I’ll teach you to take Crotch Shots

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Smelly Danielly

Nights at the Cambie can always go either way for me. Usually it depends on my mood for the evening, which we all know can go south very fast. Saturday however was a different story and ended up being one of the best Cambie nights in a long time.

It was Mr. Zaphs birthday of course and the crew headed out in full spirits. I’ve began to notice that when it comes to our birthdays we always invite like a million friends to our parties but it always just ends up being our crew with a few extras, never the huge group of people we initially expected. But I guess that’s the same with everyone, and really, I like how it works out that way, though at the same time it would be fun if every once an a while a million people did show up.

We all started out at the apartment as usual. There was a bunch of in and out activity through out the day so everyone ended up sticking around for dinner. Chad BBQ’d random bits of meat and I made some potatoes and salads. I even served cupcakes and Popsicles to everyone. Because that’s how awesome I am at planning a dinner with 2 hours notice.

After dinner we headed down to the Skytrain Station and off to the Cambie. The hockey game was on and the place wasn’t too packed oddly enough so the boys sat on the pool table that wasn’t being used and the girls stole some seats by a couple of ol’men with greasy hair and rotten teeth. Once the game was over the guys left but our guys were too in love with where they were sitting to come sit with us. Marlee and I were tired of being hit on by drunk losers and trying to save a giant picnic table all to ourselves that we sent piercing glares in the direction of the boys. FINALLY they came over and we enjoyed our first shots of the night.

We were lucky enough to meet Andrea and Tania that night with Tania and I hitting it off right away. We basically became insperable the whole time. There were only a few moments of drama during the course of the night with I think only Marlee and I noticeing. But then again we are girls so we do notice these things.

We headed out to catch the last skytrain which we had to run for only to get there to be told that it wasn’t the last train. DAMN YOU! Dario and Pat did their usual ‘talk loudly and annoy everyone’ routine. By the time we got home it was 2am, which according to Day Light Savings meant it was really 3am. Ugh. Thank you stupid seasonal system.

Chad and I were pretty much dead on Sunday, especially with Chads knee totally bummed from picking Patz up and swinging him. I think the man needs surgery because his knee is ridiculous.

I’m pretty sure Pat was way hung over, we kept trying to make him puke that night.

Haha such good friends we are. <3

PatZ 25th Birthday

Spine Cancer

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Smelly Danielly

Before I write an actual post I need to give this picture the credit it deserves.

Sad thing was that earlier in the night I actually saw the lady whos sign this was.

Dario, you are Priceless.

There is a fire in the corner

Posted on March 8, 2009 by Smelly Danielly

It’s snowing. Yes it is true. What the hell? It’s a little strange.

We are going to attempt to make home made chicken strips. Oh I am so drooling right now. Only problem is that even though I took the chicken out of the freezer at 8am it is still not defrosted. SRSLY. Its now 7pm.

A night at the Cambie and Day Light Savings has totally screwed me up. Plus Chad bummed his left knee after picking up and swinging Pat last night.

Need to iron Chads work shirts before his big 4 day trip to Chiliwack. Who the hell goes on a 4 day 3 night trip to Chiliwack? Chad does thats who. Oh well, I get home cooked meals every night cooked by people other then me. Score!

Alright lets figure out what the hell to do with this chicken.

Coats are not Jackets

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Smelly Danielly

I have become accustom to watching the Cosby’s every morning at 11 now. Its like when I was going to school and I had a few days off a week and I knew the daily TV schedule like the back of my hand.

These pictures are all from this morning.

I edited pictures for work for 8 hours yesterday. I am still not finished and sitting here staring at my laptop is making me stir crazy. That and I’ve decided to not shower today in lieu of the fact that I am not leaving the house at all today and will have to tomorrow. Therefore, tomorrow seems like a better day to shower.

I am making home made tomato sauce for our Pasta tonight. Chad usually always makes tomato and meat sauce, his secret family recipe but today I am going to try something new, something sans meat.

