See you in 5 days!

Colorado trip #3 of the year in 11 hours! See ya again in 5 days precious readers!

That's how many more days till my surgery.

And if my fistula output doesn't markedly decrease I won't be able to compete in my triathlon next weekend. Sad.

I hope the next 18 days FLY on by!

thinking.....

-that my gut is getting much worse....

-of buying rental property in Utah....

-that soda is a delicious treat....

-I need to make more jerky....

-that I can probably do 3 or even 4 bmx races before surgery....

-my clothes are not very stylish....

Photo-rific

It's a sign from the Thanksgiving angel... This is my pie.
Blood is not a good hair product.
One mistake=two steri strips
Bloody ice pack. Now I know where my $4 to swim fee goes, first aid supplies I'll be asking for later.
Bmx bike shake down. It's fast!
My maternal grandfather's leather jacket from the 70's. Fits like a glove. Oh, and I found an opera ticket in it to Tannhauser. Such is my life...
If it ever snows on Palomar mountain, this baby is gonna get used! And abused.
Dagger cuff links from one of the times I went to the Tower of London. Popop would approve.
My nephew likes sharks as much as I do. And we almost share the same birthday! He is gonna flip when he sees his xmas gift from me.
Qualcomm Stadium, home of the losing Chargers and Aztecs. Not a good year for San Diego football. =( I left this game just after halfway into their whipping from BSU.

How low can you go?**Graphic Picture**

And more like 'how low can you get?'

This low...............

I'm sitting on the couch having had to change the bandages on my gut soo many times, soo quickly I ran out in just hours. I don't think the holes in my gut were quite ready for my level of Thanksgiving feasting....
(this much "googe" used to come out in 24 hours. now it does in 24 minutes)
How low? I taped a maxipad to my stomach. Yeah. You know how emasculating that is for a guy? I know.

Let the 'mangina' jokes begin.

How low? Probably not as low as the person whose bra I found on the sidewalk, in a totally suburban area, this morning during my 5k run.
(actual bra I found)

Rowdy Raccoon

Just like Wayne of Wayne's World has an extensive name badge and hairnet collection, I have an extensive collection of first aid supplies, boots, braces, slings, crutches and such.

I've acquired these through the years in being a living tribute to Pete Puma, but more with a laugh like Muttley. So that makes me Rowdy Raccoon (RR).

Well Rowdy Raccoon can run really well. He also bikes pretty dang good as well. Almost as well as a Honey Badger would. But for RR's upcoming triathlon he needs to swim as well. And this raccoon can't swim very well. He needs lots of practice.

Off I go to the Allied Gardens community pool. I even bring my swim coach. And the life guards are helping me too. Sweet! I'm getting better!

Now time to swim really fast. Plane on top of the water. Breath. Head down to be hydrodynamic. Really push the water with each stroke!

BAAAMM! Ooooohhh, what just happened I think woozily..... And why is there blood in the water? And my mouth?

Looking up at the lifeguard, kinda stumbling in the shallow end I say, "I think I swam into your pool."

She says, "Could you get out of the water please, you're bleeding into it."

I get out and step over to the tower, she tells me to go to the office for first aid. Blood is matting my hair. I'm a little ditzy and disoriented. Walking into the office I lift up my hair and stick out my tongue saying, "I hit your pool."

The first aid guy gives me a quick assesment, cleans my cut and give me a cold compress or two for my noggin. He calls me mildly concussed and I spend 5 minutes trying to figure out how to put my stuff into my backpack so Dr Sombrero can give me a ride home.

Once home a little more alert I clean the gash/lump on my forehead better. Super D puts 3 steri strips on it from my extensive first aid kit. And then back goes the cold compress to keep down the swelling and soak up the blood.

Really? Really Rowdy? Yes, really. How many lumps would I like? Oh, I don't know. Two or three......

quick history lesson for new readers

If you're a new reader of my blog, here is a quick refresher in my ongoing medical nightmare....

