Pop Slingers Paradise

Save The Tatas!

2011-09-29T11:21:00.001-05:00

I wonder who is still out here reading my blog. If it is just me writing for personal pleasure, and to see myself type, so be it.

I am sitting here at the Baylor Hospital Medical Pavilion at the Darlene G. CSAs Women's Imaging Center, where I am waiting to have a mammogram. Yes, me, a guy....

First off, let me explain. About 2-3 months ago, I had a bump above my left nipple, and I thought it was either a random pimple or an ingrown hair. I let it be.

A month later, it was bigger. I thought the amount of iced tea I drank on a daily basis could be causing a cyst, so I cut out caffeine. No bueno.

I finally saw my doctor, and he thinks it is a chat, but in order to make sure, he ordered a mammogram to rule out and/or confirm his diagnosis.

So, I sit here, with my BFF Jana, as I wait to have what tiny piece of boob I have. It is very uncomfortable sitting here, even with a female, as I am the one answering the questions and filling out paperwork, and even wearing the name bracelet.

However, the women here on staff have been quiet and discreet...well, almost discreet...

I was waiting and though I heard my name. So, as a good patient, I jump up and go to the woman calling my name, and she had actually called out a name similar to "Brad." Needless to say, I was a tad embarassed and sat back down. The receptionist that checked me in came over and told me that they handle men in a different way, a bit more discreet, because it can be intimidating to be at a women's clinic. I smiled, winked, chuckled, and told her, "NOW you tell me!" She laughed and apologized, but now I sit here waiting for the technician to come to me, privately, and take me back, where they won't be shouting my name.

Kudos to the staff for making the waiting room a little more comfortable for men! Just make sure you tell to.gentlemen WHEN they walk in!

Oh, by the way: 1 in every 1000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. #justsayin and #savethetatas

You Know You're a Flight Attendant If.....

2011-08-06T16:31:00.004-05:00

• You never unpack
• You look to the ceiling when your doorbell chimes
• You wish you had jet engines mounted in your bedroom so you could fall asleep faster
• You don't ever write a full city name (and it bugs your non-aviation friends): DTW MCO FCO BOM
• You get excited over certain types of ice
• You silently curse every Bose headset-wearing dude -- ("Yes, the electronic device announcement means you, sir.")
• You know how to look fresh in 5 day old clothes
• No matter how many times you clean out your suitcase you still find ancient hidden treasures in there
• You HATE boarding
• You LOVE deplaning
• You have figured out that turbulence is not caused by clouds but by the initial movement of all meal carts
• You can't believe that people let their babies and toddlers play on the floor of the aircraft cabin -- ewww, nasty
• You remember the passengers with great manners (that's sad)
• You can't remember when UM's actually became bigger than you
• You love foreigners because they can't adequately complain in English
• You have to turn your head when you see a passenger in stocking feet enter a lavatory
• You secretly cheer when another flight attendant has to deal with the medical emergency
• You HATE on board duty free
• You can't stand the frequent flyer who says "I fly more than you..." (yeah, right)
• You hate running into your passengers at your layover hotel
• Blankety-blank tray stackers!
• You hate when the heavy drinkers start flirting and calling you by name
• You long for the days when it was easy to rig the TV for free movies
• You want to smack the nail clipping -- finger nail polishing -- nose picking -- snoring passengers
• You want no passengers talking to you while you are non-revving
• Even when you are not working a flight, you travel in uniform for the liquids, creams and gels exemption
• If passengers can't find the flush to the toilet -- they should stay in there till they do!
• You wish you had a button to press that would announce, "No I don't have a pen"
• You are excited to find a can of different soda that is not supposed to be on your airline
• You could scream when people use an empty seat to change their baby's diaper, and don't even put a blanket underneath the little one -- worse yet, they ask if they can change the baby on the floor of the galley!
• You know a meaning for "crop-dusting" that has nothing to do with agriculture
• You cruise the aircraft after all the passengers have deplaned to find the discarded magazines and paperback novels before the cleaners get them
• You can spot the cover of a new crossword or sudoku book on an airport newsstand rack from 50 feet away
• You hate early morning departures -- Who in the hell HAS to fly at 6 AM?
• You wish every airline manager actually WAS a flight attendant at one point in their life (this goes double for flight attendant supervisors)
• You can't believe the senior F/A at your airline is in their 80's (doesn't matter what airline they all have them)
• You try not to go to the bathroom on the plane but you sure can catch a good nap in there
• You hate that passengers think they can hear you without taking off their headsets
• You are glad there are no hidden cameras in the galley
• Your non-aviation friends truly don't get the commuting part: "So you have to fly when and your trip starts where??"
• YES, "Remain seated for the duration of our flight" DOES mean YOU
• You can't figure out why your manager is not held accountable for the same things you are
• Your jumpseat partner knows more about you than your spouse or life partner
• You have at least 6 items of your own you could add to this list
• You had a memory for all of these, and understood every one.

Homemade Bedbug Spray

2011-07-15T17:27:00.002-05:00

Every few months, as a flight attendant, you hear either a news report or "Galley Gossip" that there is a hotel out there with bedbugs. Unfortunately, you can't avoid them, especially if you travel for a living.

I found a recipe in Real Simple magazine recently for a homemade spray, and I have yet to try it, but after going to Bed, Bath & Beyond today and seeing a spray for $6.99, I figured you could get more for your money with this recipe. I plan on making it, but first, have to order the essential oils from Amazon (so far, the cheapest prices on the web...)

Homemade Bed Bug Spray

1 cup water
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
3 drops clove essential oil (optional)

Put into a fine mis sprayer, shake well, and spray on mattresses, furniture, and other items that are (or could be) infested.

Recipe taken from: http://www.allpestco.com/2010/05/homemade-bedbugs-spray/

Weight Watchers - Day #4

2011-03-23T22:54:00.002-05:00

Today was definitely another improvement, but I'm still hungry throughout the day. When I get to LA tomorrow, I'll be stocking up on lots of fruit to carry, because that seems to be my issue....however, even being hungry, I managed to eat throughout the day, even with a few "off" snacks and stayed under my 47 points. Go me!

For the record, the green triangles are considered "Power Foods," which are described on the website as: "Nutritious and satisfying foods that work hard to help you lose weight."

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Morning
1 cup(s) cooked oatmeal	4
2 small Restaurant-style unsweetened fruit cup	0
1 cup(s) fat-free cottage cheese	3
1 medium whole hard-boiled egg(s)	2
1 tsp table salt	0
1 packet(s) SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener	0
1 tsp black pepper	0
Subtotal	9
Midday
1 cup(s) cooked brown rice	5
3 oz cooked center rib pork loin, lean and fat	5
1 item(s) Homestyle classic veggie burger	3
1/2 oz swiss cheese	1
1/8 cup(s) romaine lettuce	0
1 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup	0
1 slice(s) red onion(s)	0
Subtotal	14
Evening
3 cup(s) greek salad, without dressing	3
1/8 Greek Vinaigrette Salad Dressing	0
Subtotal	3
Anytime
13 item(s) animal crackers	3
1 cup(s) cooked brown rice	5
Dried Asian Pears - Quick added food	1
3 oz cooked center rib pork loin, lean and fat	5
1 Tbsp soy sauce	0
15 nut(s) almonds	3
Subtotal	17
*Food PointsPlus* values total used**	43
*Food PointsPlus* values remaining**	4

Weight Watchers - Day #3

2011-03-22T20:50:00.002-05:00

Well, I think the hard part is over...for now. I didn't have a real breakfast, but did have half of an omelete after getting to Sacramento this morning, and then my bun-less burger for lunch, that I stretched into two parts, since I was 1) running out of time in the restaurant and 2) was very satisfied with only eating half. For dinner, I really did just have a big plate of vegetables from the JFK Terminal 5 "Hot Line," and had I known where I stood earlier, I probably would have gotten some stuffed Basa, but I'm actually quite content now.

My crew and I are going to the airport early for breakfast, so I'm going to figure out what I'm going to get before I go, so I have a good idea of what I can have. I did have 1c of boxed red beans and rice, as suggested on a specific recipe, and it was quoted as only being 5 points per cup, but of course, online, it shows 7. So, in order to be fair, I'm using the higher value, which still keeps me under. Any suggestions will be welcomed!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Morning

1/2 item(s) ham and cheese omelet

30 item(s) baby carrots

2 packet(s) SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener

20 oz black coffee

Subtotal

Midday

1 small Restaurant-style unsweetened fruit cup

1 oz swiss cheese

1 item(s) fast-food cheeseburger, small

1/8 cup(s) romaine lettuce

1 slice(s) tomato(es)

1 slice(s) red onion(s)

1 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup

1 Tbsp mustard

Subtotal

Evening

3/4 cup(s) Brussels sprouts

1/4 cup(s) cooked carrots

1 Tbsp cooked green beans

1 cup(s) red beans and rice

Subtotal

Anytime

1 piece(s) Hard candy twists assortment

Subtotal

Food PointsPlus values total used

Food PointsPlus values remaining

Activity

No entries for activity.

Activity PointsPlus values earned

Check off these important items daily:

Liquids	Milk & Milk Products
Fruit & vegetables	Multivitamin/Mineral
Healthy Oil	Activity

Weight Watchers–Day #2

2011-03-21T22:00:00.002-05:00

Well, I totally bombed today, and I think I know why. First, I had a basic breakfast, just to tide me over (and yes, it was a salad, but so?) Lunch was a veggie burger and celery, and I was full at that point in time. I got on the plane to commute to work, and ate 1/2 a bag of baby carrots…also free. Of course, on the 2nd leg of my commute, I didn’t have anything, so by the time I finally got to Long Beach, I was ***STARVING***! This isn’t good. Of course, I told myself when I went out to eat, I’d just eat part of it, and take the rest home. WRONG. I was like a fat kid at a candy store….I attempted to eat just parts of the meal and allow my brain time to realize I was full, but I did not. I also did not make the right choices on my meal. I could’ve knocked off several points had I just told myself “no” but I was hungry. Fortunately, with Weight Watchers, you have your weekly allowance points, that if you do screw up, it deducts them from that total, which allows you overages for the week.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I’ll be focused again. Working also helps, and I plan on getting a huge plate of steamed veggies once I land at JFK. Below is my chart for today. Suggestions are welcomed. Looking at it, I’m sure some of the values are higher than I planned, because I was estimating, and figure that a higher estimate is better than lower, right?

Monday, March 21, 2011

Morning
8 fl oz Ruby Red Premium 100% Juice	3
1 small tomato(es)	0
1 cup(s) romaine lettuce	0
1/4 cup(s) Shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese	3
3 piece(s) Pepperoncini	0
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar	1
Subtotal	7
Midday
1/2 Tbsp Light Mayonnaise	0
1 burger(s) Veggie Grillers™ Prime	4
1 tsp mustard	0
1 serving(s) Sargento Reduced-Fat Pepper Jack Cheese	1
1/2 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup	0
1 Tbsp sweet pickle relish	1
1 serving(s) Mrs. Baird's Whole Wheat Grillin' Thins	3
8 stalk(s) celery	0
Subtotal	9
Evening
2 cup(s) tossed salad without dressing	0
4 Tbsp reduced-calorie italian salad dressing	2
2 cup(s) mashed potatoes	13
1/2 cup(s) Mushroom In Brown Gravy Mix	5
10 oz cooked trimmed beef chuck arm pot roast	20
1 item(s) dinner roll(s)	5
5 cup(s) Unsweetened iced tea	0
1 Tbsp unsalted butter	3
Subtotal	48
Anytime
1 Tbsp apricot preserves	1
1 venti Beverages Iced Tazo Tea (unsweetened)	0
12 fl oz Diet Coke	0
30 baby carrot(s)	0
Subtotal	1
*Food PointsPlus* values total used**	65
*Food PointsPlus* values remaining**	0

Food For The Road, Weight Watchers Style

2011-03-20T21:22:00.002-05:00

So, I spent most of the time cooking and preparing for my next 7 day tour of the United States, and I hope I can stick to it...this will be the biggest challenge, eating while away from home (and a kitchen) for that long.

I got simple stuff to prepare that could be easily frozen in vacuum seal bags, where I can heat it up in a microwave (when available) or in a coffee pot full of hot water. That seems to do the trick.

The contents of my lunch bag:

Smoky-Sweet Chili-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin
Red Beans & Rice
Brown Rice
Packets of tuna fish in water
2 cans Progresso Low Sodium Zesty Southwestern Vegetable Soup
Carrots
Celery

It doesn't sound like a lot, but I have 3 portions of each, and I can fill in the gaps with salads and vegetables from the road. I'm fortunate that our terminal at JFK International Airport has plenty of good food choices, so I won't starve, for sure....I'll continue to blog my daily progress and hopefully soon, I'll hear somebody say, "Have you lost weight?"

Weight Watchers Day #1

2011-03-20T17:49:00.003-05:00

Well, day #1 on Weight Watchers is almost over, and I think I can do this. I seem to be quite satisfied food wise, and after a full three days of changing habits, I think I can be convinced to go for the carrots and celery, instead of having a full meal. Below is a list of what I had today and their point value in parenthesis. I am allowed 47 points per day....and NONE carry over.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Morning
2 serving(s) Fit & Active Cereal Bars (Strawberry)	5
8 fl oz Ruby Red Premium 100% Juice	3
Subtotal	8
Midday
1 serving(s) Progresso LIght & Zesty Soutwestern-Style Vegetable Soup	2
1 serving(s) Great Value Premium Chunk Light Tuna (in water)	2
Subtotal	4
Evening
2 serving(s) Morningstar Farms Chik Patties	9
2 serving(s) Sargento Reduced-Fat Pepper Jack Cheese	3
1 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup	0
1 Tbsp Light Mayonnaise	1
2 serving(s) Mrs. Baird's Whole Wheat Grillin' Thins	5
2 tsp mustard	0
4 slice(s) tomato(es)	0
Subtotal	18
Anytime
1 cup(s) peeled sliced cucumber	0
12 medium baby carrots	0
1 serving(s) Fit & Active Cheddar Cheese Rice Snacks	2
1 serving(s) white wine	3
1 serving(s) Progresso LIght & Zesty Soutwestern-Style Vegetable Soup	2
3 cup(s) celery	0
Subtotal	7
*Food PointsPlus* values total used**	37
*Food PointsPlus* values remaining**	10

Nutella Cupcakes

2011-03-20T12:18:00.001-05:00

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella, Almond Butter, and Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

cupcakes adapted from Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes
frosting adapted from My Baking Addiction

Yield: 3 dozen cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:

2/3 cup Nutella
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
5 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 cups), sifted
2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract*

Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Nutella
1 pound confectioners’ sugar (about 3 3/4 cups), sifted
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
black and brown food coloring, optional

Almond Butter/Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Almond Butter or Peanut Butter
1 pound confectioners’ sugar (about 3 3/4 cups), sifted
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

*clear vanilla extract is used to maintain a purer white color. If this doesn't matter to you, then you may use regular vanilla extract.

Directions:

For the Cupcakes

Line 3 dozen muffin cups with cupcake liners or grease using non-stick spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes, until it is pale and thick. Add in the butter. Mix until combined. Add in the nutella. Now, add in the buttermilk. Beat until well incorporated.

Add the flour mixture in 3 increments and beat until smooth. Divide batter into the cupcake tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream the butter and cream cheese in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixture. Add the vanilla. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar as you continue to cream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat on high speed until fluffy and smooth, adding milk or additional sugar (if needed) to reach desired consistency.

Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream the butter and cream cheese in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixture. Add the nutella and vanilla and continue to cream. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar as you continue to cream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat on high speed until fluffy and smooth, adding milk or additional sugar (if needed) to reach desired consistency. For a darker brown add 1 drop brown and 1 drop black food coloring.

Almond Butter or Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream the butter and cream cheese in the large mixing bowl of a stand mixture. Add the almond butter or peanut butter and vanilla and continue to cream. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar as you continue to cream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat on high speed until fluffy and smooth, adding milk or additional sugar (if needed) to reach desired consistency.

