Confused Old Lady - 50 Yrs Marlboro Reds - Grateful for Any Help, Advice, Recommendations

[Larkfour]

I have been reading from that delightful first post through each and every one thereafter. Like others I have laughed, cried, worried, and played in a mystical land. (albeit at an accelerated pace) and would really like if my purple voltadactyl with effervescent polyglobohminal plates and I could be adopted?
I too smoked on buses, airplanes, in classrooms, the theatre and hospital rooms and am working on kicking the analogs. Sending the biggest, warmest, fuzzalicious hugs out to littleoldlady aka:lol aka:-lol- aka: lolady and all the adoptees.

 

[mariposa224]

Oh my... I started reading this thread Friday and just finished it. I'm so glad that you've made it back, lolady! Your journey into the world of vaping and the ensuing experiences have been wonderful reading. Thanks to all the other wonderful members who've helped her along the way. I look forward to diving into the blogrants next. You're doing great, lol, and I can't wait to read more. Hugssssssssss...

 

[Hoosier]

Laughing at mariposa. I was wondering why I kept getting those "Likes" notices on such an old thread.

I could have tracked her progress in the thread by the Like notices that kept popping up.

I see more are catching the LOL. It's like seeing youth at a Bob Segar concert...

 

[Uncle]

Laughing at mariposa. I was wondering why I kept getting those "Likes" notices on such an old thread.

I could have tracked her progress in the thread by the Like notices that kept popping up.

I see more are catching the LOL. It's like seeing youth at a Bob Segar concert...

Tell Me About It ! ! !

Finally figured it myself - but talk about bring up the past WOW ! ! ! View attachment 66618

Thanks - "mariposa" - I appreciate being able to see some of those same post again . . .

And - Just for "YOU" - one of "My" personal pieces of "Fluff" . . .

View attachment 66617

 

[jtpjc]

She likes me more.

 

[classwife]

that's cause you're so loveable jt !

 

[jtpjc]

I have to agree. I am cute, ain't I?

 

[classwife]

La la la la la la....

 

[Versione]

You know, it's not only that this forum gives me hope -- this thread has done more to restore my faith in fellow man than anything else could.

lolady, I suspect you know there's a ton of us hiding in the woodwork who are rooting for you all the way. I'll always read far, far more than I write here, but want you to know I love the way you make words dance. And your Anti-Turkey Upgrade Miracle post has been literally a lifesaver for me.

Wishing good health and joy to you, lolady -- and to everyone here.

 

[laks]

Wow, I read the whole thing. It really is awesome to think how different smoking was considered in the past. As far as ecigs go I would at least recommend getting one with manual refills. If your ordering refills it is going to cost you most in the long-term.

 

[lolady]

An Important Health Advisory

I know we like to keep things light-hearted here, but while I hope and pray that you'll never need this, it is information that could potentially save your life or that of a loved one, so I hope you will all read it, and share it with others.

As I'm able to type a little bit more today - though I've tried to say it in as few words as possible - I'm putting it here as well as on the blog.

If you or someone you love is living with chronic pain, regardless of the cause, please urge them to make sure their blood is being tested for Vitamins D and B12, as chronic pain can leech these nutrients from the system, even if the patient takes vitamin supplements every day and makes good dietary choices.

In certain population groups, specifically people with biological ancestors indigenous to the Americas and/or Africa, this leeching is almost certain to occur, and with a vengeance!

If untreated long enough, the consequences are severe, and eventually, fatal.

If discovered in time, treating even a severe vitamin deficiency is simple, but recovery can be very slow.

When damage has occurred, repairing it - even with insurance - may not be affordable for families of modest means, especially when "rainy day" resources have already been depleted by the costs of chronic illness.

Due to demographic changes in the work force, some insurance companies have recently begun testing "their" chronic pain patients for D and B12 for cost containment reasons, and in order to revise price points and coverage limits for some low end group products.

It is not yet a universal practice, however, so do not assume it is being done. Unless you have personally seen the lab reports for you or your loved one, ASK!

Taking extra drugstore vitamins will neither prevent it nor adequately treat it.

I realize we are an international community and this is a situation that mostly applies to people living in the USA, and touches on a host of topics that are appropriately discussed in other venues.

My intention is NOT to spark a discussion of any of those topics here, but to share information that someone reading this might urgently need to know.

 

[AzPlumber]

Thank you for the info, my wife has been disabled with chronic pain for a few years. I will check into this further, ECF is an awesome community.

