A Randem Thought Worth Mentioning

Can you believe it... these pictures were taken about 10 days apart. I look much better. Too bad for Mark, he looks the same. Mark was one of many friends and family to visit during and after my latest hospital stay.

This got me thinking. Would I be this kind of friend? If my friend was going through a tragedy, would I come visit? Would I come to see how he is doing? Would I spend part of my day to go cheer him up? Would I sit and talk about him, without talking about me... at all? A scary thought. Scary because I think I might not be that good of a friend. Time for a personal character inventory.

Experiences like this make for all kinds of wild pondering and reflection. Something for me to really dig down deep on. God has a way of convicting us when we least expect it. Am I a fair-weather friend?

Mark, just because I used you as the poster child on this don't be letting this go to your head. Remember, I'm still around to keep your ego in check.

Holding Out on You?

I guess I've been holding out on everyone... not giving all the information or diluting the facts. A good friend of mine stopped by yesterday just to get all the facts. Obviously shocked, I asked why he did'nt just go to my blog for the skinny. Turns out my blog is not informative enough. Well if that just doesn't defeat the entire purpose of my blog.

So I've got some real big decisions coming up. Should I make my blog more informative? Or, should I just say to the h@** with it and keep it the way it is...? perfect.

Hmmmm. Well just in case here is Tiffany's blog address: htpt://www.tiffanyberg.blogspot.com/

What?

So you're not buying the whole Head Transplant thing? I don't know why that's soooo hard to believe. I felt the wave of caring visitors dramatically wane . I feared I had to have something a bit more severe to keep all the attention. Oh well, I guess it's not really about me anyway, right? It's all about Jesus.

I'm home and it feels great! This morning I had my first taste of food since the surgery 10 days ago. Mmmmm, mmm, mmmmmmm. I love food.

Things are going good. I'm moving around allot better without the feeding tube tethered to me. I've gotten pretty steady on the crutches and have only fallen 11.3% of my attempts. That's good. My PT (Physical Therapist) says I'm a natural. Besides my wife and kids, my parents, my intermediate extended family members, neighbors, friends, church body, postman, Domino's Pizza delivery guy, and random passer-bys my dog was the most excited for me to be home.

Head Transplant is Scheduled

The hospital finally called and gave us the time and day to check in for the Head Transplant surgery on me. Next Friday May 30th at 9am same hospital, the big new one, IMC. Since the new bone graf (free fibula flap right neck dissection) didn't take, then we're going with our back up plan. We found a donor match (God is good) so consultation is Tuesday at 3:30 and the actual transplant on Friday at 9am.

With technology the way it is today this will be an outpatient surgery but I will need a ride home. I should be able to use all five sensory functions right away, but some rehabilitation is expected. Oh, about the donor match... Jason Hewlett volunteered his head. The necks are a perfect match, so skin grafting will be kept at a minimum (which is good because the only really good skin I have left for transplant and grafting is right behind my..., well I guess that doesn't need to be shared).

Thanks for all of your support through all of this. This surgery will be open to public viewing, but no flash photography.

Is There A Doctor In The House?

Hello!.... I'm ready to go home now. Mouth feels fine, really. Can I just go home for cry'n out loud.

You know, as fun as it's been in here it does get old after awhile. People are right when they say the pampered life is not all it's cracked up to be.

(Now there's a bit of an off-topic discussion. All it's cracked up to be? What is that? How is something cracked up to be something and make any sense? Of course, to confuse you even more we only use that phrase when apparently it hasn't quite measured up to the cracked up standard we've set so high. Okay, more on that later.)

What was I saying? Oh yeah. Living the good life, the lap of luxury if you will. Well, frankly I thought being fed through a tube would be cool. You know, less work. Convenience. The stigma. Well I'm sorry, but having elite pharmaceuticals trickle through your veins at the snap of finger just gets boring. Yes, I'm actually bored. I've pushed the Nurse call button just about every way you can push it. I've asked them to come in for just about everything that people normally wouldn't ask them to come in for. I called the Nurse to have her turn on my TV. TV remote... 2 buttons, Nurse... 1 button. Much easier to just call the Nurse don't you think. Once I was so lazy I called her in and when she got in I'd forgotten why so I asked her to call the Nurse to figure it out. Crazy I know.

Soooo, can I just go home now. I promise I'll just drink shakes for the first week. I promise. I won't talk allot, or shout at solicitors. I'll be good. Cross my heart.

I See You.

When they said I'd be ICU for 4 days I thought they said "I See You" like a giant glass partition so my visitors could all come in and sit down on stadium seating, eating popcorn and just watch me like a Harbor Seal at Sea World. My he%&, I didn't know it meant "Intensive Care Unit". 'Cause that sucks!

I'm out of ICU now so things are looking up for me. Like the Matrix, they're slowing pulling tubes out of me. Soon I'll be free. They're saying as soon as Tuesday. Whoa! When you're in the hospital this long you start getting really bored between hourly and half hourly pokes, so TV starts becoming your friend. Even if it's just on as white noise to drown out the moans from across the hall. I watched enough of the horse races that now I'm hooked. My money is on 'Big Brown' to sweep the Triple Crown. Here is the YouTube video clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=5i_gc7G8Tng

What Now?

The Bible says to petition the Lord in everything... to make our requests known. God also said we need to bring our requests boldly to the throne. My prayer is for life. Complete healing. A miracle. What is yours? I pray always and glorify God in all I do. He is the healer. He can do anything. He is not uncapable of a miraculous healing. With a word He created the heavens and the earth. I put my faith in Him, the Creator and the Healer.

Pray with me starting now. Hide in your closets and pray. Pray with a loud voice. Pray with a whisper in your heart. Pray in a song. God knows your heart and the Holy Spirit intercedes where there are no words. Cry out loud and bring your requests to the Lord. I am.

Good News!....

Jesus died for our sins about 2000 years ago... nobody has to earn their way to heaven. Thank God. The catch? You have to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that He died for your sins and He is you savior Romans 10:9. This might eliminate some of you... Bummer.

The other good news?... Surgery is next week, so the gig is still on this Saturday at Scorez in Lehi, 8pm to midnight.

Biopsy Update

After the sixth biopsy (samples of the mysterious tissue) I'm thinking it should be completely gone by now. Oh well, doctors have to make a living too. We wont know the results from the lab test until Wednesday. Apparently it was hard to get to so the first five tissue samples were insufficient.

Since they say that it's not how you die, but rather how you live... I decided on an all natural biopsy, you know, no epidural. That way I could experience it completely without the limitations of anesthesia. It was great. I would have to say that on the pain monitor it's right up there with a cracked femur. No, worse. Both of them... cracked femi.