My upcoming ear surgery

So, I just wanted to fill people in on the upcoming ear surgery. Thanks to all of you would are praying/thinking about/for me. I really appreciate it.

Thursday, Nov 6th:
Arrive at Providence St. Vincents Hospital @ 11:30AM

*UPDATE

Due to scheduling problems through my doctor's office, the surgeon was double-booked for surgeries today... and since I didn't want a half-rate job... I'm going in tomorrow, Friday the 7th, @ the exact same time!

...Continue with explanation...
... do paperwork..., talk to doctor, sharpie the right side ear w/ large "NO",... get IV... hope I don't pass out...talk to the surgeon and knock-out guy (can spell anesthesiologist)....
Surgery scheduled for start @ 1:30PM.
I believe that the procedure to reconnect the eardrum to the Cochlea brown, snail looking thing) (I am missing the 3 bones that should connect these.. those white-ish ones that are right and kinda above the eardrum at the end of the ear canal) w/ a tiny piece of titanium will take about 2 hours. They will also open up my ear canal a bit, since it's shrunken/small.
I will wake up after they stitch me up (hopefully) and be incredibly drowsy... which means that I'll be awake for 10 seconds, then fall back asleep... and repeat this for maybe half and hour.
One of my parents will take me home and we will buy some pain meds for the impending ear ache.
I get home, maybe around 8PM, kinda loopy and hungry. Have some tomato soup and go to bed.

Recovery... no running/physical activity for about 4 weeks (I can't let the BP or HR get high during the healing process) ... small parts, very tricky. I will have a nifty headband for a couple day. I will have cotton in my ear for at least 2 weeks. I will have packing material in the ear for maybe 2-3 weeks. Each week I go in to see the doc. He checks things out, then sends me home. I eat his candy and read his anatomy books.

I'll keep the updates coming and post crazy pics here or there. Okay? Alrighty! Glad you could be along for the ride!

Altitude Training

Well, I have been in Mammoth for a week now and boy, does it feel great. The air is crisp, clear, and dry and the trails are soft. Mike and I were doing or own thing running around here and there the first couple of days here in town, then we saw another runner who invited us to run with a group of guys who are training up here. It has been great getting to know them and running with them. It's encouraging getting to run w/ other people and having a set schedule for running during the day.

This week I got in a good 85 miles, even as my hip was bothering me a bit (it's getting much better). I ran a tempo run yesterday (5 miles) and a 15 mile long run today ( I was dead tired for that run). The legs are feeling kind a tired, probably due to the mileage increase and the lack of sleep from the first part of the week. I think that altitude was making it hard to sleep.. that was causing me to take naps, which probably made sleeping at night a bit harder too. So, today I napped for a good 2 hours. I think I will sleep okay. Tomorrow I plan on resting the legs with 2 easy runs of 45 min each. After that I hope to find a new set of glasses waiting for me @ the post office. I had some new glasses made for me before I left, but I wasn't around to pick them up... thank goodness for great parents. Speaking of....

If you believe in the power of prayer, would you pray or my Mom, Cyd (like Cydney). She has had pain in her shoulder and knee for a while... but recently it got progressively worse. So much worse that she went to the hospital because it was so unbearable. As far as I know, the exact cause is still not known. I love my Mom dearly and it's hard to hear about her pain. I would like to say that she is a firm believer in the Lord and that she's taking each day as it comes... one by one, trusting that God is there with her through it all.

Recently I decided that I wanted to give a talk on what pain does in the lives of people and more specifically Christians. This was first an idea from a radio clip I heard that asked why we don't have statues and sonnets praising pain, for in the midst of pain, some of the most amazing things in history have happened or been set in motion. As I have thought about pain and it's effects more and more I am realizing that all around me there are people who are in pain. It is manafest in many different ways. For some it's emotional, for others it's physical, relational, or spiritual. There could be more... I am not done exploring it. The way that these peopl are reacting says a lot of who they are, what they believe, and how stressed out they are because of the pain. I never would have thought when I first started looking into this topic that I would see so much pain. What I am coming to realize is that everyone understands what pain is. It is a universal feeling. Some hide it better than others, but deep down inside they know its effect. Through this universally shared experience you can connect... and I can connect with others. I can share what pain can be useful for, how it helps us in our walk with God, how the experience helps us understand what Jesus went through on the cross, or how to comfort others in their sufferings. If you have any ideas that you want to share with me, please share them in the comment section below, or email me @ nshootz@hotmail.com .


Well, I'm off to bed. Take care out there and like my brother says: Make it a good day!

~Nick