A few weeks ago Stacey and I went out to dinner. We were on a date. We went to Applebees just down the street. Not an impressive date. But it was a date nonetheless. We are seated in our booth and the waitress took our drink order. Over Stacey's shoulder I notice a woman seated at one of the high stool tables they have Applebees. She was with two men. This woman was eating sunflower seeds at the table. She had a napkin in front of her and was actually eating a pack of frito-lay sunflower seeds in the restaurant. Now I love sunflower seeds as much as the next person, but I have to draw the line somewhere. I looked at Stacey and said "That in a nutshell sums up many of our society's problems." She laughed at the terrible pun, soaked in the scene and agreed.
There was a guy on this beach retreat we went on last weekend. He is single and getting into that age range where its clear there are some issues at play keeping him single. I find great value in the phrase "Single for a season and single for a reason." One particular conversation with him revealed part of the issue. He was explaining to me in a lengthy conversation that emotions were no way to make a decision and you have to be able to pull emotions out of the equation. Try that beautiful logic with an emotional woman. Enough said.
My wife just texted me a message...we're both in the house....I texted her back. How things have changed.
The last two evenings we've been invited to have dinner over at the houses of two church members. It was so much fun to talk about television shows, and kids, and how Stacey and I met, and the couples met, and all the things you talk about in a dinner gathering. You just can't put a pricetag on the community created out of the church.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Memorial Day
Last year we couldn't buy rain. This year it's raining everyday. I can't mow my yard if I want to. Weather patterns are so strange.
Speaking of rain, Stacey and I were supposed to see a ton of it this past Memorial Day Weekend at the beach. We went on a Young Adult Retreat with our church North Avenue Presbyterian. Turns out the weather was much better than expected. Very little rain and very pleasant temperatures. The bonus was that we just happened to luck into staying in a penthouse like bedroom for the weekend. We were staying at St. Simon's Island in Georgia and the condo we were in had an absurdly big master bedroom that included a covered porch, wet bar, spiral staircase, walk in tiled shower, whirlpool bath, his and her vanities, and a King Sized bed. Pretty Dang Awesome.
At the end of the weekend we even got to drive down to St. Mary's and visit my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Nancy, have lunch, and then see my cousin Amanda's new house. Really great house, with a really great layout. It was a great weekend.
So here I have a new form of entertainment for you to look forward to. I will be launching a podcast next month. My friend Jeff who is Young Adults Pastor at North Avenue and I will be creating this podcast. It will deal with a range of subjects but mainly it will be funny. We're still thinking of a name for it.
The organization that I work with on the issue of Sex Trafficking is called StreetGRACE. North Avenue is a founding church of this organization. The Executive Director of StreetGRACE is named Cheryl Deluca-Johnson. She is married to Ernie Johnson. He is the Emmy Award Winning Studio Host of the NBA on TNT where he keeps Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley under control. Tuesday Night on the Broadcast before the Magic Vs. Cavaliers playoff Game, Ernie announced that he had won their fantasy basketball competition and Auto-Trader was donating a check for $10,000 to his charity...StreetGRACE. That's right. Our local organization got plugged on National Television. Excellent work. Now that is some serious marketing help.
Speaking of rain, Stacey and I were supposed to see a ton of it this past Memorial Day Weekend at the beach. We went on a Young Adult Retreat with our church North Avenue Presbyterian. Turns out the weather was much better than expected. Very little rain and very pleasant temperatures. The bonus was that we just happened to luck into staying in a penthouse like bedroom for the weekend. We were staying at St. Simon's Island in Georgia and the condo we were in had an absurdly big master bedroom that included a covered porch, wet bar, spiral staircase, walk in tiled shower, whirlpool bath, his and her vanities, and a King Sized bed. Pretty Dang Awesome.
At the end of the weekend we even got to drive down to St. Mary's and visit my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Nancy, have lunch, and then see my cousin Amanda's new house. Really great house, with a really great layout. It was a great weekend.
So here I have a new form of entertainment for you to look forward to. I will be launching a podcast next month. My friend Jeff who is Young Adults Pastor at North Avenue and I will be creating this podcast. It will deal with a range of subjects but mainly it will be funny. We're still thinking of a name for it.
