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StriderSyd

Left Eurasia alive and well
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I am saddened to hear to Stan Lee's passing earlier today (11/12/18).
There can never be "Nuff said" about Stan "The Man" Lee....but I'll try to anyway.

Like most people in the world, I never met the man,
and really only knew him from his wide range of works in various media.
My own 1st exposure to him by name, was when he was doing the narration
on the old "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" TV show.
And was always aware of his voice ANYWHERE from that point onward.
For the life of me, I cannot really recall where I 1st SAW him.

Certainly he was not prefect, but one has to still acknowledge his creativity. imagination and greatness.
His work with other people all throughout the years (Ditko, Kirby, Romita, etc)
created generations and even new generations of unborn Stan fans yet to be.
All of whom would surely experience edge-of-your-seat/can’t-wait-for-the-next-issue feeling
from at least some piece of his works at some point in their lives.

So time finally caught up with Stan like Spidey’s bad luck.

Being able to leave behind a large body of works with his name attached is no small feat.
Although he is gone from the world, he’s really not gone from the world.
Stan fans and even non fans all over the world will still have him around
whether they realize his contribution or not in whatever form of media they may indulge in.
I truly feel that he is a person that left this world a better place than he found it when he came into it.
The world is a little more sad now that he's gone,
but I find myself smiling and laughing when I reminisce about him.

At least that's how it is for me.

We all know the last 2 or 3 years of his life were marred with some really horrible happenings.
Some of which could even be likened to true "comic book villainy".
So I really hope that he truly was in peace at the time he finally came to rest.

Via con dios Stan "The Man" Lee.
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Hey kids!
Hope yr'll doing well.

( WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!! )

Guess who's STILL alive and kick'n.
(....mostly kick'n......at least during physical therapy sessions)
As some of you here on the DA community and/or internetland in general may be aware of,
recently I've been a little....sick...this past year.
Last year I had my hips replace due to bone deterioration,
but GADZOOKS.....
that was only part of the failings plaguing my already mis-shapen form.

( WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!! )

Spinal Op1 by StriderSyd

Before my operation(s) even started,
I had an MRI scan done as part of the measuring and fitting process for my new spine.
It must not have been a very good MRI scan,
because I later discovered that when my flesh was slit apart and and my backbone exposed to the light of day
(or rather, really bright operating room flood lights)
my spinal column looked somewhat.....different.....than what the MRI scan had led all involved parties to believe.

Although I was afflicted with really bad scoliosis and kyphosis,
what the the Doc had still expected to see was a more-or-less at least something marginally normal like this:

Spinal Op2 by StriderSyd

However....what he actually discovered my spine to be.....turned out to be more like this:

Spinal Op3 by StriderSyd

As a result of this unexpected find, my Doc had take a whole lot of additional time and work......to pick up the ol'medical grade grinder
(essentially, it's pretty much the same thing as a regular industrial grinder often used in the masonry and metal working industries)
and proceed to file down/grind down all the protruding excess bone off,
before he would be able to put in my new spine.
All this extra work to shave all my vertebrae down to the correct size added extra time to the whole black op,
and turned what was supposed to be about an 8 hour surgery......to about a 14 hour surgery.
And so, my Doc could not finish in just one session, and had to stop half way through.
After a 2 day layover in the Hotel UMC (University Medical Center)
I went back under the knife, for an additional 10 hours of anesthetic bliss.

( WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!! )

Spinal Op4 by StriderSyd

After I came to.....
from my anesthetized induced high adventure on the Qryborian Plains of Plauges of the Martian landscape,
swan through the grizzly-shark-squid infested Sea of Bad Blood,
climbed the Diamond Mountains of the dreaded walking undead Dunkleosteus People,
rescued the 10 (really hot and low moraled) princesses from being sacrificed by the
Dark Pulsating, Bloated, festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed Slug-for-a-Butt Lord Bob,
to his heathen patron god: Boingar the Boingarian Wanderer,
escaped from the love crazed tuskephant that I had been tied to by a weird holy man,
that I later cleaved in twain and fed his flesh and entrails to said tuskephant.
all the while sometimes surviving on the bore worms I dug of my skin,
while other times at some local.....let's just say "burger" joints.
and their scorpicrab cakes weren't bad either.
......I once again found myself waking up too dang early with all that $#!&ing medical equipment shoved down my gullet.

