Here's what we missed on since my last post. Sadly, I could only keep Dude for about a month before I was forced to give him back to the pound. I was moving and there wasn't any good place where I could bring him :(
Gosh I miss that dog
So basically for all of 2009 I have been staying in Dallas and working at my brother's clinic. In June I had a pretty wild experience. I was down to visit some friends for the weekend and wound up joining them for an all out glorious game of capture the flag at midnight. The night started out great and talk about a fun time. There was a new moon over Shadowbend Park, and with limited lighting, it was super fun trying to track down or sneak up on the other team. At around 10 pm or so, I was advancing on the other team's base (a dark bridge on the other side of the park) and began to hear my buddy Raul calling for help and protesting his rage for nearly having the flag in his grasp. I did some snooping around and this is what I discovered:
1. Raul is a soccer player (very quick and agile) 2. There is only one person guarding him (at the opposite end of the bridge at twice the distance from me) 3. I have NO clue where that flag was
So I decided to take one for the team and risk getting myself caught to free Raul. I waited for the perfect timing and used every single bit of my short-distance sprinter self and rocketed across the bridge at such speed it actually scared the poo out of Raul. As I passed him in the darkness, I heard him yell "WATCH OUT!". Too late... As a quick sprinter, I can easily hit speeds around 20 mph, and caught a 4'x6" pylon basically with my liver, just below the bottom of my ribcage. A teammate 30' off heard a loud blood-curdling "CRACK!" which is good because I did too. They say that I hit so hard that I suddenly stopped moving forward, buckled completely in half over the concrete filled steel pipe, flopped over, then came to the end of my ordeal about 7 feet away on the pavement. There are not words that describe such a feeling as to what I was experiencing. Breathing was impossible, and felt as if air itself was made of fire. I could not feel my stomach, yet it was very hot and hard as a rock. My friends Raul and Jennifer were just holding my hands and everybody around was extremely scared. One of them later told me they thought I honestly may have been dying. Because I'm an idiot and potentially as stubborn as a mule at times, I told them that I would kill them if they called 911. I remember hearing an ambulance at once in the distance and getting really mad, lol.
After a little bit, I eventually managed to stand, I just stood at the bridge and I remember indescribable pain, and a thirst that is beyond words. Knowing that I literally had to go get moving and could not just stay out there forever, I decided to have another player escort me as I walked the 1/8-1/4 mile trek back to the pavilion. I remember I almost passed out a few times, but I survived the trip. I remember the first time I attempted to swallow water, agonizing and nauseating. I then just sat on a bench with some of my other buds around there. They said that I was just pouring sweat from my entire body, my skin was white as paper and my eyes were completely blood red. I inquired if anybody had any pain killers, a couple girls ran off to her car and returned a few minutes later they returned without the IBProfin they thought they had, but instead busted out the Midol. Screw it, I didn't care. I popped a couple of those bad boys and talk about BLECH!!! (For you female readers, I don't know how you do it, but I swear they taste terrible!) I got a ride down to 1960 to take care of my buddy's puppy I was sittin, and then eventually got home around 12:30 a.m.