Joining Weight Watchers

2011-03-20T12:00:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally did what I told myself I was going to do. I joined Weight Watchers.

No, I’m not obese in my eyes, but I’m definitely overweight. For my 5’9.5” frame (yes, I include the 1/2”), I am about 60 pounds over what I SHOULD weigh. Yeah, it seems like being 150-160 pounds is overkill, but with my luck in the health department, I really need to kick it into gear.

When I’ve spent time in the hospital with my various issues, my Mom always commented that afterwards, I looked “healthier,” because even laying in a hospital bed, not able to walk, I was able to lose weight, simply by watching my portions.

I don’t eat junk food, I definitely don’t keep it around the house, but I eat TOO MUCH, which is typical in the United States. Plate sizes have been made larger to accommodate our ever-expanding waistline, and it’s disgusting.

If you look at me from the back, I’ve got a decent build…but, it all settles in my stomach. If I could just get it flatter, I’d be happy. I’m not looking to be ripped, buffed, or muscular, but just weigh less.

So, I’m going to track my changes on the blog, especially since many of us travel, and that is typically one of the harder ways to loose weight. But, with Weight Watchers, they help to allow you to eat out, and I’m fortunate that I DO love vegetables and salad, and always have my computer and SmartPhone, so I can watch my choices wherever I’m at.

Here’s to this time next year, being 60 pounds lighter!

Burgandy Mushrooms

2011-03-06T19:10:00.002-06:00

My Mom got this recipe from a friend, who got it from The Pioneer Woman, and let me tell you, they could be a meal in itself. Just dreaming of doing it with Portabello mushrooms, and then after they have cooked, grill them up a bit, add some marinara sauce and top with a slice of Provolone cheese...or, maybe a pesto (made with walnuts, not pine nuts)...the possibilities are endless. Next time, I hope my Mom makes a steak to go with them.

Ingredients:
4 pound white button mushrooms
2 sticks butter
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 liter burgundy wine
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups boiling water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
4 beef bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon dill seed
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons salt

Thoroughly wash the mushrooms and throw them into a large stockpot. Add all the remaining ingredients except the salt. Stir to combine.

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 6 hours.

Remove the lid, then continue cooking uncovered, for three hours.

Add salt to taste at the end if desired. the mushrooms will be very dark in color. Simmer until needed. Serve straight from the pot or in a serving bowl. Dip crusty bread in the juice - - yum!

Mushrooms keep for days in the fridge. You'll love them.

French Dip Sandwiches

2011-03-06T15:56:00.003-06:00

Needing to do something with your roast beef leftovers? I swear by this recipe, courtesy of Rachael Ray and the Food Network.

2T butter
1 shallot, chopped
1T all-purpose flour
1 jigger dry sherry, optional
2 cans beef consomme, found on broth and soups aisle, or use beef broth
1 1/2 pounds sliced roast beef
Grill seasoning for steak, such as Montreal Steak Seasoning Blend
4 sandwich rolls, split

In a large, shallow skillet over moderate heat, melt butter. Add shallots to butter and saute 2 minutes. Add flour to butter and shallot and cook a minute longer. Whisk in sherry and cook liquid out. Whisk in consomme in a slow stream. Bring sauce to a bubble and allow to simmer over low heat until ready to serve sandwiches.

Pile meat loosely across your cutting board or large work surface. Season meat with grill seasoning. Set out 4 ramekins or small soup cups for dipping sauce, 4 dinner plates and 4 sandwich rolls.

To assemble, using a pair of kitchen tongs, dip meat into loose au jus suace and pile into rolls. Set ramekins or cups with extra dipping sauce along side the sandwiches.

Chocolate Roulade with Peanut Butter Mousse

2011-03-05T21:12:00.000-06:00

Chocolate Roulade (Jelly Roll) 1/2 Sheet ALH

Egg yolks 3 oz
Sugar ¼ Cup
Salad Oil ½ oz
Vanilla ¾ tsp
Egg Whites 4 oz
Sugar ½ Cup
Baking Powder 1tsp
Cake Flour ½ Cup
Cocoa ¼ Cup
Salt 1/4 tsp

Whip yolks and sugar to ribbon stage. (Pale yellow) Add oil and vanilla to yolk mixture. In a separate bowl whip egg white to soft peaks. Add sugar and whip until stiff, moist peaks form. Fold yolks into whites. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together and fold into egg mixture. Paper, grease, and flour a flat sheet pan. Bake 400 F for approximately 8 minutes. Do not let it get crispy or else it will not roll.

Peanut Butter Mousse

Peanut butter, chunky 1 cup
Cream cheese 8 oz.
Butter 2 oz.
Sugar 4 oz.
Heavy cream 2 oz
Whip topping 6 oz

Beat softened cream cheese, butter, and the peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar, in a separate bowl whip the cream & topping to firm peaks and fold into the cream cheese.

Chocolate Ganache
(for coating Do not make it until you are ready to coat the cake!!!)

Chocolate Chips 9 oz
Heavy Cream 6 oz

1. Bring Cream to a boil
2. Take off heat and add Chips.
3. Stir until chips are completely melted and ganache is smooth.

The #freefish Saga Continues

2011-03-01T17:33:00.005-06:00

Hi Everybody!

I don't typically get involved in such bull$h1+, but this has gone too far. Somebody is attempting to slander a great tweep: @flyingwithfish! Their words were: "character assassination!" Can you believe it?

Below is the entire story, as copied and pasted from Fish's Facebook page, with *HIS* permission. He does not want it on his blog, but I figured we might as well put it out there here.

If you have questions, let me know, and I can direct you to the proper channels!

Message unedited below:

OK , here is the break down on the cyber-psycho-stalker

Originally all signs of the stalker pointed to an ex-girlfriend that has a history of stalking and a former client of mine. I could not link the two together, but things being sa...id were clearly them and I tied them into this conclusively … however somethings still did not add up, so back to digging I went .

Both women had been contacted by "Michael Whirrlie", my wife has been harassed by "Michael Whirrlie" on Facebook. Looking at all of this and tracking IP addresses that had hacked my wife's email … coupled with specific comments make, phrases used in comments to my blog, and posts not occurring during sabbath (some were back dated, but in real time, none during the sabbath) , everything lead me back to Addison Schonland.

Addison and I had worked together at IAG (Innovation Analysis Group) which he founded. In Dec '09 I developed a concept for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. I created it, pitched it,negotiated it, sold it, executed it, with no assistance from anyone at IAG. My deal was to put $3k of the project back into IAG, then they wanted $5k, then $7K and I said no.

I offered the $3k, but Addison insisted on $7k … $3k was a lot considering the project was 100% mine.

Addison threatened to sue me, however his lawyer never followed through as there was no written contract and all the communications with KLM was me … including KLM listing my name on their global blog as "We've invited Steven Frischling … " no mention of IAG because they were not involved.

After Addison's lawyer didn't sue me, he contacted the Connecticut State Police Major Case Squad claiming I had embezzled $22k from IAG. The State Police investigated and found that I hadn't embezzled anything, determined there was no merit to the claim. Addison's complaint needs to be dealt within a civil court ,and then it is up to a court to determine what he is and is not entitled to.

Following the CT State Police closing the investigation being closed, Addison went to KLM. KLM told him they were not getting involved, as far as they were concerned the project was mine, not IAG's and he needed to settle the case in a US civil court.

Following that I got a cryptic threat from Addison via Twitter. The CT State Police didn't see it as a real that, but I have it saved anyway.

Yesterday on the blog he writes about me, he names people at Lufthansa by name, mocking them for taking me to Frankfurt (I was just off the plane when it was posted) … most people would not know the names of the internal Lufthansa USA staff…unless you deal with airlines directly and in an in depth manner…further pointing to him.

Add in that the attacks go silent from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, as he is Orthodox, along in that Addison's personal email is mikey99999@gmail.com, (his PayPal had been tied to it and it appears in my KLM stats) and that one IP that had hacked my wife's email goes to an ATT wireless data device that was coming off a cell tower that is in a direct line of sight of Addison's home, along with other minor details … and it all points to Addison

Addison contacted the women and fired them up. Then let them loose … but left some traces behind that have been dug and his constant references to business fraud, initially saying he was an angry bride, then attacking my TSA coverage, etc etc etc.

So … in short who is Addison Schonland. An former business associated who had a tantrum when his lawyer, the CT State Police and a client all told him he had no grounds to demand what he was asking for.

I have multiple emails where he is threatening vile things, stating clearly that his goal is character assassination (stated exactly like that) and making threats that would impact my kids.

Hope that answers your question.

-Fish

#freefish

2011-02-28T21:20:00.002-06:00

No, I'm not trying to sell you fish. One of our respected #avgeeks, @flyingwithfish, on Twitter, was suspended due to a bogus, attacking account under @fishfraud (that I personally blocked) trying to expose Fish as a fraud.

Having met Fish in person, I can attest that he is a great asset to both Twitter and the aviation community. I can't speak for his past (he [as I]) have made mistakes and he always accepts and acknowledges that...to let Twitter block such a great user because of a person claiming something, is well...UNFAIR!

So, let's get it trending....tag all of your posts with#freefish and visit my Posterous account at http://brajit.posterous.com and change your Avatar to "Herman," Fish's logo and mascot! You'll be glad you did! (And, if I did the link right, you'll be able to save the photo from the picture on this blog!)

Granny’s American Idol

2011-02-27T08:00:00.001-06:00

So, if you didn’t read yesterday’s post about the grandmother that had been absent from the friendly skies for the last 25 years, click here. This is Part 2 of the story.

I had just started taking beverage orders and delivering waters to my customers, when I hit granny’s row. She ordered an orange juice, and then proceeded to tell me about her grandson, who was going to be on American Idol tonight, and wanted to know how to watch it. Of course, it wasn’t an easy answer.

First, the satellite feed we follow is off of New York time. Of course, it’s the master-base. So, I had to explain what time she could see it, on what channel, and the like. It didn’t help that there were 4 hours until the show aired, and other channels were running commercials about it, or reporting about it (like Extra) and I don’t think she understood the concept of entertainment television or commercials. She was freaking out the entire flight about missing this American Idol episode.

Every time she would get up from her seat, there was *always* something. First, to unscrew the top of her bottle of water. Another time to just get an empty cup, instead of the one I filled with ice, and many other times to tell me about American Idol…which, she didn’t believe was a “reality” TV show. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Honestly, it is hard to even describe how this flight went, but my crew was sympathetic and even took some of the brunt of her gushing about American Idol. (Thanks Hector and Barb!)

Apparently, her grandson won some competition in Long Island and was invited to sing the National Anthem for some hockey team, and then tried out for American Idol. Of course, from what I was told, this was the 50 people eliminated to 24 people. I honestly thought, “I hope he gets picked, because I do NOT want to deal with her if he doesn’t make it!”

Now, I’m not a mean person, but seriously, it’s a huge longshot to be 1 of 24 finalists on American Idol. I don’t even watch the show, because I personally think it is rigged. But, she was gushing.

About 30 minutes before the show was about to air, my FA gal-pal came back and told me of the request that was bestowed upon her from the AI Granny, which was, for me to announce over the PA System, about her grandson being on American Idol tonight, and to please watch.

OH…HELL…NO!

I’m sorry, I am a man of few words when it comes to PAs, because, when I hear a talkative anybody, the first thing that comes to mind is that they like to hear the sound of their voice. I’ll make whatever announcement that needs to be done, but I am not going to make an announcement, interrupting everybody’s TV viewing experience, for YOUR no-name grandson. *END OF RANT*

So, I naturally had to go talk to her in person, and tell her, in my best “bullshit” voice:

“I’m sorry, I would love to give you and your grandson the attention that you both deserve, but our contract with our TV provider, in addition to airline policy, does not allow me to endorse a particular channel or show for people to watch, as neither are an official sponsor of American Idol or Fox.” She fell for it. Honestly, I’m sure there is SOME rule out there, but I don’t need to be advertising, especially without compensation.

Sidebar: Crap, I didn’t realize I was rambling for THIS long…why didn’t anybody stop me? I guess I’ll continue, because the story gets better…

Well, as we continued her conversation about her grandson, she asked if she could ask other people (herself) to tune into the show…I was like, “I’m sorry, we don’t support solicitation of any kind on board the aircraft.” Unfortunately, the pilots needed to potty, so I got locked behind the barricade and she went to each and every of our 25 rows and asked them to watch, and explained what was going on. Thank GOD people didn’t complain…I would’ve hated to shut her down…NOT!

Finally, it was time for American Idol and in the first 10 minutes, her grandson was chosen for the Top 24. (Don’t ask me who he is…I really don’t care, and don’t even know!)

She was hootin’ and hollarin’ after he was selected and that was it…of course, I did end up buying some drinks for the people around her who patiently endured her pleas and conversation about this event.

All I have to say is: What a fucking whack-job!

Almost Done Moving

2011-02-26T08:11:00.001-06:00

Well, so far, everything has gone off without a hitch! I was able to get everything but my washer and dryer to my new place, and the internet was on time and working properly within the specified time frame…sorry Bobby!

Today, with the help of @soypan from Twitter, we’ll get the washer and dryer, and then I’ll be moved in. That’s not to say that all of the stuff is unpacked. Between homework due today (I was a slacker this week) and needing to commute, I have to worry about unpacking next week.

Of course, I typically hold onto my Chicago turns, but if needed (like tomorrow), they are easily given to somebody else. I think I’m the only person who won’t be able to get rid of my turn, since it has been up for trade for almost 12 hours. Lord help me if I have to commute out at 0630 to do that turn tomorrow!

Moving Day

2011-02-26T08:07:00.001-06:00

Don’t worry, the blog isn’t moving…just me! This Friday and Saturday, I’m moving from Euless to the City of Fort Worth, which is actually just 2 exits away from where I currently live.

I already have my internet scheduled to be connected between 1300 and 1500 on Friday, so I should be up and running immediately….if posts are out of order, I apologize in advance.

I will begin blogging soon from my new address and my 27” iMac that I got from my parents for graduating from culinary school, and hopefully, Bobby and Sara will finally invite me back to “The Crew Lounge Podcast” soon!

Lack of Posts

2011-02-26T08:05:00.001-06:00

Well gang, I’m back…for the last several weeks, I honestly haven’t had anything to write. Perhaps it is my English Comp II class that is draining my typically verbose standards, but I *FINALLY* have a few stories to tell, and most of them, from one recent flight. I think I will post them on different days, to spread things out…and hopefully I’ll get back on a roll again soon.

Twenty-Five Years Ago…

2011-02-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

It isn’t uncommon these days to have people who are finally taking to the skies for the first time. Many are younger, some are older, but the trend is the same. They don’t know what to expect.

As a flight attendant, it is up to me to show them the ins and outs of being on an airplane, and I tend to prefer those that have NEVER been on another airline, because it allows me to impress them with service and what my airline has to offer…granted, it could be an issue when they fly with me first, and then Brand X, and they get nothing with “the other guys.” But, that’s not for me to deal with…

Yesterday, I had a lady board the flight from NY to LA. Yes, it’s my flagship route, but unlike Bobby at UpUpandaGay, I don’t tend to get the “clientele” that he writes about…in fact Bobby, you can keep ‘em! I am not sure about her age, but she was a grandmother. After we did the safety demo and I was conducting my compliance check, she stopped me and asked me about the televisions, and how was she supposed to her it…she followed that comment with, “I haven’t been on an airplane in 25 years.” All I could manage was a blank stare, and naturally, got her a pair of headphones, gratis.

Sidebar – I only gave them to her for free because if she hadn’t been on an airplane on 25 years, I figured I would get a blank stare asking for a credit/debit card for the $2 purchase…I feel like she would still write a check at the grocery store.

So, after takeoff, I show her where to plug them in, how to change the channels and do the volume. She ended up being very content…but, that’s just the beginning. Check in tomorrow for the next post in this series.

