Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Blackspire update

Blackspire - cheaper and more durable as XTR at the same weight. Whats not to love??

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Healthy Raspberry Scones

I don't bake much, that is mostly left to Amy. Here the recipe

Raspberry Scones


Makes 8

Ingredients
2 cups whole spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup coconut oil, plus more for brushing (canola works too)
1/3 cup agave nectar, plus more for brushing
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup hot water
1 cup fresh raspberries (blue berries and black berries work too)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil, agave nectar, and vanilla and stir together until a thick, slightly dry batter is formed. Pour the hot water into the batter and mix. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the raspberries just until they are marbled throughout the batter.

3. For each scone, scoop 1?3 cup batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Space the scoops 1 inch apart to allow them to spread. Lightly brush the tops with the oil. Bake the scones on the center rack for 14 minutes, rotating the sheet 180degrees after 7 minutes. The finished scones will be golden and slightly firm. Remove from the oven and brush with agave nectar.

4. Let the scones stand on the sheet for 15 minutes, then carefully slide a spatula under each and transfer it to a wire rack and cool completely. Store the scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Merry Christmas to Us

Amy and I got our Christmas present delivered and installed today.



I know ya'll are envious!!















Thursday, December 10, 2009

My New Apron


Neat little stocking stuffer Amy found.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Get yer Transplant On

OK one more try at this, seems I found a way to delete entire blog posts with out even trying.

So back to the transplant story. On Nov 8th - yes the very next day - the phone rang again. At 0500 UW Madison caled again. They had anohter set of organs. Now keep in mnd that I got the fist call 15 days after getting on the transplant list. Thats pretty quick. I knew that I wasthe number one candidate in the Ablood group. So when I got sent home I was not too disapointed because I had not been waiting al that long. I figure another couple of weeks I might get caled again. I never expected les than 24 hours.

We repeated the fire drill we learned on Saturday morning - finding someone to watch Will - we never unpacked so we were ready to go - we called the gang of friends and family again - we drop at top leagl speed+ to Madison.

Once we got there we started thepre op prcedures again. I felt a differance right away, everything seemed to be hapening with a greater sense of urgency. They insert 2 IV lines, drew yet more blood, made certain I was "empty", had me shower with special soap to wash my belly,and met with a parade of Doctors and Nurses. I actualy had the same Nurse assigned as the day before.

We arrived at UW Hostipal around 8am and around 1230 I was wheeled down to the Pre Op room as opposed to being in my assigned room. Last I remeber here is that they were going to give me something for the anxiety - Well it knocked me out. Amy was not ready for this. Like me she thought that it would just take the edge off. Shortly after that I was wheeled into to surgery. Game On!!

The surgery took just over 5 hours. The team called Amy with regular updates. They installed the kidney first. They calad Amy and let her know that as soon as it was hooked up it started producing pee. No Lazy kidney here! Next was the pancreas. Again as soon as it was hooked up it started working.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A whole lot has happened

So as you all already know I am not the most prolific blogger. A lot has happened since my last update. Namely I got my transplant!! I'll step you through it. The whole experience has been pretty amazing.


The process started Saturday Morning November 7th. The phone rang at 530am. It was the on call transplant nurse at UW Madison Health services. She said that they had some organs and that my name came up on the top of the list. Was I interested? Well duh...She explained that I needed to find my way there ASAP to get ready. SO having nothing packed Amy and I started making calls to get Will taken care of. Amy's brother Dan came over right away for the first shift of Will watching. Her folks were to arrive a little later and take him for a day or two after that. SO we pack and off to Madison we go. Along the way we are busy call friends and family with the news.


Once at the hospital we get checked in and shown to my room. The room is pretty tiny but it will have to do. The team starts getting me prepped. blood work, BP, IVs, gowns etc... The explain the events that will lead up to the actual surgery. Somewhere in the middle of this Amy who has not yet had breakfast or lunch ducks out to find the cafeteria and grab a bite. It is at this moment one of the doc pops in and tells me that itm is Game Off. Seems the donor pancreas is not viable.

The donor had suffered massive head trauma and was determined to be brain dead. After the family says their goodbyes the donor is taken off life support. The expectation is that life ceases and the procurement process begins. This did not happen in a timely fashion. After 30 minutes off life support the pancreas is no longer viable. This is what happened. This donors kidneys however were still used so there were still 2 kidney transplants that day. For me it was a false alarm.

So they sent us home. On the way home we re-call everyone we called on the way to pass on the update. We were disappointed but since I had only been on the list for 2 weeks we were pretty certain that the next wait would not be too long.