The organization that I work with on the issue of Sex Trafficking is called StreetGRACE. North Avenue is a founding church of this organization. The Executive Director of StreetGRACE is named Cheryl Deluca-Johnson. She is married to Ernie Johnson. He is the Emmy Award Winning Studio Host of the NBA on TNT where he keeps Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley under control. Tuesday Night on the Broadcast before the Magic Vs. Cavaliers playoff Game, Ernie announced that he had won their fantasy basketball competition and Auto-Trader was donating a check for $10,000 to his charity...StreetGRACE. That's right. Our local organization got plugged on National Television. Excellent work. Now that is some serious marketing help.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Graduation
Our business administrator at North Avenue gave me one of the strangest looks I've seen today when I asked if I could borrow a wheelchair for a few days. I told him it wasn't for me. That didn't seem to help. It's for Stacey's grandmother for this week. Funny in office moment though.
Graduation week is here. My sister in law Rachel (avid blog reader so here's your shoutout) graduated from Richmont with her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy on Saturday. She graduated in the same class with Jeff Foxworthy's niece. Always funny to attend a normal event like that with a celebrity and watch him stand in line like everybody else.
Stacey graduates on Saturday from the Morehouse School of Medicine. As a part of the pre-grad festivities she has been participating in some class get togethers. Last night was bowling. Tonight is roller skating. I just love the fact that after getting six figures in debt in graduate education they decided to celebrate like rising 7th graders.
We had our house power washed this week. Looks like we painted it. Amazing the difference.
My parents are in the area this week. It's been quite a visit. My dad preached at the Homeless service I oversee on Sunday at North Avenue. The guys really enjoyed his sermon. I think he enjoyed the experience. I then took my parents over to the largest homeless shelter in the southeast in the afternoon. We then finished out the day with our contemporary service. It was a lot of church for one day...and mother's day at that.
On Monday we visited the World of Coke. I had received a suggestion from a friend to view the experience from the perspective of Coke as a religion they were selling. Really interesting thought to process. Don't get me wrong, I love coke, but when you really listen to what they are selling its a little scary and definitely emphasizes the need for people to look for "happiness" in faith and not a consumer product sold in an aluminum can or collectors glass bottle.
On a less serious note, my dad's favorite part was at the very end watching people sample the products from around the world. There is one particular product from Europe that was so bad it registered my gag reflex. It was quite funny to watch other patrons come across the same flavor. Remembering that flavor as I write this is giving me full body shivers.
My Dad also fixed a bunch of stuff in our house. A gate, a faucet, some drawers, and probably some things I have yet to discover. Handyman parents are awesome.
Finally, with all the focus on graduation this week I got to thinking about the path my family is headed down. In about 3 years I could get into a car wreck and be treated by my wife, use my brother in law Michael to sue the driver who hit me and then get trauma counseling from Rachel. I'd say my siblings and I have done a pretty good job of marrying into a complete continuum of care.
Graduation week is here. My sister in law Rachel (avid blog reader so here's your shoutout) graduated from Richmont with her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy on Saturday. She graduated in the same class with Jeff Foxworthy's niece. Always funny to attend a normal event like that with a celebrity and watch him stand in line like everybody else.
Stacey graduates on Saturday from the Morehouse School of Medicine. As a part of the pre-grad festivities she has been participating in some class get togethers. Last night was bowling. Tonight is roller skating. I just love the fact that after getting six figures in debt in graduate education they decided to celebrate like rising 7th graders.
We had our house power washed this week. Looks like we painted it. Amazing the difference.
My parents are in the area this week. It's been quite a visit. My dad preached at the Homeless service I oversee on Sunday at North Avenue. The guys really enjoyed his sermon. I think he enjoyed the experience. I then took my parents over to the largest homeless shelter in the southeast in the afternoon. We then finished out the day with our contemporary service. It was a lot of church for one day...and mother's day at that.
On Monday we visited the World of Coke. I had received a suggestion from a friend to view the experience from the perspective of Coke as a religion they were selling. Really interesting thought to process. Don't get me wrong, I love coke, but when you really listen to what they are selling its a little scary and definitely emphasizes the need for people to look for "happiness" in faith and not a consumer product sold in an aluminum can or collectors glass bottle.
On a less serious note, my dad's favorite part was at the very end watching people sample the products from around the world. There is one particular product from Europe that was so bad it registered my gag reflex. It was quite funny to watch other patrons come across the same flavor. Remembering that flavor as I write this is giving me full body shivers.
My Dad also fixed a bunch of stuff in our house. A gate, a faucet, some drawers, and probably some things I have yet to discover. Handyman parents are awesome.
