Let's call it blog infatuation...two in a row. It won't last.
There are more important things in this world than hair. That has been my mantra the last 6 weeks to my son and daughter.
My son and I are raising money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. They are the worlds largest charity organization raising funds to support research to fight childhood cancer. I have watched this organization from afar for several years and this year, thanks to a friend, jumped into the fun and dragged my 5 year old with me. Check out the website www.stbaldricks.org
Through March 14th we are raising money for the foundation and on Friday will be shaving our heads in support of kids fighting the cancer challenge. Our combined goal is $3,000.
This cause has taken new meaning after we started as one of my son's fellow 5 year-olds was just diagnosed with stage 3a Lymphoma. this has given new meaning to our cause.
There is more to this than a fund raiser. I am hoping to impart some wisdom onto my kids. This is about imparting on my kids a sense of proportion. Hair can grow back, raising money for kids that can't come back is more important.
My daughter has told me she wants to do this next year and make a donation to the Locks of Love group by donating 10 plus inches of hair. Kids in my son's class want to join now, but it looks like we will wait till next year and make it a full school project.
Our hair, clothes, cars and houses are not the important things. It is the choices we make on the rest of the world that is the true impact on our souls.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
To Blog or not to Blog...and how do I get rid of this stone
As you can see I have not done a very good job in keeping up with my blog. Sure I posted a cutesy little poem that I hopes would have won me a super fancy bike. But since then...nuthin'.
In the last couple of day I have added a banner and a picture, refined a few items and now feel it is time for me to start blogging. The question is what do I blog about. My wife has a blog about marketing http://www.qgenisys.com/blog/ that she shares with some co-workers at the consulting business. I occasionally reads the blogs of Wil Wheaton, Bruce Cordell, Orson Scott Card and others. But really how much time does one have to read all there is to read out there in Blogland.
So here is the deal. My goal is to blog once maybe twice per week. It may just be a couple of lines, it may be a whole lot of nothing. But let's try this and see how it goes.
First item up for discussion --- KIDNEY STONES
For the last 4 days I have been fighting the mother of kidney stones. This isn't my first and I know it won't be my last. The thing about this one is that it has really kicked my ass.
It started on Wednesday morning. i had a meeting downtown and wasn't feeling that well. Drove home and literally collapsed in bed. I knew it was a stone and logically concluded that it would pass within an hour and all would be fine.
WRONG
Fortunately my wonderful daughter was home and proved to be of great support. At noon I had to call my in-laws and neighbor for assistance and requested that wife come back home. At 12:30 my wonderful wife, rushed me to the ER and after a glorious round of pain medication and some fancy pictures of my guts I was informed by the physician I did have a kidney stone that was 6 to 8 MM in size. (They thought it was a girl.) We were back home by 4 with a bottle of "happy pills" and an appointment at the nearest urologist set for the next day.
I felt good, ordered some Indian food and invited the neighbors to grub out and laugh off the days eariler excitement.
WRONG AGAIN
Back in the ER for more pain medication and a stern lecture from the other attending ER Physician about the importance of following directions about taking the drugs perscribed.
Back home at 10 PM and a restless and painful night of sleep. A "happy pill" every 3 to 4 hours lots of water, groaning, laughing, cursing and tears.
Wake up at 7 AM and I feel great. Thinking the stone has passed I start breakfast for the kids, coffee for the wife and prepare for a day of work. All I have to do is catch the stone.
STRIKE THREE.....I'M OUT...
at 8:30 I am knocked to the floor again and with pain the exceed the previous two incidents. More "happy pills" and semi-consciousness till two and the trip to the urologist. Good News and Bad news from this guy.
Good News - "We know why you haven't passed the stone, it is actually in excess of 1CM in size and stuck"
Bad News - "Probably can't get you relief until Monday because the BLAH BLAH BLAH."
The sight of a 40 year old man crying is not pleasant. I am not proud but the thought of this pain continuing until Monday and me missing a weekend of family planned activities was not good. My tears worked and an d we were sent the "The Kidney Stone Center" in downtown denver for blood work, additional consultation and advised to return Friday Morning at 11AM for Lithotripsy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithotriptor
Another restless night of sleep, more couch time in the morning, then off for treatment. Not to mention I now haven't eaten for 48 hours and couldn't any water since Thursday at midnight. I was beginning to get cranky. Put the pain was getting in the way of my foul mood.
Let me just say that "The Kidney Stone Center" is a wonderous place. They confirmed the size, (one big mother of a stone) location(not good) and sent me off to sleepy land. I woke up some time later in recovery. Can't leave until I pee, (Never peed blood before, but they said it was a good sign.) and ate two graham crackers. Bliss, sweet bliss. Off to home and recovery.
Send the kids to the neighbors, wife to her Friday night work function and I lay around for a bit, over to the neighbors for a light dinner, back home and a great night sleep.
Saturday morning the birds were singing, the sun was shining and I was again my joyful happy self. The battle is fought, the war against the stone is won and I will be able join my daugther for Pinewood Derby and my wife and friends for an evening of fun.
WRONG AGAIN...WRONG AGAIN...WRONG AGAIN...
Pain..."happy pills"...pain..."happy pills"...Three hours later I am back to the zoned out zombie. I am still peeing blood, urine filled with gravel, and more couch and down time. This is not fun anymore.
So no Pinewood derby...no fun time with the wife and friends.
I do have to say this. Even as a 40 year-old man, there is something comforting about having your mom around when you are sick. My mom had previously planned on coming up for a conference we had been expecting her. But it was nice to have some "Mommy care". I think my wife was grateful for the assist and a chance to get away from me for a night.