Payback from American Airlines

2011-02-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

I’d just like to thank the crew on AA2468 on 24FEB for the outstanding service and complimentary items they provided me on my commute home.

Earlier in the day, I was working Buffalo (BUF) to New York (JFK) and had 4 American Airlines jumpseaters on board with us…many long-time commuters on my airline, because they actually help us clean the plane, unlike at their own airline.

Well, my current crew working my Los Angeles (LAX) to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) flight, really hooked me up…in fact, I was VERY impressed, because as of late, I have gotten fewer “thank you’s” for the candy I always bring on the flight. This crew was more than thankful and definitely “hooked me up” on the commute home. Thank God, because in 5 hours, I have to start moving.

A quick travel tip…or two!

2011-01-29T15:41:00.001-06:00

I know I’ve been slacking in the blogging department, but I just haven’t been inspired lately. If you check out UpUpandaGay and his travels, he comes across some might odd people. I’m not that lucky. I think because he flies in front of the curtain and I don’t, I have an easier time…but hey, I can offer some travel tips!

NUMBER 1

Hotels these days, especially the older ones, are notorious for not having enough outlets. And with all of the electronics that people carry today, it’s imperative to have multiple plugs. I’ve started to travel with a simple power strip that I bought for $1.99 at IKEA and it is a savior! Now I can plug in my netbook, smartphone, Kindle, iPod, my PSP, and toothbrush and not have to choose which one is most important, and I can depart the next day having juice in everything.

NUMBER 2

Always check the alarm clock for THREE things:

1. The time is set correctly, usually based off your cell phone time (if your cell changes time zones automatically). Many people like to change them and be either fast and slow, and if you are on a tight schedule, this could make or break you.

2. The AM/PM selector is correct. So many times that little light will be on the wrong time of day, and will definitely screw up your alarm clock.

3. Make sure the alarm is set correctly, or turned off completely. This morning, while I was on the computer, the alarm started blasting country music at 1100. I never set it, but whomever was here previously had and I never turned it off. Fortunately, it wasn’t 0400!

That’s all I’ve got for you, and I promise, more posts coming soon!

The Crew Lounge Podcast

2010-12-30T20:07:00.007-06:00

Want to hear something funny? I haven’t been on The Crew Lounge podcast in AGES. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time I was on there. Was it something I said? (Or didn’t say?) Now that school is complete and I’ve graduated, I want to be on it more…or maybe it’s because I talk about it while I’m at work, and talk about it in real-time, like I’ve actually been participating, but I haven’t.

Did Bobby Laurie and Sara Keagle forget about all of us that would stay up late to record these podcasts, or am I just an outcast now? I have stories, I have jokes, and dammit, I am slinging pop again. I’m keeping the blog up-to-date for Bobby Laurie, and now I want to be on The Crew Lounge more!

Where do I sign up again? If I don’t slam-click, can I come back?

Three Hours To Go

2010-12-30T20:07:00.005-06:00

As I sit here on my jumpseat, I look at the clock and realize we still have THREE more hours to go before landing in LAX. What a flight so far. Granted, two of the FAs have started to occasionally say things, especially the one I went to training with. She’s lost a lot of weight since I last saw her and looks absolutely amazing. I mean, seriously, I didn’t even recognize her when she walked on the plane, and I did a double take on her. I knew she was working this flight, but wow…amazing transformation. I still think she secretly hates me…and I feel self-conscious.

The one I spoke about earlier…yeah, she still hasn’t said shit to me…and I did a great job staying out of her way…a REALLY good job. Of course, when there is turbulence, you just have to ride it out and sorry that I’m in your way. I’m not a monster…I’m an FA that is doing the right thing for the people that pay my paycheck…granted, the passenger that got my seat probably doesn’t even know I did this, but I do know of ONE person that does…and you are welcome.

How Rude…

2010-12-30T20:07:00.003-06:00

Remember the show “Full House” and Stephanie Tanner’s line when somebody did something rude? Yeah, this woman was probably the most unnecessarily rude person I have ever encountered, and I’m glad I wasn’t personally dealing with her, or I might have just denied her boarding.

I had gotten stuck at LAX due to my inability to commute home to DFW…stupid me for actually trying to commute home 2 days before Christmas…or maybe it was the fact that Southern California cannot deal with lots of rain and streets were flooded and I didn’t arrive back in time for my sure thing.

Anyways, I spent the night hanging around LAX and when the agents came in for the morning shift, I decided to help them out while I killed time before I could get on an airplane.

This one woman came up around 830am to check in. She had no bags, and could’ve easily use a kiosk to check in, but she came right up, eating a banana, and told the agent her name. The agent said she just needed to see her photo ID, and waited to do anything.

The woman replied, “Well, you can start typing while I get it out.” The agent replied, “I just need your photo ID to check you in.” She wasn’t budging.

The woman kept digging and the agent just stood there…I applaud her for that. I would’ve walked away or moved on to the next person in line. The woman then put her itinerary on the desk, and said, “Here, you can use this to get started checking me in.” Um, no? The agent replied again with, “I just need your photo ID to check you in.” The woman finally commented and said, “Well, you could do your job while I get my ID.” The agent just stood there, hands to her side, waiting…I was impressed.

Finally, the woman pulls out her ID, slaps it down on the counter, and the agent took it, typed in her name, and handed her a boarding pass. Amazing how fast the transaction could occur if the lady wasn’t so flippant about her demands.

Of course, the lady walks off, and I wanted to just chase her down and call her a nasty name, but I was professional, since I was in uniform. She tried to get the last laugh, because she left the nasty banana peel in front of our ticket counter.

Well, maybe she did get the last laugh, but I did THINK about putting that banana peel on her seat, but I like my job too much. I dare her to be on my flight…what a bitch. How RUDE!

Jumpseat Issues

2010-12-30T20:07:00.001-06:00

This is the follow-up post regarding my deadhead flight back to Los Angeles, following cancellation after cancellation.

As a flight attendant, when we are deadheading to or from an assignment, we are required to have a regular cabin seat, UNLESS you volunteer to sit on the jumpseat. With the recent OSO (Off Scheduled Operations) and cancellations of flights, and passengers being stranded everywhere, I thought it was in the best interest of the passenger, that I volunteer to take the jumpseat, to get just one more person on. I knew somebody would be thankful.

As I said, it isn’t required, but personally I feel it is the right thing to do. If I weren’t just going back to my base, and having to work a flight, it would be a different story, but I’m going to go do nothing now…sit around, soak up some rays on this pasty white body…I have no reason to sit in a seat and watch TV, just because I can, when there are people still stranded in the terminal, not able to get out for days.

I got on board early and introduced myself to the First Officer (did I tell you our Captain was lost by scheduling…he finally made it to the plane.) I knew two out of the three FAs working the flight, from another base, and told them that I was going to take the jumpseat, so the gate agent could get another person on…they didn’t like that.

Seriously?!?! I couldn’t believe it. What happened to doing the right thing? The unselfish thing? Well, I wasn’t chastised for it, but I definitely got the feeling they weren’t happy with me. Wow, I couldn’t believe it.

So, I finally made my way to the back, and the flight attendant back there was like, “Don’t get in my way and don’t help. I can’t believe you are going to be on the jumpseat for 6 hours.” I was SHOCKED. Seriously, for doing the right thing? That’s like telling somebody that they are an idiot to send a box of food to an unknown soldier in the war, because it cost YOU money? It’s very selfish.

So, I strapped myself in and didn’t say a word to her, and she did the same to me. I still don’t even know her name, except for what I saw on the crew list.

I really wanted to tell her how she’d better remember when she is trying to get to work or go on vacation, and she chooses to take the jumpseat, that most crews, although annoyed at the extra person, are at least GRACIOUS and WELCOMING…I know some airlines don’t even allow their off-duty flight attendants to sit on their extra jumpseats. That’s harsh.

I’m still contemplating writing a note to somebody regarding this incident, but I’m not a rat. I think I’ll just talk about it enough to the right people, that it’ll make it back to them. Or maybe I’ll just get even and tell them when they try to jumpseat on my flight, that they aren’t dressed properly, or some other nonsense, and have them removed from the flight. Wouldn’t that suck?

I welcome EVERY jumpseater on board…yes, it sucks being stuck on the ironing board for 6 hours, and in the way, but at least it’s an OPTION to get home, and when it comes to the people that pay my salary every month, who have been stuck at an airport for days, with no end in sight…well, my heart goes out to them, and I can suffer for just a few hours…I’ve got a comfy hotel room waiting for me in Los Angeles.

Back In The Saddle…Um, Jumpseat

2010-12-30T20:06:00.001-06:00

Wow, what a busy two weeks. Sorry I haven’t been blogging, but getting back into a sense of normalcy hasn’t quite happened yet. Almost there, though.

Something happened to me this week that has more than chapped my hide, but first, a little background.

This week has been filled with delays, cancellations, and reroutes, due to the blizzard in the Northeastern United States this past Sunday. For airlines, a blizzard virtually shuts the airline down, sometimes for days, while runways, ramps, and taxiways are cleared for the safe movement of both aircraft and people.

I was on a trip that went LAX-JFK in the afternoon, had a long layover, almost 20 hours, and then work JFK-LAX. Piece of cake, right?

Well, after a long commute DAL-HOU-LAX, which warrants its own blog post, I finally landed at LAX 15 hours after I had started, to what looked like an “On Time” flight. Boy, was I wrong.

I hoofed it over to my terminal and was greeted by the General Manager, with the news that all of her flights (except the redeyes) were cancelled for the day. Damn. Of course, that means I get to sit on call, waiting for “The Voice” from Crew Scheduling, to find out what they are going to do to me. Fortunately, I was in a hotel and relaxing, but unable to sleep, thinking I’d miss “The Voice.”

Sure enough, after having already gotten comfy for the evening, I ended up seeing a trip on my schedule, but didn’t get the notification of the change by computer the way I am supposed to. Of course, the phone finally rings and I see who it is…”The Voice.”

Sure enough, I was now going to operate the redeye flight to JFK. Why? I don’t know…nobody ever does in this situation, because every year, it seems like we never know what is going on, and have to sit around and wait to see what our fate is…of course, I was tired and didn’t want to work a redeye, because I hadn’t slept all day, but I was perfectly legal for the trip.

So, the rest of my crew shows up (granted, it was only like an 1 1/2 call out, instead of the normal two) and we all look like we had had a rough day…we all really thought we were going to be off the hook, since it is typical in these types of situations, that crews end up being “lost” by scheduling, never to be found again, thus wasting our valuable resources in rebuilding an airline operation.

We were scheduled to work that flight and sleep the day away in New York, and then work our regularly scheduled flight back. Of course, we went to bed for our 12 hour layover (down from 20) and when I finally got up 9 hours later, we were cancelled again.

Of course, this means sitting around waiting again for “The Voice” to call again for another assignment, but we never heard from it again. As a matter of fact, we never could get through to them either…at one point, our lead FA was on hold for 90 minutes, when I finally told her to hang up, as it wasn’t worth wasting the minutes.

So, around 2330 local, I look at our schedule and see that we are supposed to deadhead back to Los Angeles later in the morning. So here I am, sitting on a jumpseat, commuting back to LAX, when there were flights cancelled because they didn’t have the crews, yet they are just wasting us instead of using us productively.

Graduation!

2010-12-15T13:55:00.001-06:00

Well, that’s all I wrote! Last night, after taking my final final at 1730CST, I was considered a graduate. It still hasn’t hit me and I don’t think it will until I actually TOUCH my degree that is being sent to me.

Our school doesn’t do a graduation ceremony until the Spring, and at that point, it doesn’t seem worth it…especially since it is a combined school graduation, and I wouldn’t know many, if any, different people.

After class, my parents took me and the family out to Silver Fox Café (actually, it’s a steakhouse) and had a great dinner, although, I would never go back. The place was loud and hard to hear simple conversation.

Not to go on and on, but after dinner, my brother went outside for his usual cigarette, and came back with a box (my back was to the entrance) and sure enough, it was the 27” iMac desktop computer I had been asking for for years, and was originally going to buy it myself for graduation, but due to the medical issues this summer, I couldn’t pound out some trips to afford it.

So, thanks Mom & Dad! It’s an awesome gift and I wish I weren’t sitting at DFW Airport waiting to commute out to Los Angeles for my first trip back at work.

Holy Crap, I’m Almost A Graduate!

2010-12-10T13:20:00.001-06:00

As many of y’all have known, I’ve been attending Tarrant County College in hopes of earning my Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts. Well, this Tuesday, believe it or not, I’m going to finally graduate!

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!

I never thought I was stupid or incapable of going to school. But I am lazy. Very lazy! I love to sit around and do nothing and I am good at it. (Not really, but school wasn’t a priority in my life.) I got into the aviation industry at the age of 19 and haven’t left. I am addicted to traveling and as my ex has always said, “I’m a citizen of the world!”

I love to travel, and yes, I tend to stick to the same places, but it’s traveling. Who cares, right? Plus, I was living in California and the cost of living there was so high, plus my drinking problem, I tended to not have any large amounts of cash to travel overseas.

Then, I finally moved back to Texas, cut the drinking out, and started to get back on track financially. (Did I mention that I own a piece of Las Vegas…my little piece of Vegas from all of the money I pissed away there, too!) Of course, not drinking or going out led to being bored and being bored led me to go to school…and I found this little culinary program and well, the rest is history.

This Tuesday, I will not be walking across a stage. The school only does a graduation ceremony in the Spring, and by that time, I think the effect will wear off. I was originally planning on just taking my last written final exam on Tuesday at 5:30pm, and being done, but that just didn’t feel right. It’s amazing what a phone call to the parents will get you.

Dinner at Silver Fox Steakhouse, in Grapevine, Texas! That is how we are going to celebrate me graduating college. I paid for it (and those of you in Texas who pay your taxes, thanks for that! I actually had grants putting me through school.) I worked full-time, I attended school mostly full-time (depending on the semester,) I made the Dean’s List once, and on Tuesday, December 14, 2010, I will have earned that piece of paper with my name on it that NOBODY can ever take from me.

Good job, Brad!

Flight Attendant Recurrent Training

2010-12-10T13:18:00.001-06:00

As I stated in my last post, flight attendants are required to go through annual training in order to maintain qualifications to act as a flight attendant. Every airline has different training requirements to follow from the FAA, and depending how long each airline has been in business, will dictate how long a training is. After different milestones have been achieved by the training departments, they can do different types of training, and hopefully minimize the amount of time you have to spend physically in a cabin simulator.

For my airline, we used to have a 3 day recurrent training period. Boy, was that long. As we grew, we were allowed to do more CBT (computer based training) and less classroom time. Now, we only have 8 hours in the classroom, mostly going over the PHYSICAL aspects of the job, such as opening and closing of our doors, in both normal and emergency modes. It sounds easy, but for educational purposes, let me tell you HOW to open an airplane door (and see if you can guess the type!)

Normal Door Operation

Grab an assist handle (either forward or aft of the door.)
Remove the pin from its holding space.
Disarm door by pulling up on the yellow arming lever.
Insert pin to lock the arming lever into the disarmed position.
Assess the outside conditions and make sure you are clear to open the door.
Grab the forward assist handle and rotate the orange door operation handle open, with your palm up.
Using the door assist handle, rotate door towards the forward part of the aircraft until it is locked into place.

That is just how to open the door! SEVEN steps. Yes, it looks like quite a bit of information, but you’d be surprised how HARD it is for some people to just open the door. At my airline, there are only a few times in which we open the door, so some FAs never have the chance to do that unless they are visiting the training facility.

Let’s go into the EMERGENCY MODE. Of course, during an emergency, the door is already in the ARMED mode, which attaches the girt bar to the aircraft, and when the door is open, will allow the escape slide or slide raft to inflate automatically (here’s hopin’) and also provides a pneumatic assist that will power the door open quickly.