Finally, with all the focus on graduation this week I got to thinking about the path my family is headed down. In about 3 years I could get into a car wreck and be treated by my wife, use my brother in law Michael to sue the driver who hit me and then get trauma counseling from Rachel. I'd say my siblings and I have done a pretty good job of marrying into a complete continuum of care.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Recap
I survived!
It really was not too bad a process. But it had some entertaining moments...
I arrived a checked in early at Northside Hospital, which is about 10 minutes from our house. It was about 10 am and they quickly processed me and sent me to pre-op where we were met by a very nice nurse who informed me that I would be removing all my clothing and piercings and jewelry and putting on a delightful gown. Oh boy.
Once situated on the bed under some warm blankets, she took some blood samples and asked me about 5 times if I'd had anything to eat or drink since midnight. Now this is a good moment to interject some key information. When making the arrangements for this surgery I was told not to eat anything after midnight but the reason was never fully explained. Being married to a doctor helps that. For those of you that know, humor me here, but for those of you that don't, understand that if you go under general anestesia with contents on your stomach they basically come back up and do permanent damage to your lungs. Not good. So after I had answered no, I informed the nurse that I knew the importance of this issue. She then told me how on a REGULAR basis people lie about eating or drinking something until at some point they understand the risks. If they've eaten they then get sent home. Unbelievable.
They gave me some stuff to help me relax and that was really good because the morning schedule for surgery was behind. It was two hours behind. I actually slept for like an hour and fifteen minutes. Really critical point to mention here. Not enough credit goes to your caretaker. Obviously the patient is the one going through the pain and discomfort of the procedures, but your caretaker, sits the whole time, and has to keep track of everything for you. I had done this for Stacey and few months back when she had pneumonia, and its rough.
Then gametime arrived and I was wheeled back. That is a very surreal feeling. You're lying faceup, the smell of sanitary conditions wafting through the halls. People saying things about you which you can't really make out because their words are muffled by their masks. And being wheeled around on a hospital bed like that has a similar feel to a cheap state fair ride. You pay to go on it, and they you pay for it afterwards.
I entered the OR and actually thought to myself, "this is the last sight many people have on earth." Being observant has its drawbacks. Then everything faded away. Until I woke up with the urge to vomit, and I did luckily into a container earning me the nickname for the rest of the day "the puker". Nurses don't care what you hear. I discovered this week that I have something else in common with my grandmother besides loving sports, a very low tolerance for general anestesia. Pretty much if somebody asked me a question I wanted to vomit and for the most part I did.
A nurse would move my arm, and well you get the picture. It was a less than desirable 12 hours. It took four different medications and my wife's persistence to discover the correct formula for my peaceful resting. I then was able to sleep, until I began setting off the oxygen level alarm. Apparently I wasn't breathing particularly well. This began a series of events that my wife would just soon not repeat.
While I was out of it enough to not really pay attention to anything, my wife was busy advocating for a number of things to happen. She caught a lab technician taking the wrong test, a nurse forgetting to schedule a test, a nurse not responding to vital alerts, a nurse not responding to a need for more medication, and probably a few other things I'm not even aware of. She went into on call mode Monday night and really didn't sleep. She's a great wife. The interesting thing she said to me after the fact was how much it reminded her of the importance of an advocate for the patient. Had she not been on top of things, I might have been kept for a second billable admission day because of their scheduling mishaps around testing. My insurance company should thank my wife. She saved them thousands of dollars.
Once it came time for release the final great lasting memory occurred. Here I am an otherwise healthy 27 year old male being released from the hospital and I get to be wheeled out of the facility in a wheelchair by an 80 year old woman. It just felt wrong. She was a part of their volunteer program at the hospital which is wonderful. She did a great job getting me down to the front entrance where Stacey picked me up. Very humbling. Very good to get back out into fresh air and regular life.
I'll close with this. My dad has always stressed the importance of care for people as they experience these elements of life. "There is no such thing as a routine procedure" is a phrase he says a lot when referring to his value placed on pastoral care. It means the world to know people are praying for you. It means the world to have people come by to visit, even if they only get to see the person waiting for you (thanks Jessica, Scott, and Johnny). It means the world to have someone pop into the room just to say a few nice words and pray (thanks Frank). Stacey and i were joking at home this week about a comment I'd made just before going into surgery. I said "I don't even need any relaxation medication because I feel so peaceful." Of course, how could I not, knowing that probably several hundred people were literally praying for God's peace to be with me heading into the surgery. I didn't have a chance against that kind of intercession.
