Poor this Christmas

Ho ho ho. It's nice to have Christmas here once again, but dag gum. Most of my family is a little stressed out trying to find good gifts on a very minimal budget. I think everyone would be happy if we canceled gift giving this year and just had good ol' family time together, but we're trying our best to find a little something for everyone that they'll like. I haven't even considered getting anything for friends or extended family. I hope they don't care.

Anyway, up to 132 lbs. Holla. I think I still have a good 2 weeks until it's been a month from my minimal weigh in of 113 lbs. So I may even gain 30 lbs in a month. I'm going to be fat! Yea! Since I don't really have a whole lot of energy and am not working at the moment, I've made it my day job to make sure I eat. I'm very good at my job. They're promoting me to manager.

My friends Lydia and Amanda graduated this last week from UNT, so congrats to them! Lydia, Tommy, and I threw a joint party to celebrate my living and her graduating this last weekend, and it was pretty fun. Unfortunately it was during the Cowboy game when they beat the Saints! I hate to say I would have missed the party for the game, but I really wish I would have known they were playing on a Saturday night! Those @#%@$#. Who plays on Saturday night?! My apologies to Christopher especially, who came to the party unaware of the game as well. I had no idea, my friend.

Home...

I guess there are a lot of things to distract me from blogging now that I'm not stuck in the hospital. Wait... I don't do anything at home either. Hmm... Anyway, things are running semi-smoothly here. A few learning experiences that I don't feel like sharing... (you can thank me later.) Other than that, I've just been trying to eat decently. It's hard with all of this junk food looking at me though.

I've been trying to fill up my schedule lately. Scheduled a dinner with old friends, and there are a lot of parties around Christmas time! Holla. Also, I'm pretty pumped about this Sunday. A group of us are carpooling out to Dallas to a Cowboy watching party at the Grenada Theater. $5 BBQ and nachos + Football + friends = fun.

I keep gaining weight, but it's slow. 122 lbs with pants on. I'm getting there... fat in no time. :D I've also been working on some tunes, and I finished up two today. Hopefully I'll be on Nintendo games by next Christmas.

Happy Holidays,

T-Money

Tis the Season of joy

I'm so excited that I'll be able to take it easy this holiday season with most of my family close by and the out of town Foleys with plans to come as well! After the holiday season, once my strength has returned for the most part, it looks like I'll be visiting Japan and my aunt in Guam with Scott and Pa. Everything is looking up (except my bank account).

Good news, I weighed last night (exactly 2 days after my last weigh in) and came out to 117.1 lbs. That's almost 4 lbs in 2 days. They took me off of Total Parenteral Nutrition last night, so we'll have to see if that makes any difference. Either way, my appetite is very healthy and everything is being digested well, so I'm not too worried about remaining anorexic for too much longer.

As for now, I'm just listening to some new tunes and sipping hot chocolate after downing a big breakfast. I want to wish everyone a good Sunday and happy holidays!

Music Update

I finally added a few songs to Mr. Riff's myspace. I strongly suggest you check it out and download some stuff if you wish. Gold is my pride and joy.

http://www.myspace.com/flpriff

Holla oh my golla, life is good, is it not?? Is this just a food blog? Maybe...

Bad news first, I almost lost my love for hard boiled eggs (see picture, puh-lease.) Yesterday morning, I bit into a brown, gooey, salty center of an egg. Normally, I would say, "No more eggs, please." But, I got another one and enjoyed it. Also, I threw up once in the middle of the night, but I think that was just a reaction from the IV pain med. Now, I'm strictly on pills. The instant relief and pleasure of injectables is over now I suppose, but that's fine.

Everything else since my last post has been a delight. I've been able to get up and make my two laps around the surgical floor about every 3 hours and relax in between. I'm going to weigh myself again tonight to see if I've gained anything back yet, because I've been enjoying a regular diet now. I ate my entire lunch plate just now for the first time in I can't remember. It was half spaghetti and half mac & cheese. I also had some delicious cream of broccoli soup which they only have on the weekends, and I decided to save my orange chiffon cake for an afternoon snack. Food is life. Life is good. Life is good.

I have a long list of more life that I'm going to be enjoying in the near future. From enchiladas to soft pretzels... and tonight for dinner, I'll be enjoying my ever so coveted Lewisville Med's Hot Dog. I don't think there's a better hot dog. Garlic toasted bun with a split in half, juicy, grilled high quality all beef frank smothered with mayonnaise and mustard. Gotta try it if you haven't.

