I’m feeling much, much better since my surgery. I still have some mild pain when I move around, enough to make me wince occasionally but it’s bearable. I can’t say much for the scar, it’s going to be one of my uglier ones I think. Not that any of them look great or anything like that, but you know what I mean. But enough about that, here’s some news you can use!

Those who’ve been following the two plus year saga of life after Katrina will be amazed to hear that work has actually begun on repairing the folks house. Lo and behold, FEMA waves it’s mighty, magical bureacratic powers in the breeze for what seems like an eternity and stuff actually gets done. Are you amazed or what? What, you don’t believe me? I actually have photographic proof of this strange and unusual phenomenon in action.

Of course my mom is ecstatic now that work has begun in earnest. All the planning she’s been doing on the interior is now going to become a reality, she get’s to redecorate the entire interior with all new stuff. It’s going to be a nice home once again, one of these days…

Hope you guys are having a good weekend!!!

Just a quick update to let you guys know the surgery went just fine. I got home yesterday evening and I’m glad I didn’t have to stay overnight. The new incision is about 5 inches long and they used surgical super glue to hold it back together on the outside but I do have some self-dissolving stitches on the tear internally. And yes, the pain medication is pretty decent but it still hurts like crazy. Especially when I woke up this morning after the pain killers wore off overnight. I felt like a dump truck had run me down then backed over me a couple more times for good measure LOL.

I am able to get up and walk around but it’s very limited. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to work in a few days. Thanks everyone that stopped by for the nice comments and concerns on my condition in the previous post. I’ll be back!!

I just can’t seem to stay away from doctors and hospitals. I’ll be going in for a one or two day stay tomorrow, Monday the 29th for some minor surgery. The incision from my liver transplant from 3 years ago has come apart internally in my right side just below my ribs and must be repaired. As you can imagine I’m not too thrilled about that! You would think after 3 years of healing that you wouldn’t have to worry about such things but apparently not.

I know how it happened too, I was working out at the gym the morning of the day I noticed it. It doesn’t hurt much, just a bit sensitive but there’s the danger of an internal infection if I don’t get it fixed right away. It couldn’t hardly come at a worse time since I’m so backed up with blog design requests right now. Actually, when would it be a good time? LOL And this is after my doctors have urged me to get more exercise and lose a few pounds. This what I get for listening to doctors? I think it was all part of their evil plan to operate on me again. They just can’t get enough of me.

So, bright and early tomorrow morning I’ll be headed across town to get sliced up again, hopefully it will be just as minor as he claims. Just a few stitches maybe a small synthetic skin patch but they still have to cut me open to get to the tear so it’s gonna hurt for quite a while. No physical activity for at least 6 weeks!! Just when I was totally getting into the groove of working out at the gym!!

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It’s Electric Shock Season Again YAY!! Not Really…

Every winter it’s the same old thing, every thing metal that I touch shocks the crap out of me. Today I felt my first shock of the season. The worst item is car doors. I can pretty much depend on it, just getting in and out will give me quite a jolt, it makes me hate to touch anything with my hands.

Often I’ll use my jacketed forearm or elbow to push a door open or closed to lessen the jolt. Sometimes I can build up a nice charge that will jump as much as an inch across! Bright enough that you can see and I hate it!! Anyone have any tips on how to stop it? It doesn’t seem to matter what I’m wearing or type of shoes or even if I’m walking on concrete, wood or carpet. I always get shocked. Annoying!!

I’ll give you guys an update on my condition in a few days, hopefully he’ll give me something good for pain!! hehe

Yes, I’m a bad boy! I’ve been neglecting this thing horribly. And I’ve been neglecting visiting you guys too. Did ya miss me much? LOL And yes, the photo of the escalator in the previous post is fake! I found the image on the ‘net. My fitness center does not have an escalator!!