Chad is home today too. We are both on our computers doing our work. Chad is phoning the bank because he is obsessed with finances and figuring out how much of a down payment we will h ave in two years.

Its so nice that it is sunny today. If only I wasn’t a lazy slob. I don’t even remember the last time I wore make up. Blargh.

34 minutes until the Cosby’s.

D-Day Plus 7

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Smelly Danielly

I wasn’t very nervous the day of the surgery. I got up and had a shower. I made the bed, packed my things and left for the hospital at around 12. I was a little uneasy when I went to the admissions office and Chad was even worse. A volunteer brought me to where I had to be and I was shown to my room. I had the center bed and there were two other patients already there; a woman to my right and an older man to my left. The curtains were drawn and I couldn’t see what the looks like, only what the sounded like.

The nurse gave me some robes and asked me to change. That’s when it hit me what was about to happen. As much as I had visited hospitals in the past it was very strange to look down at the bed and realize that this was where I was going to be ‘living’ for the next little while. I started to cry. I got changed and got into bed. Chad sat beside me and gave me a hug. Another nurse came into the room and told me that they were ahead of schedule so I would be going into surgery an hour early. They came in right away and gave me some medicine for nausea, and attempted to start an IV.

Because I hadn’t eaten or drank anything since 10pm the night before my veins were very weak and the nurse attempting to do it was having a lot of trouble finding one. She stuck it in right above my thumb but it went too deep and missed the vein, then she couldn’t find it any more. She then attempted further down my arm. She stuck it in, taped it up and turned on the IV, except it wouldn’t drip. She thought that the needle might have been blocked somewhere so she took a syringe full of liquid and forced it through which only caused a huge lump under my skin and a lot of pain. The needle was clearly not in my vein.

The OR nurse came to get me quite quickly so they didn’t have a chance to fix the IV drip which concerned Chad quite a bit. He followed me to the Pre-Op room where I waited for about 20 minutes. I had several doctors and nurses come in and check me out. Apparently there were a few students as well that were sitting in on my surgery and all wanted to see what my neck looked like. One of the nurses joked that I was quite popular that day.

The anesthetist came in and fixed my IV and joked with me and was quite sweet. He could tell that Chad was in worse spirits then I was. Once I got over the initial shock and realization of what was going to happen I was quite calm and ok with everything. I knew I wouldn’t feel any pain and when I woke up everything would be better. Chad on the other hand just didn’t know how to handle it all. I think it was all to much for him.

Soon enough the nurse came to take me to the OR. Chad kissed me good bye and I was wheeled off. We entered the OR which was so serial, like I was on the set of ER. I was shifted over to the operating table and had warm blankets placed on me. The nurse started chatting about how it was snowing insanely outside when the anesthetist and other staff members entered the room. All of a sudden I felt the need to cough so I went to do so and I felt this weird wave of sleepiness come over me. Then the oxygen mask was placed on my face and I knew it was time.

I woke up an hour and a half later in the Post-Op room. My first sensation was to rip my oxygen mask off which I did to the nurses surprise. I was in a state of being awake and asleep but I couldn’t open my for more then 5 seconds and I couldn’t actually fall asleep. It was very frustrating. My next sensation was of over heating so I kicked off my blankets and tore off the big socks they made me wear with my toes. The nurse watching me asked what was wrong and I told her I was too hot. She said I couldn’t take off all the sheets until I was back at my room which did not make me happy in my half here half there state. She then asked me if I felt anything else and I told her that I was thirsty and I felt like I was going to throw up. She said I would again have to wait until I got to my room for some water and medicine. I must have woken up late because I was in the Post-Op room for an hour and once I woke up I was only laying there for 15 minutes before they wheeled me out.

I was then wheeled through all the hallways to my room. I tried to open my eyes to find Chad. I finally did and waved at him while completely out of it. I was wheeled to my room and shimmied over to my bed. Chad came in and grabbed my hand. He asked how I was feeling and I asked him for some water. He went out to the nurses and asked for something and they gave him a bottle. He was pretty upset seeing me so out of it.

