Hello All

[cracker07]

Hello all. I found this forum a while ago but put off joining until now. I've been diagnosed with Crohn's disease for about 8 years now, diagnosed at 19.

For the most part I've been doing really well, and because I was generally feeling fine I didn't really educate myself up on the disease as much as I probably should have. I got a bit annoyed at my doctor and stopped going to my check ups, which would have been fine if I would have stayed in remission but things went in a different direction. I've lost a good bit of weight, down to about 130 pounds right now, (I'm a guy, 130 for a guy is pretty skinny!), and I lost my health insurance so I couldn't really do anything about it. Thankfully I now currently have health insurance, but only temporarily. It's cobra, and it's ridiculously expensive!

I'm in a bit of a bind right now. I've lost so much weight I really don't think I can get back into the career I was doing before, (truck driver), but I don't know what else I can do. I'd love to be able to go back to school, but I have no clue how I'll be able to do that.

Hopefully I can get some good advice around here to some questions I've got, but I'll save that for another thread. Just wanted to stop in and say hello!
:bigwave:

 

[BWS1982]

I wanted to welcome you, I just replied to you elsewhere in "the other" thread, and wanted to assure you I wasn't trying to seem cold or arrogant or like a D-bag....

You're about the same age as me too, though you've had Crohns a bit longer, I could help you gain weight again, and assist with it being muscle instead of just "weight" but as far as going back to school, no such luck, no grant in my name.

 

[Lisa5326]

Welcome Cracker!

Since you are a nontraditional student and all (being out of the 18-22 range) there is additional funds for 'adult' students. Fill out the FAFSA form you will have to have the info sent to school's also and you can figure out the aid given based on how much the school costs...these may be obvious points. But what I'm trying to say that you may be able to get a bit of aid (grants, loans etc) being that you are older...I did. Good luck!

 

[cracker07]

You may want to contact your local career office at the local tech college or university to see if there is any extra assistance going on with all this "stimulus" Obama is throwing our way.

There definitely is money for schooling included in the stimulus that I should be able to obtain, however, actually getting enrolled from those funds is a whole different story. I've been haggling with state workers since January and still nothing. Recently I signed up at a different location, but I'm already getting the runaround with them as well so I'd be surprised if anything comes of it. It's a bit annoying to read the local newspaper about how your local office is getting millions of dollars from the stimulus for schooling, but you have no way of benefiting from all of that money. It really makes you wonder who is getting the money!

I could not be a truck driver - not unless I had my own, personal port-a-potty right in the back of my rig!

I'm really surprised big rig manufacturers don't add a toilette. They often have a bed, microwave, and sometimes even a refrigerator, if they could just squeeze in a toilette I'd be happy, (rest rooms at truck stops can be pretty disgusting!).

As for the "other thread", I can't even read the comments because its been moved to the adults only section. Perhaps a moderator can explain to me why discussions of potentially lethal drugs don't require the same protection as do for discussions for safe, non lethal treatments. I didn't join this forum to look for porn, so I'm really not interested in visiting a thread filled with that garbage. If discussions are going to be overly censored then I won't be a member here for much longer.

 

[Lisa5326]

There isn't any porn over in the lounge...that I know of. It is just a place to freely talk about lots of things that maybe parents wouldn't like younger eyes to see...if you are over 18 (just looked and you are) just private message a moderator and they will give you the password...really it's not that bad, some of the things I wonder why they are in the lounge but it just makes sense so that this site can be accessed by all, old and young. Moderators to get a password from: mikeyarmo or nancy lee

 

[katiesue1506]

Just thought I'd welcome you... and let you know that the lounge isn't a place for porn. Just adult conversation. Much like if your parents were to have friends over for some drinks and a conversation and the kids were shoo-ed out of the room because of its mature content. Some of this includes sexual undertones (or overtones) and innuendo. The main reason for the lounge is for the language... in our normal areas of the forum, foul language is not tolerated however if you feel the need to rant sometime and NEED to use bad language to do it, you can use the lounge.

 

[cracker07]

Well thanks anyway, I'll continue that other discussion elsewhere. I don't want those reading my welcome thread to get the wrong impression of me, I'm not a hippie! haha Nothing against hippies by the way, that just wasn't my generation

 

[My Butt Hurts]

Hi Cracker - welcome to the forum!
Are you on any meds right now then? Couldn't tell from your post. How were you staying in remission before you got sick again?

Could you maybe take out the passenger seat in your truck and make it into a little potty? Not the nicest thing to drive around next to, but it might enable you to keep your job. (I have a kid's potty in the back of my minivan, tee-hee.)

Where do you get your screen name from? I have been called a "cracker" by some of my students who are trying to offend me, haha. I just let it roll of my back and say something smart-a about cheese. Then they look at me like I'm crazy, and that ends the problem

 

[cracker07]

I just recently had a doctors checkup, first in over a year and a half, and he's started me on Pentasa for now but might try some others after my colonoscopy. Most of the time I have been on Pentasa, earlier when I was first diagnosed I went on a few others. I did try Prednisone a while back and had a bad reaction to it, which is what lead me to seek out other safer, albeit more controversial types of medicine. Despite my decline in health my doctor told me I was doing pretty good, and said most crohn's patients that go off their medicine end up in the hospital.

As for the port-a-potty idea, I've thought about that, but I've never done long haul driving. I'd much rather stay local, but local jobs are scarce right now and most require a good bit of lifting which normally was never a problem, but I've lost a good bit of muscle mass. I really don't want to do long haul, but I might not have a choice so we'll see. I didn't put much thought into the name, I was thinking along the lines that I'm a skinny white guy. I don't know why I chose this name, it is stupid, but then so am I at times lol