In the world beyond food, I'm glad I get to stay here this weekend because now I get to enjoy a full Saturday of college football. This Pitt/Cincy game is kinda ridiculous with big plays and turnovers though. It's also Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family. In the words of Lucas Campbell, "Boom." What else can I say?

Doctor said I should be out Monday after they take out my staples. :D

MMmmmmmmmmmmmm....cookie

Finally, the day I've been waiting for... my diet has been advanced. Since I haven't been throwing up, the doctor has evolved my status to the soft/bland diet! Best. day. of. my. life.

Breakfast - Pancakes, biscuits and gravy, corn flakes

Lunch - Delicious pot roast w/ potatoes, carrots, onions, squash casserole, double chocolate chip cookie

Dinner - Roasted turkey in gravy, a surprisingly good chicken noodle soup, oatmeal raisin cookie, and peaches

This may not sound like much to the normal person that eats whatever, but I could not take another day of mashed potatoes and cream of wheat. I NEED FOOD.

I weighed in today at 113.5 lbs. Before this all started, I was 160 lbs. I am a skeleton. I can fit my hand around most any part of my body including my upper leg. It's going to take a lot of reeses and fun junk food to fix this mess. I would like to throw out a special thanks to all of those who have donated some sort of junk food to my stash... Teah, Randy & Jenifer, and my momma.

All in all, a very good day but I think the doctor may be cutting off the last of my injectable pain meds soon. Nuts. Probably going home this weekend though!

Hercules

Thank goodness my dad got me a laptop, because I would be uber disconnected and depressed right now without. After all, I've been in the hospital for about a month and people are tired of visiting. Understandable. It's an awful place to spend free time. It's just so nice to be able to connect with people in some way... internet. Also, I've been able to work on my music, watch movies, and listen to music. So for my sanity, thank you, Dad.

Today was much like yesterday as far throwing up and whatnot, but my mood has been much better. I think it's because I've been able to nibble on a mashed potato for the last 6 hours. Food... what else can I say? It's amazing.

I've been up and about walking twice today with a notable improvement in my strength. Getting in and out of bed is easier, and I can take slightly longer and faster strides. I could see envy in some of the older peoples' eyes when I flew around the corners of the hallway. That's right... I'm young. I'm strong. I am Hercules.

Unfortunately, the doctor was in and out within 30 seconds today as I was waking up trying to think of what I had planned to ask him. He did mention that the tests returned and everything so far points to Crohn's instead of the less severe Ulcerative Colitis. No big surprise though. Do you what you gotta do, right?

For a video tour of my tummy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmqByonagcg

Moody

I woke up this morning throwing up while my staples and stitches all down my stomach stretched and pulled like a tug-o-war. It hurt real good, and then I did it again. That put me in a bad mood, and I haven't been able to get my enthusiasm up all day. The thought of future feasts is my driving force to get me through the day. The nurse discovered that I have a huge bloody bed sore on my boney, buttless booty.

But that doesn't matter. Why? Because I've got Tears for Fears. I imagine the awesome slow motion scene from Donnie Darko when "Head over Heels" is loud and proud, and I want to be there in October of '88. Here's to Tears for Fears! I love that band...

In better news today, I got out of the hospital bed by myself and walked around for a while. I'm surprised how much muscle I lost and how fast! It's definitely going to take me a while to recoup completely.

Tommy just left so I had the nurse give me some extra good juice. Sleepy time.

Tyler

This is a blog, and my name is Tyler... A.K.A. Nocolonine

Hello all,

I decided to start a blog while I'm bored here at the hospital. For all of those who don't know, I've been in the hospital for almost 4 weeks now with a IBD - either ulcerative colitis or chrohn's. I should find out which disease within a couple of days after they finish testing on my large intestine which was entirely removed 2 days ago. I'm crossing my fingers for ulcerative colitis because that would mean an end to this whole drama seeing as u.c. only effects the colon. Either way, it's nice to be rid of that backstabbing colon! And I treated it so well...

Anyways, I have no muscles in my legs for the time being, and my workout for the day is sitting up in a chair. My diet status has been increased from clear liquids for the last 10 days to FULL liquids. Yes, that means come join me for hot chocolate!!!

Well, this is short but sweet. I just wanted to start a blog, because that's the hardest part... getting started.

-Nocolonine (Short for No Colon in '09)