-All of the first half of 2010 sick lots, hospitalized lots with Crohns disease issues.
-CT scan shows I have a bowel obstruction. Medical treatment does not resolve, surgery is called for. Change in summer vacation plans. No longer going to Russia to volunteer at the orphanage, instead do the usual tour of Europe.
-Laproscopic surgery September 12, 2010. All seems well. Go home Sept 17.
-Sept 18 have fever, chills and start thinking to myself, "I don't want to die." So I go to the ER.
-Sept 19 in the early AM I am whisked off for emergency surgery as "something is wrong" and they need to cut me open to deal with it.
I wake up with an ileostomy bag, on tpn, and a huge open wound down my abdomen. I don't speak for 3 days.
-I can barely remember the next 3 months. Not a fun time.
-December 18, 2010 I have surgery to put everything back together. I go home xmas eve.
-January 20th, 2011 one of my scars opens up and drains tons of pus. A week later the second scar does as well.
-Again, multiple hospital stays. Multiple procedures of them cutting my scars open and draining them. Lots of drugs and diagnostic tests. Unpleasant wound care.
-March 2011. Surgery to drain wounds, clean scars and redo them. 4 weeks later they reopen again.
-June 2011, correct diagnosis of enterocuateous fistulas and not a real wound infection. Probably just abscess from the fistula. More drugs, more unpleasant wound care.
-August 2011-September 2011. TPN only, no food or anything, more drugs. More time in hospital. False hope, doesn't work.
-October 2011. Sent for outside consults and procedures to UCSD. Some hope.
-November 2011. Experimental procedure at UCSD fails. All known medical options exhausted. Surgery now only recourse.

So there you go. And this is only the recent history, not my full life's dealings with this disease. So why is this such a big deal? Your small intestine gets the nutrients from your food, your large intestine or colon does all the absorption of water. If they keep cutting out parts of my small intestine, no amount of food eaten will be able to be absorbed into a short section of small bowel. No small bowel, no nutrients, no living.

I only have sooo little left, every centimeter counts. (2.54 cm per inch for my US readers) If I don't want to be a nutritional cripple, I need my guts. Thus a year long effort to try and not have this surgery. The one I'm having in 3 weeks....

Wasn't I just here?

Friday, December 16th. Kaiser hospital on Zion in San Diego.Part of recovery is walking. Lots of walking. So if you don't mind doing laps on the unit and can make me smile, come walk. I'd love the company.

I never thought the R in Rowdy would stand for recovery.... But the past two years now it has.

"Follow your feelings Luke" Obi Wan

Yesterday I had a couple of feelings I followed, Jedi style. Though Mr Lucas is now making me want to become a Trekkie rather than a Jedi... Heck, the guy even screwed up Indiana Jones!! And that should have been impossible. Anyways......

Yesterday I had ideas. And I acted on them! No matter what your economic status, where you live or really anything else, 99% of the people in the world have to answer this question every dang day of their life, "What's for dinner?"

My idea? Crab, baked yam fries and salad. Oh, and let's not forget the mango lemonade either! Almost 3 lbs of crab was boiled. I used salt, white pepper, garlic, butter, tobasco and some other spices in the water. The yams were just cut up into strips, sprayed with olive oil and sea salted then baked. Salad was just mixed greens outta bag.

Now I could have taken this impulse and thought it was too expensive, or too much work or whatever excuse. But I didn't! And it paid off in a delicious dinner! You really shoulda been there.

Secondly I've become mildly addicted to playing Moto Forza 3 on the xbox. And what does any serious racer have to have? That's right, a steering wheel. I get online and read some reviews... WTH? $500!! You're kidding me right? Ohhhhhh, you can get one for just $250? Gee, what a bargain.

Follow your feelings Luke. Err, Rowdy.
Sorry Obi, I didn't.

I bought a $160 wheel I thought would be 'good enough'. Well, after a day of furious play I'm not sure if it is.... Dang it! As I hate nothing more than returning things. Especially as the box, packing material and receipt are spread through 3 different locations. And I bought it as Best Buy, but they don't have the higher end one I should have bought. Please don't stick me with store credit......

It's not like I didn't have the money. I could have even gotten the $500 one if I really really wanted. (I'll use it during the recovery from surgery. Yeah yeah. It will be durable medical equipment. Claim it on my taxes... hahaha) I knew there was something more like I wanted, but I chickened out and cheaped out.