 

[lolady]

I'm feeling a little bit better today, so now that we've gotten all the dire health warnings out of the way I'll try to reply to some of you, please forgive me if I missed you, this is more than I've been able to type for months, and even just with these few replies, I ran out of juice before I could even get to updates about the wonderful gift I got yesterday - extra long wireless e-cigarettes with pushybuttons AND jewels on the end - 1 with a purple jewel and 1 with a PINK jewel!

That should do wonders for the setback problem! I'll type some more when I can.

...would love to check out your videos, but they are all showing as "private" ...

My videos? set to Private? Impossible! Are you sure you weren't trying to see them by clicking one of those "url link" things?

Just pick a bunk bed, the sea green chipmunk pillow will find you, everyone else will help you choose a flattering ear style for your ears and feet pajamas, get yourself some cocoa from The Enchanted Plush Elephant and that "videos set to private" business will disappear as if it never existed!

...I think about her daily...

Well of course I've thought about you! If I'm not mistaken it's just about time for you and Shannon, and - I'm forgetting somebody, but I forget who - to be finishing up those pony (and giraffe) tail & mane-dos for the next Princess Parade...

...Please convey our best wishes...

He did, and did so beautifully, as did Poddled, your somewhat exuberant lilac colored ladybug pillow.

... "high quality liquids"...

Speaking of high quality liquids, I've been meaning to tell you that while all the mandibular monkeyshines have taken my already rather capricious tasting apparatus into a whole new level of senselessness, so that your meticulously crafted Cuban cigar juice currently tastes like currants or a Douglas fir, depending on whether it's Tuesday or not, Mrlolady, who has not smoked since his college days, has proclaimed that it does indeed taste like a Cuban cigar.

Not a Cohiba, but another very fine one whose name doesn't come to mind at the moment, but I'm sure I'll remember it if he tells me a few more times and writes it in big letters on a giant postit somewhere...

... I have been quite worried not seeing her post in such a long time...

And now you can worry about my sinuses. I knew you all would get them howling. Luckily they've switched me to Nasonex, which is slightly less vile.

I thought about you the other day, when I fished out a little bottle of juice born of that Gourmet Vapor Learn From Your Mistakes Machine, thinking it had finally 'steeped' enough.

The very first puff reminded me of a very wise thing you once said: "Wet dogs should never be washed in cinnamon."

... None of the stuffed animals were showing themselves lately...

Pish tosh! They've been right there every minute. Which you, of all people should know. You are in charge of cookie distribution after all. (By the way, when you get a minute, we seem to be running low on lemon tea cakes and chocolate marshmallow megachunk...)

... I hope you are an author, and if you are, tell us where we can buy your books...

I hope so, too, Dave, you can buy my books by reading here, and by clicking the link that says "blogs," because you've all been so kind to honor me with the "Best Blog" prize by clicking something, I forget what, but the price shouldn't be too many clicks. I guess clicking my name is the best bargain.

... "lolady" - does have a "Blog"...

Thank you for linking to it, Uncle! I'm sorry I had to use up all that battery charge the other day on such a dreary thing as a health warning, but at the same time I had to do it, just in case even one person might be wondering why they keep getting sicker and sicker in the absence of any dramatic change in their basic list of diseases.

... Good to know that she is still with us ....even if she can't actually "be with us"...

Oh, I've been "with you" every minute! Going through a lot of intense shamanical shenanigans has set me back, but there is no doubt in my mind that without all of my adoptees I'd be set way backer.

... there's an awful lot of fingers crossed in the hope she improves...

Thank you, and please keep them crossed. We are doing what we're able to, shaman-wise, but all those fingers and good wishes are improving me in ways that count more than bushels of gold poured into the shaman's pouch, even if we had any left to pour.

... I miss lolady...

Oh LibertariaNate, you have been in my heart so much I've even begun spelling your name right, the greatest honor a sedated person can bestow.

I ended up putting my old cigarette holders back in their little velvet jewelry roll. None of them are made of any fancy materials (I'm sure I had some, but I guess I gave them away so many years ago I'd forgotten about it) so I'm saving the remaining ones until the KR808d-1 people come to their senses and make one with a small enough diameter to fit in them.

... it's obvious how much we miss her...

I have no words for how much I've missed all of you, nor to express how much thoughts of you all have kept me going even on days when everything else (save Mrlolady) stomped off in a fit of pique and refused to.

... Hoosier...told her that her fan club misses her...

