Hey we are up and Running.........

[Tephywashere]

Thank you all so much for starting this board for us parents and caregivers! I'm sure you hear this often but this website is a life saver.....When my step-daughter was diagnosed with guttate Psoriasis in May I was floored.....I didn't even know what Psoriasis was let alone what do about it.... the Doctors were vague, response to treatment was not happening, so I went out to do research and this is what I found.... Everyone that I have talked to at NPF has been top notch and the people that I have met on these boards have been so supportive and full of useful information...So thanks again for this board!
Stephanie (Emily's Mom)

[CuriousMom]

Hi Stephanie...
Fellow PsorMommy...its Julie in Oregon...
just checking things out tonight! This will be great if we can reach a boarder audience.
I'm looking forward to the live chats with the Dr.s....have a great weekend

Can't believe its almost Oct.

[mama]

Congratulations on your new forum and God Bless your children!

[elliesinger]

Wow! I am blown away by having this resource -- THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, NPF!

I've been away for a few weeks.... missed all of you and our chats! I had another cancer episode (VERY minor this time, and thankfully all's well now), then of course 9-11-01 happened, THEN we had a tropical storm down here on Fla's west coast.... yada, yada.... it all added up to me being gone from this board and the psormommies one, but I am absolutely thrilled to be back and see that we who are caregivers have our own spot in the sun on the NPF message boards.

Jennifer (Ellie's mom)

[Tephywashere]

Julie and Jennifer- good to hear from you both......sorry to hear things have been hectic for you Jennifer....Is everything ok now? Is there anything we can do for you?

I'm so glad we have this site
Stephanie (Emily's Mom)

[elliesinger]

Stephanie, thanks so much for the words of support. I'm OK now.... it was depressing to have more cancer, but it turned out to be a tiny amount and there's a new way to do lumpectomies with only local anesthesia, so the recovery period was wonderfully brief. The drs say I don't need any more chemo or radiation (thank God!!! for one thing, I gave all my wigs away!) and are just keeping an eye on things. I think we're out of the woods.

It's funny, in many ways cancer and psoriasis are very similar, in my family, at least. Both Ellie and I have had to deal with severe illnesses, and now are in a watching mode. We both get minor "breakouts" which are stressful but nothing like the original illness. We've both learned a lot about holding our heads up high when we look funny to the rest of the world. We've learned about the incredible power of humor and positive thoughts. And we've certainly learned to appreciate the little/big things... such as life itself. It actually helped me to go through my latest cancer scare during the Sept. 11 tragedy, because it helped me keep my mind off my problems and feel for the 6,000 families that were directly affected by that horrible day.... not to mention the untold thousands of others whose lives were touched.

Anyway, I guess everyone in the country is starting to settle down into a more normal life, as are we down here in sunny Florida. Ellie just popped out of bed and asked me to send her love to Emily... hope her latest flare up isn't too bad.

Jennifer

[Tephywashere]

I sure am glad that everything is clearing up Jennifer....Tell Ellie Emily says Hi back...we don't go on line too much at home because with the 4 of them it's hard to moniter,but we should figure out a time that the kids could talk.....find out the things that they have in common besides Psoriasis!

I come from a survival kind of family where you don't wallow in your misfortunes and you find the good in everything, so I can appreciate your outlook...I mean geez, our family motto is "That which does not kill us makes us stronger" and my Grandmother was famous for telling me when I was young 'Be glad they are picking on you, because if they weren't they would be picking on someone else who couldn't handle it' That used to confuse me, but I think I've got it now....we always have to remember that we are each blessed in our own ways....

Stephanie