So many are thinking where the hell have you been? I realized real quick that being a blogger was not the easiest thing in the world to do. I was finding myself just blogging about bad judging... I didn't want that to be what I only wrote about, so I just quit doing it. I have a whole bunch of draft blogs that are all ready to release from the summer, but don't know if I will ever do that...
My intent of this blog is to update folks on what is going on with me after the Jack. My team was fortunate enough to qualify for the Jack Daniel's World Barbeque Invitational Championship last weekend in Lynchburg, TN. As many of you can figure out, it is probably my favorite contest that is going out there. I just love Lynchburg and the whole setting for the BBQ contest.
We were heading down last Wednesday with my girls and my sister. We had stopped off just South of Indy to unload my tanks and to fill up with propane and gas. I was feeling a little light headed and took a moment to catch my breath. Went inside to pay my bill and it hit me. This is where it gets cloudy for me. I am not sure if I had a seizure or if I had a seizure after blacking out and hitting my head. I had quite a knot on my head, so I am not really sure. All I know is I came too, with 2 paramedics checking me out. My sister and my girls were with me and the fear that was on my girls faces will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life. They have been through a lot with loosing their mommy at an early age and I know what they were thinking. I tried to assure them the best I could that I was alright and everything would be OK. So I was off in the ambulance to the Emergency and they followed behind in my RV.
Once at the Emergency Room they did all the tests that they could do on me, including a CT scan. Everything was coming back as being OK. After about a 5 hour delay, they released me and we were on our way to Lynchburg. I did not want to miss it and I was feeling good enough to go down and cook. I had friends coming in from all over the country and I did not want to disappoint. Not that they wouldn't of understood, but it was probably not wanting to disappoint myself either... Did I feel OK? No not really. The best way to describe how I felt was half drunk... All the time... Which probably wouldn't surprise half of you, but I wasn't drinking anything! Just because of the effects that it was doing to me. I stuck it out and got all of our categories turned in! Got a few calls with some help from ALL of my team. Thanks to you all!
Now the fun part. Part of having a seizure is you automatically lose your driving privileges... Yep, I can't drive!!! As a single dad with 2 little girls, that is a major problem for me! I have come back home and have had a CT, EEG and MRI. Nothing is alarming, but I have also not received a report from my neurologist. How are we going to survive? I have no clue. Fortunately, I can walk to my train to get downtown for my job. We have a local store about 2 blocks from our house for food. I'll be hitting up all of my friends and family to drive me around I guess. We have dealt with so much in the past, this is just a bump in road of life. I will admit it scares the hell out of me, but I guess if they found that I didn't have a brain or something like that, they would of told me. So for that, I am happy.
For now, I really do feel pretty good. I still have, for a lack of a better term, vertigo attacks. This vertigo is nothing to joke at. It will bring you to your knees. I am a big strong guy and it cripples me. Fortunately, I usually only have them when I am laying in bed. But they do freak me out. That is about the only side effect that I am feeling. Oh and being really really tired. For those that know me, I usually get about 5 hours of sleep a night. Lately, I have been getting 8-9 hours a night!!!
What will the future hold? I don't know. Obviously, if I can't drive I can't compete, which is probably my biggest concern. Not for the competition part, but for the part that I can't get out there for my cause. That is why I BBQ. Winning trophies, ribbons and awards is real nice. Giving away $25k grants for cancer research and to assist those that are fighting cancer is my real drive. Many know that I do this so my kids will have a better understanding of who and what their mommy stood for. She was not a quitter and neither will I quit. The cards that were dealt my wife were a lot worse than what I have had to deal with. So while I can complain and whine, I won't. I have my health and while it might of failed me on that drive to Lyncburg, I still have my health... Which I am fortunate for.
So all I ask is that you hug your loved one's. Give your kids a hug and tell them how much you love them. You never know when that might be taken from you. Trust me when I say that I never want to see that fear on my girls little faces ever again. So what ever I need to do to get healthy, I will do what it takes.
Hopefully we will see you out on the BBQ trail. I have already had to cancel one of my favorite contests out in Arizona with the AZ Barbeque crew. I am hoping that it will be temporary and you will see cancersuckschicago.com out on the circuit in 2010...
Thanks to all for the well wishes. The support that I receive is amazing.
See you all down the road!
Cancer Sucks!!!!
Scottie
ps I am attaching a picture that Karen Walker took from the Jack. This was for the first BBQ call of the contest, which was for 10th place sauce! Yes, I used a Blues Hog Sauce!!! What was I doing? No clue, but I think I was excited that I was getting a bottle of Jack!!! ;-)
