Electra Glide In Blue

Going in to this exploratory surgery my surgeon named off about three different things he could find in there. One being a tumor on the colon and he told me to be ready for this. What he/we were not prepared for was the fact that my abdomen was so packed with tumors, mostly small, he would not even be able to get close to the colon.

So the only thing he could do was to grab a piece of tumor that was close and least evasive for testing.
Overall I am very pleased with the way the surgery went and how he and his team cared for me.

My seven day stay on the second floor surgery unit exceeded my expectations. My step-daughter (nurse) played a key roll in that she contacted the staff and matched me up with nurses she thought I’d get along with and that paid off big time. The nursing staff was grade A as they cared for me. I really got to know the night shift nurses better than any as this was the only time I was in my room.

I would start the day getting vitals and meds at 4am. By 5am I was outside setting by the flag pole having a smoke and say’n a little prayer. I would wonder back in around 6:30 watch a little news and surf the internet then order some liquid breakfast. 8am would come around for more vitals and meds if needed. Then I was back to roaming around and catching a smoke outside until noon, then the same thing until 4pm and more vitals. The next thing I knew it would be 8pm and I was ready to settle down.

The day nursing staff was able to keep in contact with me via their cell phones. Each dept of the hospital has their own phones and you could contact anyone via a four digit code.

They gave me my own phone and four digit code, when they needed me in my room, or anywhere, they just called. This made me feel very independent and helped in making this a pleasant experience.

Even though I was hooked to an IV and was either in a wheelchair or pushing the chair for the first two days, I was mobile! I pretty much walked on my own after day three.

I have a huge support group of family and friends that also made my hospital stay a pleasant one, along with all of my friends in cyber-space.

Testing and more Tests

On the third day I was informed by the hospital Cancer Center what they thought was colon cancer was not and they where still searching to find the primary. They then started a process of elimination with a lung scan which came back clean. Then a nuclear bone scan, it to came back clean.

On Wednesday they put in a power port so I can be plugged right in to anything they throw my way. By Thursday noon I was home and recovering well.

I have home care dropping by to make sure I know how to handle my colostomy. After two or three visits with them I should be able to handle that on my own.
Tuesday I get my staples out of this four inch incision a have on my belly.
I am set up for a PET scan this Thursday and meet with my Cancer doc on Monday to make our plan of attack.

I will update this blog from time to time about my condition. Keep those thoughts and prayers coming my way as I try to get back to posting the more normal motorcycle info and articles you have grown to know here on Electra Glide In Blue.

I turned 53 in May and thought I was doing pretty good health wise until mid June that is.
I started feeling a pain in the stomach area, this came and went with thoughts of “this must be the way you feel as you grow older”.

After putting up with this feeling for around a month I began to think it was more than just growing older.

Mid July one morning I wake up feeling a little worse off and cramped up to the point I was ready to call 911, then the cramping passed. After running this by my private nursing staff (my better half ) I made an appointment to see my primary doc.

After the doc looked me over he recommended getting a CT scan stat. The next day I was in radiology for a abdomen scan. I pointed out to the tech doing the scan my pain was from the beltline down. I was told the doc just ordered the abdomen and not a abdomen/pelvic (more on this later). This scan result came back completely negative on all fronts.

My doc then recommended I see a G-I specialist for an evaluation. After seeing this professional and telling him my pain was below the belt and I even had developed a small mass on my right side he recommended I have colonoscopy seeing how I was 53 and never had one.

So I did the liquid diet thing and prep and go in for the colonoscopy. Bad news, he could not transverse the sigmoid colon. He found this strange because I had not been having and bowel movement problems. So he recommends me for an air contrast barium enema (lower GI).

So after the colonoscopy failure I took it on my own to make an appointment with the surgeon who did my hernia repair two years ago for a second opinion. He was out of town, but could see me the following week

I go in for the lower GI at my local hospital. The prep for this was not as bad as the colonoscopy, but still liquid diets I don’t need. My lower GI is done by a radiologist with over 30 years of experience. Shorty after the test begins I notice a little frustration on his part and he asks me just what the hell brought me to him this morning. I tell him the story I have just shared with you above. He tells me in 30 years of doing this the only time he could not get the barium past the sigmoid colon was when there was a complete blockage, which wasn’t my situation. He called of the test and wanted to see me before I left.