I never slept a wink. The pain was so intense. Around 4 a.m., I noticed that my body had calmed down a bit, however a sharp pain had developed in my lower right abdomen. Hmm... I checked all around, and this sucker appeared swollen. Okay... Well it never went away and I was getting a little concerned about this since I knew the appendix was around that area. Around 5 a.m., I began calling my dad and my brother (a doctor) about the matter and even the E.R.. The hospital of course told me nothing as they are forbidden due to malpractice liability. I made some other calls and though I knew that these weren't the common signs of appendicitis (no fever, no flu-like symptoms, etc.) I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to receive a priesthood blessing. Since this was so early on a Saturday, it took me a bit longer than usual, but I got 2 buddies to come over and take care of it. I won't repeat all of it, but in short it was basically mentioned that if I did what the doctorS said, I would be ok. That's when I was like, "crap... I really did it this time"
I REALLY didn't want to go to the hospital, a couple hours later at around noon, I called a friend to ask if he could give me a ride (forget driving, my body was destroyed) and he stated that he had actually already left and was on his way to force me to go, haha. I spent a whopping 10 minutes in the E.R. (and no I don't have insurance) freaked out the entire staff, took a ride in the CT, and a scan showed that my appendix was about to burst, which surprised everybody since I broke all the rules when it came to standard symptoms. Next thing you know I'm on an ambulance and being transported to the main hospital. From the time I arrived to the time I was out cold and under the knife was about 45 minutes. I later awoke and found out I was going to
stay overnight for observation. All I'm gonna say is that those little pumps they put on you're legs are awesome, and that drugs are GOOOOD!!! All I did was sleep, it was great :)
The next day the doc comes in and reads off the shopping list of what I did.
Giant laceration across my tummy; severe internal/external hematoma on my skin, soft tissue, muscles, organs; minor blood clot on mesentary tissue; emergency appendectomy; bruised ribs, hip, knee, and blown out back.
I asked how long I would be down, he ordered me to refrain from anything related to the word "exerting" except light walking to keep bloodflow moving of course, but nothing that I would consider "fun" for at least 6 weeks, due to the fact that my injuries may cause anything to hemorrhage, hernia, or who knows what that may contribute to an early death. So... thus being said, I decided to just take it easy.
The first week home was horrible. I now have a greater understanding of what it's like to be a paraplegic, since I was pretty much just laid there due to any movement at all pulling the damaged muscles in my abdomen, and an extreme difficulty with walking. Very humbling experience. I never knew how much an abdomen contributes to everyday life.
It took a while, and I got some ways to go, but it's now almost December, and I finally started to jog again after 3 months with ACE wrap around my core. I got a lot of grief at first from others who'd had appendectomies before, but this was different. The surgery may have taken maybe a month, but the injuries are a entirely different matter. I'm getting stronger daily, but it's going to be a while until I can take a dive or a hit again. :(
B
So basically for all of 2009 I have been staying in Dallas and working at my brother's clinic. In June I had a pretty wild experience. I was down to visit some friends for the weekend and wound up joining them for an all out glorious game of capture the flag at midnight. The night started out great and talk about a fun time. There was a new moon over Shadowbend Park, and with limited lighting, it was super fun trying to track down or sneak up on the other team. At around 10 pm or so, I was advancing on the other team's base (a dark bridge on the other side of the park) and began to hear my buddy Raul calling for help and protesting his rage for nearly having the flag in his grasp. I did some snooping around and this is what I discovered:
1. Raul is a soccer player (very quick and agile) 2. There is only one person guarding him (at the opposite end of the bridge at twice the distance from me) 3. I have NO clue where that flag was
So I decided to take one for the team and risk getting myself caught to free Raul. I waited for the perfect timing and used every single bit of my short-distance sprinter self and rocketed across the bridge at such speed it actually scared the poo out of Raul. As I passed him in the darkness, I heard him yell "WATCH OUT!". Too late... As a quick sprinter, I can easily hit speeds around 20 mph, and caught a 4'x6" pylon basically with my liver, just below the bottom of my ribcage. A teammate 30' off heard a loud blood-curdling "CRACK!" which is good because I did too. They say that I hit so hard that I suddenly stopped moving forward, buckled completely in half over the concrete filled steel pipe, flopped over, then came to the end of my ordeal about 7 feet away on the pavement. There are not words that describe such a feeling as to what I was experiencing. Breathing was impossible, and felt as if air itself was made of fire. I could not feel my stomach, yet it was very hot and hard as a rock. My friends Raul and Jennifer were just holding my hands and everybody around was extremely scared. One of them later told me they thought I honestly may have been dying. Because I'm an idiot and potentially as stubborn as a mule at times, I told them that I would kill them if they called 911. I remember hearing an ambulance at once in the distance and getting really mad, lol.