EMERGENCY DOOR DRILL

Upon hearing/feeling “impact forces,” begin shouting, “Heads down, stay down!” Repeat until aircraft has come to a complete stop.
At the evacuation command of, “Easy Victor,” do the following:
1. Shout, “Release seatbelts, come this way!” Repeat as you:
  1. Release your own seatbelt by twisting the release.
  2. Turn off entertainment system by turning the switch to “OFF”
  3. Turn on the emergency lighting system by pressing the red button.
  4. Press the reset button to silence the evacuation horn.
  5. Assess the outside conditions.
  6. Grab the forward fuselage assist handle with your right hand.
  7. Rotate the door operation handle UP, with your palm up, and push the door out. Be sure to let go of the operation handle.
  8. Immediately get into your protected position as close against the jumpseat complex as possible.
  9. Hold your left hand and arm completely away from your body, and show the international “STOP” sign of a forward-facing palm, fingers spread wide.
  10. After 8 seconds, the slide should be fully inflated.
2. Lower your arm, and begin shouting, “Get out! Get out!”

Looks easy enough? It really is, but people get themselves so worked up for it. And that is our EASIEST command. Some others we have to say:

In a MASTERCRAFT ditching: “Life vest under your seat, put them on, release seatbelts, come this way!” Then, “Inflate vest, walk down raft, sit down!”

In a JUNGLE JET ditching: “Life vest under your seat, put them on, release seatbelts, come this way!” Followed by, “Inflate vest, jump, hold on to slide!”

On the MASTERCRAFT window exits: “Step through, foot first, stay on your feet, jump into the slide!”

At the JUNGLE JET window exits: “Step through, foot first, stay on your feet, jump!”

Not only are you shouting, but also after getting your passengers off the plane, you are trying to get other emergency equipment, time permitting. These rafts are NOT easy to carry or inflate, so here’s hoping I never have to see one.

Emergency evacuations are not the only thing we cover during our recurrent training, but also focus on medical procedures, fire fighting, and Crew Resource Management.

After 10 hours of training, we were finally done. Unfortunately, that meant one extra night in a hotel, as all of the flights were gone for the day. We could have made it out on time, but due to legality issues with arriving flights, we were forced to delay training until 0930, instead of our usual 0730 start time.

It was nice to spend an evening with everybody at the hotel, debriefing, as many of these people I fly with are based in the same city as I am, but due to the trips we fly, may NEVER see each other again for a year. The joys of the lifestyle…and somebody told me it was glamorous!

Flight Attendant Requalification

2010-12-10T13:14:00.001-06:00

As many of you know, due to a medical leave, I missed my recurrent training class that is normally scheduled in August. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) requires that FAs go through annual training every year, but also have one extra month (called the grace month) in which to complete that training. I missed my grace month and lost my qualification.

No, it isn’t a bid to-do or anything. Basically, all it means is that I have to go through a one-day refresher course going over all of the emergency procedures, both safety related and medically related. After that day, I have to go through our normal recurrent training class and demonstrate proficiency with everybody else.

My requalification training was held at our training facility in Orlando, FL. (If that isn’t a giveaway to who I might work for, I don’t know what is…) I learned while I was there, that I was going to be the only person in requal, but sometime the day before, two more people were added in.

The entire day was relaxed and allowed us to go over all of our emergency procedures and ask questions and demonstrate things as many times as we needed, without being graded, in order to make sure we felt comfortable for the next day. In your recurrent training, you only have 4 tries to demonstrate your ability to open your emergency door, ~~don~~ put on your life vest, and shout your commands correctly. If you don’t, your career might be over.

Fortunately, I’m an av-geek and love airplanes and my flight attendant manual…plus, I was only out for 7 months. It was just like riding a bike and doing everything wasn’t nerve-wracking at all…basically, it was a LONG day of review that the FAA requires after having missed a recurrent training.

It’s behind me and hopefully I’ll never have to do that again.

Today is the Day

2010-12-07T08:53:00.001-06:00

It’s finally here. The day I return to work…almost! If you haven’t heard, flight attendants have to go through annual training to review security, CRM (Crewmember Resource Management), evacuations, first aid, ditching's, and so on…usually, it’s just a one-day affair, but because I could not attend my recurrent training due to my medical leave, I dequalified, and thus, have to attend a 2nd day to refresh us on even MORE stuff…what that is, I don’t know, because I’ve never had to do one.

So, after class today (and I would like to remind everybody that I only have ONE WEEK LEFT until I graduate college,) I will be taking off to Orlando, FL, home of our training facility, and spending the next two days training. Yes, it can be boring, but it does help and the best part is, I get to see people I know that I never get to see from our different bases. Through the grapevine, I’ve heard that many of my friends are going to be there and it’ll be good to get together and catch up.

I am going to do my best to give you an idea of what recurrent is all about at my airline, so keep an eye out for posts during the day.

My Dogs Are Barkin’

2010-12-03T08:40:00.001-06:00

I’m not sure if I have ever mentioned it, but two of my friend’s from school and I cater on occasion, putting our “skills” to the test. Personally, I think a lot of knowledge comes from the heart and mind, because catering takes some creativity and time management skills that you cannot be taught.

My friend Mark was asked to do a catering job for his church. There was some sort of guest talking about her book and they had invited 56 people to join and hear her speak. We were asked to cater a spread for them to have a light dinner, just sandwiches, side salads, cheese and fruit, with a simple dessert. Easy peasy!

I don’t want to bore you with the details of the event, but let me tell you. MY FEET HURT! If you have been following my life, I spent from May 19, 2010 to August 19, 2010, not walking. I had all sorts of contraptions to keep me mobile, from a scooter, to a walker, crutches, and finally, when I was able to be mobile again, a cane for a few weeks.

Let’s just say, I’m glad to have done this catering and all of the prep and service for it, because it is getting me back into shape for taking to the skies again in two weeks. On the 7th of December, I am going to Orlando to do my annual training, plus a refresher, because I have been out so long that my qualifications have expired. After completing that, I will be back “on the line” and able to be the Professional Pop Slinger that I enjoy doing.

Guess it is time to polish off my Dansko’s and maybe start off with some baby flights before jumping back into the world of transcon turns.

Turkey Elegante

2010-11-28T12:58:00.001-06:00

Looking for ways to use the leftover turkey? I am…especially after having 55 pounds on Thanksgiving Day. Here is a recipe that comes in handy for using your leftover turkey meat.

Turkey Elegante
Main Dish
Cook time: 60 min
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
              4 cup turkey breast, cooked, shredded
              1 can cream of chicken soup
              1 can cream of mushroom soup
              1 can evaporated milk
              1 can Chinese chow mein noodles
           1/2 pkg. herb seasoned croutons

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and then add the turkey, mix it. Use a 9x13greased pan and pour mixture in and layer it nice and even. Top with dressing, recipe below.

DRESSING: 1/2 pkg. (3 1/2 cups) herb seasoned croutons.
1/4 to 1/3 cups butter
3/4 cups water

Mix together and put over turkey mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.

2010-11-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

To my faithful readers:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Brad
The Professional Pop-Slinger!

The Day Before

2010-11-24T18:49:00.002-06:00

Phew, WHAT A DAY!

Today, I got up early and drove the 45 minutes from my home near DFW Airport to my parents who live north of me, in order to prepare for the big feast of the year: Thanksgiving!

Granted, having done this for many years, I easily could do it with my eyes closed, but with my parents who want it done one way, along with my own vision, well, it can be trying.

We do everything the same for the most part year after year, but for some reason, every year I save my timeline, that I live off of for the holiday, inevitably, I have to create a new one, since I can't seem to find it the following year.

So, this year, here is the feast, for posterity:

Traditional Roasted Turkey

Mesquite Smoked Turkey

Deep Fried Cajun Turkey

Dressed Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Turkey Gravy

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Sweet Potato Casserole

Dill Carrots

Jell-O Mold

Black Olives

Rolls

Pumpkin Muffins with Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Maple Glazed Cheesecake

Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust

and finally....

Two Smoked Ducks shot an hour ago by my brother.

Not too shabby, huh? The desserts were all homemade, and our only cheat was the mashed potatoes and gravy, but we found a great substitute that Costco that tastes better than homemade, and nobody's wiser!

Sugar Pulling and Centerpiece

2010-11-23T22:01:00.001-06:00

Today was the day I’ve been dreading my entire culinary career. Sugar Day. It sounds so simple and inviting, yet, when talking to other graduates and those that have taken the Advanced Pastry class, I have come to fear it, dread it, and if there were no points assigned to it, I probably would have skipped it.

My baking/pastry instructor, Allison, has been talking about it this entire semester, about the amount of heat there was, that it’s hot, everybody sweats and it’s just a miserable time for most people.

HOW WRONG SHE WAS!

She started today’s class with the demonstration on how to get the sugar (we actually use Isomalt, because it can withstand temperature better, as well as keep longer…indefinitely even) to its liquid state, almost like taffy, and how to get it from a clear state to beautiful colours.

Although, I’m not the most artistic of people, I ended up having a great time…in fact, I’d do it again and again to get good at it, but unfortunately, the silicone molds and Isomalt tend to be on the expensive side, especially if making this a hobby.

Enjoy the pictures below! I titled it “Spring Garden,” since those curly “tails” are supposed to be springs…get it???

From the archives…Sapit Family Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe

2010-11-22T09:12:00.001-06:00

Ingredients:
2 bags Pepperidge Farm CUBED Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix
4 cups celery, diced small
2 cups onion, diced small
2 can large black olives, chopped finely in a food processor
1 small Owens mild sausage, browned and chopped finely in a food processor
4-10 cups chicken stock, (or turkey stock if available) see note below
1 turkey liver, see note below
1 turkey heart, see note below
1 turkey neck, see note below

The day before assembling the stuffing, remove the neck, heart and liver from the turkey cavity. In a large pot, simmer the liver/neck/heart with 4 cups of chicken stock for several hours.

Before starting the assembly, remove the liver and heart from the stock and mince in the food processor. Set aside.
Next, empty the bags of stuffing mix into a very large bowl, then add the celery, onions, black olives, sausage, and minced liver and heart and mix well. Finally add the chicken stock, which will vary between 8-10 cups, depending on the method of baking. When stuffing a turkey, use less liquid, however when baking in the oven, use more. If you run out of the gizzard stock, you can use heated chicken broth from a box or can to add to the bread cubes.

If baking in the oven, cook at 350F for approximately 1 hour or until heated through. If stuffing a turkey, cook until approximately 170F internally (in the stuffing).

Notes: You can choose not to use the neck/liver/heart, but this is the way it was always made. You can also chose not to mince the heart/liver, but you cannot tell if it is even in the stuffing, but has always been there.

Petite Nutella Pochettes

2010-11-21T11:52:00.001-06:00

I have a friend that I work with that is IN LOVE with Nutella! This chocolate-hazelnut spread is just divine, and I had the pleasure of learning about it when I was taking German in high school. I could go through JARS of the stuff. Well, Ms. Bluejeuls always totes this around with her when we are flying and, like the wonderful, kind hearted person she is, always has more than enough to share. We spread it on everything, from apples, bread, and even the on-board cookies, we just melt with warmth. So, without further ado:

This is for you, @bluejeuls!

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
Water, as needed
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Special equipment: 3-inch fluted biscuit cutter

Directions

In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until light and creamy. Add the flour slowly until the dough forms. Do not over-mix! Shape the dough into a ball and cover. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

On a lightly-floured surface, using a lightly-floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch fluted biscuit cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. Form the scraps into a ball and reroll to make more circles.

Fill each dough circle with a small spoonful of the chocolate-hazelnut spread. Dip your finger in tap water and spread on the edge of half the circle to help create a seal. Fold the dough over to create a crescent. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool, then sift the confectioners' sugar on top and serve.

Recipe courtesy Melissa d'Arabian

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Sun Nov 21 2010

Apartment Hunting

2010-11-19T17:54:00.001-06:00

If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen that my lease is coming up for renewal at the end of January, but of course, my current apartment complex requires 60 days notice if I am planning on vacating or moving within the community.

Well, I love the complex I live in, but the apartment I am in, well, it’s TINY! I feel like I live in a shoebox…not that living in a shoebox is bad, but, well, I have a size 12 foot, and that’s just a little cramped for everything. Currently, I am in a 592sf apartment, and with all of my cooking gear, I’m busting at the seams, and there is very little room for comfort. The setup just isn’t good for my needs.

Today, since I had finished my internship yesterday, I went on an apartment hunt. In my town, there are a plethora of apartments within walking distance, and they are all similar in pricing. Some high, some low, but all reasonable. The nice thing about where I live, is that I’m a 5 minute drive to DFW Airport and have easy access to 3 different freeways (within 5-7 minutes of my door.)

I looked at upgrading to a larger apartment where I am at, but the setups are just not good for today’s home. The cable jacks are in odd locations and the washer/dryer hookups are in the kitchen (and one was in the bathroom!) I know they have to work with what they have, but I’m just tired of it. So, off on the hunt I went.

I ended up stumbling upon a complex just south of DFW Airport, around the corner from American Airlines’ headquarters in Centerport. It was funny, because I was double-checking the distance from one apartment to the Trinity Rail Express, which is considered the “public transportation” in Tarrant County. I was hoping to be close so I could walk over and catch the free airport bus that would take me into the terminals, thus saving me $128+ a month to park at the airport. No, DFW Airport does not allow non-DFW airline employees to buy parking, which is absurd, because it is income for their bottom line in a parking lot that still has plenty of spaces. They want us to be sponsored by a current airline, but yeah, like THAT will happen. I’ve done the footwork, I know!

So, when I went to check the distance, I saw a complex smack across the street from the station…LITERALLY! So, I went in, and got all the info. The price was right, and hopefully, if they have a 1st floor apartment open up, I’ll be on my way. And, saving the $128/month to park at DFW is an added bonus (and I’ll finally get cable TV!)

The rest of the day was just spent doing homework. Just a few more weeks before going through my requalification training and recurrent. I’ll be documenting those while I’m in Orlando from December 7-10.

I’m Slowly Coming Back

2010-11-18T17:24:00.001-06:00

I’m not sure who out there reads my blog, and honestly, not knowing makes it more fun!

I want to first apologize for my lack of posts over the last several months since I started back to school, but it was my final semester and I wanted to get through it just as quickly and painless as possible…AS IF!

Here’s a recap of the last several months and where I plan on going from here:

1. I started the FINAL semester of my Culinary Arts degree in August. One of the requirements for my degree plan is to do either an intern- or externship in a restaurant. Unfortunately, due to all of the medical issues I had this summer, finding the time to hunt for a place to “work” at were slim to none. Fortunately, the coordinator for our department let me do my practicum in the school’s kitchen. What I thought would have been fun, was filled with lots of blame and micromanaging, not from her, but from her “Instructional Assistant.” The guy was lazy from the start, careless, and down-right rude. I have no problems making mistakes, especially when given no direction, but I do have a problem placing blame on a STUDENT, when ultimately, it was HIS responsibility to make sure things were done right and correctly, and if needed, to TEACH the proper way. Fortunately, today, I completed the last of my 224 hours and will never have to deal with him again.

2. All of my other classes have actually been pretty easy and it has been nice to be off doing my physical therapy while attending my classes. Had I gone back to work in September, as I had been planning, I don’t think I could have made it. This was the best suggestion from my boss back in Los Angeles, and I thank him for coercing me to take more time off, since working on a plane at 35,000 feet isn’t like working on the ground.

3. As of today, I have only 3 sessions of each class remaining. In all technicality, next week is the last week of “learning,” as the following week will be “Dead Week” where we review for tests and clean the kitchen from top to bottom, in preparation of the Spring semester, and then finals. I can hardly believe it’s this close!

4. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I’m thankful for my family and friends (both known and those in cyberspace) that have been great moral support and entertainment over the last 8 months of medical issues and getting through each curve ball. Y’all are the BEST!

5. On December 14, 2010, I will be a graduate! I get tears in my eyes every time I say that, because I did it for myself. Nobody paid for my school, nobody made me go, and nobody earned that piece of paper, except for ME! The only part that is disheartening about it, is that my grandmother, who passed away in February 2009, isn’t here to see it. She’s the reason I have my cookbook collection (since she couldn’t cook anything but Sloppy Joe’s,) but I know she’s right there with me, especially when I spend time at my library. That woman is where I got my yearning to read, and read I do! (Granted, I wish the yearn to learn would’ve kicked in sooner…I would’ve been done already!)

