Posted on January 23, 2009

• I thought you all might want to know that I was released from the hospital last evening and I am resting comfortably at home now. My kids were thrilled to see me this morning, but didn’t quite understand that I can’t play like I used to. My two year old keeps putting things on my IV scars trying to fix my “boo-boos”.

  They gave me fantastic care at the hospital, but nothing compares to the comforts of home. I’m going to be going slow for the next few weeks, but I feel stronger every day and just being at home is an immense psychological boost.

  Thanks again for all the great comments. They’ve really kept me going throughout this ordeal!

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Posted on January 18, 2009

• I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words you’ve left regarding my previous post. The operation, they tell me, was a success and now I’m dealing with the aftermath. I’m still in the hospital and don’t really know when I will be released (they are waiting for my insides to start working again). It’s difficult to do once simple things like get out of bed and walk around (though I managed to do both the day after my surgery). Yesterday they allowed me a couple of popcicles which were the first non-water food I’ve had in a week.

  Each day I am getting a little bit stronger though and it is a great comfort to know that a malfunctioning part of me has been removed. Thanks again to all of you for your support. I’ve really enjoyed your encouraging words and even the jokes (though it hurts to laugh).

  I also need to say a big thanks to Jessie for (among many other things) purchasing me an AT&T laptop connect card so I can still be online. You would think that a modern 21st century hospital would have wi-fi, but I guess that is not always the case. At least they have cable 😉

  Until next time…

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Posted on January 14, 2009

• Once again I find myself in the hospital. I’ve been pretty vague with you guys about my condition up until now for a couple of reasons. First, I was in some denial about the diagnosis. Second, the problems I was having were in a sensitive area that I don’t like to talk about even to close friends. It’s past time I gave you guys the scoop though, so here it is.

  I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in July. The problems started back in December 2007 when my doctors found a couple of infected areas near my rectum (TMI, I know but it’s part of the bigger picture). The areas were opened, drained, and left open to heal. It was pretty painful stuff. If it had ended there things probably would have been ok, but my surgeon apparently didn’t explore well enough because some infection was left behind which led to a wound which wouldn’t heal.

  Other doctors tried to heal me up using course after course of antibiotics, and I tried to keep my pain under control by taking far too much Advil (just so I could sit for more than an hour at a time), Taking all of these medicines over several months I started to develop stomach aches which lead to the (surprising) diagnosis of Crohn’s in July. I’ve just recently had another surgeon do a procedure to finally root out all of the infection in my nether regions, but my intestinal problems have been increasing steadily over the last part of the 2008. Just since November I’ve had to run to the ER a number of times with uncontrollable stomach pain and vomiting which I’ve discovered is a result of a blockage in my small intestines. An area is literally swollen shut with scar tissue and inflammation. Even my good days were pretty painful, and my bad days sent me to the ER.

  The most recent incident was the past Saturday and I’ve been in the hospital ever since. My GI doctor has advised me that my best shot of getting back to normal is to have to diseased part of my intestine removed. I am sitting here waiting for the operation now. They tell me the piece is a relatively small part of my overall supply so I should live pretty normally after this (though I will have to take medicine to keep the Crohn’s at bay and get a monthly vitamin shot because I will no longer be able to absorb one of the B vitamins from food). I will be fine in the long run.

  I will be in the Hospital for another week or so, and then resting at home for another couple of weeks. I won’t be returning to work until I feel up to it, but I do have a rather cool new project at around the halfway stage which I should have ready to go in short order when I am back online.

  Wish me luck everyone, I’ll be recovering by the time you read this but I will accept retroactive good wishes. Things should return to full swing around here shortly and my doctors tell me that I should be in the clear for a long time to come. Just gotta get past these next few weeks.

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Posted on January 10, 2009

• I’ve posted dual and triple screen versions of both “First Light” and “First Moonlight” in the gallery this morning. I would have had them up a day or two ago, but I got sidetracked working on a new project which popped into my head all of a sudden. Stay tuned for more on that….

Posted on January 7, 2009

• Late Update:I was working on the mulit-screen version of “First Light” today when I remembered one of the comments I had read in the feedback thread for that image. The jist of the comment was the person usually requested night versions of my daytime images, but this one was pretty good as is so a night version wasn’t needed.

  That got me thinking about what a night version would look like, so I tweaked the atmosphere and lighting a little bit and did a few renders. I thought the result was a pretty nice wallpaper in its own right so I’ve posted it up here for you. I call it “First Moonlight” (kind of cheesy, but it fit the theme).

  I hope you like it. I have the multi-screen of First Light rendering now and should have it up soon (and a multi-screen of “First Moonlight” shortly thereafter).

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01/07/09

• I hope to have a multi-screen version of “First Light” up shortly. In the meantime I have added 1024 x 600 images for those of you using Netbook computers. The new size is in the list of options to the right of the image thumbnails, or you can download them all (I have just over 200 available) in a Zip file.
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