Morgan. My guilty pleasure #12

Let's just get this out in the open. I'm vain. To a point I really just like to dress casually and simply but I am concerned about what I look like. I want to look young, healthy and fit.

So normally I just do my thing in jeans and a t-shirt, very So-Cal style. But where soo many guys are content to rock the scruff unkempt look I have to get my hair cut "just so." That is why I cut it myself for years. And would go to the same person over and over no matter what if I found someone I like.

And here in San Diego I have found someone I like. Her name is Morgan and she currently is at Rinse Salon near North Park.

As I am homebound for months and since I can't engage in guilty pleasure #1, long hot showers, but once a week I really really needed GP#12!!

I texted her from the hospital and we set up an appointment for just a few days after I got home. We set everything up in the garage and she cut my hair exactly as I wanted. I love her!

Much of our enjoyment of life is in feeling good about ourselves. Confidence. Looking good often equals feeling good. My body may be jacked up right now, but I can at least face it, with a good looking face.

a battle won, the war still rages

i just won a two day hospital battle with dehydration. the war will continue till december when the next scheduled action, surgery, is to take place.

i'm sure the enemy will try to attack me again before then, he has many weapons. but i also plan on winning, so will always fight back.

in fact i'm secretly introducing some new tactics now.

this battle may be over......... let's be vigilant and ready for whatever may come next!

I have talked about how onerous my day is in my home medical treatment but never really broke it down exactly. I'm going to now. I wish I was wealthy enough to pay someone to do ALL of this, so that I didn't have to do ANY of it to myself at all. Other than actually swallow the pills.

6am: injection. pills. powder.
7am: dressing change.
9am: disconnect from TPN.
10am: pills. check blood sugar.
12pm: home health nurse visit Mon and Thurs.
2pm: injection. pills. powder.
4pm: check blood sugar. prepare TPN. change ostomy bag Mon and Fri.
5pm: connect to TPN.
6pm: pills.
7pm: dressing change.
10pm: injection. pills. powder.

I also am emptying my ostomy bag of its contents at least once an hour, 24/7. So I have a few hour breaks here and there but yeah.... You can see why this is an ordeal and I didn't even list what it actually takes to perform some of these steps.

I can't wait till my next surgery and this is over!

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Today's Jeopardy answer; A great cleaning device. A great rapper. My personal mantra when dealing with little personal annoyances.

The question; What is QTIP?

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What I am most fervently praying for right now,for my Crohns to go into permanent remission and to only have the desire to do good.

odd.....

right now here are the odd things for me......

"food" goes in my arm
"poop" comes out of my stomach
fruits and veggies are bad to eat
any exercise more than walking is too much
showering is not good, but keeping my healing wound wet is ideal

on the face of it, all of these things seem very odd. i feel like one big joke is being played on me. i know this isn't really an example of things that are good being made to appear bad and vice-versa.

it does intrigue as what can be taken for a "rule" one day is totally wrong the next but then only to be followed down the road later.

so it makes me very thankful for the things that are unchanging and eternal. while being a rowdy kind of guy part of me really enjoys change and spontaneity. but when things are bad, tough, hurtful and so forth i really like constants. for me, this is mainly found in my religious beliefs and practices.

Hebrews 13:6 "...The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me"

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever."

good and bad

the bad:
it rained today.
both lab tech and home health nurse are hours late. i'm glad they called.
my ostomy bag came loose this morning and i had to change it by myself and i did a poor job. sadly it is not as easy as just press and seal.
my iv pump is still having issues.
i have to make 3 phone calls to different health places to get stuff set up. i hate the phone.
i can't shower everyday.
i can only wear shorts and tank tops. good thing i live in san diego.
i worry my family will tire of caring for me.

the good:
it is a pleasant temperature inside the house.
i slept well.
i organized and put away all my medical supplies.
i did 3 loads of laundry.
i'm getting my hair cut this week.
i'm no longer loosing weight.
tuesday and thursday are designated video game playing days.
many people pray and think and are concerned for me. i feel and appreciate it.

The Face of my Reality

If C Bale ever needs an understudy for a sequel to The Machinist I think I could qualify...

the short answer

Sept 12: Remicade as an outpatient in the hospital for 4 hours.

Sept 13: Scheduled surgery to resect bad part of intestine.

Sept 18: Taken to the Emergency Room with severe pain, fever, chills.

Sept 19: With a white count of over 30 and my CT scan results it was of to the operating room for emergency surgery. My surgery inside had came apart and leaked into my gut. Inflammation and infection on an amazing level.

Sept 20: Learn I am going to be on TPN, have a PICC line, have an ileostomy bag, test my blood sugar, have an open wound with my mucus fistula in the middle of it and be on a crap load of pills and injections. Until December when hopefully I get another surgery to reverse all of this.

Sept 28: Acquire 3 fungal infections on top of it as well.

Oct 1: I'm released home with the above mentioned stuff and many ups and downs. Like down to 124llbs.

That is where I have been, that is all the worst case scenario stuff that has happened. I'm at home now though, under virtual house arrest as I am connected to stuff that cant leave the house the whole time. Hopefully in 2 or 3 weeks my wound will be healed and that will be one less thing.

So what am I going to do? I can't really leave the house and cant lift anything over like 5lbs. Heck, I can only shower 3 times a week!!
-get a PS3 and play games
-write more
-read the Bible and such
-build a RC monster truck
-start painting watercolors.

I'm back! Thanks for your love, prayer and concerns.