So here it is Sunday afternoon, 10 minutes to four. I am feeling human. Still peeing gravel and waiting for the big chunks to show themselves.
For those that don't know the real pain from kidney stones comes from the the stone leaving the kidney and going to the bladder. Leaving the bladder and out is uncomfortable also, but minor in comparison. So for the next week I will pee through a strainer and on March 20th or so, return to the urologist for a follow-up.
My father has dealt with stones for 30 years and the "experts" are always changing his diet. Hopefully we can figure this one out. He has been a guide for me in my struggles. He has had the Lithotripsy done several times before and still fights the stone battle on a yearly basis.
If you have ever fought the stone let me know. Have they returned on you? if not what changes have you made?
In the last couple of day I have added a banner and a picture, refined a few items and now feel it is time for me to start blogging. The question is what do I blog about. My wife has a blog about marketing http://www.qgenisys.com/blog/ that she shares with some co-workers at the consulting business. I occasionally reads the blogs of Wil Wheaton, Bruce Cordell, Orson Scott Card and others. But really how much time does one have to read all there is to read out there in Blogland.
So here is the deal. My goal is to blog once maybe twice per week. It may just be a couple of lines, it may be a whole lot of nothing. But let's try this and see how it goes.
First item up for discussion --- KIDNEY STONES
For the last 4 days I have been fighting the mother of kidney stones. This isn't my first and I know it won't be my last. The thing about this one is that it has really kicked my ass.
It started on Wednesday morning. i had a meeting downtown and wasn't feeling that well. Drove home and literally collapsed in bed. I knew it was a stone and logically concluded that it would pass within an hour and all would be fine.
WRONG
Fortunately my wonderful daughter was home and proved to be of great support. At noon I had to call my in-laws and neighbor for assistance and requested that wife come back home. At 12:30 my wonderful wife, rushed me to the ER and after a glorious round of pain medication and some fancy pictures of my guts I was informed by the physician I did have a kidney stone that was 6 to 8 MM in size. (They thought it was a girl.) We were back home by 4 with a bottle of "happy pills" and an appointment at the nearest urologist set for the next day.
I felt good, ordered some Indian food and invited the neighbors to grub out and laugh off the days eariler excitement.
WRONG AGAIN
Back in the ER for more pain medication and a stern lecture from the other attending ER Physician about the importance of following directions about taking the drugs perscribed.
Back home at 10 PM and a restless and painful night of sleep. A "happy pill" every 3 to 4 hours lots of water, groaning, laughing, cursing and tears.
Wake up at 7 AM and I feel great. Thinking the stone has passed I start breakfast for the kids, coffee for the wife and prepare for a day of work. All I have to do is catch the stone.
STRIKE THREE.....I'M OUT...
at 8:30 I am knocked to the floor again and with pain the exceed the previous two incidents. More "happy pills" and semi-consciousness till two and the trip to the urologist. Good News and Bad news from this guy.
Good News - "We know why you haven't passed the stone, it is actually in excess of 1CM in size and stuck"
Bad News - "Probably can't get you relief until Monday because the BLAH BLAH BLAH."
The sight of a 40 year old man crying is not pleasant. I am not proud but the thought of this pain continuing until Monday and me missing a weekend of family planned activities was not good. My tears worked and an d we were sent the "The Kidney Stone Center" in downtown denver for blood work, additional consultation and advised to return Friday Morning at 11AM for Lithotripsy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithotriptor
Another restless night of sleep, more couch time in the morning, then off for treatment. Not to mention I now haven't eaten for 48 hours and couldn't any water since Thursday at midnight. I was beginning to get cranky. Put the pain was getting in the way of my foul mood.
Let me just say that "The Kidney Stone Center" is a wonderous place. They confirmed the size, (one big mother of a stone) location(not good) and sent me off to sleepy land. I woke up some time later in recovery. Can't leave until I pee, (Never peed blood before, but they said it was a good sign.) and ate two graham crackers. Bliss, sweet bliss. Off to home and recovery.
Send the kids to the neighbors, wife to her Friday night work function and I lay around for a bit, over to the neighbors for a light dinner, back home and a great night sleep.
Saturday morning the birds were singing, the sun was shining and I was again my joyful happy self. The battle is fought, the war against the stone is won and I will be able join my daugther for Pinewood Derby and my wife and friends for an evening of fun.
WRONG AGAIN...WRONG AGAIN...WRONG AGAIN...
Pain..."happy pills"...pain..."happy pills"...Three hours later I am back to the zoned out zombie. I am still peeing blood, urine filled with gravel, and more couch and down time. This is not fun anymore.
So no Pinewood derby...no fun time with the wife and friends.
I do have to say this. Even as a 40 year-old man, there is something comforting about having your mom around when you are sick. My mom had previously planned on coming up for a conference we had been expecting her. But it was nice to have some "Mommy care". I think my wife was grateful for the assist and a chance to get away from me for a night.
So here it is Sunday afternoon, 10 minutes to four. I am feeling human. Still peeing gravel and waiting for the big chunks to show themselves.
For those that don't know the real pain from kidney stones comes from the the stone leaving the kidney and going to the bladder. Leaving the bladder and out is uncomfortable also, but minor in comparison. So for the next week I will pee through a strainer and on March 20th or so, return to the urologist for a follow-up.
My father has dealt with stones for 30 years and the "experts" are always changing his diet. Hopefully we can figure this one out. He has been a guide for me in my struggles. He has had the Lithotripsy done several times before and still fights the stone battle on a yearly basis.
If you have ever fought the stone let me know. Have they returned on you? if not what changes have you made?
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