A Lot to Catch Up on Part 2

 ....as for me, I'm doing better now. For those that don't know me, I've had Crohn's Disease since the late 90's. I've had to bowel resections over the years. They have given me good results but they don't last forever. Crohn's comes back!!! Let's back track to July 2021....

 I go in for a CT scan, after drinking 3 bottles of the contrast, I had to go back the hospital because the contrast induced a flare. Gastro doc puts me on Prednisone. I was adamant that I did not want to be on it long term. Well, it turned out long term. At the same time, Humaria started to become ineffective. Skip ahead to February 2022....

I find out that my current Gastro doc left on permanent leave. Flare up's were starting to increase but I could manage them. It took two months for the office to get me another Gastro. He ordered another CT. I refused to drink more than two bottles. He puts me on another biologic and keeps the Prednisone going. 

I had an allergic reaction to the first biologic, so puts me on another. That did not really work and by Aug 2022 another hospital visit due to a flare up. Increased Prednisone again, with a third biologic. Guess what, late Oct 2022 back to the hospital again. This time a partial blockage with a flare up. For the first time, I had to have an NG tube put down my throat. That was a long 5 days. 

Dec 2022 Gastro doc finally admitted defeat and referred me to the U of M Medical Center. Mid-January 2023. We have a plan in place to get me back to right, but it was going to take a major change....

They could not do a straight bowel resection because of the length of time I was on Prednisone. My insides needed time to heal. So, the first surgery ended up with me having an Ileostomy. 

Here is this major change, and the one I feared the most. I mean I was pooping into a bag. How is that not a shot to the ego!!! My wife and I had to learn how to change the appliance out, record the output and stay hydrated. A few days later we go home. Three days after going home, we had to change the appliance. It took us three days and fifteen tries to realize we needed a new style of appliance. Once we changed, I didn't have to worry about fluid running down my side. We shed a lot of tears over the struggles with the first appliance. Talk about character building. But hold on there's more...... 

A Lot to Catch Up On

 Hello there....glad you stopped by. 

 I see that my last post was in 2012. It's now 11 years later and I am going to try again. I do not want to catch everything up in one post. It would go on forever and some would probably fall asleep. So instead, over the next few posts I will get a lot caught up. 

But where to start.....Well my son Cody will be married in October, He made us grandparents to a wonderful little girl named Lilly. She is 7. There has been so much growth with Cody. Lilly and Aliana (daughter-in-law) have made him a better man. I'm so proud of him. 

Daughter Amanda is married. Her and her husband are figuring things out. Melissa and I coach them along the best we can. They have a wonderful home with our two grandpups and a real nice yard..

Son Jeff is not married. He is figuring his life out and what he wants to really be doing as a career. He has a free spirit, so it'll be interesting what he does.

Son Jake. He is going into his senior year of High School. He just got done with an amazing run with his high school baseball team. He leaves for Cost Rica tomorrow. The trip is through his Spanish class. When he comes back, he will start with summer ball. 

Melissa continues to be an amazing and supportive wife. 

As for me, I'm doing much better now.......That story will be coming soon. Hold on because it is a doozy!

Update on my Mission to be a Guitar Player

I think in my last post about guitar,I was just starting. I was working on G, Cadd9 and D chords. After a lot of work I am very happy with my progress with these three chords. I have since learned A,Am,E, Em plus power chords. I am now working on Bm. That is a very hard bar chord to learn. I feel like I can do it though.

 Songs have been Rock-n-Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, Nobody's Fool, Every Rose Has its Thorn, Can't You See and Two Steps Behind. I have the basic idea with these songs. From this point on its about polishing it up. I need to work on my up strokes when strumming and learn to not let the pick slip. I am working keep my hand a little more closed when strumming and narrowing my strumming window.The feeling is that, I coming down to far on the down stroke and trying to compensate on the up stroke, then I catch the the meat of the pick on the high E string. Its frustrating, but I'm not beating myself up. That's why I'm the student.
 If you are a student or teacher don't forget to have fun in whatever you are doing.There's something said for PLAYING guitar. One of the definitions for play is: exercise or activity for amusement or recreation. Its meant to be enjoyed, not stressed over. So sit down, plug in, and have some fun.

Controlling Crohns

Well last I posted about Crohns, I was trying probiotics. Probiotics at the point had helped slow everything down some. Fast forward to the last couple of weeks. I have been taking Imuran with fish oil and Calcium in the morning. By mid morning, I take a probiotic with a aloe vera capsule. I found this helps make my life a little easier after lunch. I was having so many bathroom visits between 12pm and 4pm. I realized over Christmas that I need to find a solution for this problem. Thanks to my uncle that is an herbalist. He gave me list of things to try and I only have just started to tap into his suggestions. I also have reduced my water intake and increase my use of tea. I usually use Numi tea. The Red Roobios seems to help best, but also use Green Roobios and Orange Spice. These teas seem to hydrate because they are caffeine free, they also help sooth. If I drink pop its usually Diet Vernors. This seems to sit well. I do not drink pop that often anymore.
 Hope some of this helps.......

End of Summer

 Well usually Labor Day weekend is the last time we go to the cottage for the summer. Here we see a nice sunrise. The sunrise on the lake is always something to see and admire. This was a great start to a great weekend.    We picked up Klaudia, our exchange student, from the airport on Wednesday. We didn't give her a whole lot of "soak in time" at home. We left for the lake on Thursday (Melissa's Birthday). Friday morning she took this picture.
  Friday morning we left Higgins Lake for Mackinac. The did some shopping. We left Mackinac about 1:30pm, then headed to Tahquamenon. Klaudia has been to the States for trips with her family. She has never seen The Mackinac Bridge. Of course we had high winds Friday and traffic was very slow. High winds make the trip across very interesting.
 Now this starts the adventure to the Falls. Most of the kids were sleeping along the way. I'm not sure why, there are so many trees to look at, how could a person not be excited. We were hearing reports of rain most of the way. We arrived in Paradise, Michigan and it started to rain hard. When you have driven that far,there is no turning back. By the time we arrived at the lower falls the sky opened up and the rain stopped. A true blessing. Melissa and I would have walked it no matter what. At least we were sparred from the grumbling from certain children.  The river looked very low compared to last October. They are beautiful none the less. When we were done at the lower falls,we went to the upper falls. It was the first time there for all the kids. As far as I can tell, the all enjoyed it. One of these times we will hike the whole thing. Here's a link if you want more information on Tahquamenon Falls:          
http://www.exploringthenorth.com/tahqua/tahqua.html