I was flipping thru the TV channels the other day and landed on the Cartoon Network for a few minutes. What struck me was the advertising for kids snacks and candies, etc. and I realized that what they put up is just as bad or even worse than cigarette advertisements in it’s own way. Every ad you see is geared toward making kids think that snacking out on all that crappy junk food is fun, exciting and that they’re just not cool unless they do it too. Your childs head turns into a giant strawberry, grape or watermelon, or you soar thru the air from sheer excitement because of the flavor rush or they visualize it as near hallucinogenic or pseudo-psychedelic experiences just from biting into a piece of their mouth watering candy. How can children resist that kind of propaganda? The truth is that they don’t need any snacks at all, not a damn one, yet they’re made to feel that they can’t live without it.

Yeah, it’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. The hurt comes when your child weighs three hundred pounds before the age of 10. And that’s just a prelude to a lifetime addiction to junk food which in turn sets them up for high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes by the time they’re 30 years old. Fun my ass. More people in this country die every year from heart related complications than those from tobacco related products yet we sit back and watch it happen. Where’s the outcry people?

Americans are no longer the tallest people in the world on average, but we’re still the widest!

In other news, Nanner came to N.O. over the weekend and it was great seeing her again. Nanner and her cousin and I walked around the French Quarter for a little while on Sunday and stopped in at the Clover Grill for burgers. The next day I picked her up for lunch and we went to the 615 Cafe that has some of the best fried catfish in the city. It’s an out of the way joint that’s known only to the locals and the food is always great. We only got to spend a couple hours together but it was still good fun. Good to see you again hon!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the gym to work off some of that candy I ate earlier…. Have a great weekend!!!

I joined a fitness center yesterday, yeah finally. My fat ass was threatening to take over the entire house. Apparently, sitting in front of a PC all day long is not conducive to good fitness. Who woulda thunk it? Actually, I could use losing about 15 maybe 20 pounds but it’s the exercise that I’m more concerned about. I get winded just watching other people exercise on TV. Now that’s bad.

I really like the place so far, it’s got a nice indoor swimming pool, a huge hot, bubbling whirlpool and sauna. And rows and rows of all manner of modern human torture exercise machines. Located in a nice modern building with private parking, trainers and a nice friendly staff less than a mile from home. I was lucky to find one that had escalators out front too. You know it’s swanky if it has escalators!! LOL

I did some starter workouts yesterday and now I’m just starting to feel the aches and pains. I’m looking forward to my next visit, maybe in a few weeks. Just kidding!!!! I’ll be going back later today for more fun.

In other news, the new house is great, I’m really enjoying the place. Unfortunately, I’m still not finished unpacking. I’ve got boxes that I haven’t even opened yet. Frankly, m’dear, I’ve just been too busy to give a damn. Blogs Gone Wild is doing fantastic and I’ve got a lot of new stuff in my portfolio and I’m working on lots more. I think I work too may hours, I really need to get out more!

Maybe I’ll go do something fun this weekend, just don’t know what. Anyway, I hope you guys have a fun filled weekend!! Laterz!!

If you’re ever purchased fresh sliced meat from a grocery counter, I’m sure you’ve run into one of these people. Their grumpiness factor is in direct proportion to how thin you want that ham sliced. If you don’t specify a thickness, you’ll probably be greeted with a pleasant attitude.

Ask them to slice it very thin and they quickly turn from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. The thinner you want it sliced, the more work for them because thinly sliced can require twice as many strokes on the machine. The particularly heinous ones will beligerently show you the first slice from 10 feet away by waving it at you so fast that there’s no way you can really tell if it’s what you wanted. “Is this thin enough”, they’ll ask with a scowl.

You’re lucky if they don’t throw it at you and curse you before you leave the counter. Of course they’re not all like that but I seem to run into more than my fair share. I also hate when they attach the sticker label over the baggie opening in such a way that you have to rip the damn thing to shreds when you get it home.

