Personal Update

March has been a busy month for me, or I should say my family in general. I just wanted to take a quick moment to give an update for my friends that may have been wondering about me. I've been flying kind of low under the social network radar lately. The truth is I just haven't had any spare moments to really sit down at a computer. In my moments of free time I've been catching up on gaming for added stress relief.

Earlier this month my wife Caiti underwent a rather invasive surgical procedure that will hopefully yield truly life changing results for her. The surgery went well and we're pretty impressed with the results thus far. There's still a long ways to go to achieve full recovery but I'm really proud of the strides she's made thus far. Once she's all healed up she will finally be able to do things in her life she's been yearning to for years now but was previously unable to due to the extremely painful nature of her illness. I know this is kind of vague if you don't know us personally, but our closer friends know about her illness and the effect it has had on her life. I just didn't want to share the intimate details of it for the world to see.

The kids are healthy and doing well. Connor is still doing very good in school. I heard earlier in the month that he read The Cat in The Hat to his class, for which I was extremely proud. He doesn't seem to have any issues about getting up and performing in front of an audience. I'm hopefully that we can help him channel his energy towards some performing arts in the future. When he's ready and if he's even interested of course.

Liam continues to expand his vocabulary every day and is good about expressing his wants and needs. We've had some issues lately keeping him in his new car bed but we'll never give up at it. His current favorite movie is Wreck it Ralph and he's always eager to show you how to correctly wreck something. Thankfully it's just the couch cushions, but he pounds his little hands with just as much vigor as big 'ol Ralph anyway.

I'm nearly finished with another chapter of my book, though lately I've taken a step back for additional research and outlining. I wish I could give an estimate on when I might be finished but there's a whole lot left to go on what I want the first story arc to be anyway. I'm honestly not sure how long I want it to be at this point. I'll start sharing more detailed updates on the story once I've decided what the final results may be.

That's all I have time to talk about for now. Look for my monthly picks entry later in the month for more on the games I've been playing lately.

Thanks for reading!

Back from the doctor

I had an appointment with my doctor today to discuss the mini-stroke, or TIA which is the correct medical term.

We did all sorts of tests, including my blood pressure, and an EKG. Everything came out normal. We also did coordination tests to rule out any permanent damage which thankfully I aced (I was gonna blame Street Fighter losses on that, haha).

All jokes aside I appear to be in perfect health except for my weight which I'm working on. In his opinion it could have been caused by numerous things, but nothing to be too concerned about for my age. From my description of what happened it could have been a lot worse. Typically people lose their vision and completely lose track of who they are and where they're at. I'm going to see a neurologist just for further peace of mind though.

An MRI wouldn't show anything at this point unless their was damaged tissue, so something like that might be a waste of time at this point. The best treatment now is preventative. I'm going to continue exercising and eating right and taking aspirin on a daily basis.

All in all I feel perfectly fine. I'm looking at it as a kick in the butt to get myself in better health.

With that said, if anyone wants to walk at work that would be cool. Breaks are at 10:30 and 3:45. If what happened to me inspires anyone else out there to start exercising that would be a plus in my book.

Thank you to everyone for your concerns and messages. Especially to Caiti for supporting me and encouraging me to eat better.

I'm ready to start writing about more lighthearted things and my kids again, so stay tuned for that haha.

Until next time, and may everyone stay in good health!

Back to work

Thank you to all of you that have asked about me and wished me well at work and online. I really appreciate your concern and thoughts.

I'm back at work today and feeling pretty good, besides the day dragging along. I go to the doctor tomorrow for a check up on things. I'll be sure to update everyone on the situation then. Again thank you everyone!

I'll leave you with some cool quotes for the day to think about.

"Patience and diligence, like faith, remove mountains." ~William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania.

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." ~Leo Tolstoy, Author.

I had a mini-stroke

Last night was probably one of the more frightening experiences of my life. Yeah you read the title right, I had a mini-stroke, while not as scarey as a full on stroke, it's definitely something to be concerned with.

So yesterday evening we were playing Soul Calibur III downstairs and I was laying down on my stomach for most of it. When things were wrapping up I got up and it appeared that my right arm had fallen asleep. I wasn't really too concerned with it, I mean that's what usually happens when you lean on your arm for so long.

After 5 to 10 minutes though, it hadn't passed. Not even the needly/tingly feeling that comes along when you start to recover from numbness. I was working my arm and moving my fingers to no avail, I just couldn't feel anything. At this point I considered that maybe I had pinched a nerve, but then my neck and right side of my lower jaw started to fill numb too.

I could sense that something was up, but I wasn't sure what. I took some aspirin and sat down to take it easy. It was then that Caiti asked me a question and I couldn't answer her. I wasn't really sure what she asked and I couldn't move my tongue to reply. I also felt really confused, like I couldn't event think to ask how you would ask someone what they said.

Caiti and Pam, who was visiting, knew something bad was happening then. Caiti had me get dressed, which I did, but all the while I couldn't help but feel frustrated that I couldn't talk. It's like I couldn't comprehend the situation as a whole, I was just focused on trying to talk. It was like I was stuck inside my own head, I could form the words in my mind but do nothing to project anything.

After we got to the Bristol Hospital Caiti signed us in and then we proceeded to wait. On the car ride over I had begun to talk slightly better again. She quizzed me on things to check my memory, like Connor and Liam's birthdays and our Wedding Anniversary. I remember being frustrated because I couldn't recall certain things instantly that I should be able to. I had trouble with my brother's name and Connor's birthday. I was kind of starting to panic a little.

After waiting close to an hour for a room, it seemed that I was becoming myself again. Which was a good thing because we weren't getting a room any time soon. I think we waited in the lobby for a little over 2 hours. Caiti checked and their computer system had gone offline or something. Real comforting to know that no lives can be saved while you're having computer issues guys...

Eventually we went on home. After some additional research and education from Pam it seemed that I had what they call a mini-stroke. It's not nearly the degree of an actual stroke, but something that shouldn't be brushed aside. Educate yourself more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-stroke

Which brings us today. I was fortunate enough to get etime from work today so I could make an appointment with my doctor. I believe I can attribute all of this to the amount of salt and fats in my diet, as well as alcohol and smoking on the weekends.

For me this is a wake up call. I'm past due for improving my diet anyway. I think Liam is big enough now that I can take walks with him and Connor. I need to lose weight as well. I hate that it got this far, but I'm ready to make serious changes.

If you're reading, Pam, Clinton, Kayla, and Ryan; thank you guys so much for helping with the kids while this was going on. I love you guys and I'm glad I could count on you, you guys are great!

Thanks for reading, it was therapeutic to write it all out.