The first of these new blogs is a tribute to my love of the ocean where I'll be posting my snorkeling adventures: South Florida Beach Snorkeling

Please visit my latest blog
South Florida Beach Snorkeling

First thing we did was to find a much cheaper source of fruits and vegetables than the local supermarket. Oddly this turned out to be a little Spanish owned farmers market that I've been passing by for years on the way to the gym called Lucky Farmer's Market that has great prices and is very friendly even to us non Spanish speaking folks.

Unlike the movie we are both still eating regular food too but after only a few weeks both of us are feeling way more full of energy and our friends have been telling us that we have a glow about us.

Juicing is messy though. So we have been making juice in batches and, while we have been drinking homemade juice every day, we have only been actually making the juice every other day.

At first we were making juice mostly out of fruit but have been adding more vegetables each batch and now some batches are almost all vegetables as we are learning what tastes good.

Plus having a fridge full of fresh fruit and vegetables has caused both of us to eat way more fresh fruit each although the vegetables are mostly being juiced.

Hopefully all this added nutrition will help me recover from the medical nightmare that I've been though over the past year. Speaking of which I'm contacting some lawyers this week to see if I have a case of medical malpractice.

Last Wednesday I finally agreed to another ultrasound on my leg after my foot started turning blue and the pain got so bad that I couldn't take it anymore.

The results were so serious that I was immediately sent to the emergency room at Westside Regional Medical Hospital which was about the last place that I wanted to be sent as this is the hospital that my original surgery was preformed at which was also the reason that I had to go there and not the county hospital which is where I would have preferred to have gone.

Two surgeries later I'm back home recovering from blocked arteries in my leg and on three different blood thinners. I would actually be on four but my insurance won't pay for one of them and I just can't afford to pay for it out of pocket.

The surgeon gave me hell for waiting so long to seek treatment but with Westside Regional Medical Hospital's constant harassment over my copay, they have since turned my over to a collection agency and it has already affected my credit score resulting in me losing a much needed line of credit, the last thing I wanted to do was to turn to them for further medical treatment.

What it comes down to is Westside Regional Hospital's constant threats, that started as soon as I got home, is what kept me from seeking further treatment. Seems the surgeon wrote off my copay as did a few other places but Westside Regional Hospital seems more interested in their bottom line than a patient's well being.

It isn't like I'm someone that doesn't always pay what is owed but being slammed with an unexpected 10k copay without warning left me with no way to pay what I owed and as a result I didn't get the follow-up care that I needed, my credit has been ruined and I may never fully recover from the damage that I've suffered as a result.

I can only imagine what Westside Regional Hospital is going to slam me with this time after spending another four days in their money hungry hell hole.

Going to start calling around for a lawyer tomorrow. Not really something that I want to do but I don't really have a lot of options left at this point.

I just hope that I never have to set foot in Westside Regional Hospital again.

I wish I knew what the problem actually is other than to say it hurts like hell but all the doctors seem to be willing to do is order expensive test after expensive test that are only partially covered or not covered at all by my insurance while offering no treatment.

Still having a very hard time walking but with help from friends been doing a little kayaking and last Friday a friend took us out on his boat for a day of snorkeling.

By leaving it in a Tupperware container full of rice and dry desiccant overnight it seems to have returned to full working status.

Very happy that it doesn't need to be sent in for repairs. Going to be a lot more careful about having wet hands when changing its batteries and memory card.

We got up a bit before sunrise, checked the beach cam, saw that the ocean was smooth as glass and headed over to Vista Park Beach.

The lot in front of the reef wasn't open yet so we went to the next lot down and parked there. Not realizing that we would be exhausted by the time we swam back north again, having a really messed up leg is making swimming pure hell, against the tide to the reef we went out only to never actually make it to the reef.

Frustrated we swam back to the car and went back home.

Got home and it was like WTF did we leave for instead of simply re-parking at the correct lot, resting a bit and going back out?

So we packed up everything again and went to the correct lot. Had to sit there for about twenty minutes until a space opened up which kind of sucked since earlier there were multiple spaces open, but at least we got a space. Then after getting a space had to sit there for another twenty minutes while my leg stopped throbbing and I could actually limp to the water again.

By the time we got out to the reef it was low tide which was better anyway since it made the reef more shallow.

Spent a few hours floating around in our tubes and snorkeling. By using a tube I'm able to float around despite my leg being just about useless. The new industrial sunblock that I used worked great. It was unfortunate that the ocean had gotten a bit rougher but it was very enjoyable despite the ocean no longer being perfectly smooth.

Hoping to do it all over again very soon.

Last Sunday we drove to Key Biscayne, paddled out to Half Moon preserver to do some snorkeling and then went to Jimbo's Palce for his birthday bash.

Had a really great time although it was too bad the water was so silty. It would have been much clearer had we hit the wreck just after high tide had peaked but then we would have had to fight the tide going back in and this was the furthest that we have ever paddled out so were being cautious. Plus we wanted to meet up with the Gone Kayking Meetup group and join them to paddle out to Virginia Key for the Jimbo's Place birthday bash.

