Happy birtday!
Happy birtday!
Happy birthday Warren
Hapburpdae too ewe!
Happy birthday! We miss you around here.
My wife caught me working in the trunk of the Road-trip Corolla.
Feliz cumpleanos zerillo muerto !!!!!! 
get weller
Happy Birthday Warren
Happy belated Birthday.
Late to the party, Happy Birthday.
We drove through on 94 Tuesday and it felt really weird to not call and ask if we could stop and visit. Got a little dusty in the truck when we passed the Baker Rd exit.
keep kicking ass, Warren
Update: Dad has been back in the hospital since last Thursday after he had a reaction to the leukemia treatment. His blood oxygen was dropping so they stopped treatment. They tried again the following day at a slower rate and gave him some medicine beforehand to prevent rejection. The nurses were having trouble drawing blood from his PICC line so they scheduled surgery to replace it. They believe somewhere in the process he developed a blood infection that required antibiotic treatment. They installed a new vac pump on his left arm to promote blood flow and help the skin graft heal. He hasn't had any serious PT in over a week. He basically went right back to square one.
The infection is under control now, he successfully received his second round of leukemia treatment yesterday without any issue, and is scheduled to be transported back to the rehab facility today.
1 step forward, 2 steps back. Hopefully there aren't many more setbacks.
SIDE NOTE: If anyone is attending the IMSA race at Mid-Ohio next Saturday, my brother and I will be there if you'd like to meet up. I'll be decked out in my Dead Skunk shirt.
In my experience, setbacks like that are not uncommon. Sounds like he's back on the right track.
I get excited and scared every time I see this come back to the top. Think I'll wear my Dead Skunk shirt tomorrow.
In reply to Stormtrooper :
Bring Keenan by my place, I'm about an hour north off I-71
Representing at Carlisle IPN today!
Wishing and praying for you Warren!
That one step two step is the dance with the devil. Just keep dancing. The treatments and complications and the ability to pivot quickly is paramount to being able to keep fighting the enemy. It's also what sucks, because it complicates things, it makes things unpredictable, it affects quality of life, outlook that we hold internally, it shakes our confidence and it puts us in a sort of suspended animation where we no longer think or plan about the future beyond the immediate timeframe. Tell him, that while his energy needs to be on the now, that it's okay to dream. I'm glad that you're getting to the track this weekend. I'll wear my subpar shirt today based on the recent turn of events, but after a few hours of lamenting, I'll switch over to the deadskunk shirt. Because that's what we do. We lament, we listen to the revamped plan after evaluation, we move on, we persevere, we continue.
Posting to bump this up and to show we are still thinking of you Warren.
Things have been reasonably quiet since his return stay at the hospital and subsequent release back to the rehab facility. He has weekly infusions that he gets transported back to the hospital for, and follow-up appointments with the surgeon who worked on his arm and leg.
His infusion yesterday was canceled without his, my mom's, or the rehab facility's knowledge because the nurses said they "didn't have time to deal with his needs". I'll keep that vague, but being unable to get up has particular challenges associated with it. Apparently, the nurses at the infusion center don't want to deal with it. Unfortunately, he was transported all the way to the hospital before finding this out. His infusions will be scheduled as outpatient procedures in the hospital now.
Reppin' D-Skizzle at an autocross on the weekend, any updates?
Me after I changed the oil and filter in my girlfriend's 193k mile Jeep Wrangler.
Hope you are doing well Warren!
Apologies for the lack of updates, guys and gals (it's not just here that I've fallen behind). There has been a lot of information overload throughout this process so I've been trying to wait to condense everything into a weekly post, and then that plan flies right out the window because something else comes up.
Quick recap; a staph infection led to necrotizing fasciitis (gangrene) in his left arm and right leg, numerous surgeries to remove infected tissue, an eventual skin graft to cover the wound on his left arm, and hairy cell leukemia was discovered as the reason why the infection ran rampant throughout his body. He was released to a rehab facility in early April but has made numerous trips back to the hospital for leukemia treatment, blood cell injections, and blood transfusions. He has made 2 lengthy stays in the hospital since his release including a 2-week stay that ended just a week ago.
His most recent stay in the hospital resulted from a cough that he developed and the need for a blood transfusion. The cough is one of 2 things; pneumonia, or an infection in his lungs resulting from the leukemia infusion drug (clear as mud, right?). He's on an antibiotic to clear either/both of those things. Despite being in the hospital for 2 weeks his progress in physical therapy wasn't hampered, in fact, the nurses and PT at the hospital were pushing him harder. He can sit on the edge of the bed, stand with minimal assistance, and walk short distances using a walker. His endurance is very low so he gets tired very easily. He is able to sit in a chair/wheelchair for long periods of time now, as long as he has a comfortable cushion. He has been approved by the physical therapists to be transported to appointments by wheelchair, instead of on a stretcher like before. This should make scheduling transportation easier as he can ride in a wheelchair van instead of an ambulance, which are very short-staffed at the moment.
A couple of weeks ago I read him all the comments on this thread, omitting any that mentioned the shirts. I'll be giving him the book I made for Father's Day with all the pictures people sent me wearing their shirts. I'm also uploading them all (including ones that didn't make it to the book) on the Dead Skunk Motorsports Facebook page (give it a Like) for him to see when he's feeling up to having his computer again. Shirts are still available, and I created a second shirt featuring some artwork I made of his ITB Volkswagen he raced for many years. There are also Dead Skunk logo decals available if you want to show your support that way. All the proceeds from all of these items will be donated to the charity of Dad's choosing.
Thank you all so much for your support so far. The GRM family definitely came up big for my idea to do this. Easily half of the book is photos from GRMers. I'm hoping I can film his reaction when I give him the book, but I don't know if he'll want anyone to see him that way. He WILL cry, a lot! Maybe I'll have him film a thank you video after the initial reaction once he's a little more composed and I'll share that.
Stormtrooper said:Shirts are still available, and I created a second shirt featuring some artwork I made of his ITB Volkswagen he raced for many years. There are also Dead Skunk logo decals available if you want to show your support that way. All the proceeds from all of these items will be donated to the charity of Dad's choosing.
Link to shirts and decals?
In reply to Stormtrooper :
Cool. Tell him to keep fighting.
Dead Skunk vintage Volkswagen t-shirt
Decals don't have a link, I have a batch of them printed already. Approximately 3" x 3". $3.50 each, 2 for $6. Postage is included. Message me here or email me at delayedpenalty (at) gmail (dot) com with your name, address and how many you'd like and I'll mail them out. I can take Venmo or Paypal, or we can arrange other methods privately.
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