17

Nov

Hey Everybody! Happy Friday! It is 9:03 am.  I just got back home from my weekly visit to LifeLabs for my local blood work.  Thank you J for doing the driving.  You might look into Uber to keep yourself busy during the off season.  LOL!   Just kidding!  I don't want Miss M to punch me in the throat for putting that idea in your head.  I celebrated my return home by taking my 9 o'clock meds.  How's your morning going?  LOL!  I got up at 7 and I got dressed for my appointment.  Then I did a

2017

14

Nov

Hey Everybody! It is straight up 9 am on the dot.  Here I sit in the 12th floor waiting room wondering if my number for blood work will come up before my clinic appointment time of 9:15.  The now serving number has been stuck on 9 for the past half hour.  That's just the latest thing that's been delayed this morning.  Monica and I were planning to leave home at 5:30 this morning which is our normal time.  We didn't actually leave until 10 'til 6.  A wreck on the 401 delayed us even more.  We

2017

13

Nov

Hey Everybody! Welcome Back!  I hope that you all had a good weekend including a very respectful and appreciative Remembrance/Veterans Day.  Lest We Forget.  No Monday morning blues here y'all.  Today marks 1 month post transplant!!!!  I'm still living rejection and infection free y'all!!!  YAY!!!  Now some of y'all might just be golf clapping on this one as you're thinking that's all well and good there Old Head Banger but need we remind you that you've got that nasty a$$ hole in your side?

2017

10

Nov

Hey Everybody! Happy Friday! This post has been a long time in the making.  If you read the newspaper article that I linked to my last post then you'll already know that this post is bittersweet for me.  In her article Johanna let the cat of the bag about my recent break up from a very intense and committed relationship.  Nothing lasts forever and all good things must come to an end as they say.  If you didn't read the article don't get it twisted Monica and I are fine.  The other girl in my

2017

08

Nov

Hey Everybody! Happy Midweek!  I've been philosophizing again!  I think it's part of processing the kidney transplant and how it fits into my overall journey back to health.  My Skype calls with Paul have helped tremendously.  Thank you my friend for listening and for sharing your truly unique perspective on just WTF has happened in my life over the last 2.75 years and how it all fits in with the all of the stuff from the previous 35 years of our friendship.  Like we said I'm sure my mama and

2017

07

Nov

Hey Everybody! This will be a pretty short post.  I'm just going to cover my Kidney Clinic visit from today.  I got a message early this morning from my friend Terry that he was heading out to a clinic visit of his own in Hamilton.  We wished each other good luck and we plan to compare notes after we get back to K-W later today. Monica and I left K-W at about 10 'til 6 and we parked at TGH at 7:30 am.  It was a pretty smooth ride and I fell asleep 3 times.  Nice!  It was pretty cool outside so

2017

06

Nov

Hey Everybody! Welcome back!  I hope that you all had a good weekend!  I did!  How's Eastern Standard Time treating you so far?  Despite the grim sounding title if I do this right then by the time that I get finished it won't sound as bad as it does right now. The title for this post stems from a conversation that I had with my old roomie Daniel from my last stay at TGH.  Our chat occurred early on as each of us was trying to get to know the person on the other side of the curtain that divided

2017

03

Nov

Hey Everybody! Happy Friday! It is 10:19 am. I am sitting beside my old roommate Daniel's bed back up on the 7th floor. He's not here because they just took him down for an x-ray. While Monica and I are awaiting his return I figured that I'd get started on this post. Daniel's back I'll be back in a bit. It is now 12:58 pm and Monica and I are on our way home! We pulled out of the TGH parking lot at 12:38 pm. Yeah buddy! So far things have gone pretty smoothly. Let me pick back up where I left

2017

02

Nov

Hey Everybody! Let's get right to it.  My last post did not have a happy ending.  Today did not have a happy beginning.  In another concrete example of what I mean when I say to you and to me hang in there and just KEEP BANGIN!  I'll tell you about how I finished the day mattered much more than how I started it. The cover image and the title to this post are a straight up tribute to my previous life with what I considered to be the best restaurant company in America Rare Hospitality

2017

01

Nov

Hey Everybody! Happy Midweek!  I hope that you all had a safe and Happy Halloween!  Happy November!  Pop a couple of pieces of the leftover candy in your mouth when you get the midday blahs. Today's post is going to be a review of our trip to TGH for my second Kidney Clinic follow up appointment. Monica and I left our parking spot at 5:45 am heading for TGH yesterday morning.  We parked at TGH at 7:15 am.  It was a nice quiet ride in and I slept most of the way.  I felt pretty energetic when

2017

30

Oct

"To know that even one life has breathed easier because you lived.  This is to have succeeded."                                                                                                                                                                    -Ralph Waldo Emerson The KBM will grow from hand to hand and man to man and by word of mouth.   I have lived to tell about it and tell about it I shall!