It really was not too bad a process. But it had some entertaining moments...
I arrived a checked in early at Northside Hospital, which is about 10 minutes from our house. It was about 10 am and they quickly processed me and sent me to pre-op where we were met by a very nice nurse who informed me that I would be removing all my clothing and piercings and jewelry and putting on a delightful gown. Oh boy.
Once situated on the bed under some warm blankets, she took some blood samples and asked me about 5 times if I'd had anything to eat or drink since midnight. Now this is a good moment to interject some key information. When making the arrangements for this surgery I was told not to eat anything after midnight but the reason was never fully explained. Being married to a doctor helps that. For those of you that know, humor me here, but for those of you that don't, understand that if you go under general anestesia with contents on your stomach they basically come back up and do permanent damage to your lungs. Not good. So after I had answered no, I informed the nurse that I knew the importance of this issue. She then told me how on a REGULAR basis people lie about eating or drinking something until at some point they understand the risks. If they've eaten they then get sent home. Unbelievable.
They gave me some stuff to help me relax and that was really good because the morning schedule for surgery was behind. It was two hours behind. I actually slept for like an hour and fifteen minutes. Really critical point to mention here. Not enough credit goes to your caretaker. Obviously the patient is the one going through the pain and discomfort of the procedures, but your caretaker, sits the whole time, and has to keep track of everything for you. I had done this for Stacey and few months back when she had pneumonia, and its rough.
Then gametime arrived and I was wheeled back. That is a very surreal feeling. You're lying faceup, the smell of sanitary conditions wafting through the halls. People saying things about you which you can't really make out because their words are muffled by their masks. And being wheeled around on a hospital bed like that has a similar feel to a cheap state fair ride. You pay to go on it, and they you pay for it afterwards.
I entered the OR and actually thought to myself, "this is the last sight many people have on earth." Being observant has its drawbacks. Then everything faded away. Until I woke up with the urge to vomit, and I did luckily into a container earning me the nickname for the rest of the day "the puker". Nurses don't care what you hear. I discovered this week that I have something else in common with my grandmother besides loving sports, a very low tolerance for general anestesia. Pretty much if somebody asked me a question I wanted to vomit and for the most part I did.
A nurse would move my arm, and well you get the picture. It was a less than desirable 12 hours. It took four different medications and my wife's persistence to discover the correct formula for my peaceful resting. I then was able to sleep, until I began setting off the oxygen level alarm. Apparently I wasn't breathing particularly well. This began a series of events that my wife would just soon not repeat.
While I was out of it enough to not really pay attention to anything, my wife was busy advocating for a number of things to happen. She caught a lab technician taking the wrong test, a nurse forgetting to schedule a test, a nurse not responding to vital alerts, a nurse not responding to a need for more medication, and probably a few other things I'm not even aware of. She went into on call mode Monday night and really didn't sleep. She's a great wife. The interesting thing she said to me after the fact was how much it reminded her of the importance of an advocate for the patient. Had she not been on top of things, I might have been kept for a second billable admission day because of their scheduling mishaps around testing. My insurance company should thank my wife. She saved them thousands of dollars.
Once it came time for release the final great lasting memory occurred. Here I am an otherwise healthy 27 year old male being released from the hospital and I get to be wheeled out of the facility in a wheelchair by an 80 year old woman. It just felt wrong. She was a part of their volunteer program at the hospital which is wonderful. She did a great job getting me down to the front entrance where Stacey picked me up. Very humbling. Very good to get back out into fresh air and regular life.
I'll close with this. My dad has always stressed the importance of care for people as they experience these elements of life. "There is no such thing as a routine procedure" is a phrase he says a lot when referring to his value placed on pastoral care. It means the world to know people are praying for you. It means the world to have people come by to visit, even if they only get to see the person waiting for you (thanks Jessica, Scott, and Johnny). It means the world to have someone pop into the room just to say a few nice words and pray (thanks Frank). Stacey and i were joking at home this week about a comment I'd made just before going into surgery. I said "I don't even need any relaxation medication because I feel so peaceful." Of course, how could I not, knowing that probably several hundred people were literally praying for God's peace to be with me heading into the surgery. I didn't have a chance against that kind of intercession.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Gametime
It's the morning of the big day. I get to go under the knife in about 4 hours, but who is counting? One of the more fascinating things I've experienced leading up to this surgery is the following question. "Are you nervous?" No, but now I am! Anybody facing this type of thing is going to be uneasy. I think that is a safe assumption. I don't need to be reminded of it over and over again. Now the question "Are you ready?", that's totally different. Yes, I'm ready to get this done so that it isn't an issue anymore. I've learned from this that I'm going to say "It will go just fine, or I'm praying for you, or Is there anything I can do for you"?
