Well, if you aren’t following my social media feeds you’re probably wondering where I’ve been.
I have been hospitalized since November 29 and I just came home, December 16.
18 days, man, lying on my back. My butt was numb.
Needless to say, I haven’t done much bonsai in those days.
I’ll sprinkle some glamour shots for your entertainment purposes to make the post pretty in places. Like this:
That’s an ilex vomitoria schillings above.
Makes you want to crawl up underneath in the shade and take a cool nap.
I also have one tip I can pass on. I’ve been saving it.
My ordeal began with a pain in my belly. We were going through the gate to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and a sharp pain shot through me. I do have an illness but it’s not supposed to cause what happened here and the prior two times I’ve had flare ups.
Basically, what happened to me is a severe blockage in my lower intestine. I still have it (probably) but I’ll get to that later.
My illness is called mastocytic enterocolitis. I’ll let you look it up. I’m a rare disease.
I’m not going to show any gross pictures (except some selfies…nobody wants to see me) and I’ll be very brief as to what they did to me and what’s to come.
Basically, I had a severe swelling in my lower colon and caused me to be full of shit and hot air (about usual I guess, if you’ve read the blog before.)
They bypassed that swollen part at the end of the small intestines and created a stoma, basically a hole in which I now attach an ostomy device to catch my waste. I know, ewwwwww.
My large intestine needs to rest and heal for a few months and this is how they do it. In my case it’s called an ileostomy. If it’s on the colon it’s called a colostomy, which you’ve heard of probably.
How about a tree?
This was a demo tree I did for the Treasure Coast Bonsai club. It’s a hollywood juniper.
The last I’ll say on my ordeal is that I was insane, hopeless, I was ready to end. My family, the nurses and staff, the doctors. They all helped me through. I cannot thank everyone who helped me, there is no way.
I’ve had an outpouring of support from the bonsai community as well. If you look through the social media feeds you’ll understand.
There is a Crowdrise fundraiser set up to help here. I’m not begging for myself but for my four kids.
Here’s that tip I promised you.
I blew out the bottom of this pot.
It’s not a hundred dollar pot but it’s useful.
I have an aluminum mesh from americanbonsai.com
I trimmed it to a circle.
Perfect fit.
Some wire.
I’m ready for bonsai.
I would like to thank my family for putting up with me, especially my sister Robin, who’s also an RN.
I love my wife Rebecca. I could not have done any of this without her. Thank you.
Hopefully for my readers, I’ll be able to bring some bonsai to you soon. As a final shot, here’s a bald cypress I’ve been working on. Enjoy!
Adam's Art and Bonsai Blog 
Glad to hear you’re home with your family for the holidays. I hope you recover quickly, your posts have been missed. Recover first, we will wait for your posting once your better.
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It is good to know that you are back home! All the best from Denmark. Heres to a quick recovery and an abundance of trees for you to care for.
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Reblogged this on Kaya's Bonsai Corner.
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Man I am so sorry to hear of your ordeal and hope for the best for you in your recovery and time of need. I don’t got facebook or nothing so didn’t know, but I sure have missed you and been wondering. Don’t never give. You have a whole bunch of friends out here care about you. Take care, heal up , and see you when you get back online. Bruce
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Thank you Bruce my friend
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Really missed your blog Adam, including your weird and perverted sense of humor. Never thought I’d say that. We didn’t know what happened to you until our club meeting last Saturday and Marty filled us in. I hope you are feeling much better very soon.
Kay from Huyku Bonsai Club.
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so glad you are home and feeling better. All my hopes and prayers for a complete recovery. just wish I lived closer, so I could help more. Really good to be reading your blog again. I really did miss it.. and always enjoy it. take care my friend, and I am a phone call away. Been down in a heartbeat, if you need me.
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Thanks my friend. I wished you lived closer too. Love you man
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Great to hear you are back home. I’ve been watching every day for a post and wondering how you were after your ordeal. Everyone who reads you posts are so relieved you are back. Please don’t rush your recovery.Take time to recover.
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So good to hear your ‘voice’. Never saw a Bald Cypress that looks quite like that one but I’ve never met a guy that’s quite like you. That’s a compliment, you know. I was going to tell you to ‘Take it Easy’ but everyone else already is. And then the Eagles song came to mind and the first line made me burst out laughing because it seemed apropos (sort of). Enjoy your special Christmas holiday with your family and looking forward to our new CFBC adventures in 2015!
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Adam you are one of a kind so it is appropriate that you have a rare disease or condition. Been praying for you a lot, glad mine and every one else’s prayers worked. Jerry has his 5th and last (praying) surgery on his ankle 3 weeks from today. Too bad we are a long way away or you and he could sit and We’ll keep watching you.
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Sorry to hear. Hope you get better Adam.
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I have on feedly and was checking if the feed was not working properly. I hope everything of the best from the South Africa.
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Sorry to hear about your hospital stay. Hope you heal quickly.
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Sorry to hear about your illness. Hope you feel better soon. Best wishes and Merry Christmas from Panamá.
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So happy you are back home with family. We all missed you . Thanks for the blog it’s a real Christmas present! Thank you.
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Just hit the follow button! Hope a good and speedy recovery so you can get back to what’s important-booze…I mean, Bonsai, well both! (and posting lol)
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So glad to hear you’re doing better and are back home. Aside from being a rare disease, you’re quite a character. Thanks for adding the glamour shots to your post about shit… really helped soften the image. 🙂 Prayers for your continued recovery and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
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Sorry to hear about everything you have been going through. Hopefully thoughts of your family, friends, and Ilex “schillings’ will help you get you through this with more comfort.. I’m hoping 2015 brings you only the best!
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HI Adam,
I really missed you and was wondering about your absence. I’m sorry to hear about your illness and happy to know that you are recovering. Wish you a quick recovery and a very ‘healthy’ new year.
Regards
Anita Sabharwal
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Adam, I just learned today of your illness. I am very upset and feel very bad for you and your family. I will come and visit you ASAP. I will pray for you every day from today forward. If you need anything please call me and I will do what ever I can to help you out, (even pull weeds). Good luck Adam! Don
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Just give me a call Don. How are you feeling?
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I understand you had a relapse after going home the first time. How are things now? During the same time frame I was going thru two surgeries of kidney stones. Nothing as severe as you. My Uncle has had a ostmy for 27 years due to colon cancer and he is an old pro. Hope you get stronger every day. Al
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I went in for another week after being home for a week. I had a fever so we went back to the emergency room, as per instructions. Somehow they guessed that I may have some blood clots and after a sonogram on my legs and a chest ct they found deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms. So now im on coumadin for at least six months to clear them up.
But after all that I am getting better and stronger every day.
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Good for you. My wife is on coumadin, been on it for 15 years. She has Atrial Fibrillation. She hates the diet and all the blood tests, but its better than a clot. Get strong, we need the humor back.
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Still reading straight through from the start, wow, what a crappy ordeal for you and your family. One of our four kids has mastocytosis urticaria pigmentosa, also rare and usually is accompanied by GI issues as well so the name of your disease was somewhat familiar. Also saw the comment how you ended up back in again, am one of the 1/3 that reads everything. Wished I could have offered support at the appropriate time…
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