And now I'm paying for it in quit races, excuses and lower lap times. ARGH! Keep pulling the ball away Lucy, I'll keep running at it and trying to kick it. Oh wait, I need a Star Wars reference.... Forget it, just look at these classic memes.

A surgical snow man

Just got off the phone with my surgeon. He is submitting a request for a date the second week of December.

See ya then? I do love visitors....

The joke about just putting in a zipper is starting to not sound like a joke anymore... Will be interesting to talk with my HMO's surgeon to see when the next big thing is. As long as I'm not in the hospital January 14th or 30th I don't care. We could do it tomorrow if he said, "come on in."

The next surgery is going to leave me with another set of scars just like this picture ^^^.

It's not gallows humor but earlier this year I had to plan my funeral. I read an article on Slate about The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which I want to be sung at my funeral. So just as a reminder. Sing that song. Bury me at the place of my birth in Oregon. Have a 'moment of noise' sometime during the day of motors revving, guns shooting or something. I don't care who does the eulogy. And I want white flowers. And the casket to be a very dark, very polished wood.

But what month is it? November, where so many people focus thanks. Thanksgiving. Give thanks. I feel I should close this post with things I am thankful for, from the silly and mundane to the great and marvelous.
-I have health insurance.
-I am able to pursue some of my hobbies, maybe not all or to the level I want but I do get some level of recreation.
-I am not alone, people in the world care about me.
-I ate pumpkin pie for breakfast.
-I like my latest haircut.
-Moto Forza 3.
-I'm not totally depressed. I can see the future.
-I have a garage, laundry room and own bathroom. Comfort and convenience.
-I got my computer back with no viruses or ruined hardware.
-I have vacation starting on Monday the 28th.

The day after...

Bleed more than normal out of my two holes last night. Slept very poorly. Still groggy from the anesthesia. Glad to be eating again. Still in kind of a somber mood.

What's on my mind now is that I bought a new bike for racing each week. But now I feel bad that I might have spent money on something that I can't use right away or as often as thought, especially if I have surgery sooner rather than later.

I also have a snowboarding vacation in Colorado the week after Thanksgiving planned and paid for. Thankfully nothing will happen so fast as to mess that up.

And a triathlon in Palm Springs December 3rd.

Conceivably I could have surgery again in December. I remember having one last December. Make it an anniversary? But then that leads to this.....

I have a wedding in January I HAVE to attend. I have a farewell possibly in January I HAVE to attend. I also have a planned vacation of a week in Israel in January.

Can I keep racing bikes? No, that will have to wait for a full recovery. I will just race when I can until surgery.

Can I go back to jiu jitsu? No, not until totally healed from next surgery. Andre Galvao called me today and we chatted about it. He was very positive. A good friend.

Can I go to a wedding? Yeah, I could 'gut it out' and be tough, I'm almost sure of it. It wouldn't be as awesome, but if they let me travel I could do it and just work through the pain.

Could I go to a farewell? Again, probably yes. Just not obviously be at 100% and would just fight through the weakness and pain.

Could I go to Israel for a week? No. Not a chance.

Will Valentines continue to be cursed for me? Possibly.

So it looks like I will get through November with no issues. Probably December as well just 'cause I doubt my HMO would have a surgery spot open that soon. But January could be a tough month for me, my loved ones and friends.

There was no miracle.....

I was taking tons of pics and in a good mood for the awesome blog post I was going to make tonight about how it all went great and I'm gonna be healed up and awesome soon. (for quick results go straight to the bottom of the post)

That post is not going to get written. At least not today. Hopefully in the future.

I was able to do 75% of the prep before I started to vomit. So I just did a couple of enemas to finish the job. Work went awesome yesterday and I got paid so really it wasn't that bad. Just puking into the sink sucks.

I was a little anxious and didn't sleep well. I bought a brand new BMX bike yesterday with part of my paycheck and had the excitedness of a new toy and the nervousness of the procedure today.

That leads to sleeping on the couch and playing Moto Forza 3 all morning. Which was fine and helped calm me down a little. I got to the hospital on time, they got my IV easily. Heck the chair I was waiting in had heat and massage. Take that HMO. haha.