6. I will be attending recurrent training in December so I can take to the skies again. It’s been way too long, and I cannot wait to be back in my pressurized metal tube, and for the first time in 3 years, I’ll be able to bid for trips that actually allow me time to enjoy, instead of packing it all in just to “work.” I’ve always loved my job, but this will make it even better again!

7. Although I’ll be a graduate, my education is still not finished. I am going to continue to take classes in different areas, to see what other degrees I can earn. There are also several certificates that I plan on earning, but I’m going to worry about those in the fall. I want to vacation some more and take advantage of some things I’ve had to forgo in order to earn my degree.

So, there you have it…my life in a nutshell. I will slowly get back to blogging regularly now, and once I get back to flying, the posts will reflect as such!

Hope to run into everybody at some point or another! Thanks for reading!

Oven Fries with Cheddar-Horseradish Dipper

2010-11-18T17:05:00.001-06:00

Ingredients

4 large Idaho potatoes, each cut into 6 wedges
2 tablespoons grill seasoning
3 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded sharp, sharp, sharp white cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
Salt and fresh ground pepper

Yields: 4 servings

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Scatter potatoes on a baking sheet and toss with grill seasoning and EVOO. Roast in the oven, turning occasionally, until golden brown and tender, about 40 minutes.

While the potatoes are roasting, place a medium pot over medium heat with the butter. When the butter has melted, sprinkle the flour over top and cook for about a minute. Whisk the milk into the butter-flour mixture and simmer until thickened, 2-3 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the cheese and horseradish until the cheese has melted. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, and reserve warm.

Serve the potato fries with a small bowl of cheddar-horseradish dipper alongside.

French Onion Dip Pizza

2010-11-18T17:03:00.001-06:00

Ingredients

2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
Salt and ground black pepper
1 ball fresh pizza dough
1 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
3/4 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
3/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, chopped

Yields: 4 servings

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

Place a large skillet over medium heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and gently cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and deep golden brown, about 25 minutes. Stir in the garlic the last 8-10 minutes of cooking time.

While the onions are cooking, stretch the pizza dough out to the size of your pan (you can use a baking sheet or round pizza pan, whatever you have). Transfer the dough onto the pan and bake until set and very light golden brown, about 15 minutes.

When the onions are ready, season them with salt and pepper, and stir in the crème fraiche or sour cream. Spread the mixture over the pre-baked pizza crust. Sprinkle the cheeses and thyme over the pizza and return it to the oven. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 10 minutes. Serve a romaine salad with a Dijon vinaigrette alongside.

Many Apologies

2010-11-18T12:33:00.001-06:00

All,

Thanks for the text messages and emails from you. Apparently, I was "spoofed" and emails were sent to many of you without my knowledge. I think I have rectified the situation.

Regards,

Brad

Chocolate Lava Cake

2010-11-10T18:12:00.001-06:00

6 ounces Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
6 ounces butter (diced, at room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
Extra butter for greasing ramekins

Preheat oven to 350F.

1. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double-boiler)

2. Stir in diced butter until it melts.

3. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar until pale in colour.

4. Stir in melted chocolate, followed by the flour.

5. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in the chocolate batter.

6. Cook for about 10 minutes. *See Note

7. Tip ramekins upside down on dessert plates and serve.

*Depending on how runny you want the insides, will depend on how long you cook these for. For a super-liquid-oozing center, you want the top to be cooked through, but the center to be liquid. Check with a toothpick after 10 minutes of baking. If you want an incredibly moist chocolate cake, cook it a bit longer.

TIPS

You can prepare the cake batter ahead of time, and just butter the ramekins, fill, and bake about 10 minutes before serving.

When buttering the ramekins, butter the bottoms first, and then the sides, using an upwards motion, which will allow the cake to rise higher.

Public Service Announcement: Play With Your Balls (seriously, do it.)

2010-09-23T15:50:00.001-05:00

This post is meant to both be informative, but also a reality check for all of the boys and men that check in with me.

Today, I found out that my brother’s best friend, Shane Mooney, died this week from testicular cancer. He was 28.

I don’t know the details, other than the fact that only three weeks prior, he had been diagnosed and it took his life quickly. The picture to the right, from left to right, is me, Shane, and my brother Matt. We were in the cockpit of Concorde back when it used to fly IAD-DFW. (I don’t have other current pictures with permission to use.)

I know my mom taught my brother and I to check ourselves monthly, but, like most boys, we tend to have our hand in our pants more often than that. Testicular cancer is very curable (and I’m not saying Shane did anything wrong,) but you need to check yourself, much like a woman checks herself monthly for lumps in her breast.

Below, I have posted some text from the Testicular Cancer Resource Center and how to properly perform a self-exam. I urge you to follow it.

The testicular self exam is best performed after a warm bath or shower.
(Heat relaxes the scrotum, making it easier to spot anything abnormal)

Here is how to do the self exam:

If possible, stand in front of a mirror. Check for any swelling on the scrotal skin.
Examine each testicle with both hands. Place the index and middle fingers under the testicle with the thumbs placed on top. Roll the testicle gently between the thumbs and fingers -- you shouldn't feel any pain when doing the exam. Don't be alarmed if one testicle seems slightly larger than the other, that's normal.
Find the epididymis, the soft, tubelike structure behind the testicle that collects and carries sperm. If you are familiar with this structure, you won't mistake it for a suspicious lump. Cancerous lumps usually are found on the sides of the testicle but can also show up on the front. Lumps on or attached to the epididymis are not cancerous.
If you find a lump on your testicle or any of the other signs of testicular cancer listed below, see a doctor, preferably a urologist, right away. The abnormality may not be cancer, but if it is testicular cancer, it will spread if it is not stopped by treatment. Even if it is something else like an infection, you are still going to need to see a doctor. Waiting and hoping will not fix anything. Please note that free floating lumps in the scrotum that are not attached in any way to a testicle are not testicular cancer. When in doubt, get it checked out - if only for peace of mind!

Other signs of testicular cancer to keep in mind are:

Any enlargement of a testicle
A significant loss of size in one of the testicles
A feeling of heaviness in the scrotum
A dull ache in the lower abdomen or in the groin
A sudden collection of fluid in the scrotum
Pain or discomfort in a testicle or in the scrotum
Enlargement or tenderness of the breasts

I hesitate to mention the following list, since anything out of the ordinary down there should prompt a visit to the doctor, but you should be aware that the following symptoms are not normally signs of testicular cancer:

A pimple, ingrown hair or rash on the scrotal skin
A free floating lump in the scrotum, seemingly not attached to anything
A lump on the epidiymis or tubes coming from the testicle that kind of feels like a third testicle
Pain or burning during urination
Blood in the urine or semen

*** Remember, only a physician can make a positive diagnosis ***

For that matter, only a physician can make a negative diagnosis too. If you think something feels strange, go see the doctor!

Finally, embarrassment is a poor excuse for not having any problem examined by a doctor. If you think there is something wrong or something has changed, please see your doctor!

Rest in peace, Shane. You were too young to check-out so soon.

New Book From Author L.J. Helton

2010-09-09T21:58:00.000-05:00

Seasons of Life: You Can Walk Through Your Pain by L. J. Helton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Seasons of Life: You Can Walk Through Your Pain" is a newly published book by new author, L.J. Helton. When it arrived in my mailbox, I couldn’t wait to open it up, having anticipated its arrival for several days.

Don’t let the title or synopsis of this book fool or scare you. This is not some religious beat down, but a fictional book centered on Sarah, a small-town girl faced with an abusive father and how she dreamt of, and finally leaving, her family, never to return again.

Instead of letting her abuse keep her down and miserable throughout her life, Sarah strives to become a flight attendant, first for a small airline close to home, and finally, for a major airline, where she meets a cast of characters she probably would have never run into on the streets of Oregon.

Sarah’s journey through life hit every emotion I could have reading a book. I was saddened at her plight, even getting to the point of tears as she rose above her situation and made her difficult decisions, and was brought back to suspense as she grew up and stood up for what she believed in. If you are a computer geek like me, you’ll understand when I say I was ROFLMAO when I “met” Steven and of course, brought back down to a conclusion that brought everything together, relieved, happy, and wishing there were more pages to go through.

L.J. really touched every emotion in the words that she wrote. Anybody that has had struggles in life can really find both sadness and happiness, with plenty of zingers in her new book. I highly recommend this easy read. I am also looking forward to seeing more books from L.J. Helton, hopefully sooner, rather than later.

View all my reviews

The Final Semester

2010-08-29T23:23:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow, August 30, 2010, will be the start of my FINAL semester in culinary school. It has only taken me three years of commuting from DFW to LAX and back weekly, flying 70-90 hours per month, and taking 10-13 hours of classes weekly, sometimes spending 8-10 hours on campus.

Typing that first sentence brought tears to my eyes. I don’t consider myself stupid, but I *am* a procrastinator, and one that doesn’t usually finish many goals, and this degree just kind of…HAPPENED. I’ve worked my ASS off for this and in just 16 weeks, I’ll have a diploma. Yes, it’s only an AAS, but you know what? It’s one thing I’ve done for myself, earned, paid for, and gave up lots of time to put towards it, and will NEVER be taken away from me.

No, I don’t plan on using that piece of paper to leave flying. I’d be crazy to do that, and starting all over, but it IS something I can add to my plate of things I enjoy doing.

Sixteen more weeks…doesn’t sound long at all!

Guest Post on “Flying With Fish”

2010-08-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

I was honoured to be asked by one of my favourite bloggers, Fish, to compile a guest post for his blog. His only requirement was that it was aviation related.

Well, I TRIED to make it as related to aviation, but as much as I am only a Level 1 plane geek, I took a twist on something and made it aviation related that everybody in a customer-service position at any airline could take a few tips from.

Click HERE to enjoy and provide feedback, or other culture tips, on his blog, or this one.

Thanks for your support and thanks again Fish, for asking me to post on your blog. It’s truly an honour!

Roasted Almonds with Rosemary & Fleur de Sel

2010-08-05T19:53:00.002-05:00

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons dried rosemary, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons fleur de sel*
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups whole blanched almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. Spray foil with nonstick spray. Whisk egg white in medium bowl until foamy. Add sugar; whisk until frothy. Whisk in rosemary, fleur de sel, and cayenne. Add nuts; stir. Transfer to baking sheet, spreading nuts in single layer. Bake until golden, stirring every 10 minutes, about 40 minutes. Cool completely on sheet. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.)

Source: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Almonds-with-Rosemary-Fleur-de-Sel-108939?sisterSite=bonappetit.com&src=1#ixzz0vmaN60ne

Cranberry-Feta Rollups

2010-08-05T19:46:00.001-05:00

A winter baby shower can definitely use a taste of the holidays, and these cranberry-feta rollups are a perfect fit!

1 carton (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese, softened
1 cup (8 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 package (6 ounces) dried cranberries
4 flour tortillas (10 inches)

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, feta cheese and onions. Stir in cranberries. Spread about 1/2 cup mixture over each tortilla and roll up tightly. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut each roll-up into 10 slices.

Ham and Cheese Rollups

2010-08-05T19:43:00.001-05:00

1 to 2 packages cooked ham
1 to 2 blocks of cream cheese
Garlic salt
Dried or Fresh Chives
Claussen Kosher Dill Pickles, cut into small spears (each half should make about 4 spears)

Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature and beat until soft and creamy with a mixer, adding garlic salt to taste, and enough chives to look “pretty.”

Dry off each individual piece of ham with a paper towel, and spread a layer of cream cheese on the ham, place a pickle spear on top, and roll tightly. Cut each piece into 3 or 4 individual bite sized pieces.

These are a PARTY FAVOURITE!

Crostini with Ricotta and Goat Cheese

2010-08-05T19:36:00.001-05:00

Again, I *LOVE* goat cheese, it’s tart and creamy and smooth and SO versatile. Another Giada DeLaurentiis recipe is heading towards you now.

24 1/2-inch-thick slices baguette bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces soft fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
Salt and Pepper

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the bread slices. Grill the bread until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. You can also do this under the broiler, but be very careful, they will cook VERY quick.

Stir the goat cheese, ricotta cheese, basil, lemon peel, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Spread the cheese mixture over the cooled crostini and arrange. Serve at room temperature.

Crab Salad in Endive Leaves

2010-08-05T19:32:00.001-05:00

I’ve always been a fan of the spicy Endive leaves and of course, WHO doesn’t like crab? Giada DeLaurentiis has some amazing recipes and this is one that I love for a quick, even MORE elegant presentation than just plane goat cheese in endive.

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
24 ounces crabmeat, drained and picked over
6 heads Belgian endive, trimmed, separated into spears
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Whisk the vinegar, mustard, oregano, salt and pepper and a large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in the oil. Add the crabmeat and toss gently to coat.

Arrange the endive spears on a platter. Spoon the crabmeat atop the endive spears. Sprinkle with chives and serve cold.

Mini Ham & Cheese Calzones

2010-08-05T19:25:00.001-05:00

1 11-ounce can refrigerated soft breadstick dough
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
12 slices shaved honey ham, cut in half
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400F. Unroll dough; separate into 12 breadsticks. Cut each breadstick crosswise in half; flatten dough to 2-inch width.

Spoon 1 teaspoon cheese onto center of a ham piece. Fold ham piece over cheese to create a tight roll. Place ham roll near the end of a piece of breadstick dough, leaving a border. Fold dough over ham, pinching edges to seal. Repeat process for all ham pieces.

Place calzones on baking sheet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with ranch or honey Dijon mustard.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Endive Leaves

2010-08-05T19:21:00.001-05:00

This is a classic and doesn’t have a recipe, but is so FREAKIN’ easy, and VERY elegant.

Belgian Endive, leaves separated individually
Goat Cheese, any type/flavour you prefer
Walnuts, toasted lightly in a sauté pan.

Toast your walnuts in a DRY skillet set to medium heat. They are done when you can smell the walnuts. When cooled, chop roughly.

Take easy individual leaf of Belgian endive and fill it partway up (from the base) with goat cheese that you have creamed together until smooth.

Place decoratively on a plate and sprinkle the chopped walnuts on each piece. Serve cold.

Tomato Pie

2010-08-05T19:15:00.001-05:00

Yes, I know tomatoes are best in the summer, but you could get lucky finding them. This is an easy dish and is elegant enough to serve to “ladies that lunch.” Cut into smaller pieces and you’ve got an easy “quiche-type” appetizer, or take the refrigerated pie dough, size to a muffin pan, and layer the ingredients for individual sized portions.

4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 9-inch prebaked deep dish pie shell
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place the tomatoes in a colander in the sink in 1 layer. Spring with salt and allow to drain for 10 minutes.

Layer the tomato slices, basil, and onion in pie shell. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the grated cheese and mayonnaise together. Spread the cheese and mayonnaise mixture on top of the tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Recipe courtesy of the Food Network and Paula Deen.

Reuben Dip

2010-08-05T19:10:00.001-05:00

11 ounces drained sauerkraut (Claussen is best!)
8 to 10 slices American cheese, diced
8 to 10 slices Swiss cheese, diced
1 cup mayonnaise (or use 1/2 cup mayo and 1/2 cup 1000 Island Dressing)
1 package Carl Budig Chopped Beef
1 package Carl Budig Corned Beef

Mix all of the ingredients together and bake in at preheated 350F oven for 20 minutes until melted together.

I’ve made this several times and if you can find a pumpernickel loaf of bread, hollow out the center, and bake it in the loaf, EVEN BETTER (and A+ for presentation!)

Serve this with rye or pumpernickel cocktail squares.

