If anyone is reading this, welcome!
I had previously blogged for a short while and have grown to miss it. Writing things down is quite therapeutic. You'll notice that I am not the strongest writer, but you can never improve your weaknesses if you never work on them. I have a beautiful wife of over 16 years and a 7 year-old baby girl. My ladies are my world and the reason that I work so hard every day. Having the ability to be active with them is PRICELESS.
Photo courtesy of our friend Jenni at Jenni M. Photography
My personality: I am sarcastic, cynical, a realist, my language could use some work, I like to laugh and make others laugh as well. I prefer someone to be honest with me and piss me off than to blow smoke up my ass and question my intelligence. I return that same honesty in kind -- this does not put me at the top of everyone's Christmas card mailing list and I'm not very popular. I honestly don't care; I'm not on this Earth to impress anyone and I sleep perfectly fine at night.
I am an Electrical and Computer Engineer by education and a Software Engineer by.. well.. I pretty much got stuck there. I have no complaints at all and I enjoy what I do for a living most days :). I've spent several years designing and developing Modeling and Simulation software for new and existing systems as well as radar analysis software to verify proper functionality. I would love to go back to college to finish my Master's Degree and PhD, but life happens, medical issues happen, and I am in no hurry to take time away from my family right now. Family time is invaluable to me.
I was a "military brat" and have lived in WAY too many places to list. I currently live and work in Huntsville, Alabama but I really miss living in several parts of Florida. I despise racism, bigotry, and prejudice in all forms and have a zero tolerance policy for it. This made me really unpopular going through high school in the small town of Cullman, Alabama :). Good times.
** Caveat -- none of the information below is in any way seeking sympathy. It is what it is and shit happens. Most importantly, it's the truth. Hopefully, my suck story can help someone who is having, or has had, a similar set of circumstances thrown at them.
While it may sound like everything is perfect in my little world, that hasn't always been the case. My wife of 16 years is actually my second wife. I was the idiot who got married directly out of high school when I thought that I knew everything. That divorce not only cost me everything I owned, but it also cost me my college scholarship. My career? Well, that's a funny one.. depending on how you classify it, this is actually either my second or third career. Life happens..
My first career was building and installing chicken house equipment (cages, motors, plumbing, etc.) for the "family business". I started working for my father when I was 10 years old. We were not well off and needed the money. If you want a REALLY hard and crappy job, look no further! I have one for you!
In my previous (2nd) career, I was an auto and diesel mechanic for about 10 years: eight years on passenger cars/trucks and the final two years on tractor-trailers and heavy equipment (industrial forklifts, tractors, etc.) while taking random college classes to eventually finish my degree. During this time I was EXTREMELY active. My work days were usually 10-12 hours and afterward, I would either go to the driving range and hit a few hundred golf balls or go to the gym and lift heavy. Also, I usually ran (jogged) 5-6 miles per night. I was always busy. UNTIL..
One day at work (2004), I was installing a clutch kit in a Peterbilt (18-wheeler) and it slipped. I had to twist and catch a 180 pound clutch assembly really quick or it would have landed on my leg, crushed my femur, and I probably would have bled out in the shop that day (I was alone). The good news is that I'm alive to tell about it. The bad news is that it cost me three discs in my back, damaged two others, and stole 10 years of my life. Activity has officially reached a screeching halt. It took four full months to re-learn to walk after this. As a result of this injury, I had gained a lot of weight over the years due to immobility, medication, and several other related factors. At its pinnacle, I had ballooned up to 295 pounds!
Fast forward to 2009: I was formally diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Osteoarthritis, and Degenerative Disc Disease. The hits just keep on coming here at W-SUK -- home of Embracing the Suck! Degenerative Disc Disease is fairly straight-forward, but if you are not familiar with the other three, let's just say that they are not very enticing.
Fast forward to 2011: the pain became too unbearable to maintain sanity. By this time, I had lost two inches in height. Back rebuild #1 was inevitable. For this procedure, my doctor went in through my stomach, pulled my insides out and put them on a tray like you would receive your food at Sonic, stretch me back to normal, and install two implants at L4 and L5 (with two plates and 5 screws). Not only did this procedure SUCK, but I had to re-learn to walk AGAIN. My wife took me outside every day to help me learn to walk 1/10th of a mile at a time with a walker halfway to the STOP sign and back incrementally adding more distance.
Fast forward 7 months: my back was still not right. After a MRI and CT scan, my doctor found that my fusions did not heal completely, my L3 disc was still bulging, and the S1 disc in my tailbone was not there. At all. Nothing. Here comes back surgery #2, three discs repaired, one disc installed, two more rods, and six more screws. Yay! I'm bionic! This procedure was also not desirable and my wife was once again helping me to re-learn to walk.. 1/10th of a mile at a time with a walker.
Fast forward to March 2014: I had already lost 60 pounds, but the pain in my back was still REALLY bad -- even with spinal epidurals every 3 months. My doctor had found scar tissue and nerve damage from all the years of.. well.. everything. Time for back surgery #3. I requested that he remove the rods and screws installed with back surgery #2 if they were not longer needed and he had no problem with this. After this surgery, the difference was between night and day. I could move again! This was when I started running -- I had missed it so much. I honestly never appreciated mobility until I was immobile and/or intermittently bedridden for about 10 years.
Running has revived me and has given me hope. In my opinion, every run is a gift and I appreciate the hell out of it. Due to the nature of my medical issues, I am ALWAYS in pain -- the only question is "how much"? Despite this, I will continue to run and appreciate every moment of it. I will never be the fastest, but I will continue to try. I'm a glutton for punishment and I do not believe in the word "quit". It's not in my nature.
Happy running everyone! Enjoy and appreciate every opportunity you have to step out of the door and put one foot in front of the other -- it is a GIFT!
- Randall
