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Opus88 R U Okay from Hurricane?


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Opus, I hope you are okay. Update us on how you are both with the hurricane and you Dysautonomia when you have a chance.

Jill & Emily, I sent an email directly to Opus letting them know there is a message here and people were wanting to hear. Maybe between the post and the direct email we will hear something soon.

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Hey, Dysautonomia Gang!

It's been a long while since I last posted. Life became waaaay too busy to keep up with the forum. I've thought about you many times, and I'm touched by your concern even after being away so long! (Thanks for the nudge, Poohbear!) Although I've had my ups and downs, my health is hanging in there ok thanks in great part to the Metabolic Typing Program.

After evacuating last Sunday and staying with friends about an hour north, we were allowed to move back home yesterday (Sunday). There are piles of plowed sand on either side of the roads that reach probably 12 feet or more. It gets worse as you head even a mile farther west of us - our area took the hardest hit locally, with the most significant damage stretching about 5 miles across. But the destruction this time isn't anything close to that of last fall's Hurricane Ivan. Good thing, since there are still many homes here that haven't even begun restoration or demolition from that storm.

Our house did great inside (other than the lingering stench of ruined food from the refrigerator and freezer!). Our under-house storage/workroom is pretty busted up and we lost a little fascia, but our stairs, siding and roof remained intact. There is minimal sand & mud accumulation under the house, even though most of our neighbors had a significant amount. Nearly all of the houses on the beach have sand piled up to within a 3 or 4 feet of the first floor (our houses are all on stilts here). We're quite relieved and grateful that our house came out relatively unscathed.

Of course, we have nothing like what Louisiana and Mississippi are dealing with. FEMA is filling up our state park campgrounds with trailers for some of those displaced residents. For the first few days, gas lines were up to a half mile long in 2 directions and police were directing traffic and keeping order. That seems to have calmed down now, even though many stations still have no gas to sell. School here was slated for a post-storm restart Thursday but the gas problem caused them to cancel - things should get back on schedule Tuesday.

In the midst of all the chaos, I was offered and on Friday accepted a position at a company only 10 minutes from home. They actually recruited me! After 9.5 years at my current employer, I'm sick of being overworked and underpaid, and I've been feeling pretty burned out. The new job is a position that I get to create as I go along, which will be fun - and I will be supervising 4 full-time and a handful of part-time workers. (I've been a leader many times, but never a "boss"!) I've been assured that their employees very rarely need to work any more than 40 hours/week, and they swear everyone has a one-person workload (I'm currently juggling about a 2.5-person workload). So I'm turning in my notice Tuesday and moving on. It should be good for my physical AND mental health.

Please continue to keep everyone in your prayers. Besides the horrible circumstances handed down by Mother Nature, I'm very concerned about so many victims turning this into a race issue. As if that were true! If this doesn't get under control soon, we could end up with another civil war here that would forever change our country, even accomplishing what the terrorists have not been able to do: cause a collapse of our society. Very scary!

Anyway, your prayers are soooooo much appreciated.

Wishing peace and health for all . . .

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Hey ,

I hope that you are doing ok , I am new to the forum and do not really know many people but I have been praying for those that were affected by this hurricane and hope that you are ok. I know how hard it is because our home got destroyed when I lived in Miami Beach FLA during Hurricane Andrew but we made it. I am not sure if I have POTS and either is the doc so that is my situation right now but hey sometimes I feel awesome and sometimes like total crap. Anyways hope all is good with you and I will continue to pray for you and fam

Chad Klein

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Opus,

Happy to hear you are ok, been praying for all that was affected down south.

Congrats on your new job, hope all goes well for ya. It should be fun, to be a "boss".

Good Luck :wub:

Tracy

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opus -

i don't think we've met, so hello!

just wanted to let you know that i'm so happy that you & your family made it through things as well as you did.

and that i hope your new job goes wonderfully...it definitely sounds exciting.

:rolleyes: melissa

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Aw, you guys are great! Thank you for caring!!! And it's good to e-meet you newer forum members!

What an incredibly bizarre and devastating year we have endured along the Gulf Coast. In my area, Hurricane Ivan damage is still everywhere, and there is so much construction and reconstruction going on that it's not been the peaceful place we were used to. Cindy blew in a couple of months ago but thankfully was nothing more than a windy storm - we were told we didn't have to evacuate, but to move our cars inland due to expected flooding (which didn't happen). Dennis wobbled around and couldn't make up his mind, looked to be very dangerous and was headed up Mobile Bay, then took a sudden big turn to attack Florida's Panhandle at a reduced windspeed - but he was still quite destructive. Then Katrina rolls in and destroys like nothing any of us have ever seen. It will be many years rebuilding all of those affected areas and those lives. Enough storms already!

I know I said this earlier, but please keep praying for everyone affected by this craziness - and continue to do so for as long as you can. Pray for the strength for these people to deal with loss of life, loss of property, loss of livelihood, loss of trust in the world, even loss of a desire to keep living. Yes, there will be a higher rate of suicide and of various forms of violent rage as some people become unable to cope with the new version of their lives. And even though these storms are nobody's fault, some are lashing out because they need to blame someone - anyone - for turning their world upside down. It's so, so sad.

Once all the media coverage dies down and Katrina becomes just a memory for most of the world, please remember that for many, the nightmare will continue LONG after the last news crew goes home.

Blessings to all of you, and may you always be allowed to take the routine of your life for granted!

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