Update on Grandpa

My grandpa went to the doctor yesterday to meet with the doctor about options for treating his prostate cancer. He came home in much better spirits because the doctor's said that they caught it very early. The doctors suggested he start radiation soon. I believe they are going to implant something in his prostate within the next week or so that will treat what they need to be treated. Keep him in your prayers.

Something to fall back on.

There are things in our lives that happen that we don't understand. I know that my life has not turned out anything like I had planned when I graduated from high school. I was going to go to college and get a degree in biology. Then go on to medical school, work my way through, and eventually be a rich doctor.

In elementary school when someone asked me what I was going to be when I grew up, I was quick to tell them that I was going to be a professional football player and I was going to play for the San Francisco 49ers. Dad would tell me that is a good goal to have and that I should work hard to reach that goal. I am sure he was laughing inside.

One day riding somewhere with Dad, he asked me that same question, and I gave him the same answer. His response changed on that day. He told me to never stop pushing toward my dreams, but always have something to fall back on. "You need a safety net, son, just in case something happens." That was good advice that I'm sure he didn't even realize was so important at the time.

Jump ahead a few years to my first year of college. The first year went fairly smooth, but at the beginning of 2000, my gallbladder shut down one night and my life changed. I was rushed into surgery and later found out that I had a liver disease. This disease would one day require me to have a liver transplant to live. Talk about a shock at 19 years old.

That prompted me to change my career path from medical school to becoming a teacher. I knew that I liked sports and that one day I would like to coach, so teaching seemed like a good fit at least until the transplant. Once I got into the courses, I realized that I liked teaching as much as I liked coaching. Now I am almost finished with my master's degree in education.

That is one instance of me having something to fall back on and taking Dad's advice. I never plan on giving up on my dreams but sometimes life sends you down a different path. I am still looking to fulfill those dreams of becoming a professional in business. I have thought about going back to school to pursue another degree. I am not sure what path my life will follow, but I want to have plenty of options when the time for change comes.

It seems that every time I get comfortable somewhere, life throws me a curve ball and I have to adjust. Adjusting is hard and very few of us like change, but it is something that we all have to deal with from time to time.

I have been given a second chance at life, and I want to use it to love those around me like I have never loved them before. I want people to see that there is more to this life than just working and buying things that make us happy for a few days. One thing that I want to do recklessly, without something to fall back on, is love the people around me. I don't want anyone to wonder if I loved them, I want them to know that I did.

Last Two Classes

I have two classes left before I complete my master's in education. Both of these classes are going to be conducted online which is something that I have never before tackled. I have only looked at the content within those classes, but I already see that there are some ups and downs in completing this type of class. One great thing is that I will not have to drive back and forth to campus for classes a couple of times a week which will save me money since gas is hovering around $4.00 a gallon. The only major downside to the classes is that they are conducted online which means I will have to find some self-control and work on my classes instead of scouring the internet! Both of the classes have a syllabus that seems pretty intense with a lot of reading, responding, commenting, and journaling. I am excited about finishing these two classes and getting the pay raise that comes along with more education.

The dreaded "C" word

IS FOR.................


I just found out that my grandpa (my dad's dad) has prostate cancer. We are not sure of the severity of it at this point though I assume they caught it pretty early. He is going to see the oncologist tomorrow to figure out a course of battle.
My grandpa, like myself, has numerous health issues already. He has already had cancer two times, both of those being lung cancer. He told me a few years ago that he started smoking cigarettes when he was eight years old. He grew up in the deep, dark hills of North Carolina where they grew tobacco to sell in Winston-Salem.
Grandpa (we call him Papaw) has had a rough road having a bypass surgery for one of the veins (or artery, not sure) in his leg. This was probably the worst surgery because they cut him from his sternum to below his belly button and down each leg to place some sort of "T" mechanism to let blood flow through or around a blocked artery. I can't remember all of the details at the moment.
A couple of years later, Grandpa started coughing up blood so he went to the doctor. There we found out that he had lung cancer from all of those years of smoking. He had a little over 50% of his right lung taken out in that surgery. A few years later he started coughing up blood again. After another trip to the doctor and some more blood work, it was discovered that the cancer had returned in his left lung. They took out about 25% of his left lung in that surgery. He still has trouble breathing and over the past couple of years has started developing a touch of emphysema that has really affected his breathing. Lately I have noticed that he is breathing very hard even walking from his house to my parent's house which is just across the street.
I talked to him for just a minute before I left mom and dad's and he seemed pretty shaken up. I am trying to muster up the courage to go back over there to talk to him. In the few minutes I did talk to him he said that he was pretty scared. The doctors have told him since his last surgery that he probably isn't strong enough to do any kind of chemotherapy. We do not know the options that are available but hopefully the doctors will give us some hope.
Cancer is a scary word for me being a transplant recipient who is on immunosuppressants. Each time I go to the doctor they tell me that there is virtually no patient with a higher risk for colon cancer than one with Ulcerative Colitis and a liver transplant caused by PSC. That word is constantly on the fringes of my mind and occasionally on the forefront. The one positive about my position is that, like Papaw, they are constantly on the look for a change in anything so it should be caught early. Hopefully the regular checkups for Papaw will prove to be beneficial and leave him some options about what he wants to do.
When I left over there he said to be praying for him and I will definitely follow through on my promise to him. I am asking those of you that read this to be praying for him too. Even when we can't change things, and the doctor's have given up hope, our prayer's can still make a difference.