I puked a bit after the surgery in recovery and was very shaky. I also had a messed up EKG for a while so they kept checking my heart. Which is funny that I also had to have a stress echo test earlier this year for chest pain. All this fake cardiac stuff better never turn real!

Basically though I'm sorry to make you read this far to get the simple point that today's hoped for result did not happen. The clip could have worked, but due to the nature of my intestine they were unable to get the tools to that area of my gut. To much scarring and anatomical issues due to past surgery and disease. They would have tore a hole in my intestine if they tried.

What does this all mean? What is the bottom line?
-the intervential gastroenterologist could not get his fancy surgical tool stuff to the part of my intestine where they wanted to work.
+ no active crohn's disease was found while they were looking around.
-i will need to have real, big zipper, cut me totally open surgery again.
+ not much intestine will have to be removed this time.
+ the humira seems to be working.
- i'm sad today didn't work. at all. i had a lot of hope today would be "the day". it wasn't.

enjoy the silence

So I have a nasty virus in my laptop. Or 20. I've also been working. And now I'm drinking the nasty prep to "clean me out" for surgery tomorrow.

Busy, not feeling well, stuff going on and no computer. So don't be surprised if you don't see an amazing entry till next week.

Stay tuned!

panic! at the rowdisco

I think I had an honest to goodness full on panic attack today about my surgical procedure Friday.

My breathing was shallow and rapid. I couldn't focus my vision at all. All of the muscles in my body, especially my legs were twitching and vibrating. Nervous and high strung in the extreme.

Worse than the times people have shot at me trying to kill me.

I took some slow deep breathes. I thought about what was triggering it. I focused my attention on the now, bringing my mind and body to the present. I did some quick pushups and stretching. Reaffirming to myself I am fine currently, that it is all in my mind. I am OK.

It slowly faded away rather than build up to a point I was unable to function, which I felt like could honestly happen. I'll see if this works when I come face to face with it Friday morning.......

**I don't care that as a man you're not supposed to show fear. It was a feeling and it was real. I have no shame in that. Better to acknowledge what is wrong and attack it than try to be 'manly' and avoid it.**

guess what i did today? my good friend Dr. Sombrero (you remember him from the camp pendleton mud run with me?) is an excellent swimmer. i am not. so he came to help me with my technique. and since i'm the goof with the waterproof camera.... yep, that's right. pictures and video.

enjoy my flailing.

Curry? Fish and chips! Curry? Fish and chips!

Little Britain. You should watch it, then you'd get the title. Snooty BBC comedy watching aside, sometimes you just want fish and chips. And San Diego is not really positioned as a seafood lovers delight. San Francisco, aka the City, is much more the food worthy destination.

San Diego has Mexican food better than most places but that's about it in my opinion.

Sometimes though you just gotta have fish and chips. So sometimes you gotta go out in the rain at night and drive to Chef John's in Lemon Grove. It's just good enough.

I used to....

I used to like dancing, but I don't anymore.

I used to play the violin, but I don't anymore.

I used to go hunting and fishing, but I don't anymore.

I used to drink, but I don't anymore.

I used to know nothing about football, but I don't anymore.

I used to want a tattoo, but I don't anymore.

I used to like small towns, but I don't anymore.

I used to only care about me, but I don't anymore.

I used to be less self conscious, but I'm not anymore.

I used to get two speeding tickets a year, but I don't anymore.

I used to speak Spanish daily, but I don't anymore.

I used to not know how to swim, but I don't anymore.

I used to like Christmas, but I don't anymore.

.....but I don't anymore.

11-11-11 at 11:11

Magical. Once in a lifetime.

If you want a good haircut.... Rinse Salon on University. Ask for Morgan or schedule it online. 45 minutes turned into 90 seconds via the magic of technology.

Don't love me because...

...I can wear hipster glasses and odd hair styles. (it's getting cut today. www.rinsesd.com ask for Morgan)


...I'm playing the most coveted game of the year and am horrible at it! I should be the 'noob' in the tv commercial, not Jonah Hill.

...I can eat two doughnuts and still go for a 40 minute run in the afternoon. When it is 70F in November. With this as my scenery.




