I. Love. This. Show. Wanna know why? here, try these on for size:
- "What the Frak?!" - "Blurg!" - "I want to go to there..." - "What the WHAT?!" - "I'm gonna have to talk to some food about this." - Liz: "Are you wearing a tux?" Jack: "It's after six, Lemon. What am I, a farmer?" - "Suck it!" - "That place can eat my poo!" - "I'm lizzing! I'm lizzing!"
Ok, if you don't watch the show, you may not really think most of the things above are funny... but the thing I like about this show is that it isn't just the overall story that's funny, there are funny bits throughout the whole thing. And not cheesy, Full House type funny, but actual smart-funny jokes throughout an entire episode (not that "... eat my poo" is a super smart joke, but those take a little longer to explain... and they happen so quick!). And right after they make the joke, the plot just moves on. I laugh almost constantly while watching this show. It may be a little shocking to some of you to hear it, but 30 Rock has totally taken over as my favorite show, even over LOST. I know, it sounds nuts, but I can't help it. It's so good! So get on the band wagon and go watch it. If you have a sense of humor, you won't be disapointed.
In other news, Tori had her baby! She's a cutie and I can't wait to see her. Also, I'm aware I haven't posted with pictures in a while, and this post may be a sorry excuse for my lack of pictures. If you need to see a few pictures, check out Hayley's blog. She's been posting quite a few lately! And the new Transformers movie opens next weekend! I'm so frakin' excited!
Ten years ago--I think this month, maybe May--I graduated from high school. Pretty crazy, thinking about what has happened in that time, and what I thought my life would be like when I was a recent high school graduate. It got me thinking so much about it, that I went back and read my old journal and found a couple entries that illustrate my thoughts at the time. This first one is from December.
December 3, 1998 ...I think about going on a mission and about how much I don't know and I don't want to be so unprepared that I can't teach anyone. Man, a mission used to be so far off. But now I'm 18 and have already voted! Before you know it I'll be 80!I'm real worried about my future. I don't know what I want to major in in college yet. I just know that I want go. It's a little scary, but I just think I'll do like a semester of generals and then go on a mission and pray about it and stuff and see what happens. I wish I knew everything I was meant to do down here, but not knowing is part of the point, right? I kinda want to get my handwriting analyzed. I don't know what made me think of that. Well, bye.
Guess my ADD from high school has still stayed with me. And no, I never actually got my handwriting analyzed... Here's a few of my thoughts the summer after I graduated.
June 23, 1999 Well, school's out and I'm finally graduated! Wait... I graduated. I wanted to graduate? I'm going to college? How confusing life is. Well, I'm going to college at SUU and I'll be rooming with Matt Dearing, Kyle Jenson, and Trent Olsen. Psycho, huh. I still don't know what to major in. Well, high school is over. I think moving out will be good for me....
To be completely honest, I was surprised at how much stuff I wrote about the gospel and my feelings about God and the Church--there was a whole lot more from my journal I didn't post here.
I'm glad I read that journal. I go back and think about how nervous I was to go on a mission, and even with that on the near horizon, everything seemed pretty carefree. I have a journal entry that says one of my paychecks was $280, and how awesome I thought that was. Holy. Crap. I can remember how awesome I thought I was in high school. I remember having no idea what I would do in college, but not really caring too much, because I was living it up--especially that first year. But I'm glad it all happened. As it turns out, I had a pretty good head on my shoulders then. While I thought $280 bucks for 2 weeks of work was pretty great, and didn't care to declare a major, I still kept the important things in mind.
Things have really changed, and I have really changed and grown into who I am now. Ten years doesn't really seem like a lot of time, but man, thinking about it all has kinda put it in perspective. I'm so blessed to be where I am now. I'm so happy I found Hayley! She is the main reason for my happiness. I am glad to be where I am today and so blessed to be on the journey of life with Hayley. Here's to another 10 years!
Mostly I just wanted to change the post that shows up at the top of my blog to be something different than an announcement that I pooped in a bucket... great, now I just mentioned it again...
