That sucks, but just remember the saying: Everything happens for a reason...

Richard,

I hope you are encouraged by what I found on my home page this morning...

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”- Joshua 1:9

I don't know if this helps, but this may be a little up-lifting. It was when I read it:

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!” He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

He replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or … you can choose to be in a bad mood I choose to be in a good mood.” Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or… I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested. “Yes, it is,” he said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life.” I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins….Wanna see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,” he replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.” “Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. He continued, ”..the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked. “Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said John. “She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity’.”

Over their laughter, I told them, “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.” He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude… I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Good luck to you!

Hi Rich, sorry to here of the recent news with you. i enjoyed meeting you those couple times and Rodger speaks highly of the type person you are, your a good guy and it sounds like your in good hands with that doctor. I hope the surgery goes well for you. We will have to go tear up some pavement together when we get our sleds back from Ironworks:cheers:

Good luck,
Brian

Hey All.

Back at work for the first time since my surgery. :woot:
The great news was that so far, I'm cancer free. The only bad thing is, the amputation site hurts like hell. It's been almost a week now and the pain isn't much better than the day I was discharged from the hospital.

Thanks again for all the warm wishes and prayers, I'm positive they made all the difference.


Rich

Rich glad to see you back in the saddle. I have tried to call a few times and you message box is full. Talk to you soon. See you in 2 weeks in Pleasanton.

Rodger

Rich,

Glad to hear the operation is behind you! We are rooting for you for a speedy (hopefully soon to be pain-free) healing process!!!!


--Eric

Great to hear from you Rich.:)

My wife and I prayed in agreement just now that by God's great power and willingness to heal you, that all pain will be taken away from your hand.

Great to hear from you Rich, we're keeping you in our thoughts and prayers that the pain will go away real soon! -Rob

Glad to hear all went well with the surgery and you are cancer-free.:thumbsup:
Good things to good people.

Way to go Rich!:thumbsup:

John

Great news, Rich. Keep fighting!

Good to hear from you Rich! You've been on my mind lately and I'm very glad you updated us...we are all family here! I pray your pain goes away soon...and it's great to hear you are cancer free!! :woot:

Thank God, give yourself time
Good news Rich

I am glad the surgery went well. I am also sorry about the pain / discomfort. When you see your Doctor for the follow up ask him about seeing a Pain Management Doctor. They may be able to help you with the discomfort.

Glad things are looking better for you Rich. We are keeping you in our prayers.

Hey Rodger!

How much trouble would it be to have my car totally completed and sitting at Good-Guys with trophy? :D

This is the part where you say "how much trouble would it be to have $20k by the end of the day" :rofl:

I am normally a lurker here so Ill throw my once in a blue moon comment in...

Rich,
Fist off, congrats on the report so far! Everybody is pulling for you! I cannot even begin to grasp what you are going through, and am amazed by your positive outlook! Good thoughts and good attitude really do make a difference! Keep strong and for lack of a better redneck term, KEEP TRUCKING! Car looks awesome, but more importantly, glad to have yah still with us! I am sure an experience like this really changes ones perspective on life, and just hearing about something like this really makes you grateful for what you have! Thanks for the inspiration as well as making the project happen for those of us not as far along (I love seeing the updates!)

God bless and stay safe!

Awesome Rich!!! Keep that head up and looking forward. You are a true inspiration. I was blessed with great parents and taught at a young age to always have a positive outlook on life and things will work out. You are living proof !!! :thumbsup:

I'm glad things are going well Rich. :thumbsup:

Great news Rich :thumbsup: God bless:cheers:

Alright... This sucks.
I just opened a bag of M&M's and just like I've done my entire life, i sprinkled the candy into my hand from the bag... the prloblem is; when your missing a finger you now have a hole for all your candy to fall threw.

I managed 3 candies from half a bag. :mad:

Man, I hope those were plain and not peanut! :D

Good to hear from you Rich.:thumbsup:

Hey guy! Glad you are doing well. I had not read this thread, and so was unaware of all your having to deal with, but you will be in Kristy and my thoughts and prayers.

The M&M thing makes me think of the many times Kristy has had difficulty with "normal" life stuff. She has Multiple Sclerosis, and so has a bit of trouble with things so many of us do with little thought. For instance, she has difficulty making the little cup with her hands like one would do to rinse their mouth out at the sink. Instead, one or two fingers always seem to do their own thing, and the water runs out before she can get it to her mouth. Usually this leaves her laughing and talking out loud to her hands!

Life will get more normal, though there will be times when I am sure you will be talking to that missing finger! Keep your head up, and soon you will laugh, and laughter is one of the best medicines there are!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

My dad used to say "use two hands" of course that was when I was learning to play baseball...


Rich I'm glad you're doing better, and you're humor bone is still intact too.


Next time, try pouring the whole bag directly into your mouth, add a cup of coffee, that always enhances the experience. Something about hot coffee and chocolate that go together very nicely.



Mick

M&M's are one product that should be sold in an upright container...a few mods to this concept and no more messin' around with 'dem flimsy bags...:unibrow:

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...inkhelmet3.jpg

Thank you again for all the warm wishes :thumbsup:

There was 3 other people standing near me when this happened and they all busted up in a roar.

Couple pics of the hand

Just buy the 3/4lb bag and eat out it... :D

WOW!!!
That looks like it hurts. Stay strong and positive!:thumbsup:

I'm pretty sure there is a standard 5 second rule for peanut M&M's.

I'm glad to see your in good spirits, and look forward to hangin out next weekend.

Okay first off that looks like that really hurts.

Just curious did Kenny come over and take that picture or did you and him take the same photography class in School ??

:rofl:

my first iphone picture

Richard I am glad to see you are back on track and healthy. With a good sense of humor to boot that's awesome.
I don't know if you have kids or grand kids but it would be a fun thread (separate from your build thread of course) to come up with a crazy story about your missing digit...

Rich, glad you're keeping a positive attitude and on a road to recovery.
My dad lost his big toe due to infection last year. He still has considerable "phantom" toe pain.
I call it his faux-toe. My 3yo son is totally weirded out by papa's foot. :wow:

Rich, good to see things are going ok and you have a humorous positive attitude.

Dave

I flew down to Rodgers on Saturday and thought I would share a couple pics.


The first pic, Rodger is explaining how much more it's going to cost before completion $$$$$$$$$$
http://eastbayerectors.com/camaro/explainin.jpg






This one is a nice side shot:
http://eastbayerectors.com/camaro/side-shot.jpg

I Roger related to Lee Majors or the Terminator? Those infra-red eyes are dope!

That's going to be a really nice looking ride.:thumbsup:

Some more engine bay pics with the cog Belt Procharger Bracket and crazy down bars bent up. The core support bars the go from the fenders will be slick.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...23-2009008.jpg

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...23-2009007.jpg

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...23-2009006.jpg

The Cog belt system runs stock Ls Accessories with an F-1 Procharger. The Stock AC has to be replace with a smaller AC unit. But other than that it slips right in place. Plus it looks totally bad ass.

It was good hanging out with you and Rob. Too bad you could not stay longer. The car is coming along nicely and thanks for having us do the work.

Rodger

Thanks Rodger, It was nice getting out of the house.
The dang heat kept us from climbing at normal rates, seemed like it took forever to hi8t 11,000. Once there, the temperature was 61.F

Nice 25kt tail wind coming home too. Took us an 1:18 @ 180kts :yes:

You should still have the AC compressor from my Synister kit, the sanden compressor doesn't fit?