Lindsey, one of my best friends, has a grandpa who needs your prayers as well. He is having a hard time. I am not sure of the details but I know he has been in the hospital for at least a week. Mom and I saw Sally, Lindsey's mom yesterday at lunch and she said that he is in serious need of prayers as well. I am sure there are a million others that need our prayers too.

Back from the beach!

I had a great time this weekend in Folly Beach. We got back on Sunday evening around 10:30. It took us about 6 hours to get home. The trip included a stop for some late-night breakfast at the Cracker Barrel which probably cost us an hour. I would recommend the vintage little beach town to anyone. Not a great place if you want to do some clubbing (although Charleston is only about 10 minutes away, not sure about the club scene there!), but for a relaxing weekend in a small town atmosphere it is a great place.

Everything there is within walking distance. We arrived on Friday about 3:00, parked the car, and didn't get back into a vehicle until it was time to leave. I ate, shopped, walked on the pier and went to the beach without one time cranking up the car. I honestly don't think I have been that relaxed and calm in a long time. I am starting to really miss it now that I am back home and bills and the yard are screaming at me. Sometimes it is the small things (or seem small) that you need to get away from like driving or having a computer handy all the time.

I had so much fun and finally got to do (or attempt) one thing that I have been wanting to do for a long, long time. Evelyn and I went into a surf shop on Saturday morning after breakfast. We were looking at some of the surfboards and admiring their artwork and ignoring their price tags when I looked up and saw a sign that said "Surfboard Rentals". The first thing that went through my mind was the jet ski prices that were $45 for 30 minutes. I walked over to the sign that was sort of obscured by some surfboards and saw that you could rent one for $5 an hour or $25 dollars a day (24 hours). I told Evelyn that you could rent them for $25 dollars a day. After some discussion in the store we left without getting one saying that if the weather was good tomorrow we would come get one.

I am not really big on making a public fool of myself and neither is Evelyn, but she was definitely more receptive to going back right away and getting one. The more I looked at the crowd of people on the beach the larger the knot became in my stomach about getting the surfboard. Not to mention that the night before we were on the pier and saw a kid catch a 3 or 4 foot shark (no lie!) and lose it when the shark wrapped itself around one of the pilings and snapped the line. So with the shark fear and the public humiliation fear in the forefront of my mind I said, "Let's go get the board and we will do it later tonight once the crowd dies down then we can get up in the morning and try it again."

After 30 minutes, we were walking back to the condo with a surfboard on my back and carpal tunnel syndrome in Evelyn's wrist from signing her life away and promising to pay $470 if the board broke. We were both thinking $470 dollars is a little steep for a very uncool looking, 3 feet wide and 40 feet long board that looked like it had already been bitten by a shark or two. Needless to say, the board sat on the deck and inside the condo for the rest of that evening because one thing you have to do on vacation is EAT!


We promised that we would get up first thing in the morning, watch the sunrise, then hit the water to try our hand at surfing. We followed through on our promise and got up the next morning and headed out. We stood there at the shore with the board between us giving each other one last "You sure about this?" look and decided who was going first. (I said "You want to go first?" She said, "I don't care, you can go if you want." Which really means, "I had really rather you go and break your neck or get eaten by a shark first, but I will be ready to call 911 once as soon as I can put away the camera and run back to the room to get my phone.") I grabbed the board walked out to about waist deep water, threw the board down, jumped on, and started paddling out into the waves.