Recipe Central

2010-08-05T19:04:00.001-05:00

A good “tweep” on Twitter, @brittty and I, share several things in common. We both have a mouth, we both like to drop “F-bombs,” we both host blogs (her blog is all about being ALMOST a Yuppie, and can be found here, and we LOVE to cook. Personally, without having met her, I think she is a better cook than I am, because she takes the time to experiment, where I haven’t had much time myself, with the full-load I’ve taken.

Today, she put out a request for “wintery type appetizers” and winter foods are my specialty. I like hearty, creamy, warm foods that you can munch on, so I’m going through my catalog of recipes I’ve grown up with and going to post several for her to taste test and try, and hopefully use at the baby shower she’s hosting.

These next few recipes are for you @brittty! I can’t wait to meet you soon!!!

Hospitals Aren’t Five-Star Resorts

2010-07-31T14:47:00.001-05:00

About 2 weeks ago, I got an “Explanation of Benefits” from the hospital I was at. Remember, back in June, I was admitted for 6 days, and the total, with surgery, was $22,000 (approximately.)

I just starting going through my mail again here at my apartment and got the bill for the 2nd stay in the hopspital. The total? $80,826.66!

Add together the other $11,000 from my 7 day stay in the hospital in May, and this bone infection THIS YEAR has cost me over $100,000! Fortunately, United Healthcare has picked up all but my $1,000 out-of-pocket maximum, but DANG!!!

Do Over

2010-07-25T22:18:00.001-05:00

Monday morning, I get to have what I am hoping will be my last MRI...this time, to see how much bone is gone from my thumb.

It has been giving me issues since my first visit to the Orthopedic Surgeon, but it was put on the back burner due to more pressing issues.

Can I just crawl back into the womb and request a "do over?"

First Full Day At Home

2010-07-17T10:46:00.001-05:00

Well, I made it through the night and even in and out of bed 3 times in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Painful, yes…but not to the point of being miserable. Once I relaxed my leg, it went from pain to discomfort almost immediately.

This morning, I got up and for the first time since July 6th, I took a REAL SHOWER! Yes, in a shower stall, with hot running water all over me. It was great, but also quite a challenge.

I am still unable to walk, but have graduated from scooter, to walker, and now a pair of crutches, which are easy to take in and out of the shower. Fortunately, my parents have a large shower stall, complete with a bench that I can rest on (and also have a shower seat if I want.)

I got in, and after getting soaped up and washed my oily mess of hair, I got to peeling the bandage off of my new battle scar and stitches. Needless to say, I almost lost my cookies, but held back. It’s quite a large scar, not quite as large as I was expecting, but my thigh is quite swollen and black and blue. The surgeon did a good job about pinching the skin and creating a “ridge,” that, as it heals, will go down to my normal skin size, and hopefully leave as little of a scar as possible. Fortunately, being a guy, I don’t really show off my thighs, so scarring is not a big deal. Just another story to tell.

The hardest part about a daily shower is the fact that I have to pause my IV and wrap that completely, in order to not get it wet. It’s a 2-person affair, plus sanitizing and reconnecting all of the tubes requires a 2nd pair of hands. We did it, but the first day of trying to figure out everything takes longer than expected.

Today, just going to go for walks around the house on the crutches, do my exercises, eat, and relax. No napping is allowed, and getting up every few hours to move around will get me to stretch out the tightness in my thigh from bringing the skin together to form a scar, rather than the doctor doing a skin graft, which I am thankful for.

I’m here on Twitter, Meebo, and Facebook, and feel free to hit me up. Just going to take it easy and get myself mentally prepared for my first public outing tomorrow to celebrate my brother’s belated birthday.

In Pain, But Home…Or, Close Enough

2010-07-16T21:45:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally did it. I busted out of Baylor University Medical Center and made it close enough to home. For the next two weeks, I’ll be under the great care of my parents, who, are like “Good Cop, Bad Cop,” except “Good Cop” is in Houston until late tomorrow night.

My mom, who would normally be a nurturer, is really the one that forces me to not be a baby, to get up on my own, do my exercises, get in and out of chairs and sit at the table, and not complain about it, because, “It’s going to hurt until it stretches out.”

My dad, is the more compassionate one, and will wait on me, bring me everything I need, and not care if I don’t shower for a day, because I’m tired. Not mom. In fact, she’s thrilled that the doctor said I could shower tomorrow, and I know as soon as she gets my prescriptions filled (all 7 of them,) that’s where I’ll be heading. I don’t dare shower without another person in the house to come rescue me…but, I do well as long as I sit down.

It’s been 11 days since I’ve had water showered all over my body, and I know it’s going to hurt, but also feel amazing. To lather up and smell clean is going to be a great feeling, and probably even help the healing process.

Today, after we got home, I was expecting to be visited by a home health care nurse, but when I got settled, I called to find out how far out he was, and apparently, he got a message saying I wasn’t receiving my IV medications until today. Well, I had them in the hospital, and fortunately, the guy dropping them off went over everything and I was able to set up everything with my mom. My IV is now flowing constantly for 24 hours, and I’ll attach another one tomorrow afternoon, and then keep switching out the drugs for a full 14 days.

My first major excursion is going to be going out to dinner with the family on Sunday to celebrate my brother’s belated birthday. Between my parents vacation, my brother’s own plans, and my health issues, we’ve had to postpone it until we could all get together…hopefully I’ll have the tolerance to go out with everybody, instead of having them bring me leftovers.

Again, I can’t say this enough, but thank you for all of the well wishes, thoughts, prayers, and whatever else it is you people did, because it is appreciated. I know many (if not most) of us haven’t met, but I still feel a special bond with my Tweeps and hope as I heal and we cross paths through our aviation field, we can meet and celebrate my health and our future friendships!

And STILL Waiting…

2010-07-16T11:32:00.001-05:00

I’m still waiting to get discharged. I understand that it isn’t a quick and easy process, especially my own case, because of all of the doctor’s involved. There is also the problem of having to arrange for the home health agency to either deliver my home IV medication and supplies to the hospital or my parent’s home.

So, here I wait. If things don’t get moving before 3:00pm, I’m going to ask them to discharge me in the morning, because my parents are an hour’s drive EACH WAY from the hospital, and anything after 3:00pm will put us right in the middle of traffic…something that we don’t deal with.

So, keep your fingers crossed that lunch gets served and I get out of here sooner, rather than later. A shower is much deserved.

Are You Ready To Discharge?

2010-07-16T09:46:00.001-05:00

Just got word from the Orthopedic Surgeon’s assistant that all went well and that I have stitches from almost the top of my thigh to just above the knee, along with a manual negative pressure suction bulb to help drain my incision.

The pain is controlled, there are no more tests to be done.

I need to hear from the home health people regarding antibiotics at home, since I will keep those running an additional 7 to 10 days on my own.

Finally, get the letter I was promised from the social worker regarding my time here for work.

I have my brother and Mom on their way up here to take me home, and I’ll be out of here.

Glad things went the way they did…I’m ready after 10 days, although, just a little nervous about doing all of this on my own.

Thanks for all of the well wishes/thoughts/prayers. Definitely needed them all!

It’s A Whole New Day

2010-07-16T09:23:00.001-05:00

Today, I woke up fairly early, considering that I didn’t get to sleep until about 1:30am, due to the mass amounts of pain from the surgery site.

If you didn’t see it, they doctor was able to close the entire wound without having to remove any skin, and therefore, will have just a simple stitching scar, rather than a larger one.

Woke up today in very little pain. On the 1-10 pain scale, I was probably a 3-4, and even through breakfast and my physical therapy, where I got in and out of bed and went 400’ on my crutches, I pretty much maintained that.

Still having issues with lifting my leg from a laying position, in order to put on my ankle pumps (to keep clots from forming,) but the physical therapist showed me a trick that helped a tad.

I can’t really say that I’m in pain, but feeling uncomfortable, which is normal. At least with the way that he did the surgery, I won’t have the Wound Vac to contend with, and can get myself around via crutches to and from the bathroom at my parents.

Still thinking I might get discharged today, but have yet to see the two attending physicians that are treating me. If they feel good enough about it, so do I. Unfortunately, being under Mom’s reign, I don’t see any type of fast food in my future. She’s going to be down my throat to lose more weight and keep it off…I’m not against that, and just downloaded with CP5K app for my Android, and when I get back to my full mobile self, I’m going to learn how to download my iTunes to my Android and hit the road!

I’m Out and In Pain

2010-07-15T21:24:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally got back to my room around 2030, after a fairly quick surgery.

It was around 1700-1730 when I finally got wheeled back to the operating room, and they pretty much knocked me right out.

Next thing I know, I was in the recovery room for a bit of time, about 2 hours, due to the use of Delotyd to control the pain, and they have to monitor.

Good news is, they did NOT do a skin graft. The surgeon was able to close the entire wound with stitches, and not use any extra skin, which is really going to help my healing process, but I am in quite a bit of pain. More like a burning sensation, but hopefully the pain will go away with more pain medications in just a few moments.

Still looking like I might be out of here tomorrow, but I’m not going to rush it. I got the “speech” from my mother, saying I need to be uncomfortable, not in pain…well, I wasn’t made to give birth, so my pain tolerance isn’t that high.

Thanks for the well-wishes, prayers, and thoughts. I will be online for a few hours, since all I did today was sleep, to avoid feeling hungry. I went 20 hours without food due to the surgery, but kudos to Baylor University Medical Center and their Nutrition department. They did have a hot meal on my tray when I got back to my room…exactly what I was looking forward to!

And I Still Wait…

2010-07-15T15:07:00.001-05:00

It’s 1505 and I am still in my hospital room, waiting to go back to pre-op and surgery. There has been no word as to when this is going to happen.

It’s frustrating, not about the delay, but that a hospital would require somebody, not only myself, to be off food and liquids at midnight, for a scheduled 1500 surgery. It’s already been 15 hours without anything and it isn’t helping my mood or energy level.

Who’s idea is this? I thought 6 to 8 hours would be more than sufficient. My mom and brother both work in surgery and can’t believe that this hospital would require such a long time of being empty.

Dinner can’t get here fast enough…seriously, I’m ready to scream and cancel the surgery, just to eat….

Will update with when I start to roll back.

I’m Rolling Back

2010-07-15T11:32:00.001-05:00

The surgical transporters are here now (at 1515) to transport me back to pre-op, so this will be my last post until I get back to my room from recovery.

The procedure is supposed to last 1 hour, but as you know, anything can happen.

Pre-op can last any amount of time. It’s basically the “penalty box” while you wait for your OR Suite to be ready and the doctor is on the surgery before mine.

My pain level is a little more than I would like, but the longer I go without anything, the more I’ll know where I am on the pain scale. They will be controlling my pain with the good IV drugs as soon as I get back to the OR. I tend to self-transfer from my gurney to the operating table, and they tend to like me for that.

Last surgery, I don’t even remember getting “belted in” before they anesthesiologist knocked me out. Next thing I know, I was in the recovery room, begging for water and food. Unfortunately, it’ll only be saltines or graham crackers to prove I can get it down, and then when I get to my room, dinner will be served.

Waiting and Waiting

2010-07-15T11:25:00.001-05:00

I know my surgery is at 1500 but Lord, it’s a long time to go without food. My stomach is growling and I’m really tired, due to no energy. Food has never sounded so good.

There is always the possibility of going back sooner, rather than later, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Soon enough, my parents will be here and they will keep me distracted by washing my hair and playing cards to pass the time.

Surgery Day

2010-07-15T08:40:00.001-05:00

It’s 0830 on Thursday morning, and I’m patiently waiting in my room to be taken up to pre-op, to begin my surgery. As of late last night, I was scheduled for at 1500 start, but that is always subject to change based off any earlier delays, or, in what I’m hoping for, somebody having food or water less than 6 hours before surgery, and I get moved up! That would be awesome.

The medical student and 1st year resident came in to see me and do their usual rounds, with nothing new to report, but the 1st year and I got to talking about food, and now I’m hungry. Dinner has never sounded so good!

More Surgery Details

2010-07-14T18:13:00.001-05:00

Finally got to speak with my surgeon that will be performing my skin graft tomorrow and have more information to share.

Sometime around noon(ish), they are going to take me back, put me completely under, and remove the Wound Vac from my open leg.

He will then take a piece of skin from the right thigh (same thigh as the wound) and pull the skin tighter over the muscle, and attach the donor skin to the open wound, attach it with a few staples or stitches, and then replace the Wound Vac.

Friday, is my tentative discharge date home, and I’ll go home on crutches. Five days later, I’ll return to the doctor to have the Wound Vac removed and have it replaced with a dry dressing. After 5 more days of the dry dressing, I’ll be cleared to finally get my new skin wet, and hopefully, start walking again.

Part of my walking issue is the fact that I still have a hole in my bone from June and the bone biopsy. After that closes, I can start my physical therapy to get back my range of motion, and stretch out the new skin.

So, keep your eyes on the blog. I will post as much as I can, but again, depending on how crappy I feel after surgery, it might be later than I expect.

Surgery Again On Thursday

2010-07-13T18:52:00.001-05:00

My skin graft is scheduled for sometime on Thursday, July 15, 2010. They will remove a shaving of skin from one part of my body (the donor site) and reattach it over the open wound in Part I, followed by a few stitches or staples to hold it in place.

Afterwards, they will put on the Wound Vac for another 5 days to help with growth, remove it, add a dry dressing, go another 5 days, and finally allow me to shower 10 days after having the graft.

There is still some major growth to be done, along with stretching the skin to the normal size, but soon enough, I will be back on my feet, flying the friendly skies.

Turn Off The Lights

2010-07-13T08:40:00.001-05:00

My biggest complaint about this hospital stay? The lights. And this doesn’t happen with every person here at the hospital. I find it more concerning with people that aren’t in the patient care areas all of the time, or my student.

I understand that in order to change a bag on the IV pole or to take my vitals, it is necessary to see…but is it necessary to come in unannounced and turn on the light that is directly above me? There are several other lights in the room that would provide just enough light to not kill yourself and to see what you are doing.

Last night, my nurse (who I’ll have for the next 2 nights) would come in, hang my IV bags, and leave, and I can tell you, I NEVER heard her, saw her, or knew she was there, until I asked her this morning.

The phlebotomist who came to take my blood at 0400, flipped on the light directly above my bed without warning. That’s NOT how I like to wake up…especially at 0400! Give me a knock, say my name, advise me what you are about to do…or, work your way into the room, turning on lights as you go.

It’s hard enough to rest while in a hospital and I won’t have the opportunity to sleep again until tonight. With the number of doctor’s that I’ve been seeing, and their own rounds, I am constantly interrupted, usually with the same information. Today, the infectious disease doctor just popped in, said surgery was Wednesday or Thursday, and I acknowledged him, and he left…all in the dark. If you don’t have anything exciting to say, don’t wake me up.

So people, turn out the lights, the party’s over, and I’m trying to sleep!

The Future Is Near

2010-07-12T15:10:00.001-05:00

Just spoke to the infectious disease doctor and he is pretty sure that by the end of next week, I’ll be discharged, and by the beginning of August, will feel like a new man.

They are continuing to pump me full of antibiotics to treat both the bone and skin infections and will continue to do so upon my discharge.

First, we have to deal with the skin graft at the end of the week, followed by more physical therapy to stretch things and let it grow over completely. I then have to remember how to walk on both of my legs, because during this entire time, I have been unable to put weight on my right leg, due to the bone biopsy done a few weeks ago.

After I finish the antibiotics and walk again, and the graft on my leg heals, I will be 100% cleared to return to work and school, and hopefully can put this entire summer behind me, and not worry about looking back again.

As more updates and such are provided to me, I will continue to share what I need to.

Headaches

2010-07-12T14:11:00.001-05:00

I’m not one to get headaches on a regular basis, but since Friday, I’ve been stuck getting them every morning. I thought at first, it was from the air freshener one of the tech’s put in my room, but it didn’t make sense, due to the fact that they only came on when I was sitting up after physical therapy, in the recliner.

This happened 2 days in a row, and I mentioned it to the 3rd year resident (who I just LOVE) and she said it very well could be from the lumbar puncture I had on Friday.