I don't quite remember everything from this time,
but apparently all that junk was keeping me from getting dead post-op.
I'm told that I was still strapped down to the Frankenstein table,
writhing in agony and screaming aloud: "NO ANCHOVIES!".
Go figure.

( WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!! )

Spinal Op5 by StriderSyd

After all this, just like before, I was sent to a recovery room,
had my catheter pulled out and ripped off my fairly hairy leg,
spent a week in the hospital, grind more weight and let the muscle atrophy set in,
but this time with a new zipper on my back,
Fortunately, my physical therapy was working....slowly....but definitely working.
I'm off my walker and still on crutches, but am walking a lot better overall since leaving the hospital.

( WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!! )

Alas....if only that was the thing I got out on my vacation here.
One other thing that happened on this surgical outing was that I also come out of it with additional affliction.
After spending so much time on my stomach during the 2 operation sessions for 2 days,
I came out with some nerve damage.....in both of my hands.

My thumbs, pointing fingers, and middle fingers were all affected.
I now had this numb, sunburn-esque feeling in my forearms and these 6 digits.
My 1st thought was "well so much for drawing now".
Although it is still somewhat painful for me to draw, paint, open a bottle or even a bag of chips, etc.
this scenario was fortunately not the case, as my fingers have cleared up a little.

( WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!! )

Because of this nerve damage in my hands and fingers,
I had to go see a nerve specialist about this issue.
(Argh this was not fun man)
Aside from the electro-shocking of my hands and arms,
the doc also had to stick several needles directly into my nerves and then proceed to "twang" them.
And all this was just part of the examination itself.
apparently, it's just the way that it's done.

But meh....what the heck....I have a new spine.
Y'know....I wonder if I can have my driver's license changed to "cyborg" now.

( WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!! )

Spinal Op6 by StriderSyd
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Hey kids.

As I've stated before..... I've been having  some health problems for a few
years now and had to have my right hip replaced earlier this year.
Well, in continuing on with trying t'fix all that's (physically) wrong with me,
last Saturday (4/29/17) I went and had my left hip replaced too.
The operation itself went pretty much fine,
and I'm (mostly) doing better this 2nd time around.

(WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!!!)

It was great to being KO'd at the time
so I need not have to have bore witness to my own operation.
(ugh......especially for that catheter installation)
I'm certain that I could go my whole life without knowing too many
details of modern surgical techniques, applications and practice.
From the initial incisions cutting through every muscle, tendon, nerve
and ligament just to get to my horrifically misshapen bones,
then grinding said bones down to make my bread.......wait, wait, wait...
I mean.....to make some bone oatmeal bone clay paste,
then mold it into the correct bone shape, letting it set like cement,
"Gluing" and suturing my severed muscle tissue back together,
stapling me up not unlike a zipper, and bandaging my half unshaven
hairy hip area with duct tape, that of course would come off later.
Fun times man.

Although I was under most of the time....
all was not entirely without some irksome happenstance.
READ ON IF YOU DARE.
When I awakened from my happy death sleep,
it seems that I had revived a little too early this time around,
and awoke with all the breathing assistance STILL shoved done my gullet.
Think of a 3 inch or so diameter pipe lodged in your mouth
and then add a few other smaller hoses stuck in for who-knows-what-else.
Then know that all this that renders you completely incapable of uttering
any sound other than some REALLY muffled barely audible
"guh....kkk...thhpt..ghh" noises that probably no one other than a very
experienced dominatrix may be able understand.

(yes....I was trying to yell "Get this ******* thing off of me ****** !!)

For some reason, all that kept going through my mind during all this,
was that this must be what the Space Jockey feels like.
(look him up kids)
The nurses of course finally came around....
when they realized that I had come around.

It was then at this time......that I came to the terrible horrific realization
that the whole H.R. Giger-esque apparatus.......
WAS ACTUALLY DUCT TAPED TO MY FACE !!
(well to be fair, it was probably just that regular medical tape, but still)
As the 2 nursed peeled and tore it off me like a velcro banana peel,
(that's what it sounded like to me)
they also vacuumed out my throat of various stomach contents and fluids.
This by itself was already disgustingly disconcerting, but also surprising
since I had nothing to eat/drink for nearly 24 hours beforehand.
Well don't worry everybody, this active process of facial follicle reaping
didn't really tear off my face, but I swear by
Odin's bristling beard to be feared that it sure felt like it at the time.

(WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!!!)

Spent the next few really boring days recuperating at the hospital.
Boredom....everlasting and hideous boredom.
Dunno if can actually call those days "boring" though,
because although I kept dozing on/off all throughout the days/nights
it was all actually probably due to the drugs I was on afterwards.
Doing some drawing to alleviate some of this was a little challenging to do,
again.....because I was zipping in/out of consciousness all throughout
those heavily medicated days.
I finally came home to continue recuperating here
with hopefully not so much boredom and definitely not so many drugs.

My Xrays by StriderSyd

Here kids, have a peek at the Xrays of my new hips.
Gadzooks...I hope DA doesn't consider this
as me posting some REALLY explicit photos of myself.

(WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB !!!!!!)
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Hey kids!

Man it sure has been a while since I typed up one of these.
Guess I'm just really lazy about this sorta thing.
But I decided let any interested parties know what's been up with me recently.

Basically, I'm just "gonna be like Wolverine".....sorta.

I've long been afflicted with a really bad case of kyphosis and scoliosis,
but it was never really a big problem with functioning in any day-to-day activities.....
until about 2 years ago when I noticed that I had to start using a walking cane every now & then.
My Dr. informed me that all the pain I was feeling (and just walking off) was attributed to this condition,
and that I would die within 4 - 6 years from my internal organs being crushed.
Was initially a little bummed out about that news,
but thanx to my laid-back happy outlook on life...it didn't REALLY bother me.
However, it did seem to bother those around me a heckuvalot more.
"I never knew I meant so much to my community!"
(only Army brats will probably get that)

Although being informed of my more-or-less imminent demise didn't hit me hard,
at the same time, I thought that I'd like to put off my hot date with lady death for a while.
To which my Dr. advised a spinal fusion operation.
And after a 2nd and 3rd opinion (all with the same conclusions) I just decided
"ah what the heck, I guess now I can park in the handicapped spots".
I actually didn't have to wait the this....I was already handicapped and didn't even know it.
Apparently, my existing condition was bad enough to warrant legal handicapped status anyway.
Go figure.

Unfortunately, my bone problems didn't end there.
Upon further examinations, x-rays, MRI's and CT scans.....
it was discovered that I also suffered from hip bone deterioration.
It seems that I only had about 5mm of hip bone thickness instead of the average 17 - 20 mm.
Without a solid base, the spinal fusion would fail,
so now, I had to get my hips replaced before I could get a new spine.
That process started 2 weeks ago.

It seems that it was highly inadvisable to have both hips done at the same time,
so I went in and had my right hip done on 1/23.
Spent a few days in the hospital and came home.
Spent a few more days hobbling around the house with my walker.
Then my staples started leaking some sort of bodily fluid, infection set in,
and I went back to the hospital for additional surgery.
Which will hopefully be the end of all this before I have to go back in a few months to get my left hip done.
(I do have photos of my staples and new stitches....but I'll spare your eyes,
from having to see my fat hairy arse that is also seen in those pics)
Left the hospital yesterday and I'm back hobbling around the house with my walker again.

Although I really don't feel like it,
my physical therapist says I'm doing good and making progress.
Man I can barely siddown at my desk right now,
so it's kinda tough for me to even type this up.
These things just take time I suppose.

My 2nd hip surgery hasn't been scheduled yet,
and I don't know if I'll even get to have the spinal fusion done this year. 
But hey, we'll see what happens.

And now for the 2nd reason for the Journal other than a little social update.
Although I have insurance, I have a pretty high out-of-pocket deductible....about $7000.00+.
So I could really use some help in paying that out.
I was thinking about opening up $10.00 commission for quick B/W art plea.
Dunno how long it would take me to do 700 pics of "whatever", but I think I can try.
Do y'all think this would be a good idea, and that this would be a fair price?

Anyway, that's what's up with me recently....gonna be like Wolverine....sorta.
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I CANNOT even begin to say how GREAT this movie is.

FOR THE LOVE OF SNOOPY'S SNOWY SNOUT!
GET OUT THERE AND GO WATCH IT NOW!
NOWWWWWWW!!!

(and stick around all the way through to the end of the credits for a few extra scenes)
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