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My gall bladder surgery

There in white is what has been causing all my pain for the past year and half. Click the link for more images of my internal organs with details.

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Well, that bastard gall bladder is gone. I’m recovering at home. My stomach is pretty sore and I have a scratchy, irritated throat, but at least I’ve got pain meds. The doc today prescribed me Vicodin, and a lot of it. This should be fun. Also, my ER trip in Orlando got me a prescription for Percocet, none of which I’ve yet to have to take. So, I’m in good shape as far as pain management goes.

Thanks for all the well wishes and kind words. I’m on the downhill slope now with Guinness in sight. It won’t be long.

If you’re interested in seeing some pics of my internal organs, I’ll post them soon. Until then, here’s a YouTube video of the procedure I had today that was done to someone else.

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Back in December of 2006, I started having problems with bad stomach aches. I had some pain after Christmas dinner at my in-law’s place. It passed after about an hour. A couple of months later, I have a similar stomach ache while at work. This one got worse. I walked to the company clinic and and started to hyperventilate and sweat profusely due to the pain. Something was badly wrong. I saw my doctor and received antibiotics to treat a common stomach bacteria called h. pylori.

Then I moved to Austin and the pain kept coming on about every 30 days or so. In June of 2007 my doctor in Austin sent me for an upper-GI X-Ray and diagnosed me with acid reflux disease. I started taking Nexium, but I was still having occasional attacks of terrible stomach pain. I kept taking the Nexium on and off when I thought I might be in a situation when I might eat too much or the wrong thing. This kept attacks away for upwards of 6 months.

Two weeks ago I’m in Orlando for a couple of weeks for work-related training. One night some of the other guys invited me to go to a Brazilian steakhouse. I love these places. They keep bringing you meat until you just can’t take it anymore. I took a precautionary Nexium and enjoyed my meal. At around 6:00am the next morning, my stomach didn’t feel right. It’s been six months since my last attack, but I can tell this is going to be bad. Sweating, hyperventilating, and excruciating pain is coming. I start ingesting every antacid I can get my hands on. Nothing is helping. Then the really bad pain starts. Around 9:00am the pain is diminishing and I feel well enough to go to class.

After a few sips of water in class the pain gears-up again. I can tell it’s going to get bad again. The instructor understands and dismisses me. I keep taking antacids and fighting the pain until around noon. It’s never gone on this long - I HAVE to see somebody. I’m directed to an urgent care clinic but they tell me they can’t help what I have and direct me to the nearest emergency room. In the time I waited to see someone at the E.R. the pain dissipated, but I was still sent for an ultrasound. It turns out that I have gallstones. The acid reflux has been a red herring all along. So, for the next ten days of my stay in Orlando, I’m on a restricted diet and stuck worrying about how much damage this condition has been doing to my other organs.

Once back home in Austin, I immediately saw another doctor and had a HIDA scan. This is where they inject radioactive material into my veins that will allow me to crawl on walls and swing through the city on a web. I’m kidding. The material lights up the liver, gall bladder, intestines on a scanner. The gall bladder is supposed to light up brightly under this scan, but mine stayed dark over the course of 4 hours. This means my gall bladder is blocked. It’s very sick and needs to come out.

Next Wednesday, August 13th my bouts with these awful attacks come to end. I will no longer have all my original parts and my blue book value will decrease, but at least I won’t have to worry about the pain. It will be nice to eat normally again. I’ve avoided beer for the past two years because my stomach would get irritated when I drink a heavy one. I love Guinness and have missed it greatly. That’s how I’ll celebrate once I’m fully recovered.

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It’s the hardest drinking city in the country!

By the way, the place I work for is looking for another Programmer/Analyst. Contact me for details if you’re interested.

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Jessi, an out-of-town guest, and I went celebrated the 4th by going to the Alamo Drafthouse and watching the guys of Master Pancake Theater mock “Independence Day”. It’s been one of the best Pancake events we’ve seen since we moved here.

Afterwards we strolled down 6th Street to see who was playing in the “Live Music Capitol of the World”. I was drawn to the sweet sound of electric blues coming out of the Chuggin’ Monkey and we stopped in to listen a while. In there, we saw an amazing guitar player - a white boy by the name of Trent Turner - who blazed his way through some all-time blues classics. He felt it and played it well. Here’s a clip of him from YouTube in 2006 at another local bar we’ve been to a few times, B.D. Riley’s:

One of the things that amazes me about this guy is that his main profession is as a medical doctor. He has a Family Practice in downtown Austin. I was blown away by this guy’s playing. He played like someone who has been living and breathing this music all his life. To be as good as he is while balancing his time with a medical practice is a testament to his talent. I bought his album of original music and have been impressed with that as well.

It’s discoveries like this that make me so very happy we moved here. Austin rules.

Hear more of Trent Turner at his website:
http://www.trentturnermusic.com/

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When seeing the Kids in the Hall, a lady we met informed us that Eddie Izzard was coming in June to the Paramount Theater. I’ve always liked what I’ve seen from Eddie Izzard. Jessi was unfamiliar with his stand-up, but very interested in going. Since all the performances were already sold out, we were advised to become “members” of the theater and request tickets. So, we donated a bit more than the minimum required and called the director of member services a few days later. Member Services had a pair of floor seats for the Saturday night show and we took them. It was a great show! Eddie Izzard is a joy to watch work. It makes me wonder why there are so few Americans with his wit and talent.