So how are you, faithful reader (haha! do I have many of those?) doing? I'm ok. I have no tubes in me, I'm done with antibiotics, and just need to keep my wounds clean. Other than that, pretty busy these days. But managing it ok. I'm VERY glad to have a weekend and get to spend it with Hayley! How's your weekend going?
so through all this, i have had some crazy experiences. i thought i'd write a few things down. again, i'm on precocet, so some of this might not be impressive, or might be too much information... and feel free to check this one periodically. i'll probably add to it as i remember things.
first surgery (and first time i was nocked out all the way) first overnight stay in a hospital (only ever came in for broken bones) first time i've ever been delirious with pain first time i've ever taken morphine, delotted, lortab, or percocet (delotted is better than morphine, two lortabs is better than one lortab, two percocet is better than two lortab, but sometimes percocet makes you have crazy dreams) first time i've ever pooped in a bucket for doctors first time i've been stabbed with a needle 14 times in the same arm (they got me one more time today for blood work)
not gonna say i loved any of those firsts, but hey, chalk it up as experience, huh?
I know, I didn't want to write much more about this kinda stuff, but really, that's all I've got going right now, and I also have more time to do blog posts, so here's a little somethin'.
So today, I was stuck 13 times in my left arm. My veins didn't seem to want to take a needle. I think they have retreated because they know they're going to have to stay open for extended periods of time if they can get an IV in me. The reason for all the sticking was partially for blood work, but mostly because the IV in my right hand stopped working. When the vein wouldn't take anymore, my hand got a bunch of the IV liquids, and got puffy. Check it out. (I hope you can tell from the picture.)
See how big it gets after the fingers?? My hand doesn't usually puff up like that... the hand part is usually level with the fingers... If you can't tell from that one, here is a picture of my hands side by side. Crazy, huh? Just call me Popeye hand. (if this isn't that interesting, I'm sorry... I may or may not have had 2 percocet before writing this post.)
another late night/early morning post from me. don't worry, i have been sleeping, it's just that i just got my vitals taken, a new IV complete with antibiotics, and more blood drawn, so i'm a little more awake than the normal late-night nurse visit. so i was feeling like checking email and other wonders brought to me by the world wide interwebs. while doing so, i thought i'd place a question, not unlike my friend tib's question of the day. so here goes.
Why do doctors, nurses, and the like, say, "you're going to feel a little pressure here." when really they mean anything from, "i'm about to stab you with a needle so don't even think about moving." to, "i'm about to inflict pain upon you the likes of which you may never have experienced before." Really? PRESSURE?? THAT'S what they've taught yo to say in all those years of medical school? I'll show you some pressure....
so here i am in the hospital again. after going in friday, the doc said that if i wasn't feeling better, that i should come in. even if i was feeling the same, i should come in for some more IV antibiotics. or better yet, just come in anyway as a precaution. well, i felt the same, and came back in.
so doc number two tells me on saturday that my white blood cell count hadn't gone down very much, so again, if i don't feel much improved, i should come back in. sunday afternoon was babybradley's blessing day, so we went to lunch at jared and liz's, then to sacrament to the baby blessing. turns out i looked a little pale standing up in the circle, and after sitting in the hottest church ever (i made two fans for carter, who was freakin' funny as heck to watch waving in front of himself the thing just to watch it), and getting a little feverish, we decided to leave and just go lay down. i felt about the same as saturday, so we decided to go in for another IV. totally thinking alls i was gonna get was some more IV. well, the doc tells me she called my surgeon, and turns out 3rd time's a freakin' charm, and they want to admit me to the hospital to give me all sorts of IV antibiotics (through my hand this time, not the front side of the elbow), and make sure the infection is going away and not turning into an abscess. suck ass. when the doc left, hayley and i said if we'd known they were gonna do that, we might not have gone in! but really, if it makes me better, that's good, i guess. but i don't love that i'm getting to know all the hospital staff. they're friendly (except that one nurse from the first night), but i don't feel bad if i don't get to know them all personally.
