Beach Over... Now Post

I just got home from Myrtle Beach with my friend Amanda. It was quite an experience. I really enjoyed myself. After being in the hospital for about two weeks, I needed a break. I went to the beach on the first day without sunscreen. Needless to say, my skin decided to turn a bright shade of pink. After the burning subsided, I went back outside to attempt to gain a tan. In the end, my tan turned out quite well. My legs are still a little bit warm, but they might also be warm, because I have my laptop on my lap. My sister took a "few" pictures while at the beach. So feel free to search through the ones that I am tagged in via Facebook. On a side note, I noticed on Srav's blog the summer DWC blog list. I guess I have to get my act together. With everything going on at home, there hasn't been much time for me to stalk. I'll get through this tough time in my life. On a brighter note, my mother just suggested getting Subway for dinner. I can't wait to get a foot-long Italian BMT with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and lots of Italian dressing. Off to Dinner Land!

Just In Time

I would just like to start out thanking everyone that came to visit me, while I was in the hospital. I understand that not all of my friends lived close enough (aka everyone from Drexel) to come and visit. For those people, thank you for all the text messages and various online response methods. As I write this post, I am laying in my bed at home. I got out yesterday around 5:30pm. I was so excited to be wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair. I am feeling much better, and now I have to start packing for vacation. I am heading to Myrtle Beach with my father's side of the family. Since my sister and I fall in an age bracket in between our cousins and second cousins, it gets a bit lonely. The only way to combat this is to either hang out with the youngsters or invite our own friends. I decided to invite my friend Amanda Olar for such a trek with the Sawford Family. I told Amanda that I want to sleep all day, but apparently, she has other plans that include the beach. I would now like to point out that my father and I hate the beach. I have a minor case of OCD, so I don't like the beach. I end up showering about three times a day. With my recent surgery, I will now be taking longer showers, since the right side of my chest is covered in scars and stitches. Even though I might not enjoy the trip, my surgery almost cost my immediate family the entire trip. If I was unable to go on the trip, my family was going to cancel it. I really didn't want to have such a burden due to a fluke in the genetic lottery (7 in 100,000 men have a spontaneous pneumothorax while in their 20's). Well it is time for my first real shower at home. I'm a little excited and a little scared. Thanks again everyone for your kind (and occasionally not so kind ) words of encouragement.

Only Me...

I deeply apologize to everyone that wanted an exciting post from me the last couple of weeks. I was going to post last Friday night after I went to the Carnegie Science Center with a few of my friends. The Science Center is Pittsburgh's version of the Franklin Institute. I just haven't made it home yet to post about the exciting trip. I'll make sure (once I get to my camera) to post all of the pictures that I took, while we were there. Below will a short outline of my week's events.

Please note: All times are approximate

Friday, July 20th
9:30am - Leave my house to pick up friends / Chest begins to hurt while driving
10:50am - Finally pick everyone up / Take Advil just in case I was having a heart attack
11:30am - 3:30pm - Enjoy the Science Center with plenty of chest pain and Canadians
4:30pm - Check-in at doctor's office for chest pain
5:30pm - Get chest x-ray
6:00pm - Check-in to Emergency Room / Find out I have a 20-25% Spontaneous Pneumothorax
8:00pm - Admitted to hospital for overnight stay / Receive mask for continuous intake of oxygen

Saturday, July 21st
6:00am - Daily Chest X-ray
8:00am - Doctors explain Spontaneous Pneumothorax (Note: I had a Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax)

Sunday, July 22nd
7:00am - Left room for the Operating Room
7:15am - Met anesthesiologist and surgeon
8:00am - Surgery!
9:30am - Left Surgery for a day of recovery in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit)

Monday, July 23rd
4:00am - Finally get to bed after being completely uncomfortable even while heavily medicated
6:00am - Daily Chest X-Ray / Found out I was bleeding out onto the bed from the surgery and movement from 4am
1:00pm - Move to Post-Surgical Floor