The next set of events were fuzzy. I was completely out of it and went back and forth from being awake to being asleep, not really knowing what was going on. Dinner was brought to me but I had no idea. I attempted to eat a bit of pudding and actually kept it down.

My Mom showed up around 6:30 to visit. With in 5 minutes of her being there I bolted straight up and proceeded to vomit all the water and pudding I had just consumed. Thankfully not to shortly after that the nurse came and gave me some Gravol and I instantly felt better. I eventually fell asleep for a while and woke up around 8. I asked Chad to help me get up for a second so I could attempt to use the bathroom while still attached to the IV. I wasn’t in a lot of pain because of the Morphine but my tummy was the worst. Once Chad helped me I told him that he could go home because I was going to go to bed anyways. He kissed me good-bye and told me he would see me bright and early in the morning.

I instantly fell asleep and woke up at about 10 feeling completely refreshed which was strange. I grabbed my phone and txt’d Chad that I was awake and feeling better. He was relived by that. I then fell asleep and was woken up again to a weird sensation occurring on left hand. I looked over in the dark and saw that my hand was wet and that my IV had actually fallen out. I buzzed for the nurse who came and saw and went to grab some supplies. I then reached over to grab my phone to see what time it was when I realized that blood was pouring out of the hole all over my hand and the bed. Not good. Thankfully she came and cleaned everything up. I then spent the next 6 hours falling asleep for an hour and then being wide awake for an hour. I listened to my iPod for a bit and surfed around on the Blackberry and attempted to get some rest.

The lady beside me had had surgery on her feet. I could hear her speaking Fijian or Filipino to the nurse. She was in a lot of pain and was constantly ringing her for medication or help. They ended up turning on all the lights on her side of the room for her the entire night which is most likely why I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t complain though because I was lucky enough NOT to be in pain and I really didn’t was to be a nuisance. The man beside me as well kept ringing for the nurses all night long saying he wanted to go home and consistently complained about being constipated. The sounds coming from there were quite interesting.

I finally fell asleep at about 5 for 2 hours waking up at 7 when one of the doctors and students came to see how I was doing. They checked me out and said I was able to leave at any point. I messaged Chad to let him know. They checked my blood pressure and my temperature and replaced my bandages. Chad showed up and was so happy to see me awake and not totally out of it and drugged. I got changed and the Specialist came to see how I was doing. He said everything went well and that I would be getting the results in a week or two. I packed up my things and headed out of there. I couldn’t wait to get home.

The time since then has been interesting. I was in a lot of pain when I got home but opted not to take T3s as I heard that they were very hard on your stomach. Instead I opted for some extra strength Tylenol. I tried to eat some food and rest a bit the first few days which I did. Every muscle in my neck was so sore that I had to physically move my head with my hands to re position it. My recovery came to a halt though when I began to suffer from a lot of stomach pain causing me to not eat and wake up every night to puke. I couldn’t figure it out and was getting so frustrated with it all. It wasn’t until about Sunday that I realized that it was probably the extra strength Tylenol that was destroying my stomach. As soon as my neck started to feel better and less painful I was able to stop taking them and magically my stomach aches went away.

Yesterday was the first day I actually ate 3 full meals and felt normal. It was such a relief not to be in pain and not to puke everything I had just consumed. I am slowly getting back to normal with the last thing I have to concur is actually sleeping through the night. I still find myself waking up several time every few hours.

Its been a long journey and was much more difficult then I had imagined. I just hope that the test results come back negative for Cancer because I really don’t think I can do this again. Its going to take a while for my stomach to get back to the way it was.

Thankfully the scar is actually on my collar bone and not my neck which basically means that a crew-neck t-shirt will cover it. At the same time it doesn’t look very big and gross right now so I am hoping it heals nicely and will look kind of cool when its all said and done.

Quite the adventure I’ve been on so far.