Veteran's Day Poem

This was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, Canadian Army, during the first World War. One of my favorite poems.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Happy Veteran's / Armistice Day

Happy Veteran's / Armistice Day. A special thank you to all those who have and are serving the armed forces around the world. We are able to live our amazing lives because of your daily and life long sacrifice. Thank you.

I've always loved this look ...

What look you ask? The spare tire / no hubcap look. It's really impressive. It says, I probably drove over a curb or had a flat tire and I'm too lazy to get my tire fixed. Well in my case, I'm not going to share details, but someone else was driving my car and took out a curb.

I hate this look and unfortunately its going to be this way until Friday because that's the first chance I'll have to get out and get it fixed. Yay!

24 Hours !

In 24 Hours, Modern Warfare 2 comes out. What is it you ask -- quite possible the greatest video game ever. Some say I'm too old to play video games ... to those people I say, mind your own damn business. Do I tell you have to live your life? Yeah, bam, take that! Plus, I'm sick, I need something to do.

Modern Warfare 2

What a difference a week makes

This time last week, I was sitting here with friends, drooling on myself and watching football. Not much has change except for the drool -- well, just less amounts. Its amazing how much you change in a week. Happy to say that last night was the first time I slept for six consecutive hours since, well probably college. That pretty much means the surgery worked -- and I can't wait for all of the swelling to go down.

Unfortunately, I was too ambitious last night with food and paid the price. For some reason, I thought, its time for mashed potatoes. Well, my throat said not so much. The pain resulting from one spoonful of mashed potatoes was simply amazing. Within seconds, I had a shooting pain behind my ear, eye and throat out my throat which lasted for about 10 minutes. The only thing you can really do is cover yourself in ice and curl into a ball. Mind you, this is all going on while I"m still on a heavy dose of vicodin. The good news, I've gone from constant pain, to a few moments each hour of shooting pain. Can't say its much better, but let's call it improvement.

In other news, sitting around the same apartment for a week is boring. I've figured out new ways to redesign the place and pretty sure everything has been cleaned twice. I think next week I'm going to iron every shirt I own. Might as well.

The frustrating news -- I can't exercise until mid December. That kinda sucks. I guess that's balanced by the fact I won't be able to eat completely solid food til then either.

Happy Saturday.

You can't do that to the mormons

Wouldn't be surprised if they turn this player's action into a hate crime.

Ahh, family

My family has been a tremendous help during my recovery and aside from general help, they do some really entertaining things - whether they realize it or not. For instance, I'm having some issues with pain and my mom was trying to come up with some remedies. One was a warm rag to put on the side of my head except she microwaved the rag for 4 mins instead of 40 seconds. Needless to say, the rag probably would have liquidized my skin. Ahh, family. Video below for entertainment.

Remember, Remember The Fifth of November

I miss Fireworks night. Boo. Too bad we have nothing like that here. Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Here's a lil V for Vendetta for you.

Farewell my friend ...

It's a sad day in Mudville ... my buddy and favorite Scotty Maggie the dog has left us and gone to a better place. She was an amazing dog with an attitude that I've never seen before in a dog. One minute, she would run crazy and be your best friend, the next she was a princess that would give you attitude if you didn't give her the right treat. I'll never forget the three weeks I kept her in college and taught her how to act as a big dog and even jump through hulu hoops that were on fire.

She was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, had half of her paw removed and really wasn't supposed to live long, but she soldiered on.

Maggie's greatest accomplishment had to be her actions the last year. When my mom was diagnosed with cancer in May, Maggie never left her side and was the main influence in keeping her spirits up. As if a sign from a higher power, Maggie started to weaken the day after we found out my mom's cancer was gone. It was as if she knew her job was done and it was time for her to rest.

Thanks for everything my little buddy. We'll miss you Maggie and I'll never forget the power a dog can have to help someone heal. Hopefully your enjoying the world largest stuffed black bear, Frosty Paws and scrambled eggs in doggie heaven!

So that's what's its like to breath

I generally don't like doctors appointments but today's was glorious. I saw Dr. Kim and she removed the two shints in my nose keeping everything in place. The immediate removal of pressure was amazing and I felt a bit light headed after actually breathing in fresh air. Its incredible. Who knew what it was like to actually breath well. I'm astonished.

In regards to my throat, well, that's going to be another two weeks or so. Lucky for me, I got more fun pain meds so it looks like I'll be taken care of for a while. Unfortunately, that means my mysterious diet will continue. Trust me, when your excited to eat Ramen noodles you know your are in a bizarre place. I had some for the first time last night since college and I'm pretty sure I'll never eat them again once this experience is over.