I met the radiologist back in center of the lab. He asked if I had a recant CT scan which I told him about and he was surprised this scan did not include the pelvic. He went on to tell me with the changes in insurance, any more when doctors order CT scans abdominal they no longer include pelvic, back in the day they did. But now days the doc has to specify the scan or the insurance doesn’t pay.

This radiologist then took it upon himself to do a pelvic scan on me even though the barium would hide almost everything he thought he may be able to see enough to get me some help. He told me I had a problem and we needed to find out just what it was.

After he did a couple of shots he contacted the surgeon on duty and another GI doc that happened to be in the area and it was concluded I need to go under the knife for some exploratory surgery. I told them I had an appointment with my surgeon as we spoke.

As I post this I’m at day five in the hospital, I will up date as soon as I can.

My last Sturgis Motorcycle Rally visit was ten years ago. In 2000 it was the 60 Anniversary year of the rally. I confess, I hauled my 68 FLH in the back of my truck and was glad I did.

The heat in the Wyoming desert (from Lusk to Newcastle) was unreal and it showed on every biker we seen from the comfort of our air-conditioned truck cab.

We were on our way to Rapid City and a rendezvous with some friends out of Illinois late in the week on Thursday.

Our friends had rented a house in Rapid for the week and we were free to set a tent in the back yard for a case of beer to the homeowner. By two o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday we heard radio reports they had closed all exits going into Sturgis off I-90 because the town couldn’t take any more traffic or people.

By the time we unloaded and did our set-up it was around 6pm. Our Illinois friends had gone to Devils Tower for the day so we jumped on the 68 and headed to Sturgis anyway and had no trouble getting into town.

We did the Main street ride to get the full Sturgis Motorcycle Rally experience, the downtown was packed as expected.

Making our way to the north side of town on a small side street I found a private parking area for five bucks in an elderly ladies secluded driveway. She had a table and chairs set up in her garage and said the five dollar charge included armed security…..she was packing.

She filled us in on some of the shit that could get you a ticket or your ass thrown in jail.
Like tossing a cig butt to the ground, or drinking a beer while walking down the street and not to mention exposing yourself in public. She then pointed out how close we were to the City jail, it was like right next door.

So we left our beer in the saddle bags and did the downtown walk taking in the true night sites and sounds of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and a couple of beers at the Dungeon on Main Street and a few other bars.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally pictures may be harmful to your health

The next day with our friends from Illinois in check we headed out for a full day of downtown and all around.
This is a shot of me and my good friend Hunk, downtown Sturgis.

One of the best stops we made was at the Full Throttle Saloon. The clouds were building and like every year at Sturgis all hell broke loose, just thankful there was no hail in this storm.

One thing about the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is you just never know what your going to see. How about some latex ladies……

Big bonus at the Full Throttle Saloon, my “significant other” paid for this nice shot of Hunk and me.

We then finished out the day cooling off down in the Dungeon.

Hope you enjoyed this post and ya didn’t hurt your vision….that’s all from my

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Revisited

I finally took the time to get positioned downtown at the right moment to grab this shot of Elemental Discovery on the side wall of the Loveland Community Health Center’s Fifth street building.

Elemental Discovery

Elemental Discovery was commissioned by the City and created by artist Sheldon James.
With nineteen years of experience creating commissioned artwork, Sheldon James ranks among the most experienced and skillful muralists in Colorado. He has created well over one hundred murals in private homes, businesses and public places.

The plain wall of the building became a 3,000 square foot outdoor abstract piece of art.

After two months of work it was completed November of 2009.

To create Elemental Discovery, Sheldon James constructed a ½ inch to the foot model and photographed it. Then he made 50 sketches to help him with the painting the mural.

I think my old 68 FLH complements this Elemental Discovery quite well.