Just a short update.

Hola amigos,

Dom here with a short update for our intrepid followers. First, I want to say thanks again to all the well-wishers. Just knowing that you are following along with the events and updates makes both Sally and I feel good. And feeling good is my current goal for the near future. 2 weeks post-surgery and I am feeling rather weak. Sally has to keep reminding me to stand up straight when I am up and about, which lately has been less than the amount of time I've been spending resting on the couch. When I first got home from the hospital, I was riding a wave of euphoria from pain meds that made me feel like being active doing some house and yard work. But since I've come off the meds my energy level has seemed to dip as well. That is to be expected I suppose, but I am definitely looking forward to feeling stronger. It will be another week until the staples come out of my stomach and then I imagine an additional two weeks or so until the the open wounds close over. I've got two slits that I have to keep open so they can heal from the inside without getting infected. Perhaps I'll try and get a couple of close-ups for you gore mongers out there. Other than the wounds, the other lame issue I have is the neuropathy side effect in my fingers and toes. It is due to the chemo and is basically just a general numbness in my fingers, which makes typing this update about twice as long as it would normally take.

Of course there is usually a silver lining to everything and this recovery is no different. I have dropped about 10 pounds of fat off my body, which means that I am starting to look nice and model-skinny for my application to the 2012 "Colander" http://www.colonclub.com/colondar.html
Check it out if you get a chance and see if you think I can make the grade. That is all I have for now. TTFN.

New Development

My judgment may be slightly impaired by the pain meds, but I thought that everyone should know that I had a close to normal bowel movement this morning. Although it has been about nine months, defecating is just like riding a a bike.

Thanks for checking in folks and I'll be sure to continue bringing you the important news and events of the day.

Stay classy San Diego.

Post-Surgery

Well, I am home from the hospital and damn it feels good. I may have 17 staples in my stomach and a steady flow of diarrhea, not too mention the occasional stab of sharp pain, but I feel better than I have for quite a while.

I'd like to say thanks to all of you for your thoughts and well wishes, and it is nice to know that I have a lot of genuinely caring people in my life.

Most of you probably noticed that the title of this blog has changed. Not only did it make sense, but I hope to show you all that both Sally and I are more than just our digestive tracts, but we also have pretty cool neural, cardiovascular, muscular/skeletal, lymphatic and reproductive systems as well. As to how much we choose to delve into those specific area remains to be seen, but don't worry we'll more than likely leave the reproductive system to the good people of the porn industry. But I digress.

I've got a fair amount of surgery recovery ahead of me and hope to get in good enough shape to be a model for the 2012 Colon Club calendar or the 2012 "Colander."

Other than that, we'll continue to post pics and updates of our exciting adventures. Thanks again and take care.

Dom

Warning: Graphic Pictures

Hello,

Just a quick update to let everyone know that Nick's still doing great. He's now eating clear liquids (it's better than nothing!) and he's been cruising the halls and harrassing the nurses.

We also got to see his latest battle wound - there's a semi-gory picture below...

Goodbye Stanus!

Nick is out of surgery and everything went really well - - he's doing great! His surgeon removed 4 lesions, a lymph node and his gall bladder for good measure (there was no gall bladder involvement but if he were to have issues with it in the future, it could be hard to get to because of previous surgeries).

And...Stanus is history! Goodbye, so long, farewell...

Nick is resting right now but his doctors expect him to start standing and walking almost immediately. Keep your fingers crossed that he tolerates food quickly so he can bust out of the hospital sometime early next week.

Nick will post an update when he feels up to it. Meantime, he'll probably be up for visitors this weekend. Just give me a call and I can tell you where he is!

Love,

Sally

5:30 a.m. - wow that's early!

Hello,

Nick got his check-in time for surgery tomorrow. He checks in at 5:30 a.m. so we're thinking surgery around 7:00? That means he should be out by noon but don't get worried if you don't hear from us...in my experience, things always take longer than anticipated.

Not sure if he'll be up for visitors tomorrow - Saturday might be better if you are planning to come by the hospital. But feel free to call my cell if you want to stop by and I can let you know if it's a good time.

Lots of love and more updates to come.

Sally

Okay...another change...

Nick and I met with Dr. Yeung today (the surgeon) and they have decided to push the surgery back one week so they can get some tests done beforehand. No change in strategy or anything - just moving back a week.

We also learned a little more about what to expect:

- Surgery should last between 3-5 hours
- He'll spend around 5 days in the hospital
- Recovery takes around 6 weeks total but he should be feeling fairly normal after 2 weeks

That's the latest for now but we'll keep the updates coming.

Love,

Sally

Mellow Shredding the Rad

Adam is up in Seattle as part of his Feb. snowboard roadtrip and we spent the day in the foothills of Mt. Rainier at Crystal Mountain.
Bluebird and corduroy.

D-Swizzle getting ready to launch.

Launched.

A-Haynes, aka Method Man

Just like eating a Klondike Bar.

Surgery Friday

Hi fam and friends,

Apparently, when you want to schedule a liver resection, they don't mess around (or they aren't very busy-?)...Nick's surgery has been scheduled for this Friday (hopefully they'll get the Super Bowl in his hospital room!). We don't know any details yet but we're meeting with his surgeon tomorrow so will get more info about how long the surgery will take, how long Nick will be in the hospital, etc.

Meantime, here's a pic of Nick's surgeon (since posts are always better with pictures). More to come!