Thanks! Right now it is only diverticulosis, but I was given a paper explaining how it could develop into diverticulitis. Half the problem is probably mental. I have known for years that the instant Mom departs this world, there will cease to be any loving caring presence both concerned with my survival and able to offer any material assistance not to mention companionship. There is absolutely not one thing I can do about this which will not make the situation much worse, and I am not going to attempt to go there nor touch it with a ten-foot pole! (I mean, none of my jobs paid a living wage, and attempting to get anyone to care attracts a lot of sad, dodgy, and dangerous types even if I weren't past it.) No matter how anyone else is related to you, you can't make yourself a priority with people who don't consider you in high regard and any attempts to attract attention just annoys them. I am just going to have to take whatever I can get and give up hoping for more for as long as I can endure it. Just not looking forward to it. If Mom lives to be as old as her oldest relative, she's got about four years, and at the point when my mental coherence ceases to function whether or not my material body continues to exhibit signs of life, I want to have left a record of what was going on with me on the off chance it might prove of interest to anyone in future--that's why all the emails and message board posts!