It Feels Good To Be Home

I was released Friday the 11th. 11-11-11 will hold a special place in my heart now since that is the day I was released.

This past month or two has been the toughest thing I have had to go through, especially this past week. But with the prayers of friends, family, and the friends of those folks, and the grace of God I was given a clean bill of health and was sent home.

The pathology report stated that the lymph nodes were clean and the mass was benign.

I am still in enormous pain but have meds to keep that under control. I did suffer a slight set-back though. -since I was medicated on Morphine my time-line may be messed yo but I will give it a go...

On Wednesday, I believe it was, they noticed that one of the three incisions, also the larger of the three, developed an infection.

My doctor wanted to start me on I.V. antibiotics and wanted to keep me another "day or two" to monitor the progress. At this point, I was due to go home on Thursday. When he stated "another day or two" my heart dropped. By this point I was ready to come home and start the healing progress without having my my slumber interrupted by the staff to take my vitals.

I fully understand that the staff needs this information and I was very accommodating. Now that I am home and getting plenty of rest, I am feeling much better.

I want to thank my surgeon, Dr. Shroff and his team for taking such good care of me during the surgery. He is an awesome guy and mad me feel so comfortable prior to the surgery. He was empathetic to me, my needs, and my questions and I was comfortable with knowing he was going to take such good care of me.

I also want to take this time to give a special thanks and express my utmost respect to the team at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital - Marietta GA

They not only were professional but they went over and beyond their duties. They
A healthcare professional doesn't have to enter into your room quietly to take your vitals, but they did at Kennestone. They softly came in and woke me up gently to take my vitals. because I was awaken so softly, once they were through, I went back to sleep quickly. One nurse even told me that I slept through the process one night. I was in a position that she could slip the BP cuff around my arm so she didn't feel the need to wake me up.

The dietary representative was awesome as she worked out a meal plan with me each day I was eating (I was on a "NPO" restriction for a while) and helped me pick out the foods that I liked. She was awesome.

Any time I needed anything, the staff there at Kennestone were more than happy to help me or my family and helped without complaining and did so with a smile and an obvious genuine willingness to help.

The staff at Kennestone -along with their cheerfulness and willingness to help me down the healing road- is what provided the nurturing and healing atmosphere that was felt as soon as I woke up in my room after the surgery.

So, Thank you to to the team at Kennestone Hospital. I am grateful that I was in your care and I wish you all well.

Still have a fever

I am still maintaining a low-grade fever. The range is only between 99 and 100 but it is enough to make me feel horrible. And the fact that I have had the fever since the 6th of October has me worried. It is odd that when I rest I don't have a fever, but when I am up and active, my temp spikes. I usually can tell because I start to feel drained of energy and feel all around bad. I hope that after surgery, since the mass will be gone, my fever will diminish and I will be back to normal.

I am worried because the fever has lasted so long.

A week is long enough but I am pushing three weeks now.

Under The Weather

I had a fever all last week up to 100 so Friday I finally reached out to my doctor and he ordered me some meds. I think it is sinus related.
Taking it easy this weekend.

I Have a Surgery Date

Surgery is scheduled for 0730 on the 4th of November. the plan of action is to have surgery and be admitted to the hospital for 3-4 days for healing.
They want to make sure I heal up nicely. then a week or so at home for full recovery.

Mass found in my colon

For those that don't know, I had a Colonoscopy on Wednesday the 28th. At the time of the Colonoscopy the doctor told me that he found a large mass and that it was in fact cancer. I know that doctors don't just throw that word around willie-nillie so I believe that in his mind -with all of his training and experience he believed it was cancer.

Needless to say, our world turned upside down. We started praying and when Friday rolled around, the pathology report stated that it was not as full blown cancer as the doctor initially thought. It is still a mass that needs to be removed, but the Pathology report called it a "Tubular Adenoma". Here is a link to what a Tubular Adenoma is: Tubular Adenoma

We thank God for answering your prayers and we thank you for those prayers that God answered.
I believe that your prayers made a difference.

We had a meeting with the surgeon yesterday (October the 6th) and are waiting on his office to call and set a date for the surgery. I will need to have about 1/3 of my colon removed. If you want details on this procedure,Here is a link: Right Hemicolecyomy and you can see what will happen.

Here is a picture of what will be removed:

Although I received great news the other day, I am still in need of prayers. We still have a long road ahead of us and the waiting is the hardest part. once I have a date I will update it here so keep looking here for updates. Thank you again for all your prayers and may God bless you as he has blessed me.

Cooler Weather is On its Way

Finally... cooler weather is coming soon. We are planning a car-camping trip soon now that it is cooling down a bit. I will be able to try out my new pack Ospray 56

I have loaded it for a practice run and I am able to get the pack's base weight down to 20 pounds. That is light for a winter pack. The Base weight is everything I will take minus the consumables. Consumables are items that will be used up during the trip like toothpaste, fuel and food. More to come once we take the trip.

bad back

I am still suffering through the pain of pulling something two weeks ago. I am really stiff in the morning, but loosened up as the day goes on. I hope It will be 100% better before my next backpacking trip

Updating site

Yeah I am updating the site again.... Check it out in a few days.

Stone Mountain

Some friends drove down from VA this weekend and we went to Stone Mountain. We had a blast.


We saw the laser show and had dinner on the lawn. It was awesome!!

Here are a few pictures.

My truck's booboo

Okay, here is the short version....
Pulling out of the target parking lot,I got clipped by a simi truck.

His insurance company came through and paid for the damages.

Insurance interview

Well, I had the interview with the insurance folks today. She recorded the call and took my statement.
Since my story and the other driver's story differ,I expect that this is gonna be fun.

I am Not Happy

I was in a fender bender today at lunch.
All I can say is this for now.......


Once the insurance is all settled I will give the details. Short story is that a semi truck was turning wide into the parking lot and clipped my truck

Shoveling Snow In Atlanta???

That's right, today I shoveled some snow.

Our area got hit with 5 inches of snow this weekend and we are still covered up.
I am working on a new site to display some of my photography. once I have it upand running I will let you know.