Operation @ MindSay

   I think I am, finally, going to be alright. I just had an operation that I put off having for many years, but now I'm really glad I did it. I'm also very happy its over. Let me start at the beginning.

   When I was young, I had quite a bit of stomach pain. Then, when I began operating a printing press, about 20 years ago, I started having lots of heartburn. I kept a bottle of Tums on my desk and ate several a day, then after a few years I started taking over the counter acid reducers. After I started driving a truck, our doctor prescribed the new acid reducers. Prilosec first, then Nexium. I still had heartburn and was told I needed an operation to close the flap at the top of my stomach.

   No way I said. Nobody is going to cut holes in me, stick in a bunch of sharp metal objects, and cut, tie, and rearrange my insides. So I started taking 2 of the heavy duty acid reducers a day and ate bunches of Tums. Then somebody reminded how my grandfather died. (Those who are squeamish should look away during the next few sentences.) He constantly had heartburn. In his late 50's it got worse and one day he started throwing up blood, was taken to the hospital, and died a few days later.

   Finally, after a sleepless night of heartburn, late last year, I decided I was going to let them cut holes in me, stick in a bunch of sharp metal objects, and cut, tie, and rearrange my insides. First, I had to take some tests. One of them determined how much acid was in my esophagus. The surgeon said, "if I scored a 14 on their scale, I would be eligible for the surgery". I scored a 67.  The surgery was scheduled for Feb. 5th.

   On the morning of the 5th we drove to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I was taken to a small room and an IV was started. The doctors came in and basically said they would take good care of me then I started feeling sleepy. I heard a nurse say, "give hugs and kisses", and I was out. I barely remember looking around the recovery room, then I was being wheeled into my hospital room with a bunch of holes in my belly.

   I couldn't be happier with how easy it went. They gave me a button that would give me a shot of morphine when I pushed it. The next day, after a scan, they sent me home. They gave me pills that took care of the pain for 4 weeks and then released me to come back to work.

   I have not had one bit of heartburn since the day of the surgery. About my only side effect has been an occasional feeling of butterflies in my stomach. The surgery is called Nissan Fundoplication, it was performed by Dr John D Scott, and it has greatly improved my life.

My appointment with the plastic surgeon went so well! 

 I had to change into one of those gowns, and look all dopey, while we talked about my options and the process of having a breast reduction.  Then the embarressing part came and I had to bare it all, and he muttered "wow they are big" and then talked about how some women have big breasts, but they're not heavy, and well he poked mine and was like "WOW you carry around way too much excess weight because of these its no wonder your posture's so bad" 

And then we all chuckled and I covered back up and he drew a few little diagrams about which way he could do the procedure, and how the scar's would look and all that stuff.  Basically i'm going to have an upside down T starting where my nipple would be relocated, down the front of my breast, and then all the way to the sides, but the scars on the sides can be made smaller, depending on how much tissue they have to take out.  There's also a way to do it where it only leaves 1 line going straight down from the nipple, with a collection of skin at the bottom, that over time fades away, or could be surgically removed once i'm done healing from the initial operation.  But he said that the 1 scar option, might not be an option for me, becuase of how large my breasts are already.  But its all wait and see, because we don't really decide that until the day of the operation, because either way it doesn't matter to me.. I want him to do what he feels would look the best because I want pretty new small boobs when this is all over. 

Now they're going to send the paper work in, along with the photo's they took for the insurance company, and I have to wait and see if it gets approved, or denied, and then if its denied, they'll send in appeals and what not, until it gets approved, because they feel that this operation really is in my best interest because down the road i'm going to have so many  problems becuase of them being so large it makes the most sense to eliminate those problems now.  :) 

So goodbye ginormous boobies.  Hello new boobies.

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 – The United States walks away from Africa at its own peril, the U.S. general in charge of military operations there said in an interview here yesterday.  Marine General James L. Jones, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and commander of U.S. European Command, said Africa is a reality that cannot be denied. The continent is potentially an economic giant, and the United States must engage on the continent.

With the exceptions of Egypt, Sudan, Kenya and the nations of the Horn of Africa, the entire continent is in U.S. European Command's area of responsibility.  Officials at U.S. European Command spend between 65 to 70 percent of their time on African issues, Jones said. "We have been at work with new friends and allies in the war on terrorism," he said.

Overall, the engagement strategy has been going well in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, the general said. "Obviously (we're) very concerned about what is going on in the Gulf of Guinea, and we are setting up our operations so we can have presence with a purpose in the region," he said. "We must help Africans help themselves.”  The region is beset with difficulties, Jones said. Piracy and oil blackmail are concerns in the Gulf of Guinea. Tribalism threatens other nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS is epidemic in many African nations, and illiteracy is a curse across all nations there.

Africa is also has a fault line between Islam and other religions.  Engagement on the continent takes many forms. "As we speak, we have a ship, the USNS Apache, in Freetown, Liberia, to clear the port," Jones said. "There are a lot of sunken ships in the port, and it's a key to their economy."  In other nations, the command is helping where it can with small focus Special Forces training missions. The command sponsors medical and veterinary visits and staff exercises with militaries of the region. "Consistent engagement in Africa is key to containing or preventing future conflicts," Jones said.

Africa is replete with struggling democracies. "If you really look at what is happening in Africa, there are more countries moving towards democracy than moving away," Jones said. "But the battle is on as to which way they will go."  The United States and its allies must help bring economic change in Africa to bring hope to millions of people. If not, those people could be "sucked up in the recruiting of the Islamic jihadists," Jones said

Extremists prey on people with no hope. "It's not difficult for a jihadist with money to get someone to join them," Jones said. "The good news is we can still affect which way Africa goes."  Joint Task Force Horn of Africa is a great success story and something that could be emulated in other areas of the continent, Jones said. He suggested that a similar group working along the west coast of the continent could help bring stability to the region. "We could help considerably with presence and with helping these struggling countries that don't know what's going on inside their own borders," Jones said.

Establishing such a group could also send a message to U.S. companies "that investing in many parts of Africa is a good idea," the general said.  The United States has the opportunity to do the right thing in Africa, Jones said. "It's an exciting part of the world," he said. "We cannot walk away from Africa for a whole lot of reasons, including moral reasons. It's an area where we can highlight all of the good things that the United States stands for."

My first sin this month..... screaming out the window "what the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Was after my dads operation, we were no less then three min on the road when some blond overweight bitch on a cellphone pulled out in front of us. Mind you the road was a 50mph limit rod... i slowed from 50 to 35 in under a second and bairly voided the woman--my window was down already... mind you, no horn... meh... screw it...