He sure did, and it was the sweetest and most delightful surprise I've received since...well, the only thing I can think of that comes close is the carved wooden box of oil paints I got for my seventh birthday, which occurred right around the seventh century.

... still analogue free since May 11. Long live Hon lik...

Congratulations! And long live you! That makes me feel better all by itself! And plumps up my battery with hopefulness, a desperately needed commodity during "challenging times."

 

[Hoosier]

... has proclaimed that it does indeed taste like a Cuban cigar..

Yep, glad to know someone else enjoys (ed) those wonders in the light green wrapper leaf.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Further to lolady's post re: B12 understand our standards here in N. America are woefully lacking. In Asia if they have a B12 reading of 550 ppo they are immediately given megadoses of B12. Here in N. America our acceptable level is 220 ppo. Take a guess as to which area of the world has the least amount of dementia related diseases. The Methylcobalamin B12 has to be injected or, if taken orally, sublingualy with B6 and Folic Acid. Treats a range of other ailments for those over 50 also. Dr. and Nose Surgeon said the Medical profession is looking at it as the Miracle Vitamin. Wife and I have been taking it for 6 months and what a difference.

 

[mlinky]

Yay! You're back!!

 

[MustangSallie]

Well of course I've thought about you! If I'm not mistaken it's just about time for you and Shannon, and - I'm forgetting somebody, but I forget who - to be finishing up those pony (and giraffe) tail & mane-dos for the next Princess Parade...

It's so very good to "read" you again lolady. It appears from your post that you are recovering nicely. I hope I'm not overstating that. You have been an inspiration to so many, this community is better when you're here. I continue to think of you daily, and look forward to being able to read your posts daily as well.

 

[LibertariaNate]

It's so very good to "read" you again lolady. It appears from your post that you are recovering nicely. I hope I'm not overstating that. You have been an inspiration to so many, this community is better when you're here. I continue to think of you daily, and look forward to being able to read your posts daily as well.

I'll second that...

 

[lolady]

...Thank you for the info, my wife has been disabled with chronic pain for a few years. I will check into this further, ECF is an awesome community. ...

❤ It's unlike any online community I've experienced in 20 years of clicking! ❤

Even as I hoped against hope that no one would have any need of that information, I'm so glad you saw it, and very sorry that your wife is ill. By all means, get her tested right away.

...In Asia if they have a B12 reading of 550 ppo they are immediately given megadoses of B12. Here in N. America our acceptable level is 220 ppo...

Your point is well taken. However, in the USA, all chronic pain patients are not routinely tested for these vitamin levels. As in my own case, we are more likely not to be tested AT ALL.

Thus, though I was getting progressively sicker, the only notable changes in my lab reports were the obvious kind attributable to smoking fewer cigarettes.

But of course, I wasn't being tested for vitamin D or B12.

This fall, the insurance company noted that as a result of higher numbers of chronic pain patients who were already costing them money, this vitamin leeching problem was - duh - costing them even more money.

Using simple arithmetic, they shrewedly determined that paying for the test and at least some vitamins would be cheaper than paying for all those increased illness costs, because while drugstore vitamins won't prevent the leeching, they can delay death from it, sometimes for years, and in the case of young and otherwise healthy injurees, even decades!

This was an immense boon to me, as the cause of my "rapid deterioration" was identified before not identifying it resulted in an immense boon to the insurance industry.

It's not profitable for my insurance company to pay for vitamin B12 injections, but they do help us pay for Weapons Grade Vitamin D, while are empowered to pay for drugstore B12 pills all by ourselves.

Though the pills are NOT the preferred treatment for severe deficiency which, when taken in absurdly massive quantities, at least improve the situation enough to get me off the top shelf of the "rapidly deteriorating" aisle so that I can type again, and am occasionally even slightly lucid (though I don't mean to imply that this is one of those occasions).

As for repairing the damage, well, we'll do what we can. Repairing a little bit is better than repairing none.

Every day is a gift, and I'm going to get more of them than I thought I would, so rather than waste even part of one wallowing in maudlin lamentations that rich men want more money, I'm going to spend every one of them wallowing in the abundance of blessings with which I am blessed!

I'm talking about the primo stash of blessings, which very much includes my precious adoptees and all my ECF brothers and sisters, who have helped keep me both alive and comfortable, as much as any shaman and a damn lot more than any insurance company.

This treasure chest cannot be bought for any amount of money, and makes me wealthier than Oprah and Mark Zuckerberg multiplied by every digit of pi, known and unknown!

And now I've gone and typed a book-length rant on the scintillating subject of my aches and pains.

