Hi, and welcome. It's the beginning of March 2000 and the beginning of some free time for me where I'll be putting some time into updating and adding to the site. I've been neglecting the site terribly for the last couple of years, concentrating on my studies and family. The site has gone chugging on without me fussing over it, gaining more and more readers daily.

I'm building a new site at the moment. Check out the new decor at my new site and write in and tell me if you like it. If all goes well I hope it will take over from the geocities site, so tell me if you have any problems.

A couple of new features have been added already to the site - you can read about them in the "New Pages" section below.

As for me, I have done so much in the last year, but not as much as I would have liked. I didn't get to finish my Diploma. I had a bad patch in about May '99 - all in a couple of weeks too many things happened for me to cope. My son (5 yrs) got part of his finger cut off and had to have it stitched back on, but it didn't take so he had to have an operation to have it off again - he's fine now though, the finger is a little shorter than normal, but it still works OK. Our car broke down and there was the hassle and financial worry of getting another one, my teenage brother started getting into trouble in earnest, things like that just kept piling on top of me and I felt myself going under. I chose to shed the one stress factor that I could - study. I'm a chronic schoolie - love studying, so I'll go back sooner or later. I'm not fretting over it.

Diploma or no - my career as an artist/author is satisfying and my second comic has gone to the printer. This is a whole 12 page comic book that I wrote and drew myself. It's about problem gambling among the indigenous community in Australia and will be launched in about a month or so. Life is good :)

I've moved house. I've gone from being a desert dweller on the edge of the Australian Outback, to a beach bum just outside of Melbourne. I'm very pleased with the move, though being so close to Melbourne may present me with certain temptations sooner or later. I had been in country exile for eight years, being able to hop on a train to get to the city in an hour is just bliss. I never stopped being a city slicker.

Of course a move of that magnitude means transferring to another methadone service. That has worked out well too. The new pharmacists are very nice, though I have to drive 15 km to get there - there are no pharmacies who dispense methadone in my town. I use the twice weekly trip as an excuse to go to the surf beach nearby.

Being in (or near) a city also means that I have more choice as to who my methadone doctor will be. I am hoping to get into an experimental program offering buprenorphine - impossible in the bush, so I've chosen a doctor in the city instead of a closer one so that I'll have access to trials. My interest in switching to buprenorphine is because I am planning to start a baby (number 3!) sometime soon and I've heard that there is no post-natal depression with bup. I have been reducing my methadone in preparation; down to the half way mark already - from 90mg/day to 45mg/day. Feeling OK so far. I had a rotten virus a couple of months ago - one that made me tired and fatigued all the time so whenever I felt lousy I just blamed it on the stupid virus, not the lack of methadone. It worked for me :)

Well, that's mainly it I think. Some bad but mostly good and enjoying myself immensely. I hope that you all enjoy the site and have a wonderful day.

Rose Whithers - 7 March 2000

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New Pages

• Since I write personal stuff on the what's new page, I'm keeping them in an archive. If you want to check out what was happening in both the website and my life last year see What's new - January '99
  
  
• Well, not new pages exactly, but a couple of new things. First, there are a couple of buttons like this around the site. You can see when I'm online and if I am, you can click the button to chat. I get so many e-mails and messages asking for help. I'll sometimes find a desperate cry for help in my inbox and see that it's already been there for two weeks, I feel really bad when I can't get back to them straight away. I have an ambition to get a few people together who want to talk to others and have a page of these buttons as a sort of help line. When and if that happens it will be announced on this page.



• The second new thing is also a communication tool. In response to numerous requests, I have started a mailing list. You can join in the box below.

  Enter your email address in the box, then click the 'Join List' button:
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  Or you can send a blank e-mail to opiates-subscribe.listbot.com. The list was only started on February 29 2000. The very few members it already has are quickly getting acquainted. Join in! We'd love some more members.

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Feedback Comments Suggestions

As well as the communication tools listed above, you can e-mail me or leave a message in the guestbook. I welcome feedback. I will also consider putting other people's writings on these pages, especially autobiographies. Please contact me if you think you can contribute to this site. I am interested in YOUR story. You may want to ask questions. I will try to answer any questions, but please keep in mind that I am not a doctor or counsellor and have no qualifications in either of those fields. E-mail me egad-dict@geocities.com.

I make an effort to answer all e-mail, but it may take a few days to a couple of weeks since I don't get on the Internet every day.

The guestbook has been split into five because it was getting so big. I can no longer give personal replies to guestbook entries because it's just too much, so if you have a question or want an answer, e-mail. Feel free to browse the guestbook , there are some beautiful, hopeful, inspiring messages in there. And you can add your own comments in the guestbook.

Email:egad-dict@geocities.com | Sign the Guestbook

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