2017

27

Oct

Hey Everybody! HAPPY! HAPPY! FRIDAY! It is 5:24pm.  I am coming to you live from my living room recliner.  It has been a very good day y'all!  Monica and I went back to TGH for my first kidney transplant follow up appointment.  The Kidney Team was firing on all cylinders today.  I moved into my new sandbox and I started making new friends right away.   The Kidney Clinic is held in the same place as the Heart Clinic just on a different day. It was nice to be in familiar surroundings. Monica

2017

25

Oct

Hey Everybody! Happy Midweek!  Was it really just 2 weeks ago that I performed my last home hemodialysis run?!  How crazy is that?!  My life has been a whirlwind of activity since then to say the least.  I did my best to capture every minute of the kidney transplant process from the time that I received the call on Thursday until I went to sleep in my own bed two nights ago.  My blog posts during that time contained a lot of stuff that they don't put in the brochure.  It is my sincere wish that

2017

23

Oct

Hey Everybody! Welcome back!  Banger Nation!  This week is off and running at a gallop!   It is 11:30 am.  I have been in full Head Banger mode since about 6:30 this morning.  I am feeling good y'all!  I dropped in on the LVAD unit on the 4th floor this morning after nurse Asia gave me an inspirational thought about something that I could do to help to spread the KBM.  When I last visited the 4th floor I found out that some of the patients who had received their ABFAB books in CVICU had left

2017

22

Oct

Hey Everybody! It is 2:53 am.  I opened my eyes for the first time around 1 o'clock this morning and when that second breath took I knew that I was already ahead of the curve on having a good day!  Let the church say Amen!  Amen! I haven't written a post on a Sunday in a long time y'all but today isn't just any Sunday!  Atlanta at New England tonight!  I'll be waiting all day for Sunday Niight!  Wouldn't it be something if the Birds played possum and then pulled it out in OT in Foxboro?  LOL!

2017

21

Oct

Hey Everybody! It is 9:26 am.  Well I woke up this morning so it’s already been a good day. That last post was a doozy wasn’t it y'all?  Talk about the ebbs and flows of my life!   After my vanco treatment last night my nose ran a little and my throat felt a little scratchy.  That made me a little uneasy.  I did not sleep well but I woke up feeling no worse than I did when I went to sleep.  I might have even felt a little better.   When my temperature was taken I didn't have a fever and my

2017

20

Oct

Hey Everybody! HAPPY HAPPY FRIIIDAAAY!!!. It's 7:25 am.  Banger Nation!  I am straight up trippin'!  The high on life kind not the pharmaceuticaly induced version for those of you scoring at home. LOL!  Shift change has just taken place and now the real waiting has begun. Shall I stay or shall I go?  I'll let y'all know when I know for sure.  In the meantime I'm going to give you something to think about over the weekend. I had a nice long conversation on the phone with Monica last night as

2017

19

Oct

Hey Everybody! Good Thursday morning to you all! Banger Nation!  Either I'm just catching up or you guys are really catching on to the message that I've been trying to put out there.  Since I published my first post yesterday I have had the chance to listen to several people's perspectives on my pre-pre-diabetic status.  To their great credit I have not had a single person breathe the words "I'm sorry" to my face.  If anyone was planning on saying those words save your breath because all

2017

18

Oct

Hey Everybody! I'm back to turn those frowns upside down which may or may not be left over from my last post.   I would like to give a huge thank you to the TG&WH Foundation for giving me the opportunity to speak at an event honoring two of my most trusted physicians which was scheduled to take place this afternoon.  Jackie and Kristi and I had been working out the details of my appearance for the past several weeks and then I got the call for my kidney transplant last Thursday as y'all know!

2017

18

Oct

Hey Everybody! Happy Midweek! Look who just stopped by!  It's my dear friend Herby!  For the first time since we've met Herby was the visitor and I was the TGH patient.  He liked the role reversal much better than I did.  I think that he also got a kick out of appearing taller than me in a photo for once as well. LOL!  Herby it was so good to see you looking so good my friend!  Monica did hear you call her Mo-nee-ka and it did make her laugh again just as you hoped it would!  KEEP BANGIN!

2017

17

Oct

Hey Everybody! Good Tuesday morning to you all!  It's 7:49 am.  I'm coming to you live from my  bedside chair.  LOL!  I just had to change the word dialysis to bedside in that last sentence!  Old habits are hard to break.  Shift change just occurred and my day nurse came in to take my vitals and to change the dressing on my incision.  The soreness around my wound reached an all-time high this morning but the size of my dressing went in the opposite direction.  Hit It Berto!  "Progressing Bro!"

2017