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I ran into this interesting comparison the other day, now I’m thankful our cars don’t run on printer ink! Holy Crap, Batman! If you thought the price of gasoline was expensive, take a look at this price comparison of various liquids! Apparently we’ve been had, printer ink manufacturers have finally figured out how to turn something ordinary into pure gold.

And you thought alchemy was a lost art, remember all those nutjobs that worked for centuries trying to figure out how to turn ordinary metals into gold? Apparently something very similar is possible. Forget crude oil, forget the middle east, let the ink wars begin, LOL! I think I’m going to become a wildcatter and start drilling for printer ink! That’s obviously where the money’s at!

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I was in a really creative mood yesterday and doctored up a bunch of old archive images of Hitler, I think they came out really quite good. In this politically correct social climate there aren’t many subjects left that you can safely make fun of without offending anyone. I doubt if anyone will have an issue with me taking a big swing at Hitler, LOL

I think my Photoshop skills have come a long way, what do you think? Here’s one sample in reduced size. If you want to see the 8 picture series, I posted them over at Evil Six.

Those are my contributions to “fuck off and die Thursdays”.

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On a VERY positive note, I’ve been feeling quite good! Actually this is the best I’ve felt in nearly 5 years. Pretty damn amazing considering how close I came to death. My miserable health odyssey began with liver failure, progressed into double pneumonia, being in a coma for a month, nearly 2 years of hospitilization, a complete liver transplant and top it off with 7 months of chemotherapy. You can’t say that I don’t know how to have fun! LOL

My latest blood test results have come back very positive with only a slight bit of anemia and I feel like the last traces of the chemo drugs have finally left my system. In a word, KICKASS!! hehe I’m ready to take on the world again! Hell yeah! What a change huh? Going from feeling like every day that passed would likely be your last one to feeling like you might live forever. We can dream can’t we? hehe

Love you guys and I hope you have a great weekend!!

Sara over at Life is a Journey is sponsoring a team relay for one of her co-workers who has been diagnosed with stomach cancer thru the American Cancer Society. You can check out the site; Gary’s Condors that I helped set up for news and information on the event to be held in Utah on May 4th and 5th. You can make your donation thru Paypal, a Paypal account isn’t necessary, most debit and credit cards are accepted. Please give to a worthy cause, even if it’s just a few bucks or whatever you can afford!

Cancer is a subject that hits close to home with me, my wife died from breast cancer over 10 years ago and it was a very painful experience that I’ll never forget. Early diagnosis is the key to survival!

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When Newbie Vampires Strike!

I took my final chemo injection last week, so I went in for some blood tests this morning to get the final results of how well the treatments have worked and I ended up getting a newbie phlebotomist to draw my blood. And now I feel like this guy!

I had a bad feeling right off when she didn’t seem to know her way around the computer interface as she looked up what tests I needed. I definitely knew something was wrong when she only had 3 vials to be filled. On a normal visit, they usually fill about 5 and today they were supposed to be doing several extra tests, but she insisted that was all. After she finished drawing the blood, I kept insisting that something wasn’t right. She had to pull the needle out to go look at her computer again and finally realized her mistake. So she had to stick me again to get the rest of the necessary samples. I ended up getting needle stuck twice! In the same arm! grrrrrrr!!

At least she hit the vein on the first try each time. She wound up taking about 9 vials all together, and I think she left me with just a few drops. I don’t really mind getting blood drawn, It’s become a routine thing with me the past few years but having to do it twice in one sitting is not so nice, dammit!

Ahh well, it’s almost all over and I’m actually starting to feel a bit better now that the chemo is done. It will take a few weeks to start feeling completely normal again, that shit stays in your system for a long time and it will take a while just to recover from the severe anemia. I’m just so happy it’s finally all done and I can resume a real life.

I’ll be looking for full time work at an actual job soon, damn, I haven’t had a “real” job in almost 5 years! I’m looking forward to it! Back in the rat race!

Have a happy hump day and don’t forget to donate!!!