This Coleridgean fugue business has apparently turned me into a bona fide Ancient Mariness.

Consider it cardio for your scroll button.

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And Now For Something Completely Different (and MUCH More Pleasant!)

I mentioned yesterday that I'd received a lovely present - two extra long wireless electric cigarettes, both with pushybutton AND a jewel on the end!

Some of you may recall that I'd been howling for this very thing since summer, but couldn't find one anywhere!

This was a classic example of a gaping, sobbing and moaning Market Gap, into which the Vapor4Life company has finally marched (and as far as I know, they march alone).

I'd also done some howling on the subject of insufficiently effulgent throat hit with regard to the wireless e-cigarettes I use for visits to the shaman's tent.

Apparently, just a couple of months of constantly Puffing in Place, plugged into the wall with my electric hookah-doodle, had gotten me used to 5 full electricity globules, so when my shaman visits became longer as I got sicker, the decreased throat hit of the wireless became increasingly annoying, so much so that I even wondered if I might be reduced to using one of those unsightly contraptions that aren't KR808d-1s at all!

Though I was too sick to report it at the time, again, it turned out to be the Vapor4Life company (in combination with cranking my nicotine level up to 36) that solved my problem.

I'd tried extra long wireless KR808d-1s from several companies, and though they lacked a pushybutton, the extra long jewel-tipped ones from the Vapor4Life company definitely provide a sensation closer to the electric hookah-doodle, and to my delight, the new jewel ended ones that DO have a pushybutton are even better!

They feel exactly the same as my hookah-doodle, even on extended shaman visits, though I'm sure it's numerogically less in terms of electricity globules.

(If you're into all that, Morandir has apparently devoted his life to acquiring and generously sharing more detailed scientific information about any and everything made by the Vapor4Life company than designer himself ever dreamed of, and while it's thoroughly incomprehensible to me, if you're a science nerd, I'm confident it will make sense to you and be chock-a-block with integers and decimal points and things).

Though my new jeweled pushybutton wirelesses are not perceptively heavier (a blessing in itself), they are slightly longer, so if you're carrying them around in one of those hard spectacle cases (hopefully a nice satin brocade one) you'll have to remove the cartomizer.

I was also very pleased to note that the pink light up jewel does indeed lean toward the blue-pink end of the spectrum, thus making it flattering for black-eyed brunettes with even the most attitudinous golden and/or blue undertones.

As for the regular plug-it-all-into-the-wall electric hookah-doodles themselves, the $10 ones from vaporsetc or litecigusa work just as well as the costlier ones from Vapor4Life or anywhere else, though the cheaper ones offer no color choice to speak of, so unless you already have plenty of it, you will need to obtain some nail polish.

Disclaimer: The preceding bleatage refers only to the "Generation 1" variety of KR808d-1s, so if you're one of those people who smoked one of those Extra-Ultra-Lite Guaranteed Flavor-Free cigarettes and thus prefer a gentle whisper slightly redolent of the "throat hit" phenomenon, I suggest you scroll past all this just like you did the aches and pains part and go investigate "Generation 2," whose primary claim to fame, according to my admittedly vague understanding, consists of both hookah-doodle and wireless being "regulated" (probably using some kind of science) to dish out only 3.7 of those electricity globules, no more and no less, with every puff.

That's all I can type today, but I promise to make it a priority to commit more bleatage here, and hose off the impatiently waiting-in-the-pipeline entries so that my poor neglected blog may continue to deserve the "Best Blog" honor you have given it, which, as DelBoy would say, "chuffs me to bits."

Where is he, anyway?

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Thank you for your touching words. Yes I only began researching B12 when my Mother was diagnosed with Dementia. At first Doctors and my sisters and brother were against it so I sat Mom down and asked if she wished to try them and explained it was her choice but I felt it was worth the effort. She agreed and my goodness what a difference. Doctors took credit and I never said anything except to my siblings. They were angry at first but after I explained it had nothing to do with anything except giving our Mother quality of life they saw my point and the reasoning behind it. Previously she was a 4 out of 10 and is now an 8.5 out of 10 and I have no regrets and would do it again in a heartbeat.
As for Shamans I got to know a Shaman through some issues myself and the aboriginals were working together on and he was amazingly gentle and nurturing soul. What a gift to have met this person. Definitely a very special entity that has enriched and touched my and many others lives.
Please take care and when time and health permits please stay in touch. I now know why so many here are so deeply touched by your words and presence and I am now part of that "entourage".
Sincerely, Vapoor.