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.