Basically, the brain produces cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that protects both the brain and spinal cord, and during a lumbar puncture (also known as a spinal tap,) they remove some of the CSF to analyze. This creates a differential pressure in the brain, that can cause headaches.

A good friend of mine warned me about this prior to the spinal tap, but since most of my time is spent laying in bed, I didn’t think about it.

The doctor said that mine could be just based of position, and sitting up isn’t the most comfortable for me. So, more laying around on my back, and only sitting up for short periods of time, because the drugs they give me don’t help manage that kind of pain.

Fortunately, we figured it out before they decided to do MORE tests.

The Weekend

2010-07-12T13:58:00.001-05:00

I finally got what could be considered “rest” this weekend here at the hospital. Granted, rest comes in short spurts in between every doctor that is helping to treat me, every physical therapist helping me to move around, every nurse that gives me drugs, and every tech that helps me bathe.

Fortunately, these caregivers are here around the clock and are here to do a job: keep me comfortable and get me healthy. Unfortunately, that means that they have to disturb me throughout the day and night to do so.

I had a fairly easy Saturday and had my parents stay home. I was tired from a reaction from all of the antibiotics they are treating me with, that caused me a bit of pain, chills, and shaking, and felt like just sleeping all day, and I accomplished that as much as I could.

Sunday, my parents came up and helped me to the bathroom, my mom washed my hair over the side of the bed, and we played cards for a few hours. Before they showed up though, I had my PICC line inserted into my right arm, which was an experience. Last time, it was done in the middle of the night and I was taking something to sleep, as well as high doses of pain medicine. Not this time.

Of course, before they started, they gave me a shot of Atavan and Delotyd but it wasn’t enough to really help to relax me. They should have doubled it and I would have just slept through everything. It got put in…FINALLY, so it’s an out-of-the-way IV that I can continue to use at home when I finally get discharged. (Yes, I still love that word!)

I’ve seen a few of the doctor’s and the student this morning already, and as I type, wait to see both the physical and occupational therapists for my daily pain ritual, as well as the nurse from the wound care team that is going to replace the pad and dressings on my open leg wound. I know the doctor’s ordered only 1mg of Delotyd, but I think I’ll be calling for 2mg. It’s THAT painful. If you look at some prior posts, you’ll see what I’m dealing with (but only look if you can tolerate seeing an open muscle!)

Other than that, just enjoying my antibiotic cocktail and the food that I am slowly getting tired of. It’s not bad, but I need a little bit more variety. I have had offers for food from the outside, but this stuff is already paid for…I might as well eat it. Plus, it’s portion controlled and I’m losing weight…something that’s always hard to do on your own.

That’s where I stand today. I still have to have a skin graft to help my wound heal and replace itself, so I have at least another 5-7 days left in the hospital.

Rough Friday Night

2010-07-10T17:01:00.001-05:00

I didn’t go out to a concert or club, that’s for sure. If you read Part III last night, you could see that I had a miserable night not getting fed. I finally did and enjoyed my Philly Cheese Steak and French Fries they got from the “almost-all-night” cafe here at the hospital. That, I was thankful for! (Thanks Kyle, for making it happen!)

I finally got to bed around 1210am, which is super late, considering the “visitors” from the lab come between 0400 and 0600…and I seem to always get the first call of the morning from them.

Somewhere around 230am, my entire body (actually, my arms and legs) were in complete pain. They throbbed so bad and I got into the pain level of “8,” which is fairly high. The nurse had already hooked up a bag of Delotyd, to slowly drip into my system, but it wasn’t working. She paged the overnight doctor and got authorization for a 1mg shot of Delotyd right into my IV, and as soon as the nurse pushed it, I felt some better relief.

I finally fell asleep and got another bag of Delotyd sometime after the first blood draw. Of course, the doc’s, residents, tech’s, and nurses, along with PT, always stop by, so it was a busy morning, so after lunch, I finally got to just shut my eyes and doze off…I’m finally feeling a tad bit more normal.

I told my parents to skip coming today, because I was so tired, and I know today, at some point, I will have a PICC line inserted for all of the antibiotic IVs the are starting to feed me, now that they know it isn’t the “C” word, they are treating everything like an infection as they find it, but they are hard-core drugs that I need a PICC line in order to have them go further into the body.

Tomorrow, the parents are going to come up in the afternoon and play cards and help wash my hair, face, and body…maybe not the body so much, but the hair is a family affair.

Lots of Pain and Needles – Part III

2010-07-09T21:07:00.001-05:00

After a short 15 minute break, I continued with being poked and scraped by big needles in my back with a bone marrow biopsy. It’s a relatively simple procedure with the right drugs, but again, I have both a 1st and 3rd year resident performing the procedure, and I am confident in their skills (and this IS a teaching hospital,) I think the attending physicians tend to forget that more drugs might be needed.

Everything started off fine and I was comfortable with what they had given me, but after a while, I knew they weren’t finding what they needed, and heard one of them go and page the senior doctor. He finally made it up to my room and helped to finish the procedure quite quickly after that. It wasn’t that it hurt any worse, but being on my stomach for that long left me a little exhausted and dry-mouthed. But, as soon as I got on my back again, the fun picked up…or, so I though.

My mom has this thing about dirty hair, and in a hospital, sometimes it is hard to actually shower and/or wash your hair properly. They have ways to help out, such as a powdered shower cap that needs to be rinsed out, but many of the Patient Care Tech’s tend to just leave it in, which still leaves a residue. I don’t mind…I can’t stand in the shower.

So, I hung my head off the edge of the bed, my mom used a pitcher and the large bucket to wet my hair, wash it, and rinse it, and it is amazing how different you feel with a full head of clean, fresh-smelling hair.

Afterwards, I got to enjoy some of those cookies I talked about in my last post, and played some “Play Nine” with my parents while I waited for my dinner to arrive.

Around 1815, I heard somebody at the nurses station page over the intercom that the meal carts had arrived for the east wing, and I know that I’m on the west wing. So, my parents and I hurried through the rest of my game so they could clean up, get me organized, and I could be ready for dinner and they could get on their way to theirs.

Now, meals here at Baylor University Medical Center have been later than I’m used to, and that’s fine. I haven’t starved. But, around 2030, when I finally saw my evening nurse, I told her I was hungry, and she was shocked that I hadn’t eaten. Who am I to tell her when I’m supposed to eat…they see the meal carts, and are supposed to bring me my food. The normal questions were asked, such as if I were not supposed to eat before/after a procedure, which I’ve been eating all day. She said she would call, and did that, and said they were making me a tray.

As I type, it’s now 2105, still without any meal. (And, my last meal was over 9 hours ago now!) This is NOT good, and I am very unhappy. They are trying to make me go poo, give me my bedtime medicines, yet I haven’t had dinner.

They can bring me a turkey sandwich…BIG DEAL. I expect 3 hot meals a day when in a hospital. Food is HEALING. This is outrageous, and I’m getting more and more angry about it as I type. I know it isn’t the nurses fault…I honestly don’t know WHO to blame. I filled out my order form and it was picked up by the same lady I always see on this floor…I compliment her every day about her perfume…

Maybe the Baylor Health Twitter team can figure out why this happens and fix it. I’m ready to get Papa John’s on the phone and order, but I don’t think that’s Kosher either.

Ugh, stick me 3 more times with needles tonight and mess with how my drugs are provided…fine, but don’t mess with my food!

Lots of Pain and Needles – Part II

2010-07-09T20:54:00.001-05:00

So, after having my leg hair ripped off and my wound redone for the weekend, I had some time off to enjoy lunch. As much as I hate to admit it, mealtimes are the only time of day that I enjoy. I enjoy having a hot meal (and boy, do they do a great job bringing them out hot!)

After lunch, I got more physical therapy with my walker (since I can’t use the scooter now) and made it 150’ round-trip…mostly did all of the bed transfers by myself, albeit slowly.

Of course, who is waiting for me at my room, but the 1st and 3rd year residents, who are going to perform my lumbar puncture. Shockingly, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, and would rather go through that several more times, than have to go through the dressing change on my wound again. Seriously, I’m not joking.

They poked around and after 3 times, FINALLY got some of the cerebrospinal fluid from me and I got to lay back, relax and catch my breath.

Of course, during this, people still try to stop by for questions, room cleaning, tests, vitals, and deliveries. I got a HUGE shipment of assorted cookies from a dear Twitter follower, @brittty and I can just gush and gush about them. I’ve only had 2, thinking I would have been eating dinner, but this hospital seems to think that I got fed, when it is almost 2100 (9:00pm) and STILL haven’t eaten. I’m about to punch some people…I was taught that you don’t eat dessert until you finish your meal. What happens if you don’t GET a freakin’ meal???

Lots of Pain and Needles – Part I

2010-07-09T18:49:00.001-05:00

I knew this was going to be a tough day when I was woken up at 0400 to get stuck for my normal blood draw. Not an issue. Following behind the phlebotomist, was the nurse, with a shot of Cortisol, fortunately, injected into my IV, in order to stimulate the adrenal glands to produce something for stress. Thirty minutes afterwards, the phlebotomist came back again for another stick, and again 30 minutes later. My morning started with 3 needle sticks, all by 0500.

After some PT this morning, where I made it 120’ round-trip on the walker, hopping and holding my leg off the ground, I was welcomed back to my room by a lovely looking girl from the Wound Care Team. She was here to change the dressing on my open wound. I got a shot of IV pain medication, and off she went.

I’m not the hairiest of guys, but I do have hair on my legs, and to this day, I don’t understand why a doctor, ESPECIALLY male ones, don’t just shave a man’s leg when taping it all to hell. Seriously, that was part one of the worst parts. After finally getting all of the super-sticky tape off, while screaming and grunting through it, we took a break so I could catch my breath, and get some water…my mouth was grunted dry.

Next up, was the peel away the foam pad that has been sitting on the open wound, filtering out stuff from the wound, helping to heal from the inside, out. As before, I continued the deep screams and grunting, even after getting another shot of pain medication and Atavan, which is to reduce anxiety. (Shit, nothing was helping!)

So, to get to the point, she shaved off some of the hair on my leg, added another layer to help lift the foam off again on Monday, and used as little tape as possible. Monday, we have to do this all over again, but with the shaving, the less tape, and the extra wet layer, it should be easier, but still painful.

I felt bad for the girl doing it…she said she has never seen anything so bad…she kept apologizing, but I kept telling her it wasn’t her fault…she didn’t do it to me.

I’ll continue in a bit after I have my dinner, but for those that are interested, please scroll down and see what this open wound looks like. What’s in the center is my muscle, and around, obviously, is the skin. It measures 10.4cm from the top to bottom, and 13cm from left to right. I took the picture myself, looking down at my right leg. As the wound slowly closes a bit more, they will pull it together and then do a skin graft next week to finish the healing process.

This is a VERY GRAPHIC picture. You have been warned.

Next Procedure – Lumbar Puncture

2010-07-08T18:23:00.001-05:00

Yes, you read it! Tomorrow, I’m having a lumbar puncture, otherwise known as a spinal tap, and no, not the rock band. Click on either of the terms to learn more from Wikipedia or continue reading to understand it the way I explain it.

The 1st Year Resident, along with many extra hands, are going to drug me as heavily as possible and get me into as much of a fetal position as possible, and he will then insert a thin needs into the space between the 3rd and 5th lumbar vertebrae, and withdraw the cerebrospinal fluid in order to rule out many other causes. Like I said, the doctors are trying to rule out everything that is obvious, along with the not-so-obvious. Tests like this are quick and can be read fairly quick, so results, although painful, will be beneficial.

My biggest concern is going to be 1) the pain in my leg and the puncture site and 2) the 1st Year Resident doing this. If he cannot get me into a proper position, we will have to have the specialist team do it instead, with even more sedation. I don’t bend as well right now, especially with all of the tubes hooked up to my legs.

Cross your fingers…I wish I had the best drugs for this…or they would have just done it during surgery. Oh well, can’t change the past.

Some of My Staff

2010-07-08T17:52:00.001-05:00

No, I’m not taking pictures or giving any additional names, but I just want everybody to know how many people are playing, “Find The Illness” on my case. I have specialists from all ranges and I wanted to list them alone, and also, in case I reference them, you’ll know I’m being treated not only by senior doctors, but students and residents. This list is not in any particular order…don’t worry, the student is just learning and watching.

3rd Year Medical Student
1st Year Internal Medicine Resident
3rd Year Internal Medicine Resident
Orthopedic Surgeon
Infectious Disease Specialist
Oncologist (two separate ones)
Hematologist

And tomorrow, I will be joined by another doctor who is the “boss” of the 2 residents.

So those, my friends, are the people that are poking and prodding for my well-being.

Sponge Bath

2010-07-08T14:04:00.001-05:00

I can honestly say, in all of my multiple times in a hospital, I have never had to have a sponge bath. I’ve been fortunate that I was mobile enough, even after the bone biopsy, to get myself to a source of water and either lean or get in.

This time, it isn’t happening.

I have a large, open wound on my leg from where they removed the lesion in order to biopsy, and even though it started out as the size of a half-dollar (maybe $0.75), they had to remove an apple-sized section to get it all out and allow it to heal.

It is now covered with a vacuum-bandage and is supposed to heal from the inside, out, while removing any clots. (I see them being suctioned out throughout the day and night.)

Of course, being dirty is not an option…I see too many people and I don’t like smelling myself…at least, after two days.

So, today, I had to have the assistance of my Patient Care Tech, Pernell, who brought me a bucket of water and soap, and washed my back and legs for me, while I did the torso, arms, and of course the man parts. She got me the nasty “shower cap” thing that is supposed to wash your hair, but with my grease ball, it never seems to do much but add a nice scent to it.

All in all, for my being so modest about nudity, it was done quite professionally, and we chatted during the entire time. I got to brush my teeth this morning and that was a treat…about to do it again…all of this talking to doctors really gives you cottonmouth.

Ouch! Physical Therapy Visit

2010-07-08T10:19:00.001-05:00

I knew I couldn’t lay in bed forever and apparently my “forever” ended today. As I was posting my last entry, the physical therapists came in to get me moving and out of bed…a double-edged sword: to get me moving and to get the bed changed.

Fortunately, right before, I got a shot of morphine (2mg) but it worked for about 2 minutes and stopped…I need Delotyd, which is probably weaker, but works better for me. They slowly worked me up from laying down to sitting up, getting to the edge of the bed and finally helped to get my right leg to the floor (with assistance.)

They brought over a walker and got me up, with assistance, as they don’t want me falling. I got to the sink, then the door, turned around, and came back, and am now laying in a recliner, waiting for my bed to be changed. The pain wasn’t that bad, but the exercise did wind me.

I understand the need to move while recovering, because muscle atrophy can keep me immobile, so keeping my moveable limbs working is going to help compensate until I get back to weight bearing on my right leg, still many weeks away.

They come back for more abuse this afternoon, but now, I have to pee and I’m not in a position that I’m able to. UGH!

No Results Yet, But More Surgery

2010-07-08T09:43:00.001-05:00

It’s the day after the doctor excised the wound from my leg, and the surgery was successful. They unfortunately had to take a bigger piece out, in order to get all of the “bad” stuff.

On the wound, which I haven’t seen, is a “Wound Vac” and it is putting slight suction on the wound, and is helping to bring all the sides of the skin as closely together as possible. It sounds painful, but it isn’t that bad…however, I can’t move my leg at the knee or thigh…still not sure if I’m supposed to or not, but shifting my body is painful enough.

To finish the treatment on this wound, next week, I will have to have it closed with a skin graft, which does mean another surgery. I’m fortunate enough that this is in a non-visible location in any clothing (granted, not looking good naked is a new probability!)

Today, I’ve seen the Ortho’s PA to go over how they would change the “sponge” in the Wound Vac every other day and would numb me well for that, and go skin-grafting next week. Nobody has given me a release date, so I’m assuming that I’m here for a while. Visitors will be encouraged and outside food would be welcomed. Don’t hate if I ask you to step outside while I pee in the bottle though…shy bladder here.