In addition to the little above YouTube video I uploaded some pics over here, at least the ones that I wanted to share publicly.

Still dealing with a great deal of pain while walking so not sure how I'll do while snorkeling. Ironically Christy is also dealing with a great deal of pain while walking due to an ankle injury that she got while playing racquetball. Her injury is on her left leg and mine is my right leg so between the two of us we have one set of good legs.

We are planning on doing a kayak trip next weekend that will involve a lot of walking in order to get our kayaks in and out of the water so I guess I'll know soon enough how bad of shape the two of us are in.

The more time goes by and the more the hospital and doctor tries to collect on their copays, which have turned out to be far in excess of what I was told to expect, the more I'm starting to seriously consider suing the doctor since he is the one that talked me into getting leg surgery which so far has only made things worse. I don't know, I've never sued anyone before but I'm really starting to feel wronged by all of this.

In addition to other yard projects we decided to de-vine the mango tree in the backyard and then properly trim it.

I still can't walk without pain so Christy carried everything to the front yard for next bulk trash pickup while I cut away the vines using snips, pruning shears, a chainsaw and a whole lot of pulling and tugging.

We still need to remove all the vines from the top part of the tree. I'm hoping that with their roots cut away they will all die which should make removing them a lot easier.

I'm really liking the way the bottom of the tree came out. It really is a pretty tree if properly cared for although its fruit is the very stringy kind of mangos, so while tasting really good, are very challenging to eat.

I should probably should go back to the surgeon that did this latest surgery on my leg but I still owe him a bunch of money that I don't have and anyway after three surgeries on this leg I'm pretty over doctors that convince you that they can treat you only to end up with huge medical bills and questionable degree of improvement.

Actually at this point I regret getting talked into this last surgery. The thought of suing has crossed my mind, but I'm not really the suing type. Although if they get really nasty about collecting the rest of their copays they may just put me over the edge.

We planted some parsley a few months ago. The parsley is growing like crazy. The problem is we have found pretty much zero use for it. On the plus side though really pretty caterpillars are eating the parsley. Since we are eating it I'm leaving the caterpillars alone as long as they don't start eating our other herbs.

Went to the grocery store today and discovered that I had won $25 on my lotto ticket. It's not much but I'll take winning anything as a sign of things improving.

If I start being able to walk and use the treadmill without ending up in pain I may actually start being optimistic that that life is going to get good again.

The one thing I really love doing is bike riding so when our stripper friend came to town last weekend she rented a bike and the three of us headed to Fort Lauderdale beach on our bikes.

Things were not really going ok as I was in a lot of pain but I tried pacing myself hoping that things would get better. We headed south along the beach down to Coconuts for brunch.

I noticed that as soon as I started peddling that my bad leg was starting to hurt but I didn't think it was that big of a deal until I realized that my foot was starting to tingle and go numb.

By the time we made it home I was in severe pain and my foot had gone completely numb. I thought about going over to the emergency room but the thought of what the copays would be kept me from going.

This week has been hell. Best I can figure out, still haven't seen a doctor, is that my seat pinched my sciatica nerve since the pain starts in my ass and goes into my toes.

Each day I say I'll go to the doctor the next day but, partially out of fear but mostly due to the costs of medical care even with insurance, I still haven't gone to see a doctor.

It's a lot better than it was five days ago but still hurting and I still have some numbness. I guess if it isn't way better on Monday I'll go see my general doctor. I would feel a lot better if he did say this was due to a pinched sciatica as I'm very fearful that something has gone horribly wrong with the surgery I had on it a few months ago and I'm looking at another round of expense tests and procedures.

We bought the Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer at BrandsMart with no interest for 6 months and brought them both home the same day one at a time in the back of Christy's Scion tC.

We have been really loving these new machines, especially the 4.5 cubic feet capacity. Hopefully our water bill will go down since the new washer uses much less water to wash a much larger load of wash.

Things were going well until yesterday when we put a load in only to discover that the washer had died. No lights, no beeps, just dead. After checking to make sure that it was actually getting power, oddly the only control that would actually respond at all was the control panel lock, but that was it, so all we could do was lock or unlock the dead control panel.

After examining our options the best one seemed to be using BrandMart's 30 day exchange policy so we loading the water and detergent dripping washing machine into the back of Christy's Scion tC one more time, drove to BrandsMart and exchange it for a brand new working one.

Finally finished doing laundry just before midnight last night. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come. Makes me wonder if we should have bought the extended warranty.

There was a giant shark getting in the water when we were returning from kayaking the other day.

Wow I'm sore today...

Spent Thursday lifting and tossing washing machines after the transmission in ours took a dump in the middle of doing laundry and having to run out and buy a new one. I knew ours was dying but was hoping that it would last another year or so but it died in the middle of doing a massive load of laundry so we needed to replace it ASAP. Bought a front loader this time and since our dryer was just as old replaced it too since Brands Mart gave us a really good deal on both. It took two trips in Christy's Scion TC to get them both home but by midnight we had new machines and by Friday night all our laundry was washed.