Here are some other fun key learnings:
- I'm finally allowed to sleep not sitting up. Huge relieve. Do you know what its like to sleep sitting up for six straight days?
- The pain from the throat spreads behind your ears and your eyes. its pretty awesome. There's not a whole lot you can do about it particularly since you've already taken Lortab.
- The stuff in your nose and throat smells something awful. I'm glad no one is really around me b/c my breath smells a lot like Indian food.

Some pictures

Here are some photos from the last couple of days. Nothing gross yet. Favorite has to be the pain scale. I learned quick, if you say anything over 7, you get morphine.

Cabin Fever

Here's the weird part about this surgery -- the first days after are better than that latter days. I know its odd, but I'm going to chalk that up to the inability to eat and sleep. Here are a couple of videos I made while I was wandering around the house in drugged state. Nothing too exciting. Hoping to have more video evidence as well as i'm allowed to talk. I've resorted to holding up flash cards now for what I need. We will see how long that goes over ...

Fantabulous Commercial

What do you get when you mix Kate Moss and Depeche Mode -- well, aside from something that was cool in the early '90s, a pretty cool commercial.

Breaking News ....

Their is an election in Atlanta. Well, the media is covering it but apparently, no one else cares. They said only 20% of the people voted today. See, I didn't vote b/c I am not allowed to operate machinery due to my medication. Course, I can email, text and use the internet which I've actually found to be more dangerous than operating machinery.

In other news, Day 5 of recovery is going. I can't say its good or bad. Mixture of both types of moments. Unfortunately (or fortunately for others), I can't talk. Well, I can, but it hurts so I try not to speak very much. I tried watching the news, but its incredibley boring so I've resorted to HGTV. Pretty sure tomorrow I'll leave the world of home building, buying and renovating because I"m pretty sure I already know where to find a good deal on a house / condo and how to create affordable tile floors and crown molding.

Gross factor update -- no video footage of this yet, but the fun scabs in the back of my throat like to break off and then bleed. Yeah, its cool. Your just sitting there and all the sudden, your mouth fills up with blood. Needless to say, the first time it happened I had a minor case of rapid heartbeat, but I've been told its normal and now I just take it as another fun experience in Jed's recovery.

Monday, Monday, Monday

Let's just say Monday night was not so much fun. After a good day, we decided to try some new things like - take a walk in public and eat something beyond Jello and water. Well, let's just say that those tasks were too ambitious. Around 10 PM, I was in a good bit of pain, but nothing I didn't think the medicine wouldn't help. Around 11 (and after some Lortab), the pain was pretty miserable and my mouth decided to act like a golden retriever and I was drooling everywhere. Dead sexy, I know.

I tried to sleep but I'm pretty sure an army of Samuri's were hurling swords at my throat all night long. I'm starting to believe some of the other people blog comments about wanting to die or sacrifice another limb just to relieve the pain. Seriously, at around 4 AM, I would have traded an arm, leg, hand, foot, internal organ to get the pain to stop. It really was that bad.

Hopefully today and tonight will be better. Unfortunately, I'm back on Jello and water all day and pretty sure my strenuous walks are going to be cut back. Lucky for me, its election day and there's loads of good things on TV to watch -- or that's sarcasm for I've gone through all of my DVDs and TV is pure shit. How can I have 400 channels and nothing to watch?

Scratch this tip off the list

In my research, someone suggested that chewing guy was helpful b/c it helped keep silva in your mouth, etc. Ok, first off, that person must only have bad breath b/c when you can't swallow, the last thing you want is an abundance of saliva. Second, I don't know about you, but when they took out my tonsils and throat, they clamped my jaw which means it hurts a little. To sum it up, chewing gum is like stabbing your self in the face with an ice pick.

Whoever suggested chewing gum needs to be thrown down a giant hill in a burlap bag.

Awful

Yeah, the game was ridiculous but this decision by the SEC and the University of Fla is just awful. In this video, Fla "star" defensive player tries to rip out a UGA player's eye. Yeah, rip / poke out his eye. Stay Klassy Gators. Florida has just equaled Duke on my hate list.

USS New York

The new ship built out of the steel from the WTC.

Recovery

Let's just say the internet and health care / recovery advice are about as compatible as me and anyone I've ever dated. And for the few of you that I've dated, you can agree that yeah, not so compatible. Anywhoo -- I looked to the inet for advice on recovery and all I've found are horror stories. I'd never go there for prudent advice, just a few suggestions.

