Its been a long, long time!hey there! some of you i know thought i was dead. sad to disapoint you. nope, i am alive and kicking. a lot has happend in the past year since my last update... sorry, and here's why. my UC flared last fall and it affected my school. i was put in the hospital from december 27 till january 3... yeah, tell me that didnt suck. the very cool thing is that Lauren, and my parents and even little bro.. spent a lot of time with me because it was Christmas break and my parents both had a lot of sick time built up. secondly, i was put back into the hospital on April 15 and released on the 26th. um yah, more fun. I was then readmitted on May 1st, and on the 7th i had my colon removed. some people try to keep it a secret so no one knows... i realy dont care. if there is someone out there suffering from UC or any other GI tract disorder, i will whole heartdly encourage then to talk with me. So now, I am completeing my incompletes from last spring, which totals including my current class road, 21 credit hours and a part time job. The best thing about the past year is actualy what has happend to me. My girlfriend Lauren, is the best thing to ever happen to me. She stood by my side from the begining of the long of trouble, and she still stands by me even though we both know that there is more trouble to come, just with in the next 6 months. i still have two more surgerys to go through, which may have complications. the first surgery let me enoucnter, pnuemonia, and renal failure. that was fun.... but, all is better. i have come to understand what i need to do in life to repay God and his glory for letting me live. See, the doctor told me(after the removal of the colon) that if i would have waited more than a few more days... IE a week, i probably would have died due to the toxicity inside my body. imagine this.... cut the bottom(about 1inch) off the end of a 2 liter bottle so you still have the pour spout. take an appoxy and apply it to the inside of the 2-liter. then take a larger party ballon and insert it into the pour spout, so the ballon is inside the bottle, but the end is around the pour spout, then blow it up and watch it adhear to the inside of the bottle. that is what my colon looked like inside my abdominal wall. now, try to pull the ballon off the inside of the 2-liter with out damaging the ballon... yeah, i owe my life not only to the surgeon, but to Lauren. I had told her early on that if it came to surgery, i wasnt going to do that and just let the disease takes its course, bc i was so scaried of the surgery and the negatives i had heard about it. but bc of her, i had something to live for... mom, dad, zach,,, dont get me wrong, i love you guys too! i had batteld the disease for so long that i had come to peice with God and his plan for me. Now after the surgery, I will fight and am going to fight FEVERISHLY to keep my life and protect all that come around or near me. I will tell you right now, i have never had a better reason to live and fight for life then i do right now. you have to go to the brink of death and stare him in the face, to truly understand how gifted we are to have the ability to enjoy life and cherrish it. lauren is the one who actualy called my parents and told them how i was really doing. i would constantlylie to my parents and relatives about my condition as to not let them know truly how sick i was. even my friends at school and the guys i lived with didnt know how sick i was, bc i was that good at hiding and keeping it a secret. bc if lauren and the surgery, i am now able to complete school.. come december, and graduate with my BS of CJ from SIUE. I will be working apartime job at Home Depot in Collinsville, untill i get a job with a police agency. if you know anyone who is suffering from a GI tract autoimmune disease, please tell them to contact me. i would be more than willing to talk with them and try to help them through this rough time in their life. trust me, seaking help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign that you want help and are reaching out for comfort. i thought that seaking for help was a sign of weaknes... just ask lauren and the numerous times i worked on Duty and still was battleing not only drunk and stupid people, but also myself. Everyone needs a little help once in a while. if you need help, of would like someone to talk to, please, contact me for any assistance you or someone you know might need. once again, i cant stress enough, life is worth cherrishing and enjoying every second that you live. please, tell the ones around you how you truly feel, bc one day, you might not get the chance. I want to appoligize for the sudden onslaught of fellings and emotions, but it needed to get out. thank you all for listen/reading this. i love life, lauren and the Big Guy upstairs and all they have to offer! Zane. inserted are my view i was able to enjoy while spending a total of 5 weeks at barnes jewish in STL. | 