Then spent most of Friday and Saturday kayaking. Getting my kayak in and out of the water is pure painful hell. Best I can tell having leg surgery has made things much worse.

I've been asked to play racquetball tonight but with my leg the way it is that is impossible.

Only two more years to go before the world ends I guess...

Actually I don't put any faith into the world ending in 2012 but Sarah Palin does scare the hell out of me. Can you imagine her actually getting elected and having the ability to launch a nuclear attack?

The day after I went to the gym some of the worst cold weather that I've ever seen since living here moved in so other than tending to our animals I've stayed home in our warm house until yesterday when it finally started warming up again.

It was nice to finally get out of the house but I'm not pain free as hoped. A friend took us over to Kyojin Buffet for a complete Asian pig out, my tummy is still full.

We walked around the beach after our Asian pig out but I was only able to work a few hundred feet so I doubt I walked off any of the pig out.

It was strange not seeing a cloud in the sky not to mention almost no one there but after walking around a bit it actually felt warm enough to start taking off layers.

Personally I'm staying home and trying to get a little bit of work done although my partner went kayaking this morning. I wish I could go with her but I'm still covered in staples so it's probably best that I don't get soaked in salt water not to mention it still hurts to be in a sitting position for very long.

Our stripper friend decided to stay for Thanksgiving. PamelaDoll also showed up later in the evening with her mom.

I did all my cooking this year.

Pasta in a pesto sauce.
13.25 oz package of Whole Grain Pasta
1 tube of Amote Pesto Paste
1/4 chopped fresh oregano
4 cubes of vegetable bouillon
1/4 olive oil
.9 oz (3 packages) sun died tomatoes
.7 oz package of sliced frozen mushrooms

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in pasta. Cook until tender. (About 2 min.)

Chop the sun died tomatoes until finely chopped.

In a bowel mix the chopped sun died tomatoes, pesto paste, oregano, vegetable bouillon, olive oil, mushrooms and add in 1/4 water. Heat mixture in microwave 4 minutes on high.

Drain pasta and add in everything stirring until all is mixed well.

Plus
Tofu Baked with in Lemon Rosemary Marinade

3 pounds firm tofu, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into 3/8 thick inch slices
1 1/2 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 ounce minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a blender mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Pour the marinade into a baking pan Slice the tofu into 3/8 inch thick slices and place in a single layer in a baking dish.
Flip each piece of tofu over so that the marinade coats each side.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the marinade has been absorbed.

Also this side dish
Rutabaga Casserole

4 rutabagas
4 carrots
10 oz package of shredded carrots
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk

Peel rutabagas and cut into large cubes. Place in cold water and bring to a boil. When fork tender, drain.

In microwave cook shredded carrots for 4 minutes.

Mash rutabagas with shredded carrots, sugar, and butter.

Place in oven at low temperature to keep warm. Cover so that the dish will not dry out. If it does, stir in a little soy milk.

I even cooked a dead bird for my carnivores friends, fucking gross.

My friends said it was one of the juiciest best turkeys that they ever ate. I'll just have to take their word for it as it looks like something that should have been buried in the ground to me.

I baked a couple of pies plus our house guest went over to Whole Foods and bought even more pies.

All in all not a bad Thanksgiving spent with the love of my life and a couple of friends. I'm already looking forward to next Year's Thanksgiving.

I had another femoral artery bypass done on my leg in an effort to restore circulation to my lower leg due to a gunshot wound back in the nineties. Hopefully the third time will be the charm.

The hospital let me out a few days early as I convinced them that I would recover better at home than in a beeping, chipping and constantly being disturbed by nurses while laying in a really uncomfortable bed. Once they knew that there weren't stairs in our home and that I had a partner to take care of me they agreed with me so I'm home snuggling with our cats and Christy feeling much better than if I was still at the hospital.

Although the Dilaudid pump at the hospital was euphoria on command. At least before I would start puking like crazy.

I feel like I've been run over by a bus and look like a bloated badly sewn together rag doll but I'm told my that the surgery went well.

I'm guessing that once I'm healed I'll be able to walk, run and play racquetball without pain so this will be all worth it.

Going through this though shows just how broken our medical system is. Even with having pretty decent insurance my out of pocket expenses are going to be in the thousands and is going to put me in debt for many years.

I'm really in a lot of pain and my surgeon's idea of pain meds is a bad joke as he only gave me ten 5 milligram oxycodone pills and won't give me more so I'll probably go over to my regular physician tomorrow, another copay, and ask him for more since he is usually more willing to prescribe pain meds if he thinks I really need them.

My partner Christy has been great through all of this and has been taking very good care of me. I have a lot to be thankful of this year, despite this year being financially awful, and Christy is a very big part of me finally finding peace and happiness in life.