Oh my.  How funny it is to read old posts.  and it's been 5 years since the last one.  Wow.  Nothing much has changed.  Still battling Crohns's and now I have IGA vasculitis as a fun side thing. And a rare one. Go me!  

Mom has passed.  June 5, 2020.  From COVID.  

Almost lost dad about 1 year ago.  Malignant hypothermia.  Another rare thing.  He is doing OK now thank God. 

Lost Aunt Janet Jan 2022. Gaughans seem to be doing OK.  bumps here and there. Marty had a lung transplant.  a few bumps there but OK.  Matt and Marcey are remodeling the house and that will be interesting. 

Lost Kougar Aug 22, 2018.

Trying to think of good things and it is very hard.  Jenna is wonderful.  Just turned 16 and she is doing very well.  Other than a badly broken ankle.  

Job is going well.  That's about the best thing right now I guess.  

That's all.  I hope I can think of more fun things to say.  

Don't even get me started on the pandemic!

I have to laugh when I read my last post. That's it for today, or maybe a year. It's been well over a year. And what a crazy year it has been.  In the Spring and Summer, I ended up in the hospital 4 times. The 1st time I was so dehydrated from my Crohn's that I manged to shut down my kidneys. That was quite scary. I was given tons of fluids and all was OK as far as the kidneys go. Then it was time to take care of my Crohn's. After starting on Prednisone and switching to Humira, we wanted to wait a while before doing surgery. Surgery decided it didn't want to wait. So I ended up have a resection and hernia repair. It was a long surgery - 7 1/2 hours, but it went well. Recovery was not so bad. The best thing is I get to eat stuff I haven't eaten in over 20 years!! Things like peanuts, popcorn, fresh veggies and fruit. It is great! I am gradually building up to eating all that stuff but haven't taken the plunge for everything.

Fix one problem and another one (or more) arises. Now my knees are bad. No cartilage in either one. I am trying to avoid replacement because 2 surgeries in 1 year is just too much for me. I have gotten the silicone injections but they don't seem to be helping. Now my carpal tunnel is acting up in both wrists. What they heck?  Can't I catch a break here?

Gotta love those Impractical Jokers

Yes, it's been a year.  It's not like I have a lot to say.  Or that anyone follows this, lol.

I don't think I ever mentioned Impractical Jokers.  It is hands down the funniest show EVER!!  I am watching a marathon of it now.  Absolutely hysterical.  Four best friends compete to embarrass each other and the stuff they have to do is super hard.  I don't know how they do it.  But I laugh my ass off every minute of every show. It is on TruTV.

The 4 friends formed a comedy troupe named The Tenderloins.  They tour as the Tenderloins in an uncensored also absolutely hysterical show.  I have seen them several times and the live show is even funnier than the tv show.

Finally, 2 of the guys do a podcast called What Say You?.  I love this podcast.  In fact, it is the 1st one I've ever listened to regularly.  They turned me on to podcasts. It's basically Q and Sal just shooting the breeze.  It is funny but it is also interesting to hear about their lives.  The biggest problem with this podcast is it isn't done very often.  It is free and has no sponsors, so Q and Sal do it when they get a chance. Unfortunately that isn't very often these day.  It is still great to listen to when they do record one.

That's all for today.  Or for a year.  Who knows?

Back again

It's been 3 months.  I can't really explain why.  Guess I have just had nothing to say. I should probably put this on Facebook so people know it's here, but I'm embarrassed because I don't know why anyone would want to read this.

I could do another book review.  The Girl in the Spider's Web.  I finished it over a month ago. This is the next one in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  It is written by David Lagercrantz, continuing the Stieg Larsen series.  I honesty could not tell the difference.  Mr. Lagercrantz carries over Mr. Larsen's writing style in a seamless transition.  It took me a while to really get into the story.  There are so many characters it is hard to keep them straight. The ending is open, so the series is likely to continue.

Let's talk about Fifty Shades of Grey.  I didn't read the book because I have heard that it is awfully written.  But I did decide to watch the movie once it came on cable.  The 1st time I saw it, I didn't think it was too bad.  I felt the relationship between them.  The ending was completely stupid.  But now I have to watch bits and pieces of it whenever I can.  It is incredibly ridiculous.  Very poorly acted and I didn't feel anything for Christian like I did during the 1st viewing.  And the "sex" scenes are so preposterous.

Crohn's Disease Sucks Big Time!

I was originally thinking this would be a blog about my Crohn's, but so far I have written nothing about that.  Now is the time.  Please don't mind the graphic nature or gross things I may share.

I have been having a few bad weeks.  I started out with what I thought might be a flu-type thing.  I actually vomited.  That hasn't happened in a LONG time.  Then the following week, I had nausea again.  I didn't actually vomit and was better in 1 day this time.  When you are sick like that once, you wonder if it is a bug.  When it happens again, you stop thinking that.  I felt somewhat OK for a week or so.  Then the diarrhea hit.  Along with an anal fissure which is just as painful as can be.  So now I am in the bathroom 2-3 times in the a.m. and 1 time at night.  It is all super watery.  This does not help that fissure.

I am scheduled for my next Remicade in 6 days, so I am trying to hold out until then and see what happens between doses this next time.  If I have to same problems, I guess it is time to see the GI.

What stinks about all this is that I have been doing relatively well on the Remicade. And I had to fight tooth and nail to get the stupid insurance company to pay for me to have it every 6 weeks.  Now that that is resolved, the Remicade may be losing its effectiveness.  I mean, come on!!!  Can I not get a break here?  Why after all this struggle can something just not go smoothly?  I guess that is the life of a Crohnie.  Sometimes it is just plain depressing.

Thank you Cubbies

The Cubs got swept by the Mets in the NLCS series.  I feel bad that such an awesome set of guys had to lose the way they did, but what an amazing team!  It was so much fun watching them because they were having so much fun playing.  I look forward to the years to come with them.  Thank you for making baseball fun for me again!

Here is the a video of the  team going back out on the field after being eliminated. Classy group!
http://wgntv.com/2015/10/22/watch-cubs-return-to-field-after-loss-and-thank-fans-at-wrigley/

Chicago Sports

The Cubs are in the playoffs.  This first time since 2008.   I was extremely mad at the team when they were swept in both 2007 and 2008; mainly because the players looked like they just weren't trying. And the management acted like they didn't care. I was so upset that I vowed never to let myself get so emotionally involved with the Cubs ever again. Even though I am not quite as involved with this team as I was then, I am still excited.  But also nervous.  Regardless of how today's wildcard playoff game goes, I will be grateful to this team for making baseball exciting for me again.

The Blackhawks home opener is today with the Cup banner ceremony before. Luckily the banner ceremony is 1/2 hour before the Cubs game starts, so I can catch the ceremony and then watch the Cubs game.  Of course I will be flipping to the Hawks game as well.

Check this out.  Had seats on the glass for last Saturday's pre-season Hawks game. It was so awesome! Who cares that it was pre-season? It was still a once in a lifetime thing.   Hello Bicks!