OT-how do I put my picture up here?

Go to profile, avatar, click browse, and put up a pic from your hard drive supply! Hope that helps! In what state do you live in the Midwest? I live in Illinois.

Right! I was thinking of the other person who indicated "Midwest." Sorry, I got mixed up!

Nice pic Sidra! I won't ask if you made the game this last week

Nice, you really are one of the Illini faithful! I didn't know Juice got benched, been following my Dodgers and LA Kings lately, and of course there's the Mizzou game tomorrow. Seems like a pretty strong reaction, though, the events of this season don't really seem like Juice's fault. Getting Penn State last week was just a bit of a bad draw, period.

I've been alright, been having some health concerns lately for both myself and the babies, so kinda distracted these days. Fissure/abscess still acting up over there or all under control now? Are ya drinking real beer yet?

Haha ok you're going to be my inspiration now. From a fissure to vodka shots in a 2 months time, that's gotta be some kind of record. I'm trying to work from a fissure to Taco Bell in about 3 months time, definitely behind the curve here

It's a bit of a long story, but basically my wife gave birth about 3 weeks ago, the baby girl is fine and home with us but the baby boy is still in intensive care. He suffered a complication and ended up with brain damage, they have no idea how severe or what the long term prognosis is. He had seizures, breathing problems (he had to be resuscitated when he first came out), and can't eat on his own. They're probably going to put a tube into his stomach so we can take him home and feed him. Right now they're feeding him through a tube in his nose because his reflexes are messed up. So we're in for the long haul here, no matter what happens the doc has told us that he'll need specialized long term care. We're hoping for the best but I try to be realistic, it's not looking too good. So life kind of changed on a dime there.

Myself, I've been having abdominal cramps lately around the colon area, not sure if that's a sign of some inflammatory disease or Valium withdrawal or just long term MiraLAX use. Also been dizzy/tired with low blood pressure and still dropping weight, which is why I'm trying to eat more fatty stuff and increasing caloric intake lately. Got some bloody spit recently, too, but I've had that before from sinusitis and gum problems so I'm not too worried there. So yeah I'm kind of falling apart. I remember from classes in the past that the mortality rate takes a big upswing once people hit their 30's but I kinda didn't think it'd manifest so dramatically for me personally

Anyhow it is what it is, I guess, all the docs I've seen tell me there's nothing wrong with me and pin everything on anxiety and bad eating habits. I don't fully believe them but I guess time shall tell who's right. I hope they are, but well, ya never know. Sports are a nice distraction, if there wasn't some kind of game to watch on TV every day I think I'd be nuts by now!

Haha I hope you're right Stress I can manage in the long term, other "real" health issues right now I dunno, the camel's back is pretty close to breaking already...

Yeah I've been trying to eat as many calories as possible, I found that I do okay with Snicker's bars so now I've got a pantry full of 'em, along with other high fiber and high calorie snacks like Wheat Thins Fiber Selects (good stuff for those of you wanting to add fiber with actual flavor btw). I've been eating some mild fried stuff like tofu and that's gone alright so far too. Goooooo MiraLAX.

As for specialized care, they're not certain yet, but the way they're talking makes me suspect that they know something they're not letting on about. I'm actually meeting with the doctor in about 30 minutes here so I'm hoping to coerce and drag some more information out of her. I think (well more like hope) I'm starting to get over the initial shock about the whole thing and now I just want to know what the deal is so my mind can start to accept and deal with it. It was a total curveball.

Yeah I caught the game last night, that was freaking amazing!!! I don't care for either team but I was on the seat of my pants. That play at home in the 10th (or was it the 11th) was ridiculous. Good luck Saturday night, I'm a diehard Dodgers fan, been following them since the Orel Hershiser days, but I dunno if I'd have the cajones to show up anywhere near St. Louis in my Dodgers gear haha. LA sports fans in general are definitely a bit more subdued than those crazy Midwest folks This is usually my favorite time of year sports wise, the LA Kings look like they might be okay this year, the Dodgers are in the hunt, and of course it's a few weeks until the Lakers begin their title defense, so usually I'm in hog heaven. Only team that isn't holding up their end of the bargin is my Raiders, who suck AGAIN this year.

I've got a bunch of Bears players (Earl Bennett, Devin Hester, and Johnny Knox) on my fantasy squad so I'm kind of a closet Bears fan this year Plus I need a team to root for while the Raiders are busy stinking up the joint and I can't stand the Niners. On an unrelated note, I can't believe what the Broncos are doing with Kyle Orton this year but I think that's going to fall apart once they play some better defenses.

Looking forward to college basketball here too. Mizzou looks like they might be alright, and UCLA is my alma mater so there's usually something to look forward to in March nearly every year, although lately it's been fairly disappointing. The fact that UCLA is my alma mater probably tells you a bit about why I cheer for Mizzou during college football season

Doctor visit went okay, apparently insurance has been breathing down their necks about discharging my son, hence why they were in such a hurry to do the gastric tube surgery on him. His inability to eat normally is why he's still in the hospital, and insurance wants him out because he's racking up a big bill. He's shown a few minor signs of progress these last few days, though, so we managed to have the doctor go to bat for us and authorize another week's in-patient stay. If he doesn't improve in that time frame then looks like the g-tube is going to happen. My wife and I are going to visit him every day to try to train him to eat properly, so fingers crossed, looks like this next week is going to be pretty critical as far as whether he gets discharged with invasive or non-invasive measures in place. Breaks my heart to see the little guy struggling just to get nutrition while his feisty sister kicks our asses at home, but hoping for the best!