After nearly being decapitated by 3 or 4 waves and swallowing 3 1/2 gallons of seawater, I finally got out to where the waves started forming. I spun the board around toward the shore, looked back for a good wave to catch, saw it, and started paddling. I had a terrible realization that I was too far forward on the board when I saw the nose of the board under water, but it was too late. I was already caught up by the wave and flipped, not rolled, but butt slapping the back of my head flipped. Next thing I remember was flailing in the ocean trying to figure out which way was the shore and where I could find some oxygen. I finally got my bearings, stood up in waist deep water, looked around to see who might have saw me, grabbed my board, smiled, and headed out again.

What a rush! So much fun and I crashed!

The video of the crash.... look closely!

After a few (cough cough....hundred) more tries that were slightly more graceful than the previous one I was finally able to get the feel of where I needed to be on the board and how I needed to catch a wave. Too bad I was so tired I could barely paddle let alone push myself up to my feet. I was able to catch a few on my knees and one time I was able to stand up and ride the very end of the wave. So exhilarating and I can't wait to try it again!
Later that evening, we tried again at a park at the end of the island but the waves were not breaking in a way that you could really catch a wave and stand up through it but we still tried and had a blast doing it!

Surfing is something that I will definitely try again and $25 is a cheap investment for so much fun! You can watch surfers in action at Folly Beach too on their Surf Cams!

By the way, Evelyn has started a blog as well and she gives her account of the surfing experience as well. This is a vacation that will be talked about for a while by both of us I believe. There was a lot of excitement packed into a couple of days at the beach.

Reason To Live

I know that I just posted but I may not get to post the rest of the weekend so I thought I would leave you a little video.

Most people think that I do not drink is because of me having a liver transplant. They also think that I don't go out to party very much because the temptation of alcohol and everything else that is out there is too strong. There are people who read this who know some of the mistakes that I have made while in high school and college. Those who know me now know that I am not the same person.

To everyone who wonders why I don't drink and am so much different than I have been in the past, I have found my Reason to live. I hope that all who reads this finds the Reason for the changes in my life in this video. I love each and everyone of you. Thank you for still loving me and supporting me throughout my life and in my causes.

Schools out!

Schools out and I have 8 weeks to get things accomplished around my house and get some sanity back before the next school year begins.

These weeks off are welcomed by teachers around the country. I used to think that it would be great having summers off so you can go on vacations and have a good time. Don't get me wrong, that will be great one day when I have money to go on a vacation. That day is not today.

I have just finished my fourth year teaching and I need these weeks to unwind and regain some sanity before I start another crazy year. It seems from Christmas through the end of April all teachers are a ball of stress. Pressure and stress are pushed down to us from above (and from us on the students) concerning "THE TEST!"

They say that 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within 5 years. Leaving the profession has crossed my mind on many occasions. I do not think all of those teachers leave for lack of passion, but because so much stress is placed on them from the national government that has trickled on down. Teachers are told (in a very polite and politically correct manner might I say) that if the kids fail, it is our fault.

When kids do not pass the test despite their teachers best efforts, teachers wonder if what they are doing is worth it. There comes a point where everyone in every profession has to do some reflecting and decide if this is really what they are supposed to be doing. That is a daily ritual for me those weeks just before "THE TEST!"

There is that old adage.... "Those who can, do.....Those who can't, teach!" (of course I don't agree with that!) I think that for everyone of the doers, there is a teacher that pushed them to push themselves and realize that they can do. I think that teachers are some of the most unrecognized heroes in the world. I thank God that I am a teacher now, but it was never the first choice for me. I had plans to go to medical school and become a doctor but life got in the way. I am happy knowing that I am helping people reach their potential and I hope that one day some of my students look back and say that I helped them become who they are. That will be all the paycheck I need.

Speaking of paychecks, no teacher goes into the profession thinking that they are going to strike it rich. For many teachers, we know that we could be doing something different and making a lot more money. Those who put in the time and effort required to provide students with the best education possible go to work each day because they are called to the profession. Those who come for summers off are the ones who are out of the profession with in 3-5 years.