Becoming a member of the Paramount Theater means that Eddie Izzard was an expensive ticket, but we got a few extra benefits. We have received several film passes to the summer Film Series. I can’t wait to see several of my favorite Hitchcock films on the big screen (Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window)! We also get first dibs on buying tickets for the upcoming performances in the 2008-2009 season. As a result we will be seeing this coming year:

Carol Burnett - Live and informal interacting with the audience
Lily Tomlin - one-woman show
Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain
David Sedaris

Austin kicks ass.

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I’m finally doing something I’ve always wanted to do… learn to play guitar.

Here’s what I got to do my learnin’ on…

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The month of April has been pleasantly busy and not just on the work front. As I mentioned before we’re trying to get out and enjoy Austin more. It’s been fantastic. After seeing The Kids in the Hall (who are still on tour - go see them if they’re coming near you) the Alamo Drafthouse was having a Sci-Fi retrospective month. We got to see two classic science fiction films:

2001: A Space Odyssey - This was incredible. I’ve only ever seen 2001 on the small screen on home video and never realized what an amazing visual and auditory experience it was until I saw this 35mm print on a ginormous screen. It was tremendous.

Blade Runner - I’ve only seen this once and it was on home video (VHS) with bad sound and picture. I didn’t remember it all that well. It’s a great flick with great visuals and sound. I think it’s definitely worth the big-screen experience.

Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash was a definite treat. Japanese people have a really screwed-up sense of humor and I love it. You wouldn’t believe how fast 90 minutes of random weirdness from Japanese TV can go by. From this show we were introduced to Hitoshi Matsumoto - the biggest comedy name in Japan. This guy is a riot. One of the best segments shown during SHFMB was where he had to pay off a bet to a fellow performer on his comedy show. Since Matsumoto lost, his punishment was that he had to spend a day at home getting hit with pies. Yes, pies. All day people would be hitting him with pies and he would not be able to acknowledge their existence or react to the punishment. It was a surreal and devastatingly funny, made all the moreso by the fact that this was being done in his actual home. The actual segment is on YouTube and I have to post it for you (probably safe for work due to blurring, but it would be best to wait if you have doubts):

Matsumoto is responsible for the other flick we saw this month Big Man Japan, a mockumentary about the guy who gets blasted with electricity that makes him grow to a huge size to fight the monsters that seem to always try to destroy Japanese cities. The problem is that the public is sick of Big Man Japan and feels he does more harm than good. This film was insanely weird and I loved it! Here’s the trailer (safe for work):

That pretty much covers our April entertainment adventures. Coming up, we’re going to see more Master Pancake Theater mockings at the Alamo Drafthouse. We’re also trying to get tickets for Eddie Izzard, in June. All three shows are sold-out right now, but the Paramount Theater sometimes holds tickets back and makes them available to theater members/donors.

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We saw the Kids in the Hall last week (Thursday) and it was hilarious. The Kids brought out several of their most popular characters and it was an immensely fun time. I think my favorite part was during the encore when Mark McKinney did his “head crusher” character. The Kids came out one-by-one and got their heads crushed after getting a blistering critique of what they’ve been doing with their careers for the past few years. Finally the head crusher turned the head crushing on himself and it was over. It was a great night and one that I would have never gotten to experience had we not moved to Austin.

Then on Sunday I got see 2001: A Space Odyssey on the big screen. It was magical. I’ve only seen 2001 on home video and didn’t realize how effective the sound was of this film. The Alamo Drafthouse did it up right and had a 35mm print of the film. I don’t believe that any other science fiction film will ever come close to topping this one. It was a completely incredible experience.

I’ll post about the Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash later this week.

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April is going to a big month for us as far as entertainment goes. Here’s what we’re attending:

April 10, 7:00pm - The Kids in the Hall - Paramount Theater
I first saw The Kids in the Hall when they debuted on HBO back when I was in Jr. High. I’m stoked for this show!

April 13, 1:00pm - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Alamo Drafthouse (Downtown)
The greatest sci-fi flick of all time projected on a huge, brand-new screen over a booming state-of-the-art sound system. Can’t wait!

April 20, 7:00pm - SUPER FUN MONKEY BASH 6 - Alamo Drafthouse (Downtown)
I think the Drafthouse’s description is best here:

Each year around this time, we roll out a new volume of Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash, a 90 minute compilation of mind-boggling insanity from Japanese television. You’ll see A-list American celebrities pimping themselves out for cheap Japanese products, bawdy situation comedies, unexpected nudity, extreme pro-wrestling, bizarre anti-flatulence products, nonsensical English phrases, supreme goofiness, and lots and lots of foam rubber costumes! We will also be featuring plenty of excerpts from the Japanese CNN (Chimpanzee News Network). Most importantly, however, the 2008 edition is a tribute to veteran TV funnyman Hitoshi Matsumoto. He’s the best-known comedian in Japan today, sort of an Asian Will Ferrell but with an even stronger tendency towards humiliation and rubber costumes. We’ll be featuring extended scenes from his long-running series DOWNTOWN as well as more recent spin-off shows such as Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ and no Subera nai Hanashi. All of this leads up to the U.S. theatrical premiere of Hitoshi Matsumoto’s theatrical debut: DAI NIPONJIN on April 25.

As with past editions of Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash we’ll have a special Japanese menu and feature prizes and giveaways at every show. Check online for teaser clips and trailers from this and past Monkey Bash shows, and start marking the days in your pocket calendar until the happiest time of the year, Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash Day!

April 27, 12:00pm - Blade Runner (The Final Cut) - Alamo Drafthouse (Downtown)
I saw this for the first time under less-than-optimal conditions - small TV, poor sound, exhausted from exams. I’m looking forward to seeing it big-as-life this time.

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