Pretty much everyone you read about claims to be on the verge of death, recently walked away from the light or feels as if they were hit my a hellfire missile. Now don't get me wrong, I'm in a world of pain, but nothing like any of these people. Yeah, I'm not sleeping and I've probably ingested a total of 300 calories in the last four days, but I don't feel like someone poured hot coles down my throat. The exaggerations are awesome and I highly recommend you go read what they say and then believe 1/2 of it. Here are some things that are true:

- Patients are highly irritable and visitors beware -- yeah, I'll attest to this. When swallowing takes all your energy, the last thing you want to do is play 20 questions with family members or friends when you can't talk. Lucky for me, my friends that have visited understand this fact and are great guests. I'm grateful for such good friends.

- You get scabs on your throat -- not going to go into detail b/c they are nasty. It's like when you order a drink and there's a bug in it, but you can't get the bug out and it occasionally stings you.

- You can't sleep -- well, you can, but its not comfortable and wen you do sleep, its usually pretty miserable. You have to sit straight up and not move your arms. Since I'm not a zombie and usually move around alot when I sleep, this isn't very comfy. The good news, I'll get to sleep a whole lot in a couple of weeks. Woo Hoo.

- You can't eat -- yeah, this is pretty true. I've had lots of water and jello and have tried to move on to some pudding and chocolate shakes and unfortunately, they don't mix so well with the scabs. The comment that you get to eat as much ice cream as you want, well that's a lie. I mean, I guess you could eat a lot of ice cream and I could also eat a lot of steak, but I'm not going to b/c I think that might hurt a little.

- You get cool drugs -- well, yeah, you get lots of cool drugs. I'm not going to lie, narcotics are a cool thing. They don't taste very well, but they sure do get the job done.

- You get to watch lots of TV -- in the last three days, I've seen a bunch of movies, a couple of seasons of some bad TV series and considering picking up a show like the Sopranos. Since I'm not supposed to be better for 10 days, looks like I"ll have plenty of time on my hands.

So those are just a few of the fun things. I'll be sure to write more in the next couple of days and keep everyone posted. Oh and I'll be sure to take some pictures of those scabs in my throat for everyone to enjoy. Yum, throat scabs!

How do you promise a loss ...

Do something like this ... stupid Furman. Your going to get blown out now (actually would have either way). No one does a White out (except Penn State -- COME TO PENN STATE).

Why isn't A-Rod rapping?

Surgery Day

Disclaminer -- I'm on meds so I'm pretty sure the grammar and spelling will be much worse than usual.

First up, its never fun to be up at 530. Second off, its never much fun to be at a hospital at that time either. Luckily, my parents were there to help me out but I'm pretty sure they were more nervous than I was. I already knew my father was against the whole surgery so that just added a whole other level of tension to the situations.

Anywhoo, around 7, I headed back to get IV'd up and prepped for surgery. I got to wear these kick ass leggings and a gown that was like a curtain. Pretty sexy -- I have pictures that I'll add later. After a couple of quick conversations and an IV placement, I was given some amazing drug that put me out. I don't remember a whole lot. I know I thanked everyone several times and remember apologizing for having bad hair. Lots of laughs -- at me of course.

Got into the surgery room and I remember laying down, and then waking up 3 hours later in recovery. Boy was that a crap feeling. I felt like there were 1,000 daggers in my throat, but luckily, my nose was fine.

Round 12 I was given a room and told to basically drink and do nothing. The real fun part, I wasn't allowed to walk, so I had to pee into a canister. There's nothing dignified about pissing into a Tupperware container in a bed particularly with people coming into the room.

The first night was pretty miserable. If the surgery wasn't painful enough, the ansetheia made me puke once which was pretty awful -- particularly with throat surgery.

Lucky for me, Dr. Noisewater and Athens Girl came by the hospital to visit. Both have spent a good bit of time in hospitals so they were able to relate to a lot of the things I was going through. Also lucky to have my mom stay with me all night. I'm pretty sure she didn't sleep all night and I'm grateful she was there to help me around.

Probably the best highlight for everyone -- I can't talk so I'm basically speechless. I want to talk, but I"m trying not to talk b/c it hurts. Hopefully, that will stop soon so I can get back to my old ways of rambling on an on about nothing.

Slice N' Dice

Tomorrow's the big day --- that's right sports fans, I get sliced and diced in the morning. I decided to take part of Obama's new cash for clunker health care plan and turning in my tonisls, adnoids, part of my throat and my nose for the ability to breath, sleep and not snore all the time. I'm a bit anxious about it, but I"ll be sure to send everyone updates on the funness that goes with adult surgery. For instance, most people have their tonsils out when they are kids - I'm having it done when I'm 33. Yay me and yay pain.

Hopefully everything will go well and the meds will carry me off to la la land the next couple of weeks. Much more to come.