In search of a happy, healthy, and long life

Winter has finally set in here at Mile 14, it's bitterly cold and with that comes the most stunning beauty. Us Alaskans know that there's nothing like 10 below zero to bring out the morning and evening Alpenglow and the frost like this.

The river is finally 'setting up' and it makes this wonderful sloshing sound for days. Pretty soon the ole creek will be locked up for the winter and Jet-dog will be under the supervision of our new house sitter Rebeca and me and MPeasy will be in Maz... When it first got cold it seemed like our new 100% efficient boiler wasn't keeping the house warm so we had to call our plumber. He checked it out and it was working perfect...he just said that maybe we weren't use to winter anymore, maybe kinda forgot what it was like at 10 below.....mmmmm.....time to go.

How would like to lose 5 unsightly pounds in 2 days? Or maybe set a personal best for all time sleep endurance by snoozing 18 of a 24 hour day. Maybe you'd like a little out of body experience, ya know, slip back to the 1960's for just a bit. Maybe you'd like to entertain your wife with a Dairy Queen Blizzard and then get locked in the car while she shops the Fred Meyer store ?  Or maybe you'd like to have  someone you love and trust to think that taking a pic of you like this is funny....well....if you want any of those things and way, way, way more that I just can't and won't mention....have a colonoscopy. What happened to my comb over?

The colonoscopy and the digital prostrate exam are two things I've been dodging for 10 years, successfully. But lately I got to figuring that I've got a really, really, really good life and I oughta do just about all I can to keep it is along as I can.  So about 3 weeks ago we scheduled the procedures with Dr. Kelly, he had only one time frame available before our migration, it was at 12 noon the day before Thanksgiving. Well I quickly found out why he had that time frame available...you'd either have to be out of your mind or be Jeff King to submit to a colonoscopy at noon on any day, especially Thanksgiving eve. After you've ah.....purged your system like I did for two days instead of the mandatory one day ( you know how I am about over doing things) then comes a 6 hour before the procedure of absolutely no fluids or food at all.  It was horrible. I was so dehydrated that I looked like that model builder guy with the blisters all over his lips in the movie The Flight of the Phoenix. 

Now if you ask me I'd say that's one damn fine looking colon. But....not so quick. You see that bump right about mid-ship? Well, that's exactly what this test is supposed to be looking for, either a cancerous or precancerous polyp, we won't know until the biopsy comes back. But for me I think it's kind of a yahtzee deal as no matter what the test says it's gone and so is another just like it, the only ones that were found. From what I understand what it could mean is that I have to keep an eye on it and have the colonoscopy done more often than once every 10 years...So once I get really good at this deal I'm having the procedure first thing in the morning, on a Monday so I got the rest of the week to get over the ....ahhhhh.....shock of it all I guess.