We are still waiting on lots of test results, from cultures, biopsies and blood work. Some have been negative, such as the Bartonella disease (the one with the cat bacteria), but still waiting on multiple other ideas. There is still a big chance that this is cancer, and I’m fine with it. (Those that know me know I don’t do the “poor, sad me” thing, so nobody else can do it either.) If it is cancer, so be it. We treat and move on. If it isn’t, even better!

Comments are welcomed, but if you are anonynomous, please put your first name so I know who to thank or call. I am at Baylor University Medical Center (I won’t publicly post the room number.) Not sure what is or is not allowed, but if you click on their name above and find out, I’ll welcome just about anything. Visitors are welcomed, but please call/text/schedule with me first…this room is HORRENDOUSLY small, and barely fits my parents. No phone calls, please. Lots of information is being passed to me by phone.

Hunger

2010-07-07T19:22:00.001-05:00

Boy, oh boy I am hungry! It is almost 730pm and the floor is waiting on dinner. Appatenttly, they submitted the orders when I got to my room.

I might be asking for seconds...20 hours without food is bad, and no amount of pain drugs can change that.

In My Room

2010-07-07T17:29:00.001-05:00

I am in my room (unfortunately not overlooking Dallas) and surgery was a success. They got the wound out, biopsied and in about 5 days we will have the answer to all of my problems.

Please, no calls...I am not going to log on the computer, but will be available via Twitter and email on my phone.

Thanks for the support!

Changed again...

2010-07-07T10:36:00.001-05:00

About to get wheeled back now, since the doctor is fine starting with the platelets being the way they are, and will transfer them while I am on the table.

Consents are signed, and as soon as I get transport here, I will be without electronic devices until after recovery.

Please be patient for further updates...this is the part that goes slow.

And They’re Gone…

2010-07-07T10:26:00.001-05:00

Well, that was the most hectic and confusing 10 minutes of my stay so far….to sum it up, I’m not going into surgery…YET.

I had just finished seeing one of the internal medicine doctor’s who went over my body and pain levels, checked out both wounds, and just did her usual assessment. She also told me that because of my low platelet count, they were going to shoot me up with some in order to bring me to a “less-bleeding” range.

Well, as soon as she walked out of the room, my nurse came in and said, “They’re here!” I figured it was the IV Team to put in my IV before surgery. How wrong I was…it was transport, ready to roll me down to pre-op for my surgery. Of course, shocked was the biggest feeling, because I wasn’t expecting it so soon, but then of course, I had to get the parents en-route from home and work to be here. What parent wouldn’t be here for their son’s surgery.

So, while the nurse is asking me all of the typical questions regarding piercings, metal pieces/parts, fake pieces of whatever, I’m trying to get my dad on the phone to say, “It’s time to roll…” Of course, that isn’t easy when this hospital is huge and has several surgery centers located on it, in different floors and buildings.

So, I get out of bed to pee and get rid of the underwear (it’s nice to be commando right now) and the nurse comes in and says that I’m not going anywhere since they are waiting to transfuse the platelets before I have surgery.

So, here I am, waiting for my IV to be started, the platelets to fill me up, and THEN we’ll hit the road…of course, that means I get to go to the next available spot, since I missed this one.

Gotta love being the “add-on.”

I’ll try to post again quickly before rolling out.

They're Here

2010-07-07T10:11:00.001-05:00

They are here to roll me back for surgery...shocked.

Wish me luck!

More Information Before Surgery

2010-07-07T08:25:00.001-05:00

In a previous post, I talked about how the results of the bone biopsy came back as Propionibacterium Acnes, which today, I found out, was just a contaminant from the surgery (i.e. it was on the skin as they took the bone sample from my leg.) This isn’t bad, but definitely puts us back to the microscope, looking at 1000s of other things that could possibly be wrong with me.

The infectious disease doctor believes that both the bone infection and the wounds on my leg are interrelated, and by doing a biopsy and removal of the sores, they will have more than enough information and a true, official diagnosis.

Yes, they are looking at all of the different cancers and infections, some that I’ve never even heard of. They ruled out one called Bartonellosis, which is also known as the “cat scratch disease.” Fortunately, it came back negative. (But be careful, apparently, it can cause some of the issues I’m having!)

Many of the tests they have ordered take 3 to 7 days to complete, but the samples need to grow and then be examined, but rest assured, being at Baylor University Medical Center, I have layer upon layer of students, interns, residents, and attending physicians that are monitoring everything and waiting eagerly for test results, as much as I am.

Nobody on the floor still has a time for me. Apparently, my orthopedic surgeon that is performing the surgery today, had an opening today, and moved me up, instead of waiting until Thursday, so we are one day closer to having an answer.

I know it has been long, I know I have been in pain, but I officially volunteer to do this all “in the name of science and education.” Not really, I hate it, but living is better than the latter, right?

Keep the thoughts/prayers/support coming. Still here in Dallas, probably for several more days, and hopefully I’ll have good news to report in the coming days.

As for today, keep an eye on the blog, as I will update with time and more information as it becomes available. They may not be long-winded, but I will post as much as I can.

Settled Into Hospital

2010-07-06T22:31:00.001-05:00

Earlier this morning, I was admitted to Baylor University Medical Center in downtown Dallas, due to the rupture of the wound on my thigh. This is the same wound that the doctor was concerned about on Friday that caused him to do a complete 180 and go into “fact-finding” mode.

This weekend, after having 13 vials of blood drawn, I had a CT scan that has since returned as normal, which is good on some levels, but obviously can only detect a few things.

Today, I returned to the doctor for a follow-up and showed him the wound. The dressing I put on it Saturday morning was still there, because Sunday and Monday, I could not remove it without pulling skin, hair, and innards with it. I tried again today, to no success.

I succumbed to allowing the doctor to “rip it off” as he promised he would do, but when he started to slowly peel it away, he even stopped and said, “You are getting admitted.”

Apparently, giving me the weekend of not being admitted was his was of bargaining with me to be an inpatient today.

So, after getting settled into my room, a slew of doctors started visiting. I have a 3rd (possibly 2nd) year resident, as well as a 4th year “senior” resident, whom I both like. As I was talking to the 3rd year, I found out he was getting a student on his first day here, and he was just going to meet him. Low and behold, he assigned him to get my entire history from top to bottom. That took a good 3 hours…fortunately, I had a break to go get a chest x-ray.

I did find out that I am having surgery at some point tomorrow, to get this bandage off, to biopsy both sores, and to clean and close them properly. Fortunately, my orthopedic surgeon who did my bone biopsy is also doing these. No time has been specified, but it will probably be later in the day due to my having had a staph infection a few years ago, as well as being a “late-add” to the surgeons schedule.

So, in 90 minutes I will be food and waterless until I come out of surgery, and hopefully we’ll have more ideas as to what is causing everything. I haven’t started treatment yet, not because they don’t want to, but because if we start treating the obvious, the less-obvious goes away. We want to get as exact as possible before doing any type of treatment, or I’ll be back in this same boat again next year.

Thanks again for all of the well-wishes, support, and prayers. I will update the blog as often tomorrow to keep your abreast of the day. Who knows where my pain level is going to go now…I was doing so good!

Until tomorrow…

Admission

2010-07-06T09:42:00.001-05:00

That was quick. I am getting admitted today for antibiotics, pain management, and for possible surgical removal of the bandage stuck to the sore on my leg. It looks worse now, and it needs more attention. I will update again when I get settled in at Baylor/Dallas.

Currently without computer (and in the back of my head, I should have packed my bag and brought everything with me) so it will be until tonight or tomorrow until I get back online.

Here Again At The Doc

2010-07-06T09:35:00.001-05:00

I am here again at the doctor that is going to be treating me for the bone infection and whatever else I might have. I am hoping to start treatment today, as well as get more information as to what is causing all of this mess.

More to come after I get home and can research the findings and break them down into common terms.

No Treatment, More Tests

2010-07-02T17:25:00.001-05:00

Today I was in a great mood (now downgraded to good) when I got a call from the doctor’s office, asking how fast I could be there so they could get STAT (quick) labs on me…considering I’m a hour drive from the hospital where his office is, and I was just barely out of bed, I told her to give me two hours…which I was right on the money. Hearing those words, I knew today was going to be great, and my treatment would more than likely be starting today.

I got to the office, scooted over to another part of the hospital, and got the blood drawn (5 tubes). Relatively painless…you would think with all of my IVs and blood work-ups, I wouldn’t be bothered by it. NOT A CHANCE!

So, my friend and I have lunch at the Cafe’ near where we were, since my appointment wasn’t until 1300 (1pm for you non-airline/military folk.) I rolled into his office and started going over all of my history, what had happened and the usual “first visit” questions. She was apologizing to me about rushing me, but the lab was trying to mix up the drugs they were going to treat me with and needed a bunch of information, because after I saw the doctor, I was going to have a PICC line put in and start my drug therapy today. I really liked his nurse, and she was like, “If you like me, you are going to LOVE him!” And right she was.

Dr. Spak may have a funny last name, and he WAS funny…upbeat, not dull, and in my opinion, could even be hyperactive. He looked me over, read all of the charts and reports and even called my Orthopedic Surgeon while I was sitting there…apparently, they go way back and in his words, are “two peas in a pod.”

Regardless, he agreed with the diagnosis of P.Acnes as I reported on last week, but was also concerned that the bone scan was so, for the lack of better terms, “ugly.” Seriously, it showed most of my body picking up the radioactive material, with massive amounts in my legs, elbows, and collarbones. That’s not normal. Usually, when you have a bone infection, it infects just ONE bone. So, he’s thinking there is more to the story and that there is something in my blood that is causing such a spread of this infection.

So, he offered to admit me in the hospital, just so that everything could be done on a fairly quick basis, and since he was on-call, we could get down to it quickly (as well as save me 2 hour round-trip drives), but logistically, it wouldn’t work with my parents being out of town (and needing to be picked up) and my “sitter” needing to go back to the airport, and my brother having his birthday, PLUS the Fourth of July.

I could’ve had the CT Scan done today, but you have to be on clear liquids for 4 hours prior. Had I known we were going to do a complete 180 on what I thought was going on, I wouldn’t have had lunch just 30 minutes earlier. Oh well, tomorrow (Saturday), I’m going back to the hospital for the CT Scan, and I have to follow-up with the doctor on Tuesday, along with MORE blood being drawn. (Did I mention that after the original 5 vials were drawn, I had 11 more done, 9 with one stick of the vein, and then had to wait 15 minutes for the last two!) Since the body doesn’t do everything exactly the same twice in a row, this particular culture will pick up two different sets of information…I guess more information is better than less.

So, I’m still not getting treated, but that’s okay. I have a doctor making sure he is treating the underlying cause, and not just the obvious. If we just treat the obvious, I could be back in this same boat again tomorrow. The un-obvious might require a different drug therapy, and he wants to get it right the first time. As soon as we are sure, the PICC line will be put into my arm and off I go on the way to being healthy once again

Great News

2010-07-02T13:09:00.001-05:00

I am sitting he re waiting to see the doctor that will be testing me for the duration of the bone infection. I have been getting interviewed by the nurse, and she informed me that as soon as I am done with the doctor, they would be putting in the long-term IV and sending me home with the drugs.

More to come...

We Have An Appointment For Treatment

2010-07-01T09:59:00.001-05:00

While laying in my parents bed with my leg elevated today, my phone rang with a ‘214’ number, which is Dallas, where all of my appointments are for this whole ordeal. Yes, it’s an hour away from my parents, but 100% worth it.

I know many of you think this has been a slow process, but unfortunately, I got off on the wrong foot with some doctor’s here in Fort Worth, but after getting into the bone specialist in Dallas, everything really has moved quite quickly, with the exception of things that were out of everybody’s control.

Regardless, Dr. Spak, the infectious disease doctor, is going to be the one doing my treatment, due to the fact that whatever needs to be done, will be long term. It took a year for this infection to grow and be noticeable by me, so it is going to take several months to make it go away. It’s harsh, but that’s the reality of it.

I digress…’214’ called and it was his office, called to set up an appointment. I was like, “I’ve been so eager to hear from you!” She sounded like she enjoyed having me on the phone. Like any knowledgeable patient, I research my doctor’s and their offices, and this practice has all of their new patient forms online. I had printed them off when I had the spelling of his name (I thought it was Spock), and started to fill them out. She wanted me to come in 20 minutes early, and I asked if that was necessary, if I had pulled the forms from the website. She seemed shocked that I had done that, and was like, “Nope, see you at 1320.”

So far, I’m pleased with how this appointment has been handled and she gave me the easiest way to get to their office, considering I’m not mobile…she was quite thorough in her direction giving, but fortunately, I’ve been on the Baylor campus many times in the last month.

So, tomorrow is the big day. I’m not sure if I will be starting treatment, but I’m sure the orders will be issued. Depending on his decision, I could have a PICC or a Port inserted, for long-term IVs, or just oral antibiotics. Personally, I’m hoping for the IVs, because they are higher-powered and will get right down to the source of the infection and into all of my bones.

So, until tomorrow….

Day One Of "Cripplesitter"

2010-06-27T19:12:00.002-05:00

This morning, I went to the airports with my parents so they could head out of town on vacation, and I patiently sat in the car for an hour until my "cripplesitter" arrived from Ohio. She's here to help me, since I'm kind of an invalid until I can walk again...and at least get on crutches in a few weeks (here's hopin'!)

During lunch however, I was explaining to my "cripplesitter" how to cut open and slice and avocado at the kitchen island, while kneeling on my scooter. The intent was to get off the scooter and sit at one of the mid-sized bar stools at the island, so I could finish explaining and enjoy my lunch.

Needless to say, I ended up on the ground, banging my knee and elbow into the tile floor. I was more concerned about not landing on my non-weight-bearing leg, so I decided to attempt to injure more of myself.

Fortunately, just lost my breath (and found it), and regained my composure and let the heart stop racing, and had to have her lift me up...there just isn't a good way to get yourself up from a sitting position on the floor when you can't use a leg and an arm on one side of the body...

Hope that this isn't an indication of how the next six days are going to go...I might end up in that full-body cast!

And We Have A Diagnosis

2010-06-25T18:35:00.001-05:00

Propionibacterium (Pro-PEE-oh-nee-back-tear-E-um) Acnes, surprisingly enough, is the diagnosis from the lab today at 0936, 8 days after they received their sample. This is from the bone tissue the doctor harvested from my leg last week.

My poor doctor and his PA (Physician Assistant) had never come across this bacterial disease in the bone before, because it rarely causes osteomyelitis, or, bone infection.

All of us at one time or another, have had P.Acnes before. It is what causes acne in all of us, throughout our entire lives. Unfortunately for me, I ended up with a species of the bacteria that once it gets into the blood, causes havoc on the body. (May I also tell you that Propionibacterium Freudenreichii, (P.Freudenreichii) is the active bacterial culture used in producing emmental cheese (a type of Swiss cheese!) And, with my history with antibiotic-resistant Staph (MRSA) in late 2008, that seems to be the entry-point of the P.Acnes.

So, due to this being such a big infection, I will now see an infectious disease doctor for my treatment, one who is recommended by my Orthopedic Surgeon, hopefully sometime next week. It can be treated with antibiotics, and this will probably be some hard-core IV style treatment, but I can’t speculate for sure.

The worst part about this though is the biopsy. They took a marble-sized sample from my leg, and due to that, I cannot walk or put any weight on my right leg for 6 to 8 weeks. You heard me! If I do put my 200 pounds on my leg, I risk fracturing or breaking it completely, which would mean more risk for infection or longer healing time. Who am I to question a doctor with that kind of warning.

So, there you have it. A diagnosis for this week and hopefully next week, we can slip right into the treatment and start feeling like I can function again. This P.Acnes is slow growing, which is why I started feeling bad in April and took until May to realize what was wrong. I went through this the same time last year, but a biopsy was never done and I was treated with antibiotics, but obviously not the right ones or long enough, and since then, this has been growing again in my body.

Here’s to getting the right treatment plan (and a long enough one) next week!