Cross posted at Community Quilt Project
belinda ridgewood's quilt
Our friend, indiemcemopants (known as Scottie), has been suffering in silence for awhile now -- until he posted this cri de coeur: I have bad news. The bad news is that he is in excruciating pain from kidney stones and from a problem in his back and is looking forward, not only to surgery for the stones but to another surgery on his spine, something that terrifies him, with good reason. It was such a surgery that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
belinda ridgewood's quilt, showing the backing
Scottie wrote this about his current condition:
Thanks everyone for doing this, it means a lot. Right now I'm still dealing with tremendous, unrelenting pain and doctors are still not sure where it's coming from. I have surgery on the 2nd to remove kidney stones and then I see a neurosurgeon on the 8th - because this pain might be related to my spinal curvature. I have severe scoliosis, and when a surgeon looked at my scans, he said he's "not surprised" I'm in all this pain. The pain never goes away but it gets worse sometimes and some days it's not as harsh. The worst part is the depression that comes with a chronic pain that doesn't stop. I am hoping I will know more after I get the stones out and see the other doctor.
Detail from belinda ridgewood's quilt, a "Cranky Users" dinosaur!
Lets make a message quilt to support Scottie through this agony. Write a message in the comments, something to uplift him, and I will transcribe it in archival ink on muslin. My sister and I will sew it into a colorful quilt for Scottie -- something he can hang onto and cry into if he needs to. He'll be able to keep us all close in this way, in all those moments when he needs the love of his friends the most.
Detail from belinda ridgewood's quilt, colorful flowers
We already have a message from a friend Scotty made at Netroots Nation!
Scottie, you are an inspiration to all of us. You remind us of what we can be, and how far we travel when we forget about our impediments. You remind us to see, not how far we've come but how important it is to keep fighting on. I salute you. Lt. Dan Choi, Your Netroots Buddy
labwitchy's quilt
If you can help with the costs of making the quilt (materials and something for our time) it would be great. Here is a PayPal link -- or message me for a snail mail address if you prefer checks. We suggest a donation of $10/message. That being said, if you can't afford to donate, please leave a message anyway. Someone will cover for you -- they always do!
The Daily Kos Quilt, gracing the new Daily Kos office with your messages!
These are the quilts we have finished to date:
othniel (cellulitis and ensuing complications)
exmearden (cancer of heart and lung, RIP)
MsSpentyouth (brain tumor)
Moe99 (lung cancer)
Michelle Caudle (ovarian cancer, RIP)
BFSkinner (lupus)
Kitsap River (long wait for kidney donor that ended 2/18/11)
Frederick Clarkson (blood clots)
Dreaming of Better Days (lymphoma)
one bite at a time (lost house and belongings to fire)
Timroff (cellulitis)
Sol Fed Joe (multiple cancers and health problems)
Brubs (AIDS, immune reconstitution syndrome)
rserven (gall bladder infection with dangerous complications)
grndrush (brain tumor, RIP)
ImpeachKingBushII (needs liver transplant)
andsarahtoo (lupus)
Frank Cocozzelli (muscular dystrophy)
luvsathoroughbred (breast cancer)
Predictor (stroke and HIV)
Austex54 (caretaker to othniel)
Theodore Olbermann, RIP
cskendrick (antibiotic resistant infection)
Keith Olbermann (caregiver to father)
Juan (cancer)
Ana (a young horse belonging to Juan, hit by truck)
MA Liberal’s mother (Alzheimer’s)
Charles CurtisStanley (caretaker to Kitsap River)
Lorikeet (cervical cancer)
Dr. Lori (metastatic cancer)
ulookarmless (cancer, heart condition, stroke)
riverlover (caregiver to husband suffering from liver failure, now widowed)
Melody Townsel (caregiver to dying father, now deceased)
dadanation (AIDS)
Dr. William F. Harrison (leukemia, RIP)
Larry Bailey (sudden loss of partner to heart attack)
ramara (adopted son with fetal alcohol syndrome)
Noor B (herniated disk from car accident)
Louisiana 1976 (fibromyalgia, severe arthritis, depression)
stumpy (MS, stroke, RIP)
bleeding heart's niece (cancer, RIP)
escapee (failure of corneal surgery)
SarahLee (lymphoma, Lyme Disease)
Bustergirl (ovarian cancer)
mimi's niece (cancer)
ZenTrainer (breast cancer)
Miss Blue (severe injury to shoulder, anxiety over coverage for surgery)
Granny Doc (bladder cancer)
mango (heart attack)
nudger (ovarian cancer, RIP)
DaNang65 (heart condition)
Lt. Choi (exhaustion)
Nurse Kelley (spinal stenosis)
Ben Masel (lung cancer, RIP)
Otterary Scribe (caregiver, grieving grandfather, grieving widower)
Aji (autoimmune diseases incl. fibromyalgia, inflammatory arthritis, & Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus Syndrome)
JaxDem (suddenly widowed)
DavidW (AIDS and other undiagnosed illness)
Jester the Marine (facing amputation of leg)
peregrine kate (endometrial cancer)
mimi (grief due to family illnesses)
alliedoc (endometrial cancer)
labwitchy (diffuse scleroderma)
Daily Kos (celebrating community)
belinda ridgewood (sudden loss of her mother)
Boots checked the Daily Kos for comfort and really liked it
Currently, we are making the pieced blocks for princesspat's quilt -- her message blocks are completed. Then we will proceed with Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse's quilt and Scott Olsen's quilt. I'll be putting up another diary for SensibleShoes' quilt soon to collect the remaining messages.
Goldie inspects alliedoc's quilt
These quilts are planned for the future:
Plutonium Page (pulmonary embolisms, pulmonary infarction)
MsGrin (life long heart problems requiring multiple surgeries)
UnaSpensor (Lyme disease)
MA Liberal (caretaker to her mother who has dementia)
paradox (cyclical vomiting syndrome, PTSD, depression)
woodtick (caretaker to mother who has Alzheimer's)
Ellinorianne (rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia)
Detail of alliedoc's quilt
PAYPAL LINK FOR INDIEMCEMOPANTS' QUILT -- THANK YOU!
Boots says, "Thank you for supporting community quilts!"
Namaste.
NOTE: Scottie wants me to say upfront that he is here, present, gratefully absorbing all your kind messages. But he is also suffering an extreme amount of pain today and he fears that he may not be able to reply to everyone in the way in which he would wish. Please forgive him if he can't reply to you today. He does thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of his heart.