Don't get me wrong, there are some teachers out there who are not there for the right reasons. We all know those teachers and have probably been taught by them. I am talking about the teachers who stick it out and do everything they can for the benefit of their students. I like to include myself in that number and I hope that those who know me and teach with me think the same thing. If not, I need to work harder! I'm not looking for recognition, accolades, or awards from anyone. The only person I need to please to sleep good at night is Josh and his conscience.


Ok, ok.....enough ranting! I am leaving in the morning to go to Folly Beach which is just outside of Charleston, SC. I had never heard of it until I was asked to go. Evelyn, Ellie, her parents, and I will be spending the weekend on the beach and hopefully eating some good food while we are there. I am excited about getting away, even if it is only for a couple of days. Hopefully these days will help with recovering what bits of sanity I have left.

I will try to update when we get back with pictures and hopefully a couple of good stories.

Thanks for listening to me rant for a while.

Sad, I know

Geez......where has this year gone???

Four posts this year plus this one makes five for the year. That means as of this post I am averaging one post a month. I have been absolutely terrible at blogging anything this year, but it does not seem like it has been over three months since I have blogged about anything. I'm gonna try to get started again, and this is the kickstart. (hopefully!)

So an update.......

My neck is no longer broken and there was no surgery needed. (at least I hope so!) Other than a few issues with range of motion, I am doing well. There have not been any more accidents to report this year and for that I will thank God.

I have gotten a new car (-100 man points) that is good, no GREAT, on gas (+ 200 financial points). It is a 1997 Honda Accord that was wrecked by someone else. Using a little TLC from Dad (7%, cause he can pick up heavy things), Craig (90%, it's his chosen career path), and me (the lagging 3%, I had a broken neck.....leave me alone!!!) we brought it back to life. Now it looks new and didn't break the bank!

In the middle of all of this, I had my second transplantiversary......that makes me ill that I haven't been posting. I have some pictures from that celebration that I will try to post soon.

As of the middle of April, I am no longer taking prednisone. That means that I have no place to blame my mood swings and arguments over trivial things. Not to mention that for the past 6-8 months I was on a dosage so low that my claims of "roid rage" were unfounded. Losing prednisone took me down to taking only 10 pills a day split into two doses.

That's enough of an update for today......I don't need to run out of things to write about yet!

Organ Donation Angel

Just wanted to post about a story I just read on Yahoo! about a girl from Atlanta who received a kidney from a stranger. The donor saw the little girl's face on a flyer and after talking it over with her husband decided to donate a kidney to her. The donor operation took place at Emory University Hospital (where I had my transplant) and the recipient operation happened across the street at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

You can read the story by clicking below!

Stranger Donates Kidney to Atlanta Girl

Post #100

This is my 100th post!! It definitely doesn't seem like I have posted that many times. I want to celebrate this by talking about the topic of this blog. That topic is of course, me, but it is also to raise awareness about organ donation.

As we all know, there is a critical shortage of available organs for transplantation. I usually keep an eye on the UNOS website to check the number of people who are waiting for a transplant. All of last week, the number of people on the waiting list was just over 98,000. I checked it just as I was beginning to write this post and saw that it was 97,976.

The number has gone down considerably in the past three or four days. I am confident in saying that a number of people received a life-saving transplant over that time. That much of a drop in the number of people on the list makes me curious as to how many did not receive a transplant. Those patients very possibly died while waiting for a transplant. I am happy that the number of people on the waiting list has gone down. I would love for it to be as low as possible. I want that number to go down because people are living a life they may have only dreamed of after being told that they will need a transplant to continue living at all.

It is said that an average of 18 people a day die while waiting for a life-saving transplant and every 12 minutes another person is added to the waiting list.

Those are disturbing statistics, but there is one that I find most disturbing of all. It is reported that 90 percent of people in the United States support organ donation, but only 30 percent of Americans understand and have taken the steps to become an organ donor. I am not sure why more Americans aren't doing something they believe in.

Different states have different rules as to how you can become an organ donor. Go here to find out how to become an organ donor in your state.

Transplantation works! I am living proof that after having a liver transplant, a person can return to a normal and healthy lifestyle. I am not the only proof though, there are others who have been touched by the miracle too. Some of those are links on the left side of this page, go to their page and read about how transplantation has changed their lives, as well as the lives of their families!

Please become an organ donor! I pray that God will keep those who read this blog safe from harm. If something should happen to you or one of your loved ones, please make sure that everyone knows your wish to become an organ donor. Talk about this issue with your family because they are the ones who will make the decision about your organs.