Another Secret Subject Swap!

Welcome to Take Two of August’s Secret Subject Swaps. This week, 13 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

 

 

http://BakingInATornado.com                            Baking In A Tornado

http://dawnsdisaster.blogspot.com                    Dawn’s Disaster

http://www.theblacksheepmom.blogspot.com      Black Sheep Mom

http://indianamericanmom.com                         Indian American Mom

http://www.homeonderanged.com                      Home on Deranged

http://coachdaddyblog.wordpress.com                  Coach Daddy

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                           Just A Little Nutty (Guest Post)            http://www.itsyummi.com                                   It’s Yummilicious

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                       Dates 2 Diapers

http://www.rocksnosaltmommy.com/                     Rocks, No Salt Mommy

http://crazyasnormal.com                                     Crazy As Normal

http://ibddaddyandme.blogspot.com/                    IBD, Daddy and Me!

www.thatsuburbanmomma.com                           That Suburban Momma

 

                   

My subject is "The first time I met my significant other, I thought... " It was submitted by http://dawnsdisaster.blogspot.com.  Here goes: 

 

It's probably a more of a fun story to hear about what Censie's parents thought of me when they first saw me, but that is not the question.  I met my wife Censie at College in Seward, Nebraska.  It is funny we grew up about 30 minutes away from each other but in Colorado it was about a world apart and it took us going to Seward, Nebraska to meet. 

 

We were both in the DCE (Director of Christian Education) program at Concordia University which is a private Lutheran college.  We had gone on a retreat to a camp to do a service project.  It was fun because I instantly thought that she was HOT and really was attracted to her.  Then I found out that she was from Colorado so I got to use that to get to know her.  She was a grade younger than me so I had a car and a way to get home to Colorado so I got to use that to hit on her. 

 

It was funny because I had to wear a sleeveless shirt at the time you know I had to show off my tattoos.  She started talking to me about them and it came up that she had a tattoo and wow that was it for me I was hooked I have a thing for tattooed women.   It just added to her hotness.  Then from there the flirting started which I suck at, just ask her.  She had to explain to me how to spell her name because it is spelled differently Censie.  She had to write it on my shirt in paint and from that point on I had a huge crush on her.

When I met her though I was dating someone else but I always had a huge crush on her and also I was in a bad point in my life.  I had been going through a lot of issues but I was able to have her as a great friend at first and then I was lucky enough to call her my girlfriend, then my wife.  She has been a rock to me and I am so lucky to have her. 

This past year has been so hard on us, I am writing this post from the hospital and thinking back this is actually the second secret subject swap that I am posting from the hospital.  She has stood by me as I have dealt with my Ulcerative Colitis, my ileostomy surgery, anxiety, depression and everything in-between.  It is funny that this journey that has now taken us throughout ten years started at a service project retreat where we were painting a house.

Sometimes you never know why people are put in front of you but I am glad that we were put together on that day.  She has been an amazing wife and best friend and I am thankful for her everyday.  So yes it was love at first sight but it just took me a while to be able to act on that love!  Thank you for this subject and I hope that everyone enjoyed hearing our story.

Now when Censie's dad saw me I was running in front of him with blue hair, smoking, and loud music blaring and he turned to his brother in law and told him that he didn't think that I was going to make it very long there at school.  And now that person is his son in law so again don't judge a book by it's cover.  Thank you for reading!

But you don't look sick!

But you look healthy? 

 

This was something that I heard a lot of while I was sick with Ulcerative Colitis and while I have been dealing with my ostomy.  Invisible illnesses and disabilities can be some of the most difficult things to deal with.  If people can see that you look sick or that you need assistance from something they are more willing to understand and help out. 

I do not like showing off my ostomy bag so I do everything I can to conceal it when I go out.  Also it makes it easier for me if I have my bag secured to my stomach and do not have it just hanging, just think a bag of poop does get heavy after a while so I hold it up with a stomach wrap.  As you saw in my previous post just ask Jude about my bag and he will be more than happy to show it off to you.

The things that people do not understand are that when I was in a flair with ulcerative colitis I was going to the bathroom 20-40 times on a bad day.  Just so we can put that in perspective if I am up from 6am-10pm that is 16 hours.  So if you are going 20 times that is 1.25 times per hour and if it is really bad it's 2.5 times per hour.  I used to get so jealous of people saying that they only pooped once a day or even that they went every other day.  I was praying for several hours off from the bathroom.  Those were also the times that I made it to the bathroom, there were several times that I was running to the bathroom and didn't make it.  So much fun let me tell you when you are at work that you have to sneak out of the bathroom to your car to leave because you had an accident. 

So I went forward to have the surgery.  Now I am just waiting for the wound to heal.  I have been going to the doctor almost every day to have a wound cared for since January 9^th, and I have to pay a copay every time.  Now throw on top of this that I have a bag that I poop into and have to change every three days and I have to empty my bag usually about every four hours.  There is always the possibility that it might leak or pop off like it has when I stand up and get it caught on something.  I have to be careful lifting things so that I do not herniate my stoma.  Also because of my open wound I have to wear diapers ever day due to the wound trying to heal.  So with all of that going on I am to remain positive all the time despite the anxiety and depression that have come along with it and have been exasperated by the prednisone that I was on. 

Yes I am getting healthy and let me be the first to tell you I am very thankful for this but there are days that I wish I had been healthy enough not to have to have an ostomy.  So next time you see someone and just assume that because they look healthy and are not needing your assistance right away that they are ok and do not need a helping hand every now and then.  We all need some support every now and then.  I like to tell Jude all the time that even Superman and Spiderman need help from their friends every now and then.