...Because the next sport I'm learning is skydiving to go BASE jumping.

...And finally don't love me because I'm excited to get this with my next paycheck. And it is going to be 50% off.

X. Mark this spot.

If you're wondering where the "I lost my phone's memory card" post went it is because I deleted it. Not my memory card, the post. 'Cause I found my phones teeny tiny little micro sd card. A fleck of black plastic in between two dark brown leather couch cushions.

Two posts enter, one post lives to paraphrase Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome.

Epic post v2.0

One of my good friends, Andres got married and switched careers. What a crazy month that would be for a guy.

I swam for the first time in a couple years in a pool last night, for fitness. I could only swim 200 meters before I had enough. And I could only swim 50m without stopping. So I really need to kick in this training before my triathlon in 4 weeks.

I swam 100m in 2:30. Super D swam it in 2:10. So right away I am losing twenty seconds in a very short race. I know I am faster by over 20 seconds in the run but we're possibly equal on the bike. This race is going to be won and lost by less than 5 seconds is my guess.

This Saturday I am gonna be all alone so I am going to make it a snow day. Yep, in San Diego you can still have a snow day, you just gotta drive a bit. I'll probably go snowboarding or sledding. All depends on my friend's wishes.

Normally I think of insurance as a scam. It has to be. It is just one big gamble they will make more money off you than you get back from them. It's a mandated commercial/governmental casino and you don't even get to decide if you want to play or not. Of course I'm also the person at one time who has had 6 speeding tickets in less than two years. I'm obviously biased.

But sometimes it rolls in your favor and you beat the insurance company. This 1992 Honda I bought two years ago for 2,400? Well after a little mishap where the front bumper and such gets torn off the insurance casino/cartel/company decides it is totaled. Not worth repairing. Fine. I bought a newer Accord to replace it already.

Well they decide to value this almost twenty year old car I bought for just over two grand at $4,000. Yep, that's right, after my deductible is deducted I get a check for $3,500. Ha! Rowdy ftw.

Vegas. Downhill mountain biking. Day trip. 38 degree weather. Four things you would not normally put together in one sentence. I did in one long day. Starting at 430am until 1130pm. Cold, tired, dirty, scared. But fun.


I better find that Santa delivers one of these to my stalking. I watched Rare Exports, the Scandinavian movie the purports he is actually a vicious child killing demon. I won't believe it if he give me this awesome Pez set. Better yet two, one I can play with and one I can keep and sell on eBay in 10 years.

I'm getting my haircut on Friday. Giving up on growing it long and going back to short. Not shaved, just shorter and cleaner than it is now. Never shaving it again unless forced to for brain surgery or something.

The last MotoGP race of the year has a special tribute for Marco's passing. Originally the plan was for a moment of silence. His dad decided otherwise and felt it was more fitting of his son's memory that they have a moment of noise.

Every motorcycle in the paddock was ridden out on track and revved in memory of Super Sic. It was quite the sight and sound. It made me decide that at my funeral I would like a 'moment of noise' as well. I think that would be fitting. Music, yelling, guns, cars, motorcycles or whatever.

And finally to end on a serious note, let's talk about pride. The type of pride where thinking that you're better than someone puts a gulf between you and them. Where you lessen them in you mind. Making it easier for you to treat them poorly. Watch for this carefully in your life, guard against it. And when you find it, kill it with kindness.

rad riding w rowdy

a rare prototype deemed too unique to destroy

What's next? Winning the lottery. Nah... I don't play anything I can't reasonably win. Or cheat at. Gaining the ability to jump scary doubles? Possibly, I am starting to visualize success here and riding with people who encourage me. Shaving my head? Nope, liking the compliments I get with longer hair.

How about then that UCSD called me this morning and said they are working on scheduling my experimental procedure and I should hear back next week!!

I am the first person ever they are going to try this on!! Wow. My momma always told me I was unique but I had no idea......

Basically I have a tunnel that starts inside my small intestine and goes out through my body to exit out two surgical scars I have. Think of a "Y" shaped tunnel. Since I am a poor surgical candidate I was referred to the super genius Mayo clinic doctor that just came to UCSD in San Diego. I posted about it/him last month if you wanna go back and read it.