Tuesday, July 24th
Daily Chest X-ray / Blood work / Sleep

Wednesday, July 25th
Normal Daily Stuff
5:00pm - Attempt #1 to get out chest tube
5:03pm - Lung completely deflates / Extremely short of breath
5:05pm - Body enters a Near-Vasovagal Syncope
5:30pm - "STAT" Chest X-ray
5:45pm - Insert a new and smaller chest tube
6:00pm - Semi-legit STAT Chest X-ray

Thursday, July 26th
Normal Daily Stuff

Friday, July 27th (Today)
Normal Daily Stuff

So my life has been a bit hectic regarding my hospital visit. The next attempt to remove the new chest tube will be on Sunday. I must get better before next Friday though, because I'm going on vacation to Myrtle Beach, and I'm taking Amanda Olar with me. I would like to thank everyone that has come and visited me so far, since I've been in the hospital. I understand that not everyone could come and visit, and each of your text messages have made my stay here a bit easier. I thank everyone for everything. It truly has made life so much better.

This Is for Stalkerbook not LameSpace

I refuse to get a MySpace, but I just wanted to see what my relationships thoughts were according to this online quiz. It seems to fit me quite perfectly. Feel free to read if you have a few more moments to waste. Let's hope my blog's auto-formatting won't mess up the following table.

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

Golf Lessons

Since I'm just sitting on my couch, I thought I'd just continue to blog post. I don't need Srav on my case anymore. I would like to give everyone a little background, before I get into the discussion on golf. In the Western World, each progressing generation strives to better themselves compared to the former. As of now, I'm a middle class American, and like the previous statement, I would like to better myself from my parents' current socio-economical standing. This is partly the reason, I chose engineering. I have a lot of other motivations, but this was just one of the smaller reasons for such a career. My ultimate goal is to become a yuppie. With that said, I have always wanted to take up golf and tennis. Both sports are envied by some and achieved by few. I want to be able to master both sports. Both sports would be used for personal fitness and business purposes. To be able to perform sufficiently well in golf specifically, one may increase the number of business relationships on and off the course. Taking up both sports is more of a business venture on my part. One must always look towards the future. This is just one way that I plan on bettering myself in the future. Stay tuned to see if I reveal any other secrets to my life or gourmet cooking tips.

Birthday & Such

I forgot to update everyone on my trip to the DPhiE formal. I had a really good time, and I hope that is a good enough description for everyone. The only reason I am currently posting is because Srav yelled at me again. Now to the good stuff! Today is my birthday, and I'm twenty. I wrote a note on facebook as of yesterday to thank everyone for saying "Happy Birthday" or some variant. Obviously the note has come with some opposition. I can't believe some people would de-tag themselves just to make me feel bad. Well these "people" need to get over themselves. Actually though, I'm not angry by any means, but I like to try to sound like I'm a mean person. I just can't do it though. Here is one of my commonly used quotes at some sort of gala or event. "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." Thank god for Lesley Gore! Well my mother just made me breakfast, so it is chow time.

English Project

Recently, I have been working quite hard on my collaborate final English project. The assignment was to teach a play that we read in a unique way. My group decided to make a Tivo-ish script. We recorded different types of genres, and we are just going to let it play, while we talk about the shows. If it turns out well, we are going to do wonderfully on this project. The performance (aka teaching) will practically determine our grade on the project. I mean, of course, we have a paper. The paper should also turn out wonderfully. I spent a little bit of my time last night editing it to its current condition. I hope that it is going to turn out well.
Now onto a happier note! I went with my friend this weekend to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. It was amazing. I can't wait for it to come out on video. I actually wouldn't mind going back to see the movie in theaters. After the movie, my friend asked me to go with her to her sorority (semi-)formal. I was so excited. That now totals me at three Greek events, without ever having to be a Greek. The formal is Saturday night, and I might have to match fuchsia. I'm not too sure how that is going to turn out. She still has to decide on a color, so that I can match though. I'll make sure to update everyone on her color selection, most likely after the dinner on Saturday. Finals week is next week, so wish me luck!