After a little bit, I eventually managed to stand, I just stood at the bridge and I remember indescribable pain, and a thirst that is beyond words. Knowing that I literally had to go get moving and could not just stay out there forever, I decided to have another player escort me as I walked the 1/8-1/4 mile trek back to the pavilion. I remember I almost passed out a few times, but I survived the trip. I remember the first time I attempted to swallow water, agonizing and nauseating. I then just sat on a bench with some of my other buds around there. They said that I was just pouring sweat from my entire body, my skin was white as paper and my eyes were completely blood red. I inquired if anybody had any pain killers, a couple girls ran off to her car and returned a few minutes later they returned without the IBProfin they thought they had, but instead busted out the Midol. Screw it, I didn't care. I popped a couple of those bad boys and talk about BLECH!!! (For you female readers, I don't know how you do it, but I swear they taste terrible!) I got a ride down to 1960 to take care of my buddy's puppy I was sittin, and then eventually got home around 12:30 a.m.
I never slept a wink. The pain was so intense. Around 4 a.m., I noticed that my body had calmed down a bit, however a sharp pain had developed in my lower right abdomen. Hmm... I checked all around, and this sucker appeared swollen. Okay... Well it never went away and I was getting a little concerned about this since I knew the appendix was around that area. Around 5 a.m., I began calling my dad and my brother (a doctor) about the matter and even the E.R.. The hospital of course told me nothing as they are forbidden due to malpractice liability. I made some other calls and though I knew that these weren't the common signs of appendicitis (no fever, no flu-like symptoms, etc.) I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to receive a priesthood blessing. Since this was so early on a Saturday, it took me a bit longer than usual, but I got 2 buddies to come over and take care of it. I won't repeat all of it, but in short it was basically mentioned that if I did what the doctorS said, I would be ok. That's when I was like, "crap... I really did it this time"
I REALLY didn't want to go to the hospital, a couple hours later at around noon, I called a friend to ask if he could give me a ride (forget driving, my body was destroyed) and he stated that he had actually already left and was on his way to force me to go, haha. I spent a whopping 10 minutes in the E.R. (and no I don't have insurance) freaked out the entire staff, took a ride in the CT, and a scan showed that my appendix was about to burst, which surprised everybody since I broke all the rules when it came to standard symptoms. Next thing you know I'm on an ambulance and being transported to the main hospital. From the time I arrived to the time I was out cold and under the knife was about 45 minutes. I later awoke and found out I was going to
stay overnight for observation. All I'm gonna say is that those little pumps they put on you're legs are awesome, and that drugs are GOOOOD!!! All I did was sleep, it was great :)The next day the doc comes in and reads off the shopping list of what I did.
Giant laceration across my tummy; severe internal/external hematoma on my skin, soft tissue, muscles, organs; minor blood clot on mesentary tissue; emergency appendectomy; bruised ribs, hip, knee, and blown out back.
I asked how long I would be down, he ordered me to refrain from anything related to the word "exerting" except light walking to keep bloodflow moving of course, but nothing that I would consider "fun" for at least 6 weeks, due to the fact that my injuries may cause anything to hemorrhage, hernia, or who knows what that may contribute to an early death. So... thus being said, I decided to just take it easy.
The first week home was horrible. I now have a greater understanding of what it's like to be a paraplegic, since I was pretty much just laid there due to any movement at all pulling the damaged muscles in my abdomen, and an extreme difficulty with walking. Very humbling experience. I never knew how much an abdomen contributes to everyday life.
It took a while, and I got some ways to go, but it's now almost December, and I finally started to jog again after 3 months with ACE wrap around my core. I got a lot of grief at first from others who'd had appendectomies before, but this was different. The surgery may have taken maybe a month, but the injuries are a entirely different matter. I'm getting stronger daily, but it's going to be a while until I can take a dive or a hit again. :(
B
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