explains how to use Guiafenesin to treat these illnesses.

I bring this up because many women in my e-mail support group say their VVS has improved on this treatment.

I am following this treatment for Fibromyalgia and it has worked. Two years ago I was bedridden. Now I’m able to use the computer almost every day! So I encourage you to read about this treatment and see if it might work for you.

Good luck

9

Gr8Kat, Ahem!

I just re-read your letter to the editor, and I think you pretty much nailed it. I wish I was half as articulate.

Don’t let ‘devout Christian’ bother you too much. Many such people are not much interested in reasoned debate. Believe me, I know. My family is full of them.

Good luck to you.

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That was supposed to be Amen :o

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Someone wrote a letter to the Statesman Journal in response to my article; it can be found here: http://news.statesmanjournal.com/single_article.cfm?i=16056

Here is my rebuttal; I’m publishing it here in case the paper won’t publish something else from me again so soon–I just want someone to see it :slight_smile: (If it seems terse, it’s because letters are restricted to 150 words. Pity.):

In James Derr’s November 26 letter, he asserts Thomas Jefferson is “no deist,” i.e., one who believes in the existence of God, basing his belief on nature and reason.

However, Jefferson did not accept the Bible. He edited the New Testament and published it as “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,” cutting out the divine and leaving only the story of a persecuted teacher.

Further, he wrote, “I am a Christian, in the only sense in which [Jesus] wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; and believing he never claimed any other.” (April 21, 1803)

Yes, Jefferson held deep religious beliefs, but does it “demean” him if they don’t match yours? The point the Founding Fathers tried to make is that we all have the right to our own beliefs without fear of ridicule or persecution!

12

I’m glad your fibromyalgia is better :slight_smile:

But it looks like VVS may not be the problem after all. It had been suggested, but it looks like the condition I have is a dermatitis. I can’t remember what he said it was called, but the symptoms listed on this page Obstetrics and Gynecology | Michigan Medicine | University of Michigan are closer to what I experience than VVS. Icky, huh? But at least the treatments seem to be helping.