But, (no pun intended) if I didn't care about you guys I wouldn't have said anything at all. I have an uncle that waited too long to be checked and as a result cancer nearly claimed his life. He survived but with complications that he will endure for the rest of his life. My dad also waited too long & as a result was split open from mid chest to below his belly button for emergency exploratory surgery at which time he also narrowly escaped death & lost about a foot of his colon.
Why did they wait so long? I dunno, embarrassment, maybe a little fear?
So that's why I'm ok with sharing my experience (sparing some details of course.)
My experience started with a day before "prep" which was an all liquid (clear liquids) diet followed by a large jug of evil juice I like to call "turbo lax", the stuff is gross but all you campfire members, deer camp goers... I've got a feeling you've all probably consumed worse things than the turbo lax mixture.
Then after repeated porcelain throne sessions things finally settle down and you go to bed. Next day you go in, they hook you up to some monitors for vitals, they explain things to you, then the nice doctor gives you a couple of shots that put you just past that point of drinking those "terty cans of beer" on da second week of deer camp. You�re out cold for the whole thing.
You wake up & say something like "wow that was fast, must have been like 5 minutes huh?" then the nurse informs you that it was more like a half an hour & asks you if you�d like some apple juice. Then when you get some of your balance back you get up & get dressed.
This level of consciousness/balance can be likened to a trip outside the deer shack in the dark to take a leak, you're in tough enough shape that you hang on to everything in your path such as chairs, walls etc but you're also proud of the fact that you still knew enough to make it out the front door to relieve yourself & not do like Toyvo Maki that one time who got up & went to the kitchen, opened the fridge door & let it fly.....
So, ya get dressed still feeling about � drunk then you have someone drive you home so you can �rest�. Or in my case you have Pam drive you straight to the nearest cafe & you order a huge breakfast with a cup of coffee & a glass of OJ, then you go to work.
No big deal.
And the best part is I'm happy to report that I've got nothing evil secretly attempting to claim my life in that particular part of my body, so I got that going for me, which is nice.
So, when you reach that age where it should be checked out, or say you feel like something is wrong even though you might think you are too young to be having troubles. Talk to your doctor and if he/she advises a scope, don't avoid it or be nervous about it. It's no big deal.
Guys, we're coming up on a year for this thread. I forgot to look at the counter before i clicked on the thread this morning but I think we're over 27000 views. The shack was merely a set of railroad tie footings & some floor structure this time last year & the camp members were made up of bruised hearts looking to pull together & create something that we could all belong to for the rest of our lives.
The shack has now stood & endured one deer season & one Minnesota winter. The walls have absorbed the sounds of friends & family talking, laughing, planning. It's like the little shack has thrust it's roots into the ground out there, it's becoming the sort of place that just feels like it's always been out there with the trees & the critters.
Our deer camp members have also acclimated nicely, comfort, belonging, it's what I wanted. Now all we gotta do is keep cookin up memories. These kids will grow up with this deer camp as part of there childhood, and maybe it's just now hitting me, the fact that it's all pretty cool. Kind of a big deal I guess.
OK, enough jibber jabber.
Tzone's been shopping for "buck jam" already, my oldest boy was oogling over rifle scopes in the cabelas catalog last night, I've been building deer stands in my head...
It's getting closer!!!
Dave
Edit for correction, I see now that we are approaching 29000 views. That's crazy, what's wrong with you silly people?
Last edited by northern_dave; 08/05/08. Reason: correction