so here i sit. giant IV bag slowly pumping into me, and waiting for a third CT or CAT scan in the morning. (turns out CT and CAT scans are the same thing...) please bless that i'm better tomorrow. i don't wanna continue with this nonsense. i just want to be better and sleep nights at home in my bed! missing hayley is the worst part. she's home without me. luckily we google chatted to pass the time until i don't get any more food or water (midnight). so again, here's hopin' this is the last of it. i want to post something that doesn't have to do with my guts rotting...
---------------3:18 a.m. update---------------
I CAN'T FRIGGIN' SLEEP. I'm sick of this place. I have tried reading, playing games on my phone watching TV, counted how many little tic tic tic tic tic tic tics, my IV makes before it makes the BRRRRRR sound (it's 30 if you're wondering), tried closing my eyes, emptying my head of thought, watching the black and red phase in and out when my eyes are closed, but I can't sleep. I am sick of the lady across the hall that can't hear. The nurses have asked her if she wants them to speak up--they must've said yes, because they yell at her so she can hear. She won't keep her stupid oxygen on right now, and she's getting some pain medication. They were moving her bed before. I'm sick of hearing her updates. I'm sick of the not-quite-dark of this room because the door is open. I don't want to close it because if I fall asleep, I don't want the nurse to wake me up when she comes in to change my IV. I just want to rest, but I'm not tired at all now. BAH!!! If anyone is online now, feel free to email me funny youtube videos or chat or whatever. I need to get tired enough to sleep!!!
---------------3:54 a.m. update---------------
Ok, now I feel bad... the lady across the hall is really struggling breathing and making some awful coughing and choking sounds, and I think they are helping her breathe because there's some sort of air compression sound and suction... sorry, lady across the hall. I hope you start feeling better...
Ok, so you can't have appendicitis twice, but I was in the ER again last night. Rather than give a whole account, which would be duplicating effort, I'll just direct you to Hayley's post here........ even if it does risk showing horrible pictures of me and my hairy chest. If you're disinclined to see that, maybe don't click the link...
Many of you may have already heard that I had my appendix removed yesterday. So here's the inside scoop.
Saturday night, I stated getting a little bit of a pain in my stomach. Nothing huge, just a little annoyance. Sunday, it was a little worse. I blamed it on the poor eating habits I had developed over the weekend. We ate burgers and fries Friday Night, then Sunday night we went to Hayley's sister's place and ate fondue. Wonderful fondue, but the mix of fruit, veggies, cheese, BBQ, and chocolate may not have been the best idea. Monday, my stomach ache was worse, and I actually complained out loud about it. I thought after breakfast I would feel better. But it didn't really get better.
I thought maybe after lunch I would feel better, but again I didn't. I even had a pretty bad stomach ache while eating. After lunch, I drank a lot of water and thought that would help. I texted Hayley and threatened to come home from work early, but after drinking the water, I thought I could stay and finish things up. I did eventually leave about half an hour early, and shortly after arriving at home, I threw up. Hayley had called and asked me to look up how many points a six inch grilled chicken sub from Subway was. When she came home, I was huddled around the toilet. I even thought I was fine, and thought we could go on a walk. Instead, I went with Hayley to get Subway, then she dropped me off and went to get a free Monday movie from Redbox. While she was gone, I threw up again. I was moaning in pain at that point, and she said she was going to take me to the doctor. I agreed, and apologized, and threw up one more time.
We went to the instacare, where I threw up in the parking lot, and tried to get inside. I made it to the first chair as they were telling Hayley to just take me to the ER because I was probably going to need an IV from the throwing up and they couldn't do an IV at the instacare. We went to the ER, I staggered in, and sat on the first chair I could find. Hayley talked to the receptionist, and I sat an moaned and groaned in pain, occasionally swearing. When the receptionist called us over, I was a wreck. I don't remember much, but I remember her asking me to rate my pain. Yelled at her, WHAT? She said to rate my pain on a 1 to 10 scale, and I immediately said "TEN!!" They told us there was a room and asked me if I wanted to go in a wheel chair. I was so ready to be in a bed, that I just started walking. Hayley sort of directed me, and I clung to the walls.