The plan was to use a new interventional gastrointestinal (IG) procedure that has been successful in the stomach, rectum and large intestine. But never has it been tried in the small intestine. I'm the first and this is the only place on the west coast that does it.....

What will happen is they will do a regular endoscopic procedure "look and see" from the top and the bottom. So while they are looking around to see what is up and if I have any active Crohns disease they are going to try and reach my jejunem (middle part of my small intestine where the fistula starts).

If they can reach that part of my gut then they will squirt hydrogen peroxide through my fistulas from the cutaneous (skin) side and see if they can see where it bubbles out into my gut. If/when they visualize this then they deploy a thing that basically looks like a bear trap down the scope to that point and CHOMP the clip it onto the wall of the lumen of my intestine, physically closing the hole and origin of my fistula.

Leaving me with all the intestine I have now. No surgery. Still able to get MRI's. Able to go home that day (I hope). Cross your fingers, burn incense, pray, fast, think of me or whatever you feel will work. If this works I will probably cry for like 24 hours straight.........

The endoclip as it looks open.

The endoclip as it will look on the scope that goes down my throat or up my rear end. Also how it looks once it has snapped shut, bear trap style, on my insides.

rainy day rowdy

Remember the song as a kid to teach you your body parts, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes? I do. I still need it for when I have to remember a litany of injuries for medical history purposes.

But today is the rare rainy San Diego day so as I sat down to begin my day I realized all the things I was doing involved very little of my body.

Homemade breakfast burritos of turkey sausage, eggs, cheese and tomato. Mouth and nose.

Fancy hot chocolate with caramel sauce. Mouth and nose.

F.W. Munrau's "Faust" from 1926 on Netflix. Eyes, ears and brain.

California Physicians and Physician Assistants CME article, "Animal to Human Health Risks." Eyes and brain.

San Diego Physicians magazine article "Infectious Diseases." Eyes and brain.

Looks like nothing is going on today below my neck.......(insert jokes here. pun intended) I'm going to have to change that and make it a 'full bodied' kind of day.

Rich, roasted, Rowdy full bodied all-day flavor.

My first day back at work!! Mi primera dia regressa a trabajo!

My Spanish is horrible, so please forgive me if I totally butchered that version of my blog title. I felt like using my mind, not Google translate.

So I had my first day back at 'real' work. Nuclear Medicine. What my degree is and what most of my real big boy job experience has been.

I'm getting paid an OK amount, $40 per hour. Not as much as I've made before but more than a lot of other jobs. So I'm very happy with that. Only two days a week right now but who knows. It will either grow or shrink. But I am happy for what I have now.

Of the 9 iv's I started I only had to poke one person twice. I did everything on time and never had to apologize for a mistake. Because in the medical field you want to make your mistakes a 1 in 1,000 occurrence. After about 3 hours I was totally back in the groove.

Which to me, this is something I was very afraid of. I have not worked in nucs for almost 2 years. Two years of not using a skill at all. Since I am good at riding a bike and that's the analogy always used, I quickly remembered how to ride the nuclear medicine bicycle.

And of course, here are the pics. A couple of me in the brief moments of non-frantic working. My computer work station. And the camera with a patient. Sssshhhh, don't tell anyone.





Since you've read this far I will reward you with a funny story from the first day back...
A little old Filipina lady, whom I thought was a nurse in another part of the office, was talking with the medical assistants and stopped me as I was leaving by saying, "Ohhh, you have red hair. I bet you are HOT! All the girls want you I am sure."
To which my reply was, "Some do. I have what I want."
She then said, "Well let me show you how to get them. You say 'It's my birthday come give me a hug.'" To which I follow her arm motions and hug her.
She tried to grab my butt during the hug and coos "Oh you are hot!" Then she follows it up with "Now you say 'Give me a kiss'", and she does the European style cheek kiss. I play along, not thinking at all about the impending molestation.
I kiss one side, as I'm moving over for the next...... she moves fast like a honey badger and kisses me full on the mouth.
Yeah. That's how I end my first day at work. Don't hate.