This is supposed to leave me two scars. Two scars on the bottom of your neck aren't bad in my opinion. Face, not helpful, stomach, not helpful. But base of neck? I don't think anybody spends a long time looking at that area anyway and if they do you don't want to be their friend because they are probably pretty weird.
All donations in my honor can be sent to our home address. You shouldn't have:)
This is supposed to leave me two scars. Two scars on the bottom of your neck aren't bad in my opinion. Face, not helpful, stomach, not helpful. But base of neck? I don't think anybody spends a long time looking at that area anyway and if they do you don't want to be their friend because they are probably pretty weird.
All donations in my honor can be sent to our home address. You shouldn't have:)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Leaks and Surgery
The big topic in our household right now is the pending "neck exploration" on Monday. I say neck exploration because that is what is listed on my pre-surgery form. Really comforting term. Very scientific and medical you know. It brings about mental images of cutting into my neck and rootin' around hoping to find something to fix. How nice.
We had this terrible thunderstorm last week and it brought some crazy hail with it. That night it rained like a Hurricane and we noticed a small leak in the roof. We called the insurance company and we were among hundreds reporting the same thing. Luckily for us it dripped onto the plywood ceiling in our second floor bedroom but didn't do bad damage and seep through. In fact we just happened to be laying in bed at the time and heard it drip. Otherwise we may have not noticed it. The adjuster has not visited the house yet. We're on the low priority list. Luckily it hasn't rained at all this week.
But then it started raining tonight and I had to crawl up into the attic because "we're now responsible for taking action to prevent further damage". Easier said than done. So far no issues, other than cramping legs from crouching in the attic on the studs. Falling through my ceiling would have most likely created some other surgical needs.
Any of you that friends with me on Facebook probably noticed this week that I got to meet Dr. J. Julius Erving, the master of the Slam Dunk was the guest speaker at a Salvation Army fundraising reception. I shook his hand and lost it in his. Let's just palming a basketball wouldn't be a problem for him. He was a very nice guy and we'll be in further conversation around partnering on some charity projects going forward. That will hopefully mean some strategic planning golf outings at the club he now owns in Atlanta.
That's all I can think of for now. Wait one more thing. If any of you thinks you might have TB, some of my homeless buddies that come to our Bible Study at the church said the best place to get tested and treated is in jail. Just wanted to pass that along. In the mean time wash your hands and you won't get Swine Flu. Thats from Dr. Cobb herself. In fact to get really specific, wash your hands and don't play with poop. That's solid prevention from a medical professional.
We had this terrible thunderstorm last week and it brought some crazy hail with it. That night it rained like a Hurricane and we noticed a small leak in the roof. We called the insurance company and we were among hundreds reporting the same thing. Luckily for us it dripped onto the plywood ceiling in our second floor bedroom but didn't do bad damage and seep through. In fact we just happened to be laying in bed at the time and heard it drip. Otherwise we may have not noticed it. The adjuster has not visited the house yet. We're on the low priority list. Luckily it hasn't rained at all this week.
But then it started raining tonight and I had to crawl up into the attic because "we're now responsible for taking action to prevent further damage". Easier said than done. So far no issues, other than cramping legs from crouching in the attic on the studs. Falling through my ceiling would have most likely created some other surgical needs.
Any of you that friends with me on Facebook probably noticed this week that I got to meet Dr. J. Julius Erving, the master of the Slam Dunk was the guest speaker at a Salvation Army fundraising reception. I shook his hand and lost it in his. Let's just palming a basketball wouldn't be a problem for him. He was a very nice guy and we'll be in further conversation around partnering on some charity projects going forward. That will hopefully mean some strategic planning golf outings at the club he now owns in Atlanta.
That's all I can think of for now. Wait one more thing. If any of you thinks you might have TB, some of my homeless buddies that come to our Bible Study at the church said the best place to get tested and treated is in jail. Just wanted to pass that along. In the mean time wash your hands and you won't get Swine Flu. Thats from Dr. Cobb herself. In fact to get really specific, wash your hands and don't play with poop. That's solid prevention from a medical professional.
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