The ER doctor came in and gave me some morphine, and tried to talk to me. When I didn't really respond, he told the nurses to give me some deloted. Whatever that is. Apparently it's 10 times stronger than morphine, and actually helped me calm down some. I told them what was wrong, and they started me drinking this stuff in thirty minute intervals that would dye my insides, allowing them to check and see if it was my appendix. In the mean time, Hayley had called my mom and dad, my brother, her sisters, and her mom and dad. My dad and brother came to the ER and gave me a blessing. It was really nice to have a blessing. Also very nice to visit with those that could come to the ER! I seemed to be doing better with the pain killers, but I think I was a little loopy... I remember some periodic laughter at some of the things I said, so I must not have been making much sense... or making sense, just talking a little crazy.
After 2 hours of drinking gross liquid, which the nurses thought would be better mixed with sprite and/or cranberry juice, I finally got a CT scan. The results came half an hour after that. By then, it was about 2 o'clock in the morning. Everyone had left, and they admitted me to the hospital. For some reason, they decided to put me back on morphine and not the deloted stuff. The nurse from the ER said that if it wasn't enough, they could call the surgeon and get it boosted back up.
Turns out, we had the worst night nurse ever. She took 20 to 30 minutes to respond to anything, including my need for pain meds. I told her what the ER nurse told me, and I still doubt that she even talked to the surgeon about it. She told me they were going to do a pain pump with morphine, but when the morning nurse showed up, the night nurse hadn't even ordered the pump. I hated her so much. She told me at one point, the reason she was slow to respond was because she had 7 other patients. Like I gave a $*&@. I was in the worst pain of my life, and she was neglecting me!
The morning nurse was much better. I actually slept for a bit until my surgery. They took me in and I moved from my bed to the operating table. They gave me some oxygen and something else, then I don't remember much after that. I woke up later back on my bed. I felt a little bad because that means they had to have lifted me from the operating table to my bed. While I am losing weight, I'm still a hefty guy. If you want to know what they did, check out this video.
Basically, they made two incisions on the sides of my belly and one in my belly button. They pumped my belly full of carbon dioxide, and did a laparoscopic surgery. When the appendix was cut, they put it in a bag and pulled it out of my belly button!!!! How crazy is that!!! I still can't get over it. Thus the title of my post...
After that, things aren't quite as eventful. I am now on lortab rather than morphine. But I'm still loopy. In fact, I wrote this post at nearly the peak of loopiness... so I hope it makes sense... but there ya go! Oh, if you want to see what it looks like when they pull out the appendix through the belly button, check out the video above at about 5:58 and you'll see them put the appendix in a little sack, then tug on it through the belly button. The surgeon told me that mine was pretty big and my belly button might be sore because they had to cut it a little bigger to get it out of me. It still freaks me out. And I still want to find some footage of an appendix being taken out of the belly button, but from the outside...
Thanks for everyone's concern and kind words! Thanks for visiting, too! I'm ok-ish now. Just need to get through the next week. I'll keep you updated. And maybe post updates that are a little more coherent.
...well, sorta charitable... I mean I try to be... sometimes... moving on.
Summer is upon us (yes, I'm aware it will probably snow twice between now and June), and with that comes all sorts of charity activities including walks, 5K runs, BBQs, and so forth. I like to do what I can when I can, so I'm going to be listing charities I hear about on my side bar.
I don't participate in as many as I'd like to, but at least now when I hear about them, I can spread the word a little better. Right now, I've only got a couple listed, but I'll be adding info about a few more as I hear about them. If you have a charitable cause that you'd like me to list, comment here or send me an email and I'll get it listed.
